Matlock (1986–1995): Season 7, Episode 8 - The Fortune - full transcript
A millionaire who's grown suspicious of his investments is murdered, and Ben Matlock is appointed as administrator of the estate.
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
DORAN: Just hold it right there.
Uh, Mr. Estes. I didn't
realize it was you, sir.
It's my boat, you idiot.
What's the matter with you?
Uh, yes, sir, I didn't
realize you'd gone off.
Good.
Mr. Stafford is onboard,
sir. He's in the salon.
What'd you let him onboard for?
- He is your nephew.
- I don't care if he's the King of France.
Nobody comes onboard
without permission.
Yes, sir. It won't
happen again, sir.
He wash his hands?
Yes, sir. I heard him.
STAFFORD: Well...
- Out on the town, I see.
- What are you doing here?
Well, this is what you get for
not answering my phone calls.
I didn't feel like talking
to you. Still don't.
So leave.
I, uh...
I hear you cut
me out of your will.
Is that Scotch?
It's all right, Uncle
Marvin, I washed my hands.
Who told you?
- Elliot Eagleton. He let it slip.
- Agh.
Lawyers. Bane of my existence.
- So it's true?
- Yeah, yeah. It's true.
What old Blabberton
said is true, so leave.
But why? Uncle Marvin, I have
served you faithfully for 15 years.
- You get paid.
- But I've protected you.
I've made sure every
one of your investments,
no matter how outrageous, has at
least broken even, if not made a profit.
There is nothing outrageous
about my investments.
[LAUGHS]
An amusement park
in Tierra del Fuego?
Uh, a company that makes
X-ray machines designed
to see inside of mummies?
A children's zoo?
You just don't appreciate
the educational things in life.
Anybody else would have stood
by and collected their paycheck
while your estate took a bath.
But me, I shopped, I bargained,
I oversaw, I looked out for you.
Sure. So you could
rob me blind later.
I never stole one cent from you.
As Sherlock Holmes said:
"Do you feel a creeping,
shrinking sensation, Watson,
when you stand before
the serpents in the zoo?"
Uncle Marvin, you need help.
- I'm going to bed. Leave.
- No. No.
No. Not until we
straighten this thing out.
Hey, Mr. Rent-a-fuzz!
Get out here.
I don't know what anybody said to
you, but I've never stolen from you.
- Get this man off my boat!
- You can't do this.
- This isn't fair.
- Come on.
I'm the only one around here
who's not taking advantage of you!
[ALARM WAILING]
[ALARM CHIRPS THEN STOPS]
MAN: Oh, man.
- Is this yours?
- Yeah.
Aw, no, they got
my stereo. Beautiful.
Just beautiful.
[GRUNTING]
[GAGS]
[SPLASHING]
No. No, no, I'm not interested.
Billy, I'm not interested.
Billy. Billy. I'm
not interested.
All right, bring it on over.
Billy Lewis.
Yeah, he wants me to invest
in some kind of toy company.
- Oh, you're not going to, are you?
- No.
But he won't take no for an
answer till he shows me the toys.
[DOORBELL RINGS]
Well, that was fast.
It's not Billy.
- Hi. Elliot Eagleton.
- Yeah. Ben Matlock.
Come on in here.
Uh, Leanne Mclntyre,
this is Elliot Eagleton,
Mr. Estes' attorney.
- Hello.
- My daughter and, uh, my associate.
Nice to meet you. I'm
so sorry. What a tragedy.
The news said it was a suicide?
- Totally unexpected.
- Yeah.
Come on in and sit down.
There you go. Ahem.
- Uh, would you like some coffee?
- Oh, no, thanks.
- Piece of toast?
- Ha-ha-ha.
No. I'm fine.
Would, uh...? Would it
be all right if I smoked?
Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Eagleton, my
dad's allergic to cigarette smoke.
That's okay, go ahead.
Well, I can wait.
Well, let's get to work.
Well, uh, as I
said on the phone,
Mr. Estes left his entire
estate to a Theresa Lavelle.
Just one person?
I drew up the will for him
myself not two months ago.
Should make your job
pretty straightforward.
What job?
Uh, I'm the executor
of Marvin Estes' estate.
You're what?
EAGLETON: Your father,
upon completion of his duties,
is to receive 2 percent
of all disbursements.
You're a lucky man.
Such things are
rarely done anymore.
[CHUCKLES]
I didn't even know you knew him.
I met him in the men's
room at the courthouse.
He was, uh, washing
his hands. Or trying to.
There wasn't any soap.
So I went to the custodian
and got him some.
And he said it was the nicest
thing anybody ever did for him.
And I introduced
myself, Ben Matlock.
And he said, "Great. I'll
make you executor of my will."
And he did.
Heh.
Well, he was strange.
"Eccentric" was the
term he preferred.
How much was his estate worth?
- Two hundred million dollars.
- About two hundred million dollars.
EAGLETON: Well,
anyway, Mr. Matlock,
while the job at hand
is straightforward,
it may not be simple.
We've made a few
preliminary inquiries,
but nobody seems to know who
or where this Theresa Lavelle is.
We'll find her.
So Ben stands to make
$4 million from this deal?
LEANNE: Yeah,
something like that.
But he doesn't get his money until
this woman named Theresa gets hers.
I'm gonna be a lot
nicer to the people I meet
in the men's room from
now on, that's for sure.
Cliff, I think I've
found something.
"To my beloved Marvin,
yours forever, Theresa."
- Love letters.
- Is the return address on them?
No.
There's no envelopes
in here. Just the letters.
Oh, now, this is weird.
"To my dearest Theresa,"
and it's from Marvin.
What would he be doing
with his letters to her?
Hey, you wanna see
something even weirder?
Liquid aspirin.
No pills.
Not a single one.
MATLOCK: That's the
ugliest doll I've ever seen.
BILLY: Ugly sells, Ben.
First Cabbage Patch Kids,
then Trolls, now this, Weird Wally.
Gonna be big, real big.
That's really dumb, Billy.
Who would wanna spend
money on a thing like that?
Looks like a rotten
potato in drag.
They just test marketed
it in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Went right through the roof.
This is the investment
opportunity of a lifetime.
Why you trying
to get me in on it?
You don't like me, remember?
So? Uh...
Maybe I changed
my mind about you.
Maybe to get in on the ground
floor, I need 20 grand, all I got's 10.
Maybe I figure a
rich tightwad like you
could raise that much
money in his sleep.
That's good.
That's... Honesty's
the best policy.
- Then you'll go in with me?
- Not a chance.
You're making a big mistake.
Hi, Dad.
If you had a kid, you'd buy
her a doll like this, wouldn't you?
Well, I don't
know, I might. Heh.
- Actually, he's kind of cute.
- Jackass.
- Dad mad at you again?
- Yeah.
- Did you find anything?
- A little.
It seems Marvin Estes
and this Theresa lady
were writing love letters to
each other for close to a year.
For some reason, he
had both sets of letters.
- Hmm. Did you get an address?
- No, only the letters.
- No envelopes, no addresses.
- And not a pill in sight.
Not even a cold tablet.
We did find some liquid aspirin.
I called the doctor
who prescribed it.
He told me something
very strange.
The old man couldn't take pills.
He had some kind
of phobia against it.
All his prescriptions
had to be in liquid form.
Marvin Estes died of an
overdose of sleeping pills.
- The autopsy confirmed
it. CLIFF: Hmm.
Doesn't sound much
like suicide, does it?
ANDREWS: So they were arguing?
Yeah, yelling at
each other, I'll say.
Mr. Stafford, I heard him
mainly, but he was mad.
Any idea about what?
No, but when I escorted him
off the ship, he was so mad,
I couldn't understand
what he was saying.
ANDREWS: Escorted him off the ship?
- Yeah. Mr. Estes asked me to.
- What time was this?
- A little before 6.
Well, what happened after that?
Well, Mr. Stafford drove
off, Mr. Estes went to sleep,
and I stood watch on
deck until 7 in the morning
when Jimmy relieved me.
- You never left the
boat? DORAN: No, sir.
Uh, wait a minute. I did leave, but
just for a couple of minutes. Uh...
Car alarm went off
over on the shore.
And when I went
over to take a look,
somebody had ripped
off a radio out of his car.
And you were gone only
what, a couple of minutes?
Four or five at the most.
So somebody could
have slipped onboard
while you were off the boat.
DORAN: I guess. Uh...
But when I came back, there
was a splash off the port bow,
and when I went to take a
look, I didn't see anything.
Maybe that's when the
killer slipped off the boat.
Well, thanks, Mr. Doran.
You've been a great help.
Uh, this woman Mr. Estes was seeing,
this Theresa, what'd she look like?
Mr. Estes had a girlfriend?
- News to me.
- Thanks, Mr. Doran.
Now, let me guess.
When Marvin Estes changed
his will two months ago,
he cut his nephew
out of it. Am I right?
Left everything to Theresa.
Means Mr. Stafford had a motive.
Ha, ha, oh, well,
so did this Theresa.
Two hundred million dollars.
Here they are. Marvin
Estes' love letters.
- Oh, great.
- And Theresa's.
I got photocopies from
Lieutenant Andrews.
Excellent.
What is that?
I've decided that I'm
gonna start eating healthy.
It's a vegetable sandwich.
Would you like one?
Uh, no, thanks.
Okay, why don't you read
Marvin's letters from Theresa,
and I will take
Theresa's to Marvin.
- Okay.
- You know, it's so interesting.
She typed all of hers. I wonder if
she was a secretary or something.
Uh-huh. Oh, wow.
- What? What does he say?
- Wow.
"My dear Theresa.
All my life I've waited
for a woman like you.
Yes, you are beautiful.
But it's the way that
your green eyes"...
- She has green eyes.
- Green eyes.
"The way your green
eyes see into my soul.
The way you can
understand my pain,
that makes me know
I'll love you forever."
LEANNE: Hmm.
All right. "My darling Marvin.
I saw a painting today
that reminded me of you.
Or rather, a painting I saw
in Italy once, of Saint Paul.
It reminded me of you, because that's
what you are to me, my love, a saint."
Italy? If she's a secretary, she
must be a very well paid one.
Mm, yeah. Yeah.
Oh, hey, wait. Look.
How about this one?
"I long to see the
sun reflecting gold
in the tousled halo of
your lovely brown hair."
Brown hair.
"And for the warmth of your
smile to fill me once again.
My life began
the day I met you."
- Mm.
- Mm.
LEANNE: "Watching you and
Jake play in the sand yesterday
made me feel the way you
looked, like a child full of joy,
grateful for today, and
eager for tomorrow.
Crystal has become
very special to me,
because you're special to me.
Yours forever, Marvin."
Ugh.
Sounds like teenage
puppy love to me.
You know, everyone
says Marvin Estes
was so impossible
to get along with,
but there was this side of
him, this very sweet side of him,
that nobody ever knew.
Mm, uh... I guess you're right.
Hey, wanna go over them again?
- Yeah, but let's take five first.
- Agh.
Wonderful.
REPORTER [ON TV]: In
a story that has become
as big of a mystery
as the man himself,
there is new information
regarding the death of Marvin Estes
which has caused
authorities to question
whether the death of the
multimillionaire recluse
was murder, and not a
suicide, as first reported.
One of the persons
being sought in the case
is a woman named
Theresa Lavelle,
who WNJH has just
learned is the sole heir
to Marvin Estes'
multimillion dollar estate.
