Matlock (1986–1995): Season 3, Episode 1 - The Lemon - full transcript

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ If you want to
make a deal see T.J. ♪

♪ If you want to
make a deal see T.J. ♪

♪ He'll make a deal
you can't refuse ♪

♪ You'll get a car
that's hardly used ♪

♪ If you want to
make a deal see T.J. ♪

♪ If you want to
make a deal see T.J. ♪

♪ If you want to
make a deal see T.J. ♪



♪ He'll make a deal
you can't refuse ♪

♪ You'll get a car
that's hardly used ♪

♪ If you want to
make a deal see T.J. ♪

Smoky here

and I want you to know that
Brenners always makes you the...

sweetest deals.

Best cars at the best prices.

Right over here, we
have our blue plate special

for the low price of just $2799.

And new today this beautiful
convertible for just $3199.

Now me and my car Old Paint,

we've been all over
this great country of ours,

and I'll tell you I ain't
never seen deals like this.

So you all come on down
now, you hear? Waitin' on ya.



Psst.

Ah, good morning.

Good morning!

Les Calhoun...
your new neighbor.

Just moved in next door.

Oh. Just call me Ace.

Ah, hey, Ace.

Glad to meet ya.

I didn't even know
that house was for sale.

Well, you've been busy

with the Wertz case. Oh, well.

You did a good job
getting that woman off.

Oh, thanks.

But you and I both know

she really poisoned
old man Wertz.

Hmm?

What?

No, my client was innocent.

Oh, come on, Benj.

I know dames.

Sophie Wertz is a poisoner.

She's got those
little slitty eyes.

That's astigmatism.

Are you kiddin'?

Bite into a tuna sandwich

within a mile of that cutie

and it's good night nurse.

Are you a lawyer?

Me? No.

I'm retired.

Retired, huh?

Yeah. Did pretty good, too.

Made plastic eyelets.

You know, those little
loops on your sneakers?

There's good money in that?

Ate chop suey and wore
lizard skin shoes every day.

Oh.

Guess what I'm
going to do right now?

I don't know.

I'm going to go out
and get some wheels.

Some wheels?
Yeah, you know, a car.

I saw your car, Benji,

and let's just say
it's not an action car.

It's not?

No.

And the ladies like
a little flair, you know.

So when you and I
are out on the prowl,

that's what they're
going to get.

Flair.

Flash, huh?

Have I got a car for you.

Come here.

See this, baby?

You'll love this.

Look at that... flames on
the side and everything.

Take a look at her.

Ah, a real beauty. Slick.

And I can make you
an offer you can't refuse.

Really?

Really.

Smoky here and I
want you to know

that Brenners always
makes you the sweetest deals.

The best cars at
the best prices.

Well, right over
here we have our...

Oh, you don't want
to go over to Brenners.

That guy's a real crook.

And his partner, the cowboy,

he wouldn't know a
carburetor from a cactus.

This is the deal you want.

Seen deals like
this. So, you all

come down now, you hear?

Waitin' on ya.

Gorgeous, isn't it?

It certainly is.

It's a real classic.

Would you like to
go for a test-drive?

Oh my, yes!

I've been all over your car.

Transmission's shot,
and brakes are gone.

You'll be lucky if
it gets you home.

$800 tops.

What are you talking about?

My car's a fine
piece of machinery.

All right, all right,
let me talk to him.

I'll see what I can
get. Come here.

Mm-hmm.

Come here.

What do you think about this?

Well...

I'm breaking a lot of
rules for you, you know.

Excuse me.

Well, looks like you're in luck.

Looks like he's
coming out to see you.

Well, how are we doing out here?

Well, T.J., sorry to bother you,

but my friend,
Lesley, here, uh... Ace.

Ace just insisted
on meeting you.

Well, how you doin', Ace? Okay.

I sure do enjoy
your commercials.

Well, thank you.
Where'd you get this car?

Well, it just came
in special made

from L.A. last week. Huh.

Well, I hope my
pal, Jessie, here,

got you fixed up with
that car you wanted.