MAN [ON TV]: And
in a related story, we...
WOMAN: Hey. Okay, here it comes.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
[WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
Okay, that sounds good.
All right. Look, I gotta go.
I'll see you tomorrow at 10.
Right. Bye-bye.
Morning, Ricardo.
- What's up?
- Listen, Ron.
This is very difficult for me,
but I'm dumping this place.
- Ha-ha-ha. What do you mean?
- It's losing money.
An investment loses
money, I've gotta dump it.
It's not yours to dump.
It belongs to Marvin's estate.
And until I'm fired,
it's my responsibility
to see his estate makes
money, not loses it.
All right, look, look, look.
Having his own personal children's
zoo meant a lot to your uncle.
I've gotta dump it.
With all due respect, Rick, I
don't think you know enough
about this business to make
an arbitrary decision like that.
It's losing money, Ron.
Well, all zoos lose money
in the first few years.
All right. Here's the truth.
Marvin was convinced
something was going on,
and I wanna put
an end to it now.
Wait a minute. What are you talking
about, "something else was going on"?
What kind of an
insinuation is that?
Listen to me. I broke my back
for your uncle, and he knew it.
And so do you.
I'm really sorry, Ron.
[PHONE RINGING]
Yeah.
Okay, I'll tell him.
Rick.
You have a visitor
at the front gate.
Lieutenant Andrews.
He's with the police.
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
STAFFORD: Look. It was no
big deal. We were always arguing.
My uncle argued with everyone.
That's why he didn't have friends.
But I hear that you were
so angry that particular night
that you had to be
escorted off his boat.
Is that true?
Yes.
[CAMEL GRUNTING]
Do you actually have
an office in this place?
My uncle's idea.
Making me work out of the zoo gave
him an excuse to come down here.
Animals were like his favorite
thing. He could relate to them.
Come on.
Trick is to stay up
wind of the camel.
Right.
Where'd you go after you
left Mr. Estes' yacht that day?
- Home.
- Huh.
You married?
No. And no girlfriends either.
Look. Why are you asking
me all these questions?
I'm not the only one ever
got kicked off my uncle's boat.
No, but you were the
last person to, Mr. Stafford.
When you add that to the
fact that your fingerprints
were on the bottle
of Scotch that was...
My prints were on that bottle
because I made myself a drink that day.
I didn't kill my uncle, and
that's all I'm gonna say.
Okay.
If and when I have more,
I know how to find you.
Just follow your nose.
Right.
WOMAN: Okay, Jake, get the ball.
Get the ball. Come on.
Good boy. Come
on, bring it home.
Come on, bring it
home. Good boy.
What a good boy
you are. Drop the ball.
Drop the ball. Oh, what a good
boy. You wanna go get it again?
Go get it. Bring
it back. Come on.
Good boy, Jake.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Great looking dog, Theresa.
Thank you.
A lot of people
are looking for you.
How did you know?
I'm Leanne Mclntyre.
Daughter of Ben Matlock.
He's the executor of
Marvin Estes' estate.
We read the letters you sent.
Crystal Beach, brown
hair, green eyes.
Dog's name is Jake.
Now what?
I'd like you to go back to Atlanta
with me and answer some questions.
You're about to ruin my
life, I hope you know that.
I didn't come forward
because I'm married.
Weren't you interested
in collecting $200 million?
After seeing what having that amount
of money did to Marvin, no. Not at all.
Where were you the night he
was murdered? Do you remember?
Vividly.
My husband suspected that
something was amiss between us,
so he insisted that we spend a
long, romantic weekend together
at the Lombard Hotel
in Jacksonville, Florida.
We arrived Friday afternoon at
1, and we left Sunday evening.
Any number of
people can verify that.
What's your husband do?
He's a writer.
THERESA: Poetry and novels.
He's very sensitive.
This is gonna kill him.
[DOOR OPENS]
Excuse me. Lieutenant Andrews?
Can you come out here for a second?
ANDREWS: What is
it? What's so interesting?
Well, before you go any
further with that lady in there,
the sergeant thought
you should know.
This lady over here? Just walked
in claiming to be Theresa Lavelle.
And, guess what.
So did that one.
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
If either one of those ladies is
Theresa Lavelle then I'm Elvis Presley.
Well, her name was given out on
TV last night. It was bound to happen.
Leak better not have come
from my department, I'll tell you.
If I find out that it
came from this...
Which one of you
ladies is Theresa Lavelle?
Me.
[ALL CHATTERING]
[CHUCKLES]
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
I just had a couple more questions.
Could I come in for a second?
Stop it, Jake. Stop it.
I guess it's all right. The
damage has been done.
Stop it, Jake. Jake, stop it.
- Stop it, Jake.
- Maybe if I feed him, he'll settle.
Come on, Jake. Jake.
[DOG WHINING]
Is, uh... Is your husband here?
No.
Does he know?
He's talking to his lawyer.
How long had you been
seeing Marvin Estes?
About a year.
- Uh, where'd you meet?
- Uh...
The beach.
How often did you see him?
About once a week. No more.
- Did he come here?
- Never.
Nor did I ever go to his boat.
We'd meet on the
beach, mostly at night.
Sometimes we'd just get into
his car and we'd drive around.
We talked, mostly.
Only occasionally
did we ever go further.
Ours wasn't your basic
cheap, tawdry affair.
It was different.
Rare and precious.
I guess that's why you wrote
so many letters back and forth
is because you didn't
see each other that much.
Yeah.
There's one thing I don't get.
How come Marvin Estes
had all the letters he wrote you,
as well as all the
letters you wrote him?
Well, I certainly didn't want any
of the letters lying around here.
So whenever I saw Marvin
I gave them back to him.
Why didn't you
just get rid of them?
Because he didn't want me to.
He wanted to save them.
As you probably know,
he was rather compulsive.
- Theresa.
- Hi.
Mr. Matlock, this is my
husband, Stuart Lavelle.
Stuart, this is the lawyer I was
telling you about. Ben Matlock.
You're the guy who's gonna be
doling out Marvin Estes' money?
That's one way of putting it.
So when do we
get the 200 million?
Stuart, for God's sakes...
What's the matter?
You earned it, didn't you?
Stop it!
What, am I embarrassing
you or something?
[CLEARS THROAT]
I'm not gonna walk out of
this marriage empty-handed.
Now, when does
she get the money?
As soon as the investigation into
Marvin Estes' death is complete.
Why should some investigation
have anything to do with it?
Because it just does.
But I understand how you feel,
and I'll do my best to expedite things.
I can see my way out.
[DOG GROWLS]
MATLOCK: Jake. Down, Jake. No.
Ben. Hey, Ben, wait up.
- What are you doing here?
- Looking for you.
I don't have time, Billy.
I gotta see Judge
Cooksey and get right home.
- I don't have time to talk.
- I don't wanna talk.
Just wanted to make
sure you saw this.
Ugliest doll you've
ever seen, huh, Ben?
Looks like a rotten
potato in drag.
Got myself a loan
for the other 10 grand.
Investment doubled in a week.
Pretty smart for a fella
as dumb as me, huh?
Too bad, uh, you
didn't get in on it.
CLIFF: You've been
gone a long time.
Yeah, a long day.
- Saw your dad.
- Oh.
- Did he say hi?
- No.
- Check out the Lombard?
- Yeah.
The Lavelles were
there, but guess what.
What?
They were down in the
spa getting a massage
- at the time of the murder.
- Oh.
Well, neither one of
them may be the murderer,
but I'll guarantee
you they're fakes.
- Fakes?
- Yeah. I went to see Theresa Lavelle.
That dog she has, his toys,
his dish, his bed, all brand new.
- New, huh?
- Yeah.
I don't think his
name's Jake either.
- He didn't respond.
- Huh.
Somehow she read those love letters,
and was able to quote all that stuff
that was in them, and then
kept her fingers crossed.
She figured that people
would ask less questions
if they came to her,
rather than vice versa.
How would she have read the letters
if she had never been on the boat?
I don't know. Check
her out. Her husband too.
What are you doing to this lamp?
Fixing it. Had
some frayed wires.
That could be a fire hazard.
There you go.
[ELECTRICAL CRACKLING]
MATLOCK: Say good night, Cliff.
CLIFF: Good night.
ANDREWS: Mr. Stafford.
Hi, it's me again. Got a minute?
- No, not really. What do you want?
- Well, I hate to bother you.
You ate lunch at a restaurant
called the Plum Garden
the day Marvin
Estes was murdered?
I don't remember.
So Mr. Estes's security guard...
You know, the one that
kicked you off the boat?
Well, it turns out,
he left his post
in order to check out a car
that was being broken into.
Now, we figured the
killer set off that alarm
as a distraction so he could get back
on the boat without anybody seeing him.
What the hell does any
of that got to do with me?
Well, this morning we located that
car at a repair shop close to the marina,
and on the driver's side on the
floor, we found a credit-card receipt.
The very same one they gave you when
you paid for lunch at the Plum Garden.
- We checked.
- That's impossible.
ANDREWS: It fell
out of your pocket
while you were bending over,
stealing the radio out of the car.
You're under arrest.
- That was a mistake.
- Get him out of here.
This is crazy. It's
gotta be a mistake.
It's a mistake.
[HUMMING]
- Hi. LEANNE: Hi.
[CONTINUES HUMMING]
Don't eat out of the pan, Dad.
Don't eat out of the pan. It's
bad manners. It'll ruin your dinner.
- Did you hear the news?
- What news?
The police just arrested Rick
Stafford for Marvin Estes' murder.
Go on.
Yeah, apparently, they just
found some new evidence.
Don't eat out of that pan!
Mm. Hmm.
- What's wrong?
- I told Stuart Lavelle
his wife wouldn't
inherit any money
till Marvin Estes' murder was solved,
and not 24 hours later, it was solved.
Huh. Hmm.
- Where you going?
- County jail.
- You didn't eat dinner.
- Yeah, I did.
Mr. Stafford had apparently
learned that his uncle
had written him out of his
will, and was upset about it.
In a related
development... Perfect.
With him out of the way, all attempts to
sell the zoo will be shelved indefinitely.
Is that long enough for us
to take care of business?
Thank God Marvin
thought he could trust you.
I guess I just have
one of those faces.
[ALL LAUGHING]
Well, to Nick Dempsey,
master of beasts,
confidante of
eccentric millionaires,
who's about to be
fabulously wealthy himself,
as are we all.
Wait, wait, let me get this
straight. You want to defend me?
Yeah.
- I can only pay you so much.
- That's okay. That's okay.
Seeing as how your uncle left me a lot
of money for doing practically nothing,
and I won't get a penny of it
until, uh, until this thing is settled,
I'd probably be looking
into this murder anyway,
so I might as well kill two
birds with one stone, right?
- Right.
- Yeah.
Uh, see, well, you
are pleading not guilty?
Of course.
Yeah, yeah.
How did...? How did your
credit-card receipt get in that car?
Well, I keep all my credit-card
receipts in my drawer at the office.
Somebody must have taken it
when I wasn't there, or wasn't looking.
Yeah.
You probably were framed
after the fact by somebody
that wanted to get this
investigation over as fast as possible.
But that somebody would
have to know that the police
considered you a suspect.
Who knew that they
were talking to you?
Everybody at the zoo, I guess.
Zoo?
Yeah, um...
Uncle Marvin owned
a children's zoo.
That's where my office is.
You know, when I was on
his boat the day he was killed,
he said something weird that
I kind of dismissed at the time.
My uncle was slightly paranoid.
He was always doing and
saying weird things, but...
But if I was framed by
somebody I knew at the zoo,
- maybe it wasn't so weird after all.
- What'd he say?
Well, he quoted
some bizarre line
from a Sherlock Holmes
book about the zoo. Uh...
"Creeping, shrinking
snake" or something.
Maybe he... Maybe
he knew something.
Maybe something is
going on over there.
Huh.
All right, send her in.
- Ms. Mclntyre. Ron Welker.
- Hello.
- Come in, please. Have a seat.
- Thank you.
- Can I get you something?
- No, I'm fine, thanks.
- Oh, sorry.
- Thank you.
I cannot tell you what a relief it is to
know that Rick is being represented
by someone of
your father's stature.
And yours, of course.
So, what can I do for you?
Well, my dad and I are proceeding
on the assumption that Rick is innocent,
and that whoever framed him
knew the police would
consider him a likely suspect.
I understand you were here that day
that the police came to question him?
Uh, yes. Yes, I was here.
So was my assistant,
Rick's assistant,
the four people who
take care of the animals,
and, uh, two maintenance men.
I also understand that
Mr. Estes wasn't very happy
with what was going on here.
What do you mean?
Marvin loved this place.
It was the only thing he owned
that didn't make him unhappy.
Who told you that, Rick?
He said the children's
zoo constantly lost money,
due largely to your
mismanagement of funds.
[SIGHS]
- No.
- Mm.
Number one,
do you know anything
about Marvin Estes?
Not that much.
Marvin was a lunatic.
I loved him. But he was crazy.
Whether this place
lost or made money
was never of any concern to him.
And number two, I have never
in my life mismanaged funds.
So then you feel that
purchasing five lions in two years
and selling each one of
them at a loss was justified?
We only have room
for two lions here, okay?
Finding two that are
compatible is not that easy.
Mm.
And what with the international
financial scene as chaotic as it is,
selling the ones that don't
work out is rarely profitable.
- And Mr. Estes understood that?
- Of course he did.
Rick doesn't because he's
nothing but a bean counter.
He has no idea what it takes
to run something like this.
I'm sorry, it's just that, uh,
to be accused of
incompetence like that or worse,
it's just...
It's irritating.
I understand how you feel.
I've probably taken
too much of your time.
I'll let you get back to
work. Nice to meet you.
Sure. Nice meeting you.
Bye-bye.
- Did you hear?
- Yeah.
Now, if one of you killed
Marvin, that was stupid enough.
But if you tried to pin
this on Rick Stafford,
that was the act
of a total moron!
I always pegged you
for the murderer, Elliot.
Very funny, Ron.
Because of somebody,
there's gonna be a lot
of unwanted attention
at the children's zoo.
All right, look. Maybe we
ought to just cool it for a while.
- Too late for that.
- Only thing we can do is stay calm.
And let's try to use our brains.
[GROWLING]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
BILLY: They can't
sue me too can they?
MATLOCK: Well...
This, uh, Kevin Hermanski,
he take your money?
Yeah.
I didn't know they weren't putting
flame retardant in the clothes.
I didn't know they had to.
I did wonder once or twice how
they was able to sell them so cheap.
Did you sign anything?
Yeah.
Remember what?
No.
Get copies of everything you
signed, and I'll look at them.
Thanks. I take back all the bad
things I ever said about you. Heh.
No, there'll always
be one or two.
[PHONE RINGING]
The phone's ringing.
Hello?
Oh, I... Uh... I have
no idea, Leanne.
Who...? Elliot Eagleton. I...
He was at the children's zoo?
Well, wait, are you sure
he hid while you were there?
Well... Well, of course.
MATLOCK: Rick said
that Elliot Eagleton
came to the children's zoo
often to see Ron Welker.
And that means he could've
known the police talked to Rick.
And he could've
stolen that receipt.
So you think Elliot Eagleton
killed Marvin Estes and framed Rick.
Yeah. Yeah, and set
up this phony Theresa,
so that she could
inherit the $200 million,
and then right away
hand it over to him.
Well, you could be right
about her being a fake.
She and her husband
are renting the house.
They moved in from
someplace out of town
- about a month ago.
- Yeah.
What did they do
with the real Theresa?
I don't know. That's
what's starting to bother me.
Well, look at this.
Typewriter ribbon.
Typewriter paper.
White-out.
I...
I don't remember seeing a
typewriter anywhere onboard, do you?
No, not at all.
You know how to scuba dive?
No.
No.
- No.
- Hell, it can't be that deep.
I'm not going in
that water, Ben.
- I'm freezing!
- You're wearing a rubber suit.
I don't care, I'm freezing.
- I'm coming out.
- No, no, no.
Try over there.
I'm cold. I'm coming out.
No. Try over there.
I'm not Jacques Cousteau.
Just try over there.
Okay, you were right.
Can I come out now?
Yeah. Come on out.
I'll get you a blanket.
"I saw a painting today
that reminded me of you,
or rather of a painting I saw
in Italy once of Saint Paul.
It reminded me of
you because... "What?
"that's what you are to me,"
yeah, "a S-A-I-N-T." A saint.
Hey, Cliff, look here.
Look how the... Look how the
tails of the G's and the Y's fall off.
See those little
holes in the S's?
CLIFF: Yeah. MATLOCK: Yeah.
They're the same.
All Theresa's letters were
typed on this typewriter.
Marvin Estes wrote
love letters to himself?
Well, everybody said
he was a little strange.
He was nuts.
Yeah. Ah.
[HUMMING]
You getting warm?
Theresa? Ah, Ben Matlock.
Yeah, I'm over... I'm over
here on the coast. I wonder, uh...
I wonder if I could come over
and talk with you for a few minutes.
Good. I... Great,
I'll be there at 4.
- He knows.
- How could he?
I'm telling you, he knows.
Hi, it's me. Ben Matlock just
called. I think he's figured it out.
Twenty minutes? Uh...
Yeah, we can be there.
I don't like this. It
doesn't feel right.
Will you please stop worrying?
For once in your life, trust me.
Why does it have to be here?
Why couldn't it be in town?
Anyway, he's late.
Bet you anything he
doesn't even show up.
He'll show.
There he is. I told you.
[GUNSHOTS]
[DOG BARKING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER ON RADIO]
[DOG WHINING AND BARKING]
OFFICER: So we've got a clear ID.
- Excuse me.
So much for your heiress.
She wasn't my heiress.
- She wasn't?
- No. She wasn't anybody's heiress.
I'll bet you anything Marvin
Estes made up the whole thing.
He made up this Theresa
Lavelle person, she didn't exist.
Old man Estes made
me executor in his will,
that's 2 percent of everything once
it's settled, but it won't be settled.
I'll run around here like a
chicken with my head cut off,
trying to figure this thing
out, and I won't make a dime.
Well, who's the body?
Somebody brought in, so somebody
else could collect that $200 million.
- She was a fake?
- Yeah, she was a fake.
And I'll bet you
another anything.
I'll bet you that that
person that hired her
was the same
person that killed her.
Well, you were right.
We checked their prints.
Theresa was really Suzie Barron,
and her husband was David Levine.
They were two small-time
con artists from Galveston.
- Their sheets are in there.
- Oh, good.
Any connection between
Elliot Eagleton and Ron Welker?
Well, none that
we've found so far.
None between them
and your client either, Ben.
Oh. Mm.
Well, I'm gonna
make a phone call.
- Thanks.
- Don't mention it.
Bye.
[HUMMING]
- Who you gonna call?
- Elliot Eagleton.
[CONTINUES HUMMING]
- You know the number?
- I'll dial.
[WHISTLING]
Uh, eh... Yeah.
Mr. Eagleton, please.
Oh, he's not? He's not.
Well, uh, ahem, it's kind of
important I, uh, get in touch with him.
I'm down here at the, uh... At the
jail. Could you tell me where he is?
Oh, okay. I'll try
there. Thanks.
Let's go to the zoo.
[LAUGHS]
Gorgeous.
- When will the others get here?
- Thursday afternoon.
They'll bring a fortune.
[PHONE RINGING]
Yes.
All right, give us a
minute, then send them in.
Ben Matlock and
his daughter are here.
- You take those, I'll go out back.
- I'm going with you.
Elliot, don't bother. It's
you they came to see.
Get going.
[CLEARS THROAT]
WELKER: Mr. Matlock. Ron
Welker. EAGLETON: Hello again, Ben.
Let's forget the handshakes
and, uh, get down to business.
You people are the closest things
to friends that Marvin Estes ever had.
According to the, uh, security
people who guarded his yacht,
you're about the only ones
who ever came to see him.
And so my guess is that
one or both of you found out
that Theresa Lavelle only existed in
Marvin Estes' poor, sad, lonely mind,
and one or both of
you tried to cash in on it.
What are you talking about?
Suzie Barron.
The con artist that
one or both of you hired
to pretend to be
Theresa Lavelle,
hoping, through her, you could
get hold of Marvin Estes' estate.
The woman somebody
shot yesterday.
Wait a minute. You're
saying she was a fake?
Yeah.
Mr. Matlock, if you'll recall,
you and your daughter found her.
And it was a great way to
convince us and everyone else
that she was the real McCoy.
You knew we would read those letters.
You knew we would track her down.
I deeply resent these totally
unfounded accusations.
Look, you're a lawyer. Isn't
this slanderous or something?
If any of this gets repeated
outside these walls,
you're in deep trouble
indeed, counselor.
These two people were killed
less than an hour after I called them.
Somehow, there's a connection
between them and one of you.
And you tried to be sure that
connection was never found.
Get the hell out of here.
We'll find that connection.
Make sure of that.
- Shall we go, Dad?
- Yeah.
It's always a
pleasure, gentlemen.
How could you do it?
After I stood here
and I told you and Nick,
in no uncertain terms,
not to do anything stupid!
We didn't do anything stupid.
At least, I didn't.
LEANNE: Well, hopefully
that rattled their cages.
They should have put
Marvin Estes in a cage.
I ought not to talk
about him like that,
but leaving his whole estate
to somebody who doesn't exist.
This thing will be in
probate till the year 2010.
I'll never make 19 cents.
- Dad, Dad.
- Huh?
See that guy over there?
He was with Elliot Eagleton the
day I came to see Ron Welker.
They talked all the
way to Eagleton's car.
MATLOCK: You sure?
- Yeah, I'm sure.
Huh. I wonder who he is.
Elliot Eagleton's a lawyer,
this guy feeds animals.
I wonder what they
have in common.
Maybe the animals' diets.
[CHUCKLING]
Big, uh, dark hair, beard?
- That's him. MATLOCK: Yeah.
That's Nick Dempsey,
chief animal handler.
Elliot Eagleton's a
high-priced lawyer.
Why would he be talking
to him about the animals?
I always wondered that myself.
- And they talked a lot?
STAFFORD: Mm-hm.
Whatever they said was always brief,
always quiet, and always in private.
I wonder if your uncle Marvin
knew what they were talking about.
I don't know. Maybe
that's why he's dead.
[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]
WAITER: You need a reservation.
- She's not wearing a tie.
All I wanna do is talk
to my lawyer. Hey, Ben.
Thank God, I found you. You
gotta explain something to me.