Oh, yes.

Well, why don't we
just go take a look.

You and me can talk
turkey about them terms.

Well...

you got yourself a
great little car here.

Which one is it?

♪ ♪

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah? I'm gonna sue him!

Take everything he's got!

I want to blacken his name!

What's the matter?

My car!

I bought a lemon!

I know.

It's that T.J. Cassidy

and his damn commercials!

Take it back. Take it back?

The car. Take it back.

Then make him take it back.

Gotcha!

Y'all come on down to Brenners,

I'm gonna rope you
the deal of your life.

Remember now,
no one gets corralled

in a bad deal at Brenners.

So come on down
and get acquainted

with your old horse
trading friend T.J. Cassidy

and see if I haven't got
one of these beauties

with your names branded on it.

Hey, what the hell is that?!

Hold it, hold it, hold it.

Hey, hey, hey, we're filming
a television commercial here.

You sold me a lemon!

I demand my money
and my old car back.

Well, come back
later; we'll talk about it.

It's okay, Ace, come back later.

You liar, you cheat,
I'll punch your lights out!

You don't get out of here, I'm
gonna call the police on you.

You...

You want me to take
it right from the top?

Yes. All right.

These two fillies of mine'll
tell you that we have some

of the finest selections
corralled under one roof.

Hi.

Are you crazy?

You told me to return the car.

I didn't tell you to
destroy the place.

Are they going to send me
up the river to the Big House?

No, you're going home.

I got the charges reduced from
assault with a deadly weapon

to disturbing the peace.

Thanks, Benj,
you're great. Well...

W-What about my car?

Well, forget about the car
till everybody cools down.

Yeah, but what if...?
Forget about the car.

Forget about the
car. But what if...?

Forget about the car!

Go home.

Benj!

Benj, you sleeping?

Benj.

Ah... did I wake you?

Well, I, I had dozed off.

Oh, don't you just hate that?

I hate that.

I can't tell you how many
times I've just dozed off,

and along comes
someone wanting something.

Don't you just hate that? Yeah.

Can I borrow your
car for an hour?

Why?

Well, I have to go
back to Brenner's.

Well...

Yeah, I left my reading glasses
in the glove compartment.

I can't go to sleep
if I can't read.

Reading's the only
thing that works.

Of course, we could talk.

You know, the other day...

This was before I
came over to see you,

I stopped off at a bar.

Templin's I think it's called.

Anyway, there were
these two dames in there...

They couldn't
have been over 48...

And built.

Boy, you know when I say built,

you know the
saying, the old brick...

All right.

Where you going?

To get my keys.

I'm going to loan you a car.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

I'll get... Wait.
I'll move the car.

I- I can't get
this... Oh, my God!

Why are they picking on me?

All I did was buy a
clunker from the guy.

Well, first,

you call him a liar and a thief.

Then you threatened
to punch his lights out.

Then you drove your car
right through his commercial.

And if that weren't enough,

you're found at the
scene of the crime

behind the wheel of
the murder weapon

on top of the body.

Okay, okay, maybe
it doesn't look good.

But with us working together
like a well-oiled machine...

You've done enough.

But I've got a clue.

T.J. Cassidy and his
partner George Brenner

did not get along.

How do you know?

Because the day I
bought that lemon,

they were having
one heck of a fight.

You heard them?

No, but I saw them
through the glass

and they were real mad.

Well... we'll start with that.

When I say "we,"

that "we" does not mean you.

Not you, not you.

Pay his bail.

What are you doing here?

Uh, I'm Ben Matlock.

I'm looking for my car.

What car?

This car.

Release from the D.A.'s office.

Oh... oh, oh, yeah.

The guy that murdered T.J...

He left his car here.

What are you a friend of his?

I'm his lawyer.

Well, this way.

I guess you must be
worried about your business

with T.J. Cassidy gone.

Not really.

He was just some
peach-picker I discovered.

I made him into
T.J. Cassidy. Ah.

Whole thing was my idea.

My client said that he saw you

having a big fight with
him the day of the murder.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

I mean, his expense
account was astronomical.

Hell, I was about
to fire him anyway.

I'll just go discover
somebody else.

Maybe I'll do the TV
commercials myself, huh?

Oh, yeah.

You know, an interesting thing,

after the murder, the
key was still in the ignition

of Mr. Cassidy's car and
the engine was still running

when my client and
the police arrived.

Yeah?

And according to
the police report,

Mr. Cassidy had
another key in his pocket.

How many keys
were there to that car?

I don't know.

A couple of sets maybe.

Who else had access to them?

Jessie Martin.

A lady?

Yeah, my head salesperson.

Were she and T.J. close?

Yeah, very.

Until she caught
T.J. closing a deal

in the back seat of a car.

That could be motive I guess.

But since you were
going to fire him anyway,

and maybe do the
commercials yourself

I guess you didn't
have a motive.

Yep.

Well, I mean why kill a fella

when all you have
to do is fire him?

That makes a lot of sense.

Makes a lot of
sense... So, uh, uh,

nobody else had
access to those keys?

No.

Except you, of course?

Well, sure, I had access.

I mean, I do own the store.

Oh, well, yeah...
Your car's out there,

right next to that
two-toned gray truck.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, I see what you mean.

Why-why kill a fella

when all you
need do is fire him.

Hi.

Les!

How we doing with him?

Now, Les... Any luck?

I don't want to
jump to conclusions,

but I'm sure he's our man.

And I think that fight was
about something more

than his expense account.

And he had opportunity.

It's classic.

Les, I want you to listen to me.

You're not doing
yourself or your case

any good by being here.

You know that.

And you know what they say...

The killer always returns
to the scene of the crime.

So you knew Mr. Cassidy
was working late last night?

Well, T.J. was a
real workaholic.

He worked on commercials,
customers... female of course.

Right.

But when I left last
night T.J. wasn't alone.

George Brenner was here.

Interesting.

Uh, Ms. Martin, could
you tell me where you were

at the time of the murder.

Me? Well, I was at home
watching the ice skating special.

You know, all the
Olympic winners?

Well, thank you for your time.

Ben.

Yeah?

Jessie Martin just lied
to me about her alibi

for last night. Yeah?

Yeah.

She said she was home
watching an ice skating special.

It wasn't on.

No?

No.

I was going to watch
the same show,

but the basketball
game went into overtime

and it never aired.

Oh.

Find Tyler.

Oh.

Made the arrangements
for tomorrow night.

No problem.

So... that's it.

She went to the bar.

Then, she drove to the motel.

And then, bam!

Ouch. Ooh, ooh, sorry.

Well... the
swelling's gone down.

I'll get more ice.

No, no, no, thanks.

I... I'm all right.

No, I'm not all right.

I woke up face-down in the dirt.

I hate that.

You know, I'm confused.

Aren't they going
to a lot of trouble

to cover up an affair?

Maybe this isn't an affair.

What else could it be?

I don't know, but she
said something big

was going to happen
tomorrow night.

And it didn't sound
like romance to me.

Mr. Edwards?

Mr. Ed...

Ben?

Les, what are you doing here?

What if somebody would
come in here besides me?

Do you realize the
danger, the trouble?

Okay, okay, I'm sorry.

Sorry don't feed the bulldog.

What do I have to do to
convince you this is not a game?

You're going on
trial for murder.

I know... that's why I'm here.

I was wrong about
George Brenner.

Honest Earl did it.

Les... Look, you
told me that before

you could accuse a man,
you had to have proof.

Yes. All right, here it is.

Look at this.

Honest Earl did it.

Where did you get this?

Right here.

It's a contract.

Honest Earl...

was trying to lure T.J.
away from Brenner.

How about that.

Yeah.

I just opened the
drawer, and there it was.

Some instincts, huh?

How about that.

Honest Earl's out
there looking at my car.

I'm going to go talk to him.

When I get his back to the door,

you get out of here.

Oh, Mr. Edwards.

I've been looking
for you all over.

Well, here I am... Honest Earl.