Billy, I'm with a
client. Ask Cliff.
BILLY: I can't find Cliff. It's
a matter of life and death.
So is this.
Billy Lewis.
Welcome to the club.
This was delivered
to me this morning.
What's it mean?
Mm.
It means the Consumer Protection
Unit of the state attorney general's office
is bringing an action for
enforcement and fine for willful violation
of the Child Safety Act of 1989.
What the hell's that mean?
You and your friends are
being sued for $5 million.
[WHIMPERS]
- Hi. LEANNE: Hi.
Got your message.
What's the job?
- Well, it's...
- A murder case?
Cliff, it's...
It's not very big.
That's okay, really.
[SIGHS]
Actually, it's...
- Very challenging, right?
- Ugh.
- How do I say this?
- Personal injury? Wrongful death.
We want you to go undercover.
- Undercover?
- At the children's zoo.
- Undercover at the zoo?
- It's only for a couple of days.
Oh...
I just had this conversation
with your father.
I'm an accredited
attorney. I take depositions.
I wear suits.
I... I don't scuba
dive for a living. I...
Cliff...
I don't wanna go
undercover at the zoo.
Why not? You are
great with animals.
Leanne, I grew up on a farm.
Cows, I'm great with. Uh,
chickens, I'm great with.
Tigers, lions, boa constrictors,
I wouldn't be so great.
Oh, Cliff, we wouldn't ask you
unless we were really in a bind.
- Leanne.
- Please?
These animals eat
lawyers for lunch.
CLIFF: Nick Dempsey?
Yeah.
Cliff Lewis.
- I talked to you on the phone.
- Oh, right. Right.
I called a couple of your references.
Said you were a solid employee.
Especially that trainer
you worked for in Atlanta.
He gave you a great
recommendation.
Oh. Okay. I never worked in a
zoo before, but I'm a fast learner.
- Ha, ha. Found an apartment yet?
- Still looking.
We can put you in the maintenance
building till you find something.
You mean I got the job?
Come on, I'll
show you the place.
Then you can start
cleaning out the cages.
Great.
[SQUAWKS]
DEMPSEY: Lewis.
- Yes.
I need help over
at the panther pen.
- Right now?
- Yeah, come on.
Do you have them?
They're right here.
They're all of this quality?
Yes.
When will they be here?
You'll get them Thursday night.
Two hundred thousand now,
600,000 upon receipt of the others.
Provided they're the
same grade as these.
Deal.
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
EAGLETON: What do
you mean tomorrow?
It's okay. They're keeping the llama
in quarantine an extra day, that's all.
These things happen.
The llama will be here bright and
early tomorrow morning. No problem.
Make sure Ron tells McEvoy we won't
be making delivery until Friday night.
After this we're
gonna have to cool it.
For a couple of
months, maybe for good.
This murder screwed
up everything.
You worry too much, Elliot.
[LAUGHS]
All right, load her up again and
I'll meet you over at the tiger cage.
Right.
- Mr. Dempsey.
- Good boy.
Hi. I'm Leanne Mclntyre.
Oh, yeah, I know who you are.
You're that broad who
works for Ben Matlock.
Well, actually,
I'm his daughter.
Gonna harass me the way
you've been harassing Mr. Welker?
Oh, I haven't been
harassing him.
Mr. Eagleton? You've been
staying in his face pretty good too.
Well, while we're
on the subject,
I hear you and
Mr. Eagleton are pretty tight.
- I know the guy.
- I'll say you do.
Every time he comes here,
you two go off somewhere
and do a lot of whispering.
- Says who?
- Rick Stafford.
- Oh, well, sure.
- And me.
I've seen you.
What do you talk about?
Maybe that land you
bought in Costa Rica.
Great piece of
property, I understand.
Waterfront, very
expensive. You paid cash.
Would you mind telling me
how you did that on your salary?
Word to the wise, lady.
Keep your nose
out of my business.
Oh, come on, you can tell
me. What do you two talk about?
Animals.
Elliot just loves animals.
[DOOR BELL RINGING]
Ben?
- Son.
- Dad, what are you doing here?
Looking for Ben. Ben?
He not here, Dad.
I left four messages on
his answering machine.
You'd think with my life
hanging by a shoe string,
he'd have the decency to
return one of my calls. Ben?
- Dad, he's not here.
- My trial begins in two hours
and my attorney's probably
out chasing some pretty blond.
- Now, that's just...
- Couldn't care less I could go broke.
Dad. Dad, he'll be here, I promise
you, if you've got a court date.
He's on another case.
Just to be on the safe side,
why don't you come with me,
- in case he doesn't show?
- I can't.
- Why not?
- Heh.
I gotta go to the zoo.
- The zoo?
- Yeah, I'm on a case.
You know the other
case that Ben has?
I'm... I'm on it. I'm...
I'm sort of undercover.
- Doing what?
- Um...
Kind of cleaning
up after the animals.
I didn't put you
through law school
so Ben Matlock could have you tending
to the sanitation problems of a monkey.
- It's not like that.
- You're a lawyer!
Stand up and act like one!
What's the matter with you?
Dad, nothing's the...
Dad. Dad, it's okay.
Nothing's the matter with me.
He'll be there, I promise you.
But can you do me a favor?
Since you're gonna see him first,
will you give him
a message for me?
Please? Please.
BILLY: Where you been?
I was at the coast all morning.
Gee, you look nice, Billy.
Thanks. I phoned
your place four times.
- They call the case yet?
- They said any minute now.
Yeah, well, just relax.
You like tormenting
me, don't you, Ben?
It's that mean streak of yours.
First you make a mental
case out of my sister,
now you try to give me a stroke.
- You want me to go home?
- No.
Uh, I saw Cliff. He, uh... He
gave me a message for you.
I'm supposed to
be able to read this?
I was nervous, my
hand was shaking.
- Why didn't Cliff write it?
- He didn't have a pencil.
What's it say?
Said, "He overheard
Elliot Esolman..."
Eagleton.
"and Nick Dumpster..."
- Dempsey.
- Yeah.
He overheard them talking.
"They said the llama's being
delivered tomorrow morning.
And after that,
they're gonna cool it."
Llama?
- You sure he said llama?
- Yeah.
- Pretty sure.
- What else?
Uh, he said he's real unhappy
about this undercover work.
He wishes you'd let him be a
lawyer. The boy worked as hard...
Billy, what about the llama?
What'd he mean about the llama?
I don't know.
What's he want me
to do about the llama?
I don't know.
Billy, one of these days...
BAILIFF: State of Georgia v.
Hermanski, Lewis, Foster and Smith.
Oh, that's us.
Come on.
Mr. Matlock, you have a motion
to sever your client
from these proceedings?
Uh, yes, sir, I do, Your Honor.
Uh, it's totally improper
for my client to be here.
These gentlemen
are culpable, he is not.
Your Honor, these
men, Mr. Lewis included,
are, by valid
contract, partners.
They rode in together,
they should hang together.
I think I'll hear
testimony on this.
MATLOCK: Mr. Lewis,
would you please tell the judge
what you do for a living?
[QUIETLY] I'm a
farmer, semi-retired.
Say again.
I'm a farmer, semi-retired.
Would you say that you're a
man of, um, substantial means?
- Huh?
- Do you have a lot of money?
What's that got to
do with anything?
Just answer the question.
Well, I ain't exactly
rich. I got some money.
Least, I used to.
What do you mean, you used to?
Practically everything I
had went into those dolls.
Ten thousand dollars.
And I borrowed another
10 grand on top of that.
Hmm. How'd you
hear about these dolls?
Mr. Hermanski told me
his dolls were a sure thing.
He told me if I'd
give him $20,000,
I was almost sure to double
my money within a month.
Mr. Hermanski a friend of yours?
I didn't know him from Adam.
Is he in the courtroom today?
He's the guy sitting over
there, Ben. You know who it is.
Which guy?
The one in the blue suit.
Mr. Lewis, were you aware
that the company you invested in
was selling dolls that
were made in direct violation
of the Georgia Child
Safety Act of 1989?
I told you I didn't know that.
Do you know what
a general partner is?
No. Don't know that either.
Why you asking me
questions like that?
Just answer... Were you aware
that you were a general partner
in Weird Wally
Dolls Incorporated?
No.
You're making me
look like an idiot, Ben.
Just answer the questions.
You signed a contract. Didn't
you read it before you signed it?
Sure I read it.
Doesn't mean I understood it.
JUDGE: I think
I've heard enough.
Is there any particular reason
why you wanted to press charges
against Mr. Lewis here?
Yes, Your Honor.
He's a general partner, and
as such, he should be liable.
A willful act requires at least a
modicum of knowledge, Mr. Price.
I'm going to entertain a defense motion
to dismiss all charges against this man.
So moved.
No objection.
Mr. Lewis, you're free to go.
You know, Ben,
you made me look like
a real jackass in there.
Thank you.
MATLOCK: Leanne?
Hi. I have been through every
nook and cranny of this place.
If there is a connection
between those two con artists
- and one of our suspects, it's not here.
- Hmm.
Did you get anything
out of Nick Dempsey?
- Not much.
- Oh, this is hard, isn't it?
It's very hard. How'd court go?
Oh, Billy loves me
because I got him off.
[CHUCKLES]
Pretty soon we're gonna have
to get a job where we get paid.
[LAUGHS]
I went by the bank
on my way over here.
The Lavelles, or whoever
you wanna call them,
opened up a checking
account about a month ago.
Since Lieutenant Andrews
said they were from Galveston,
I thought there was
some kind of bank transfer.
- Was there?
- No.
They had $20,000 in cash, and a
lot of very legitimate-looking IDs.
The only checks they wrote were to
the man they rented this place from,
the utility companies,
and the grocery store.
No long-distance
phone calls, either.
- Not even to Galveston.
- Mm.
They really knew what
they were doing, didn't they?
- Did you check that?
- No, not yet.
MAN [ON MACHINE]: Hello?
You there? I hope you can hear this.
[JACKHAMMER POUNDING
IN DISTANCE ON MACHINE]
There's some construction work
going on outside. Driving me bananas.
Anyway, I got your
message. Very interesting.
[CHURCH BELLS RINGING
IN DISTANCE ON MACHINE]
We'll have a lot to talk about,
mate. Call me after 7, my time.
LEANNE: Long distance.
- English accent?
- Australian?
I wonder where he
was calling him from.
Probably a phone booth.
Did you check the trash can?
Oh.
I haven't been to Galveston
in I don't know how long.
- What do you think?
- Couldn't hurt.
No.
[SNORING]
[RATTLING]
[GRUNTS]
[GRUNTS]
[GRUNTS]
[MACHINERY HUMMING]
Hi.
You wanna go for a walk?
MAN: Hey, look. Look at that.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
[LAUGHING]
Whoa! Whoa, good boy. Good boy.
Don't get the chance
to examine many llamas.
So what'd you find?
Well, his teeth could
use a little looking after.
But, uh, other than
that, he seems just fine.
- That's it?
- That's it.
- Nothing unusual?
- Nope.
And you looked...?
You looked everywhere?
If this animal's being used to
smuggle some kind of contraband
into the country, I'll
eat my medical degree.
[GROANS]
[HUMMING]
You sure you don't want
me to take you to the airport?
- I got 20 minutes. I should be fine.
- Okay.
Oh, oh, oh! I promised
Judge Cooksey we'd...
Would you tell him
I'll call him next week?