Sorry if I kept you waiting,

but I had to take these people

for a test drive. Oh...
oh, that's okay, uh...

Can't give you very
much on a trade-in.

Uh... Why not?

Well, this baby
needs a lot of work.

Does not.

This is the best
car I ever owned.

Runs like a top.

Not for very long.

Ah, look over there.

There's a car I could
put you in real cheap.

Uh, Mr. Edwards...

I'm not here to buy a car.

I'm an attorney.

Ben Matlock.

I represent Les Calhoun,

the man accused of
killing T.J. Cassidy.

Uh, Mr. Edwards?

What is it, Mr. Matlock?

Where were you at
the time of the murder?

I didn't kill him.

No, I didn't... I
didn't say you did.

I just asked where
you were at the time.

I was here doing my paperwork.

Uh, my client said
he drove by here

on the way to Brenner's lot,

and the light was
on all right, but he...

he-he said he didn't see you.

If you had been working here,

he would have seen you.

Maybe I was in the john.

How the hell do I know?

I was here.

Anything else?

Uh... anybody else you know of

would have wanted
Mr. Cassidy dead?

Sure.

Anybody who ever
bought a car from that jerk.

He was a disgrace
to our profession.

Well, why did you want to
do business with the man?

Who says I did?

I saw the contract.
You saw what?

You tried to get him
to leave Brenner's

and come over here
to you, didn't you?

Absolutely not.

And he turned you
down, didn't he?

Beat it.

Don't have to get ugly about it.

What are you doing here now?

Well, I'd just like to
ask you a question.

I'm busy.

I wonder if you'd
let me take a look

at the contract you
had with T.J. Cassidy.

That contract is
none of your business.

Now, get the hell out of here.

Either, uh, you
let me look at it

or I can subpoena it.

Either way, I'm
confident I'll find

that your contract with him

was about to or
had already expired.

Now, listen, I renewed T.J.'s
contract every two years.

If it was about to expire, I
would have renewed it again.

Unless he planned
to go someplace else.

You were aware that
he was negotiating

with Honest Earl Edwards.

That's what you were
fighting with him about

the day of the murder.

Not his expense account.

You had lost him.

I'm aware of no such thing.

Then, let me see his contract

with his name
on the bottom line.

Get the hell out of here!

Now... I let you
come along on this.

And nothing may happen.

But something may.

And if it does,

you've got to do
what I say, okay?

Okay.

I don't have a pickle.

If she's going out,
she better hurry.

It's getting late.

Everybody else has a pickle.

And you have a hard-boiled egg.

Well, how about this?

I'll give you

my hard-boiled egg and my pickle

if you promise
to stay in the car.

Promise?

Okay.

Uh-oh.

Showtime.

What's going on in there?

Beats me.

Now, listen... you
stay in the car.

You promised.

♪ ♪

Well, that was
sure some sideline...

You know, maybe T.J. found out

what you were doing
and wanted to be cut in.

Maybe you figured out a way
to permanently cut him out.

Oh, wait a minute,
wait a minute.

Maybe we were selling
hot cars off Brenner's lot.

But we didn't kill T.J.

And if you're asking
if we have an alibi

for the night he
was killed, here it is.

Well, I really thought
that chop shop

was our answer, I really did.

What is a chop shop?

Well, you were there.

Cars and parts everywhere.

It's where they
take hot cars apart.

Take stolen cars apart. Hmm...

Well. Well... Doggone it.

If what George
Brenner says is true,

that he and Jessie were the
only two with access to the keys.

And we know where Jessie was,

then I guess it has
to have been George.

Well, couldn't Honest Earl

have stolen a key? Made a copy?

I don't see hardly how he could.

It was really locked up tight.

I don't see how he
could've gotten in there.

Hmm... Chop shop, huh?

Say you need a...

new radiator for your car.

You go to a regular
mechanic, he installs one, right?

That's what I always thought.

Unless you go to a garage
that deals with a chop shop.

Then they get a radiator
out of a stolen car...

Same make and
model as your car...

Put it in your car...

It's nearly all profit.