- I'll do it right now.
- Okay.
- Have a safe trip. Bye.
- Thanks. Bye.
Hello, Ben.
- Billy, I'm just on my...
- These are for you.
- They need water.
- Oh, oh, all right. Thanks.
Uh, ahem.
There. Uh, there you go.
You don't like them.
Uh, I like them, Billy...
You helped me, Ben.
I'm trying to say thank you.
- You're welcome.
- And I'm trying to help you.
Some people might think
you're a tough, uncaring,
unfeeling, tightwad,
rich person.
And while you are,
I believe somewhere,
hidden in there,
is a somewhat sweet,
kind, almost giving person.
I'm trying to show
you you can be likable.
You finally, for whatever
your hidden reason,
did something good. For me.
And I'm trying to help you
get that little good part of you
out from under all
the muck and mire.
Billy, I... I don't
know what to say.
But I guess I'll just
have to keep being
my same jackass self
and catch my plane.
I've got everybody out fanning
the area. Couldn't have gotten far.
Well, well, well. Look at that.
DEMPSEY: Hey, what
in the hell are you doing?
He got away from me.
What do you mean
he got away from you?
What were you doing
with him in the first place?
I saw his cage needed to
be cleaned, so I cleaned it.
When I went in there,
something spooked him,
he knocked me over and ran away.
I've been chasing him
all over the city ever since.
How'd he get through the gate?
Jumped right over it.
Oh, you should have seen.
All right. Nice job.
Put him back inside.
Hey, when are we
gonna put him in the pen?
Soon as we finish
redoing the drainage.
Okay, come on.
Come on.
Hold on.
There you go.
You said you were
gonna take care of him.
- I thought I had.
- What happened?
- Who knows?
- Look, we're better off anyway.
Oh, come on. This proves
he's working for Ben Matlock.
He heard you talking
about the llama yesterday,
so he stole him so they
could have him checked out.
Yeah, and they
didn't find anything.
That means they still go
no idea what's going on.
Maybe we should
get the stones out now.
No. We are going to remain calm.
As long as we keep our
friend away from the cage,
we are home free. All right?
You stole a llama?
Just long enough to have
him checked out by a vet.
He couldn't find
anything, though.
- Nothing?
- I'll tell you what I wanna know is,
who put the rattlesnake
in my bed last night?
What did you say?
I said somebody
put a rattlesnake...
There's Dem... Dempsey's
coming. I gotta go.
Somebody put a
rattlesnake in your bed?
- Yeah. Bye.
- Cliff. Ugh.
LEANNE: Hi.
- Hello, Mr. Eagleton.
- What are you doing here?
Hi, Mr. Dempsey.
Good to see you again.
You just can't seem to get
enough of this place, can you?
This harassment has got to stop.
Now leave or I'll call the police.
No need. The
police are right here.
Elliot Eagleton, Nick Dempsey,
I'd like you to meet
Lieutenant Andrews.
He's with Homicide.
Gentlemen. We're looking for a friend
of Miss Mclntyre's named Cliff Lewis.
- Never heard of him.
- Oh, I have. He works here.
I hired him last week.
Friend of yours, huh?
- Where is he?
- Well, the last time I saw him
he was working on a
pen for our new llama.
Come on, I'll take you over.
- What the hell is going on here?
- Lewis.
Somebody here to see you.
- Is that him?
- Yeah.
ANDREWS: He looks okay to me.
What, is there a problem?
You bet there is.
See what's going on?
That man is a spy,
hired by Ben Matlock and
his daughter to find something,
anything that would involve
this zoo with his client's trial.
- Wheel barrows.
- Wheel barrows?
Oh, it's this little story
my dad told me once.
You see, there was
this cement factory.
And every day, one of
the guys who worked there
would leave with a
wheel barrow full of sand.
Now, the guard figured the
guy was stealing something,
so every day he would
sift through the sand,
and every day he
wouldn't find anything.
That went on for ten days.
Next day the guy quit.
Day after that, huh,
somebody went to the depot
to get a wheel barrow.
And what do you think?
No wheel barrows.
He'd stolen every
last one of them.
What are you talking about?
It's not the llama,
it's the cage.
- Hey, what are you doing? Stop that.
- Hold it. Hold it.
Leanne, what are you doing?
[LEANNE GASPS]
Oh, raw, undeclared diamonds.
From Peru, maybe.
Wonder what they were
gonna do with these?
[CHURCH BELLS
RINGING IN DISTANCE]
[JACKHAMMER POUNDING]
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
MAN: Take it easy.
WOMAN: Goodbye.
MAN: Thanks for lunch.
Hi. What can I get you?
Uh, give me a real light beer.
Coming up.
We have mutual friends.
Oh, yeah? Who?
David Levine and Suzie Barron.
- David...?
- Levine?
- And Suzie...?
- Suzie Barron.
Barron.
- Never heard of them.
- Sure you have.
I was at their house.
There was nobody home,
but look what I
found in the garbage.
Looks like they were regulars.
- Lots of people come here.
- Yeah, but you called them.
That house they rented in
Georgia. Left a message.
- I don't know what you're talking about.
- Sure you do.
The church bells, jack hammer in
the construction across the street.
Your accent. I know it was you.
You've had quite
enough already. Get out.
Those people were killed.
But you obviously know that.
You may be an accessory.
What, are you a cop?
No. But I know a lot of cops.
If you don't talk to me, I might
introduce you to some of them.
Well, if Marvin Estes knew
about the diamond smuggling,
why didn't he say something?
Maybe he didn't know.
Maybe he just suspected
and said something
to the wrong person.
- What are you doing?
- I'm looking for whatever we missed.
My hands are really killing
me. I got blisters all over them
from cleaning out all
those animal cages.
Well, that's what you get.
There's got to be
something in here.
- Did Marvin Estes wear glasses?
- No.
Look at this.
Mr. Welker, Marvin Estes
hired you to do what?
To be the curator of the
children's zoo he owned.
And as curator, you decided
which animals would be
bought and sold, that sort of thing.
- That was part of it, yes.
- Mm-hm.
My client says that
Mr. Estes believed
that something untoward was
going on at the children's zoo.
Did he ever say anything
about that to you?
No, never.
How about your friends,
Mr. Eagleton, Mr. Dempsey?
You think he might have
mentioned it to one of them?
WELKER: Not as far as I know.
So Mr. Estes had no idea
that you and your friends
were smuggling diamonds
into the country in cages
of imported animals.
- Objection. WELKER:
I don't have to answer.
MATLOCK: I'll rephrase.
You, Mr. Eagleton
and Mr. Dempsey
were arrested last
week on what charge?
- Smuggling.
- So something untoward
was going on at
the children's zoo.
Just because we were charged
doesn't mean we're guilty.
Oh, I can't argue with that, no, I
can't. Can't argue with that. No, no.
Uh, who would you say, uh,
was Mr. Estes' best friend?
Me, probably.
So you knew that he was capable
of some pretty strange behavior.
Everyone around him knew that.
But you were the
only one who knew
this Theresa Lavelle
person didn't exist, right?
No, I thought she existed.
You didn't visit his boat one
day and accidentally come across
one of those letters he
had typed to himself?
WELKER: No.
MATLOCK: I'll bet you your friend
and Mr. Estes' lawyer, Mr. Eagleton,
told you that Marvin Estes
had left his entire estate
to a woman named
Theresa Lavelle, right?
Yes. But...
MATLOCK: You didn't
tell him she didn't exist.
Because that's when you
came up with your big plan.
Kill two birds with one stone.
Make sure that Marvin Estes
would never point the finger
at your smuggling operation.
And by bringing in a
phony Theresa Lavelle,
you saw your opportunity to get
your hands on that $200 million.
That is a lie.
I never lie in
court, Mr. Welker.
Never. I know better.
Never lie in court.
Tell us, uh... Tell us
who Alvin Leacock is.
- I'm sorry, Alvin who?
- The gentleman right over there.
He's from Galveston.
And he's prepared to
testify that Suzie Barron,
the woman who impersonated
Theresa Lavelle, was a friend of his.
And that he's a
friend of yours too.
You wanna tell us the
rest of it, Mr. Welker?
- There's nothing to tell.
MATLOCK: Come on now.
Tell us how Mr. Leacock
recruited Suzie Barron
and David Levine to
play her husband for you.
Tell us how he acted
as a go-between
so there could never be any
connection between you and them.
Tell us how you
used him to tell them
all the things that were
typed in all those letters,
knowing that people
like me would use that
to track down this
Theresa person.
You wanna tell us,
Mr. Welker? If you don't, he will.
I have no idea what
you're talking about.
[CHUCKLING]
You broke into a car that
night, set off the alarm,
to lure the guard off
Marvin Estes' boat.
- No.
- A car in which you placed
a credit-card receipt
that you had stolen
- from my client's office to frame him.
- That's not true, either.
After the guard left the boat, you
went aboard, wearing a wetsuit.
- No.
- You... You had with you
the bottle of sleeping pills that
you got with a phony prescription.
You found a bottle
of Scotch in the bar.
A bottle on which my client
had the misfortune to leave
his fingerprints earlier that day.
You took that bottle
of Scotch, of course,
wearing the gloves from
your wetsuit. No fingerprints.
You went below, where
Marvin Estes lay asleep.
You grabbed his head and started
forcing sleeping pills in his mouth
- and washing them down with Scotch.
- No.
You forced sleeping pill after
sleeping pill down his throat
till he finally passed out.
Then you went
upstairs to the salon,
found the typewriter,
grabbed your mask,
went up to the deck, threw
the typewriter in the bay,
so that no one would ever know
that Theresa Lavelle was a
figment of Marvin Estes' imagination.
Then you jumped in the bay
yourself and made your escape.
No. Not one word
of that is true.
Every word of it's
true and I can prove it.
We found this mask
on Marvin Estes'
yacht three days ago,
it was removed by the
police with a warrant.
Everybody assumed it
belonged to Marvin Estes
because he was such
an avid scuba diver.
But it didn't. It
belongs to you.
You were in such a hurry to
leave the scene of the crime,
you picked up the
wrong mask, didn't you?
- That's not my mask.
- Yes, it is.
These lenses were specially
ground for a nearsighted person.
Marvin Estes had
perfect eyesight.
Didn't even need to
wear reading glasses.
You're nearsighted.
It isn't my mask.
The record at Merrill
Opticians on Larime Street,
where these lenses were specially
ground and fitted, show that it is.
All right, wait a minute,
wait a minute, wait a minute.
Come to think of it, I haven't
seen mine around the house.
Maybe it is my mask.
Look, I probably left it there the
last time Marvin and I went diving.
When was that?
- A couple of weeks before his death.
- No.
According to Merrill Opticians,
this mask was picked up the
afternoon Marvin Estes was murdered.
I guess you knew you'd
be needing it that night.
Wanna try it on,
see how it fits?
[SINGING INDISTINCTLY]
Well, here they come.
I got mustard, ketchup,
relish, sauerkraut.
- A man after my own heart.
- Oh, there you go.
BILLY: Hey, Ben?
Hope you like this one.
Where do you want me to plant
it? It's gotta be in the sun, you know.
It's kind of dead.
Just needs some water.
Oh, I almost forgot.
Here's a cashier's check.
Good news is you
can cash it any time.
The bad news is there
are 27 distant relatives
suing for a share of
Uncle Marvin's estate.
- Twenty-seven?
- Mm-hm.
They just keep crawling
out of the woodwork.
It's gonna be a while
before you get your cut.
Several decades.
BILLY: Water pressure's low. I'll fix it.
- Don't bother.
BILLY: One turn of the
wrench, Ben, that's all it'll take.
- What is he doing?
- Oh, he's trying to repay me but...
He doesn't know
anything about plumbing.
Billy, no.
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
DORAN: Just hold it right there.
Uh, Mr. Estes. I didn't
realize it was you, sir.
It's my boat, you idiot.
What's the matter with you?
Uh, yes, sir, I didn't
realize you'd gone off.
Good.
Mr. Stafford is onboard,
sir. He's in the salon.
What'd you let him onboard for?
- He is your nephew.
- I don't care if he's the King of France.
Nobody comes onboard
without permission.
Yes, sir. It won't
happen again, sir.
He wash his hands?
Yes, sir. I heard him.
STAFFORD: Well...
- Out on the town, I see.
- What are you doing here?
Well, this is what you get for
not answering my phone calls.
I didn't feel like talking
to you. Still don't.
So leave.
I, uh...
I hear you cut
me out of your will.
Is that Scotch?
It's all right, Uncle
Marvin, I washed my hands.
Who told you?
- Elliot Eagleton. He let it slip.
- Agh.
Lawyers. Bane of my existence.
- So it's true?
- Yeah, yeah. It's true.
What old Blabberton
said is true, so leave.
But why? Uncle Marvin, I have
served you faithfully for 15 years.
- You get paid.
- But I've protected you.
I've made sure every
one of your investments,
no matter how outrageous, has at
least broken even, if not made a profit.
There is nothing outrageous
about my investments.
[LAUGHS]
An amusement park
in Tierra del Fuego?
Uh, a company that makes
X-ray machines designed
to see inside of mummies?
A children's zoo?
You just don't appreciate
the educational things in life.
Anybody else would have stood
by and collected their paycheck
while your estate took a bath.
But me, I shopped, I bargained,
I oversaw, I looked out for you.
Sure. So you could
rob me blind later.
I never stole one cent from you.
As Sherlock Holmes said:
"Do you feel a creeping,
shrinking sensation, Watson,
when you stand before
the serpents in the zoo?"
Uncle Marvin, you need help.
- I'm going to bed. Leave.
- No. No.
No. Not until we
straighten this thing out.
Hey, Mr. Rent-a-fuzz!
Get out here.
I don't know what anybody said to
you, but I've never stolen from you.
- Get this man off my boat!
- You can't do this.
- This isn't fair.
- Come on.
I'm the only one around here
who's not taking advantage of you!
[ALARM WAILING]
[ALARM CHIRPS THEN STOPS]
MAN: Oh, man.
- Is this yours?
- Yeah.
Aw, no, they got
my stereo. Beautiful.
Just beautiful.
[GRUNTING]
[GAGS]
[SPLASHING]
No. No, no, I'm not interested.
Billy, I'm not interested.
Billy. Billy. I'm
not interested.
All right, bring it on over.
Billy Lewis.
Yeah, he wants me to invest
in some kind of toy company.
- Oh, you're not going to, are you?
- No.
But he won't take no for an
answer till he shows me the toys.
[DOORBELL RINGS]
Well, that was fast.
It's not Billy.
- Hi. Elliot Eagleton.
- Yeah. Ben Matlock.
Come on in here.
Uh, Leanne Mclntyre,
this is Elliot Eagleton,
Mr. Estes' attorney.
- Hello.
- My daughter and, uh, my associate.
Nice to meet you. I'm
so sorry. What a tragedy.
The news said it was a suicide?
- Totally unexpected.
- Yeah.
Come on in and sit down.
There you go. Ahem.
- Uh, would you like some coffee?
- Oh, no, thanks.
- Piece of toast?
- Ha-ha-ha.
No. I'm fine.
Would, uh...? Would it
be all right if I smoked?
Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Eagleton, my
dad's allergic to cigarette smoke.
That's okay, go ahead.
Well, I can wait.
Well, let's get to work.
Well, uh, as I
said on the phone,
Mr. Estes left his entire
estate to a Theresa Lavelle.
Just one person?
I drew up the will for him
myself not two months ago.
Should make your job
pretty straightforward.
What job?
Uh, I'm the executor
of Marvin Estes' estate.
You're what?
EAGLETON: Your father,
upon completion of his duties,
is to receive 2 percent
of all disbursements.
You're a lucky man.
Such things are
rarely done anymore.
[CHUCKLES]
I didn't even know you knew him.
I met him in the men's
room at the courthouse.
He was, uh, washing
his hands. Or trying to.
There wasn't any soap.
So I went to the custodian
and got him some.
And he said it was the nicest
thing anybody ever did for him.
And I introduced
myself, Ben Matlock.
And he said, "Great. I'll
make you executor of my will."
And he did.
Heh.
Well, he was strange.
"Eccentric" was the
term he preferred.
How much was his estate worth?
- Two hundred million dollars.
- About two hundred million dollars.
EAGLETON: Well,
anyway, Mr. Matlock,
while the job at hand
is straightforward,
it may not be simple.
We've made a few
preliminary inquiries,
but nobody seems to know who
or where this Theresa Lavelle is.
We'll find her.
So Ben stands to make
$4 million from this deal?
LEANNE: Yeah,
something like that.
But he doesn't get his money until
this woman named Theresa gets hers.
I'm gonna be a lot
nicer to the people I meet
in the men's room from
now on, that's for sure.
Cliff, I think I've
found something.
"To my beloved Marvin,
yours forever, Theresa."
- Love letters.
- Is the return address on them?
No.
There's no envelopes
in here. Just the letters.
Oh, now, this is weird.
"To my dearest Theresa,"
and it's from Marvin.
What would he be doing
with his letters to her?
Hey, you wanna see
something even weirder?
Liquid aspirin.
No pills.
Not a single one.
MATLOCK: That's the
ugliest doll I've ever seen.
BILLY: Ugly sells, Ben.
First Cabbage Patch Kids,
then Trolls, now this, Weird Wally.
Gonna be big, real big.
That's really dumb, Billy.
Who would wanna spend
money on a thing like that?
Looks like a rotten
potato in drag.
They just test marketed
it in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Went right through the roof.
This is the investment
opportunity of a lifetime.
Why you trying
to get me in on it?
You don't like me, remember?
So? Uh...
Maybe I changed
my mind about you.
Maybe to get in on the ground
floor, I need 20 grand, all I got's 10.
Maybe I figure a
rich tightwad like you
could raise that much
money in his sleep.
That's good.
That's... Honesty's
the best policy.
- Then you'll go in with me?
- Not a chance.
You're making a big mistake.
Hi, Dad.
If you had a kid, you'd buy
her a doll like this, wouldn't you?
Well, I don't
know, I might. Heh.
- Actually, he's kind of cute.
- Jackass.
- Dad mad at you again?
- Yeah.
- Did you find anything?
- A little.
It seems Marvin Estes
and this Theresa lady
were writing love letters to
each other for close to a year.
For some reason, he
had both sets of letters.
- Hmm. Did you get an address?
- No, only the letters.
- No envelopes, no addresses.
- And not a pill in sight.
Not even a cold tablet.
We did find some liquid aspirin.
I called the doctor
who prescribed it.
He told me something
very strange.
The old man couldn't take pills.
He had some kind
of phobia against it.
All his prescriptions
had to be in liquid form.
Marvin Estes died of an
overdose of sleeping pills.
- The autopsy confirmed
it. CLIFF: Hmm.
Doesn't sound much
like suicide, does it?
ANDREWS: So they were arguing?
Yeah, yelling at
each other, I'll say.
Mr. Stafford, I heard him
mainly, but he was mad.
Any idea about what?
No, but when I escorted him
off the ship, he was so mad,
I couldn't understand
what he was saying.
ANDREWS: Escorted him off the ship?
- Yeah. Mr. Estes asked me to.
- What time was this?
- A little before 6.
Well, what happened after that?
Well, Mr. Stafford drove
off, Mr. Estes went to sleep,
and I stood watch on
deck until 7 in the morning
when Jimmy relieved me.
- You never left the
boat? DORAN: No, sir.
Uh, wait a minute. I did leave, but
just for a couple of minutes. Uh...
Car alarm went off
over on the shore.
And when I went
over to take a look,
somebody had ripped
off a radio out of his car.
And you were gone only
what, a couple of minutes?
Four or five at the most.
So somebody could
have slipped onboard
while you were off the boat.
DORAN: I guess. Uh...
But when I came back, there
was a splash off the port bow,
and when I went to take a
look, I didn't see anything.
Maybe that's when the
killer slipped off the boat.
Well, thanks, Mr. Doran.
You've been a great help.
Uh, this woman Mr. Estes was seeing,
this Theresa, what'd she look like?
Mr. Estes had a girlfriend?
- News to me.
- Thanks, Mr. Doran.
Now, let me guess.
When Marvin Estes changed
his will two months ago,
he cut his nephew
out of it. Am I right?
Left everything to Theresa.
Means Mr. Stafford had a motive.
Ha, ha, oh, well,
so did this Theresa.
Two hundred million dollars.
Here they are. Marvin
Estes' love letters.
- Oh, great.
- And Theresa's.
I got photocopies from
Lieutenant Andrews.
Excellent.
What is that?
I've decided that I'm
gonna start eating healthy.
It's a vegetable sandwich.
Would you like one?
Uh, no, thanks.
Okay, why don't you read
Marvin's letters from Theresa,
and I will take
Theresa's to Marvin.
- Okay.
- You know, it's so interesting.
She typed all of hers. I wonder if
she was a secretary or something.
Uh-huh. Oh, wow.
- What? What does he say?
- Wow.
"My dear Theresa.
All my life I've waited
for a woman like you.
Yes, you are beautiful.
But it's the way that
your green eyes"...
- She has green eyes.
- Green eyes.
"The way your green
eyes see into my soul.
The way you can
understand my pain,
that makes me know
I'll love you forever."
LEANNE: Hmm.
All right. "My darling Marvin.
I saw a painting today
that reminded me of you.
Or rather, a painting I saw
in Italy once, of Saint Paul.
It reminded me of you, because that's
what you are to me, my love, a saint."
Italy? If she's a secretary, she
must be a very well paid one.
Mm, yeah. Yeah.
Oh, hey, wait. Look.
How about this one?
"I long to see the
sun reflecting gold
in the tousled halo of
your lovely brown hair."
Brown hair.
"And for the warmth of your
smile to fill me once again.
My life began
the day I met you."
- Mm.
- Mm.
LEANNE: "Watching you and
Jake play in the sand yesterday
made me feel the way you
looked, like a child full of joy,
grateful for today, and
eager for tomorrow.
Crystal has become
very special to me,
because you're special to me.
Yours forever, Marvin."
Ugh.
Sounds like teenage
puppy love to me.
You know, everyone
says Marvin Estes
was so impossible
to get along with,
but there was this side of
him, this very sweet side of him,
that nobody ever knew.
Mm, uh... I guess you're right.
Hey, wanna go over them again?
- Yeah, but let's take five first.
- Agh.
Wonderful.
REPORTER [ON TV]: In
a story that has become
as big of a mystery
as the man himself,
there is new information
regarding the death of Marvin Estes
which has caused
authorities to question
whether the death of the
multimillionaire recluse
was murder, and not a
suicide, as first reported.