You want a water
pump, same thing.

You never know the difference.

Anything: gas cap...

Well, I'll be...

It's hard to believe, but,
uh, parts of these cars

are probably in a
dozen other cars by now.

Mm. Hmm.

Get? Yep.

Oh! Okay.

Doesn't work.

I observed the decedent to be

lying beneath the front
portion of the vehicle.

In addition to that,

what else did you see
which appeared to suggest

the victim was killed by
his very own automobile?

I observed fresh blood,

uh, skin tissue
and bone fragments

actually embedded in
the front grill of the vehicle.

According to the testimony
of the officers on the scene,

they discovered the defendant

behind the wheel of
the murder weapon.

Was there any physical evidence

linking Mr. Calhoun
to the crime?

His fingerprints were
on the steering wheel.

Thank you, Lieutenant.

That will be all.

Mr. Matlock.

No questions, Your Honor.

"No questions"?!

Why aren't you going to
ask him any questions?

The more he talks,
the worse it gets.

Yeah, but...

Uh, Defense calls

Honest Earl
Edwards to the stand.

Mr. Edwards, you own
Honest Earl's Used Car Lot

on Jackson
Boulevard, that right?

Yes, sir, I do.

That's quite an accomplishment.

You were a mechanic and
now you own your own lot.

Yeah, it's the American dream.

Yeah, yeah.

And then three years ago,

George Brenner moved
in across the street,

but you still did okay.

I like to think so.

Yeah.

Then two years ago,

George Brenner joined
up with T.J. Cassidy.

And the more of those
crazy commercials he did,

the more business
George Brenner did,

and the more you had
to struggle to survive.

Isn't that right? I do okay.

You tried to get T.J. Cassidy

to leave Brenner's
and come to your lot.

But he refused.
Isn't that right?

Hey, I'd rather the guy work
for me than the competition.

But it was no big deal.

No? Why not?

Because T.J.
brought in customers.

And if they didn't find the
car they wanted at Brenner's,

they'd come right across
the street to my place,

so everybody benefited.

Yeah.

You really needed all the
help you could get, didn't you?

Told you.

I'm doing fine.

Mr. Edwards,

you're in deep
financial trouble.

I've had a couple
of slow months.

According to the bank,

you've had a
couple of slow years.

And if things don't improve,

you're going to have to go
into bankruptcy, aren't you?

Objection!

Argumentative. No
relevancy, Your Honor.

Sustained.

I'll tell you what I think.

I think you knew you
had to do something.

Your business was
going downhill, and fast.

Well, what you decided,

instead of getting
rid of your debts,

you would get rid
of your competition.

No, that's crazy.

That meant getting rid
of T.J. Cassidy, didn't it?

Objection!

No foundation. It's
argumentative, Your Honor.

If the court will bear with me,

Your Honor. Please come
to the point, Mr. Matlock.

Yes, sir.

I believe

that you not only wanted
to get rid of T.J. Cassidy,

you wanted to destroy
George Brenner's business.

And what better way to do that,

than to have T.J. run
over by his own car.

The one he used in all
those TV commercials.

You claim the
night of the murder...

you were in your office working.

Yes.

You were alone?

No one came and no one called?

That's right.

So you can't prove
that's where you were?

You don't have what we call
a "substantiated alibi," do you?

No, I guess not.

Uh, at this time, Your Honor,

with the court's permission,
uh, I'd like to move

to the matter we
discussed in chambers.

People restate their objections.

So noted.

Now, Mr. Edwards,

uh, you have testified
that you are a mechanic.

Now, in your expert opinion,

would you tell me why it is

when I bring my
car in for repairs,

it costs so much money?

Labor's expensive.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

And parts.

Oh, yes. Parts have gone way up.

So, when you buy
used cars for your lot,

you must do a lot
of work on them.

Yes, we do.

So, I guess you have
a lot of parts around.

Yes.

Do you sometimes
do the work yourself?

Yes.

Uh-huh.

Now, as you see here
with the court's permission,

I have had, uh, the
murder weapon...