One of the persons
being sought in the case
is a woman named
Theresa Lavelle,
who WNJH has just
learned is the sole heir
to Marvin Estes'
multimillion dollar estate.
MAN [ON TV]: And
in a related story, we...
WOMAN: Hey. Okay, here it comes.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
[WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
Okay, that sounds good.
All right. Look, I gotta go.
I'll see you tomorrow at 10.
Right. Bye-bye.
Morning, Ricardo.
- What's up?
- Listen, Ron.
This is very difficult for me,
but I'm dumping this place.
- Ha-ha-ha. What do you mean?
- It's losing money.
An investment loses
money, I've gotta dump it.
It's not yours to dump.
It belongs to Marvin's estate.
And until I'm fired,
it's my responsibility
to see his estate makes
money, not loses it.
All right, look, look, look.
Having his own personal children's
zoo meant a lot to your uncle.
I've gotta dump it.
With all due respect, Rick, I
don't think you know enough
about this business to make
an arbitrary decision like that.
It's losing money, Ron.
Well, all zoos lose money
in the first few years.
All right. Here's the truth.
Marvin was convinced
something was going on,
and I wanna put
an end to it now.
Wait a minute. What are you talking
about, "something else was going on"?
What kind of an
insinuation is that?
Listen to me. I broke my back
for your uncle, and he knew it.
And so do you.
I'm really sorry, Ron.
[PHONE RINGING]
Yeah.
Okay, I'll tell him.
Rick.
You have a visitor
at the front gate.
Lieutenant Andrews.
He's with the police.
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
STAFFORD: Look. It was no
big deal. We were always arguing.
My uncle argued with everyone.
That's why he didn't have friends.
But I hear that you were
so angry that particular night
that you had to be
escorted off his boat.
Is that true?
Yes.
[CAMEL GRUNTING]
Do you actually have
an office in this place?
My uncle's idea.
Making me work out of the zoo gave
him an excuse to come down here.
Animals were like his favorite
thing. He could relate to them.
Come on.
Trick is to stay up
wind of the camel.
Right.
Where'd you go after you
left Mr. Estes' yacht that day?
- Home.
- Huh.
You married?
No. And no girlfriends either.
Look. Why are you asking
me all these questions?
I'm not the only one ever
got kicked off my uncle's boat.
No, but you were the
last person to, Mr. Stafford.
When you add that to the
fact that your fingerprints
were on the bottle
of Scotch that was...
My prints were on that bottle
because I made myself a drink that day.
I didn't kill my uncle, and
that's all I'm gonna say.
Okay.
If and when I have more,
I know how to find you.
Just follow your nose.
Right.
WOMAN: Okay, Jake, get the ball.
Get the ball. Come on.
Good boy. Come
on, bring it home.
Come on, bring it
home. Good boy.
What a good boy
you are. Drop the ball.
Drop the ball. Oh, what a good
boy. You wanna go get it again?
Go get it. Bring
it back. Come on.
Good boy, Jake.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Great looking dog, Theresa.
Thank you.
A lot of people
are looking for you.
How did you know?
I'm Leanne Mclntyre.
Daughter of Ben Matlock.
He's the executor of
Marvin Estes' estate.
We read the letters you sent.
Crystal Beach, brown
hair, green eyes.
Dog's name is Jake.
Now what?
I'd like you to go back to Atlanta
with me and answer some questions.
You're about to ruin my
life, I hope you know that.
I didn't come forward
because I'm married.
Weren't you interested
in collecting $200 million?
After seeing what having that amount
of money did to Marvin, no. Not at all.
Where were you the night he
was murdered? Do you remember?
Vividly.
My husband suspected that
something was amiss between us,
so he insisted that we spend a
long, romantic weekend together
at the Lombard Hotel
in Jacksonville, Florida.
We arrived Friday afternoon at
1, and we left Sunday evening.
Any number of
people can verify that.
What's your husband do?
He's a writer.
THERESA: Poetry and novels.
He's very sensitive.
This is gonna kill him.
[DOOR OPENS]
Excuse me. Lieutenant Andrews?
Can you come out here for a second?
ANDREWS: What is
it? What's so interesting?
Well, before you go any
further with that lady in there,
the sergeant thought
you should know.
This lady over here? Just walked
in claiming to be Theresa Lavelle.
And, guess what.
So did that one.
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
If either one of those ladies is
Theresa Lavelle then I'm Elvis Presley.
Well, her name was given out on
TV last night. It was bound to happen.
Leak better not have come
from my department, I'll tell you.
If I find out that it
came from this...
Which one of you
ladies is Theresa Lavelle?
Me.
[ALL CHATTERING]
[CHUCKLES]
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
I just had a couple more questions.
Could I come in for a second?
Stop it, Jake. Stop it.
I guess it's all right. The
damage has been done.
Stop it, Jake. Jake, stop it.
- Stop it, Jake.
- Maybe if I feed him, he'll settle.
Come on, Jake. Jake.
[DOG WHINING]
Is, uh... Is your husband here?
No.
Does he know?
He's talking to his lawyer.
How long had you been
seeing Marvin Estes?
About a year.
- Uh, where'd you meet?
- Uh...
The beach.
How often did you see him?
About once a week. No more.
- Did he come here?
- Never.
Nor did I ever go to his boat.
We'd meet on the
beach, mostly at night.
Sometimes we'd just get into
his car and we'd drive around.
We talked, mostly.
Only occasionally
did we ever go further.
Ours wasn't your basic
cheap, tawdry affair.
It was different.
Rare and precious.
I guess that's why you wrote
so many letters back and forth
is because you didn't
see each other that much.
Yeah.
There's one thing I don't get.
How come Marvin Estes
had all the letters he wrote you,
as well as all the
letters you wrote him?
Well, I certainly didn't want any
of the letters lying around here.
So whenever I saw Marvin
I gave them back to him.
Why didn't you
just get rid of them?
Because he didn't want me to.
He wanted to save them.
As you probably know,
he was rather compulsive.
- Theresa.
- Hi.
Mr. Matlock, this is my
husband, Stuart Lavelle.
Stuart, this is the lawyer I was
telling you about. Ben Matlock.
You're the guy who's gonna be
doling out Marvin Estes' money?
That's one way of putting it.
So when do we
get the 200 million?
Stuart, for God's sakes...
What's the matter?
You earned it, didn't you?
Stop it!
What, am I embarrassing
you or something?
[CLEARS THROAT]
I'm not gonna walk out of
this marriage empty-handed.
Now, when does
she get the money?
As soon as the investigation into
Marvin Estes' death is complete.
Why should some investigation
have anything to do with it?
Because it just does.
But I understand how you feel,
and I'll do my best to expedite things.
I can see my way out.
[DOG GROWLS]
MATLOCK: Jake. Down, Jake. No.
Ben. Hey, Ben, wait up.
- What are you doing here?
- Looking for you.
I don't have time, Billy.
I gotta see Judge
Cooksey and get right home.
- I don't have time to talk.
- I don't wanna talk.
Just wanted to make
sure you saw this.
Ugliest doll you've
ever seen, huh, Ben?
Looks like a rotten
potato in drag.
Got myself a loan
for the other 10 grand.
Investment doubled in a week.
Pretty smart for a fella
as dumb as me, huh?
Too bad, uh, you
didn't get in on it.
CLIFF: You've been
gone a long time.
Yeah, a long day.
- Saw your dad.
- Oh.
- Did he say hi?
- No.
- Check out the Lombard?
- Yeah.
The Lavelles were
there, but guess what.
What?
They were down in the
spa getting a massage
- at the time of the murder.
- Oh.
Well, neither one of
them may be the murderer,
but I'll guarantee
you they're fakes.
- Fakes?
- Yeah. I went to see Theresa Lavelle.
That dog she has, his toys,
his dish, his bed, all brand new.
- New, huh?
- Yeah.
I don't think his
name's Jake either.
- He didn't respond.
- Huh.
Somehow she read those love letters,
and was able to quote all that stuff
that was in them, and then
kept her fingers crossed.
She figured that people
would ask less questions
if they came to her,
rather than vice versa.
How would she have read the letters
if she had never been on the boat?
I don't know. Check
her out. Her husband too.
What are you doing to this lamp?
Fixing it. Had
some frayed wires.
That could be a fire hazard.
There you go.
[ELECTRICAL CRACKLING]
MATLOCK: Say good night, Cliff.
CLIFF: Good night.
ANDREWS: Mr. Stafford.
Hi, it's me again. Got a minute?
- No, not really. What do you want?
- Well, I hate to bother you.
You ate lunch at a restaurant
called the Plum Garden
the day Marvin
Estes was murdered?
I don't remember.
So Mr. Estes's security guard...
You know, the one that
kicked you off the boat?
Well, it turns out,
he left his post
in order to check out a car
that was being broken into.
Now, we figured the
killer set off that alarm
as a distraction so he could get back
on the boat without anybody seeing him.
What the hell does any
of that got to do with me?
Well, this morning we located that
car at a repair shop close to the marina,
and on the driver's side on the
floor, we found a credit-card receipt.
The very same one they gave you when
you paid for lunch at the Plum Garden.
- We checked.
- That's impossible.
ANDREWS: It fell
out of your pocket
while you were bending over,
stealing the radio out of the car.
You're under arrest.
- That was a mistake.
- Get him out of here.
This is crazy. It's
gotta be a mistake.
It's a mistake.
[HUMMING]
- Hi. LEANNE: Hi.
[CONTINUES HUMMING]
Don't eat out of the pan, Dad.
Don't eat out of the pan. It's
bad manners. It'll ruin your dinner.
- Did you hear the news?
- What news?
The police just arrested Rick
Stafford for Marvin Estes' murder.
Go on.
Yeah, apparently, they just
found some new evidence.
Don't eat out of that pan!
Mm. Hmm.
- What's wrong?
- I told Stuart Lavelle
his wife wouldn't
inherit any money
till Marvin Estes' murder was solved,
and not 24 hours later, it was solved.
Huh. Hmm.
- Where you going?
- County jail.
- You didn't eat dinner.
- Yeah, I did.
Mr. Stafford had apparently
learned that his uncle
had written him out of his
will, and was upset about it.
In a related
development... Perfect.
With him out of the way, all attempts to
sell the zoo will be shelved indefinitely.
Is that long enough for us
to take care of business?
Thank God Marvin
thought he could trust you.
I guess I just have
one of those faces.
[ALL LAUGHING]
Well, to Nick Dempsey,
master of beasts,
confidante of
eccentric millionaires,
who's about to be
fabulously wealthy himself,
as are we all.
Wait, wait, let me get this
straight. You want to defend me?
Yeah.
- I can only pay you so much.
- That's okay. That's okay.
Seeing as how your uncle left me a lot
of money for doing practically nothing,
and I won't get a penny of it
until, uh, until this thing is settled,
I'd probably be looking
into this murder anyway,
so I might as well kill two
birds with one stone, right?
- Right.
- Yeah.
Uh, see, well, you
are pleading not guilty?
Of course.
Yeah, yeah.
How did...? How did your
credit-card receipt get in that car?
Well, I keep all my credit-card
receipts in my drawer at the office.
Somebody must have taken it
when I wasn't there, or wasn't looking.
Yeah.
You probably were framed
after the fact by somebody
that wanted to get this
investigation over as fast as possible.