Uh, T.J.'s car... Brought
here to Brenner's lot.

And, uh... This here...

is, uh, People's Exhibit Seven.

This is the key that was
found in T.J.'s pocket

at the time of the murder.

Now, would you just
walk over here with me?

Sure. Just right over here.

Right over here to the car.

Okay, now, I'll open her up.

And you just get right in.

It's okay. Go ahead.

There you go.

Now, take the
key, start the car.

Doesn't fit, does it?

No. Wonder why?

Wrong key.

"Wrong key."

I don't think so.
Come over here.

Show you something.

This... is Defense Exhibit "H."

This was T.J.'s spare key,

found in his home.

It's identical to the key

that was found in his pocket.

These are the
keys to T.J.'s car.

Why won't they start it?

I don't know.

Well... you're a mechanic.

Um... what, uh, what about this.

What... what if that's
not the original ignition

that was in T.J.'s car.

What about that?
What do you mean?

Uh, ignitions can be

interchanged
sometimes, can't they?

I mean, adapted. Yes.

Well, that would
explain why T.J.'s keys

won't start his own car.

Wouldn't it?

I guess it could.

So if that were
true, then someone

must've snuck into Brenner's lot

the night of the murder,

popped the ignition
out of T.J.'s car,

replaced that ignition
with another one.

So that that person

could get in T.J.'s
car, start it up,

and run him over.

That's possible, isn't it?

I don't know.

But if we can find an ignition

that the key that was
found in T.J.'s pocket

would turn over, then we'd know

that was the original ignition

that was in T.J.'s
car, wouldn't we?

And we would have
a pretty good idea

who the murderer
was, wouldn't we?

I don't know.

You think these keys

would fit any of
the cars on your lot?

No.

Want to try a few
just for fun, you know?

No. Your Honor,

we will be here all afternoon.

I don't think so, Your Honor.

Uh, Mr. Edwards,

you recognize this
little, black truck?

No, I don't.

Mr. Edwards, this
little, black truck

is from your lot.

Would you please
just step over here

and get in this truck?

No.

Please?

No.

Come on.

Your Honor, would
you instruct the witness

to do as he's told?

Mr. Edwards.

There you are.

Now, here you
go. Go right on in.

There you are.

There you go.

There's the key.

Start it.

You changed the
ignition, didn't you?

But you have the
mind of a mechanic,

and you couldn't
see throwing away

a perfectly good ignition.

So you put it in this car.

You ran him over, didn't you?

You don't have to tell me.

Maybe I'll read
about it in the paper.

Nothing further.

Did you hear that?!

He ran him over! He
changed the ignition.

Did you just hear that?!

Les, Les, Les...

That was great!
It was just great!

You can't, you can't, you
can't talk to the jury, Les.

You can't, Ace. I...

You can't talk to the jury.

Well, that was some
experience. Yeah.

Try to hang a murder
one on me, huh?

You know, you
really had that guy.

You really had him.

Well, I felt like I was
on the right track.

You did great.
Well... Just great!

Mm-hmm.

Real nice neighborhood.

Yeah. You lived here long?

Since the war.

Long time. Yeah.

You ever notice
when guys our age

talk about the war,
nobody asks which one?

Yeah.

We've seen it all, huh?

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

We're a lot alike, you and me.

I suppose so. Yeah.

We're both successful,

both got our health...

You got better hair.

Well... Look at your
shape, I mean...

Oh... oh, well...

But you know something?

I get the feeling that, uh,

you're kind of a lonely guy.

Yeah? Yeah.

So you know what
I'm going to do?

I'm going to introduce
you to some real dolls.

Yeah?

I got it!

Victoria Bizzle.

Boy, you know the
ladies, don't you?

Well, they don't call
me Ace for nothing.

Victoria Bizzle loves to dance.

Oh, I'm not much of a dancer.

Oh, it doesn't matter.

Victoria likes to lead.

You can dip, can't you?

Not really.

Then, she'll dip.

Oh, well... Oh... nice
neighborhood. Yeah.

Try to hang a murder one on me.