But that somebody would
have to know that the police
considered you a suspect.
Who knew that they
were talking to you?
Everybody at the zoo, I guess.
Zoo?
Yeah, um...
Uncle Marvin owned
a children's zoo.
That's where my office is.
You know, when I was on
his boat the day he was killed,
he said something weird that
I kind of dismissed at the time.
My uncle was slightly paranoid.
He was always doing and
saying weird things, but...
But if I was framed by
somebody I knew at the zoo,
- maybe it wasn't so weird after all.
- What'd he say?
Well, he quoted
some bizarre line
from a Sherlock Holmes
book about the zoo. Uh...
"Creeping, shrinking
snake" or something.
Maybe he... Maybe
he knew something.
Maybe something is
going on over there.
Huh.
All right, send her in.
- Ms. Mclntyre. Ron Welker.
- Hello.
- Come in, please. Have a seat.
- Thank you.
- Can I get you something?
- No, I'm fine, thanks.
- Oh, sorry.
- Thank you.
I cannot tell you what a relief it is to
know that Rick is being represented
by someone of
your father's stature.
And yours, of course.
So, what can I do for you?
Well, my dad and I are proceeding
on the assumption that Rick is innocent,
and that whoever framed him
knew the police would
consider him a likely suspect.
I understand you were here that day
that the police came to question him?
Uh, yes. Yes, I was here.
So was my assistant,
Rick's assistant,
the four people who
take care of the animals,
and, uh, two maintenance men.
I also understand that
Mr. Estes wasn't very happy
with what was going on here.
What do you mean?
Marvin loved this place.
It was the only thing he owned
that didn't make him unhappy.
Who told you that, Rick?
He said the children's
zoo constantly lost money,
due largely to your
mismanagement of funds.
[SIGHS]
- No.
- Mm.
Number one,
do you know anything
about Marvin Estes?
Not that much.
Marvin was a lunatic.
I loved him. But he was crazy.
Whether this place
lost or made money
was never of any concern to him.
And number two, I have never
in my life mismanaged funds.
So then you feel that
purchasing five lions in two years
and selling each one of
them at a loss was justified?
We only have room
for two lions here, okay?
Finding two that are
compatible is not that easy.
Mm.
And what with the international
financial scene as chaotic as it is,
selling the ones that don't
work out is rarely profitable.
- And Mr. Estes understood that?
- Of course he did.
Rick doesn't because he's
nothing but a bean counter.
He has no idea what it takes
to run something like this.
I'm sorry, it's just that, uh,
to be accused of
incompetence like that or worse,
it's just...
It's irritating.
I understand how you feel.
I've probably taken
too much of your time.
I'll let you get back to
work. Nice to meet you.
Sure. Nice meeting you.
Bye-bye.
- Did you hear?
- Yeah.
Now, if one of you killed
Marvin, that was stupid enough.
But if you tried to pin
this on Rick Stafford,
that was the act
of a total moron!
I always pegged you
for the murderer, Elliot.
Very funny, Ron.
Because of somebody,
there's gonna be a lot
of unwanted attention
at the children's zoo.
All right, look. Maybe we
ought to just cool it for a while.
- Too late for that.
- Only thing we can do is stay calm.
And let's try to use our brains.
[GROWLING]
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
BILLY: They can't
sue me too can they?
MATLOCK: Well...
This, uh, Kevin Hermanski,
he take your money?
Yeah.
I didn't know they weren't putting
flame retardant in the clothes.
I didn't know they had to.
I did wonder once or twice how
they was able to sell them so cheap.
Did you sign anything?
Yeah.
Remember what?
No.
Get copies of everything you
signed, and I'll look at them.
Thanks. I take back all the bad
things I ever said about you. Heh.
No, there'll always
be one or two.
[PHONE RINGING]
The phone's ringing.
Hello?
Oh, I... Uh... I have
no idea, Leanne.
Who...? Elliot Eagleton. I...
He was at the children's zoo?
Well, wait, are you sure
he hid while you were there?
Well... Well, of course.
MATLOCK: Rick said
that Elliot Eagleton
came to the children's zoo
often to see Ron Welker.
And that means he could've
known the police talked to Rick.
And he could've
stolen that receipt.
So you think Elliot Eagleton
killed Marvin Estes and framed Rick.
Yeah. Yeah, and set
up this phony Theresa,
so that she could
inherit the $200 million,
and then right away
hand it over to him.
Well, you could be right
about her being a fake.
She and her husband
are renting the house.
They moved in from
someplace out of town
- about a month ago.
- Yeah.
What did they do
with the real Theresa?
I don't know. That's
what's starting to bother me.
Well, look at this.
Typewriter ribbon.
Typewriter paper.
White-out.
I...
I don't remember seeing a
typewriter anywhere onboard, do you?
No, not at all.
You know how to scuba dive?
No.
No.
- No.
- Hell, it can't be that deep.
I'm not going in
that water, Ben.
- I'm freezing!
- You're wearing a rubber suit.
I don't care, I'm freezing.
- I'm coming out.
- No, no, no.
Try over there.
I'm cold. I'm coming out.
No. Try over there.
I'm not Jacques Cousteau.
Just try over there.
Okay, you were right.
Can I come out now?
Yeah. Come on out.
I'll get you a blanket.
"I saw a painting today
that reminded me of you,
or rather of a painting I saw
in Italy once of Saint Paul.
It reminded me of
you because... "What?
"that's what you are to me,"
yeah, "a S-A-I-N-T." A saint.
Hey, Cliff, look here.
Look how the... Look how the
tails of the G's and the Y's fall off.
See those little
holes in the S's?
CLIFF: Yeah. MATLOCK: Yeah.
They're the same.
All Theresa's letters were
typed on this typewriter.
Marvin Estes wrote
love letters to himself?
Well, everybody said
he was a little strange.
He was nuts.
Yeah. Ah.
[HUMMING]
You getting warm?
Theresa? Ah, Ben Matlock.
Yeah, I'm over... I'm over
here on the coast. I wonder, uh...
I wonder if I could come over
and talk with you for a few minutes.
Good. I... Great,
I'll be there at 4.
- He knows.
- How could he?
I'm telling you, he knows.
Hi, it's me. Ben Matlock just
called. I think he's figured it out.
Twenty minutes? Uh...
Yeah, we can be there.
I don't like this. It
doesn't feel right.
Will you please stop worrying?
For once in your life, trust me.
Why does it have to be here?
Why couldn't it be in town?
Anyway, he's late.
Bet you anything he
doesn't even show up.
He'll show.
There he is. I told you.
[GUNSHOTS]
[DOG BARKING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER ON RADIO]
[DOG WHINING AND BARKING]
OFFICER: So we've got a clear ID.
- Excuse me.
So much for your heiress.
She wasn't my heiress.
- She wasn't?
- No. She wasn't anybody's heiress.
I'll bet you anything Marvin
Estes made up the whole thing.
He made up this Theresa
Lavelle person, she didn't exist.
Old man Estes made
me executor in his will,
that's 2 percent of everything once
it's settled, but it won't be settled.
I'll run around here like a
chicken with my head cut off,
trying to figure this thing
out, and I won't make a dime.
Well, who's the body?
Somebody brought in, so somebody
else could collect that $200 million.
- She was a fake?
- Yeah, she was a fake.
And I'll bet you
another anything.
I'll bet you that that
person that hired her
was the same
person that killed her.
Well, you were right.
We checked their prints.
Theresa was really Suzie Barron,
and her husband was David Levine.
They were two small-time
con artists from Galveston.
- Their sheets are in there.
- Oh, good.
Any connection between
Elliot Eagleton and Ron Welker?
Well, none that
we've found so far.
None between them
and your client either, Ben.
Oh. Mm.
Well, I'm gonna
make a phone call.
- Thanks.
- Don't mention it.
Bye.
[HUMMING]
- Who you gonna call?
- Elliot Eagleton.
[CONTINUES HUMMING]
- You know the number?
- I'll dial.
[WHISTLING]
Uh, eh... Yeah.
Mr. Eagleton, please.
Oh, he's not? He's not.
Well, uh, ahem, it's kind of
important I, uh, get in touch with him.
I'm down here at the, uh... At the
jail. Could you tell me where he is?
Oh, okay. I'll try
there. Thanks.
Let's go to the zoo.
[LAUGHS]
Gorgeous.
- When will the others get here?
- Thursday afternoon.
They'll bring a fortune.
[PHONE RINGING]
Yes.
All right, give us a
minute, then send them in.
Ben Matlock and
his daughter are here.
- You take those, I'll go out back.
- I'm going with you.
Elliot, don't bother. It's
you they came to see.
Get going.
[CLEARS THROAT]
WELKER: Mr. Matlock. Ron
Welker. EAGLETON: Hello again, Ben.
Let's forget the handshakes
and, uh, get down to business.
You people are the closest things
to friends that Marvin Estes ever had.
According to the, uh, security
people who guarded his yacht,
you're about the only ones
who ever came to see him.
And so my guess is that
one or both of you found out
that Theresa Lavelle only existed in
Marvin Estes' poor, sad, lonely mind,
and one or both of
you tried to cash in on it.
What are you talking about?
Suzie Barron.
The con artist that
one or both of you hired
to pretend to be
Theresa Lavelle,
hoping, through her, you could
get hold of Marvin Estes' estate.
The woman somebody
shot yesterday.
Wait a minute. You're
saying she was a fake?
Yeah.
Mr. Matlock, if you'll recall,
you and your daughter found her.
And it was a great way to
convince us and everyone else
that she was the real McCoy.
You knew we would read those letters.
You knew we would track her down.
I deeply resent these totally
unfounded accusations.
Look, you're a lawyer. Isn't
this slanderous or something?
If any of this gets repeated
outside these walls,
you're in deep trouble
indeed, counselor.
These two people were killed
less than an hour after I called them.
Somehow, there's a connection
between them and one of you.
And you tried to be sure that
connection was never found.
Get the hell out of here.
We'll find that connection.
Make sure of that.
- Shall we go, Dad?
- Yeah.
It's always a
pleasure, gentlemen.
How could you do it?
After I stood here
and I told you and Nick,
in no uncertain terms,
not to do anything stupid!
We didn't do anything stupid.
At least, I didn't.
LEANNE: Well, hopefully
that rattled their cages.
They should have put
Marvin Estes in a cage.
I ought not to talk
about him like that,
but leaving his whole estate
to somebody who doesn't exist.
This thing will be in
probate till the year 2010.
I'll never make 19 cents.
- Dad, Dad.
- Huh?
See that guy over there?
He was with Elliot Eagleton the
day I came to see Ron Welker.
They talked all the
way to Eagleton's car.
MATLOCK: You sure?
- Yeah, I'm sure.
Huh. I wonder who he is.
Elliot Eagleton's a lawyer,
this guy feeds animals.
I wonder what they
have in common.
Maybe the animals' diets.
[CHUCKLING]
Big, uh, dark hair, beard?
- That's him. MATLOCK: Yeah.
That's Nick Dempsey,
chief animal handler.
Elliot Eagleton's a
high-priced lawyer.
Why would he be talking
to him about the animals?
I always wondered that myself.
- And they talked a lot?
STAFFORD: Mm-hm.
Whatever they said was always brief,
always quiet, and always in private.
I wonder if your uncle Marvin
knew what they were talking about.
I don't know. Maybe
that's why he's dead.
[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]
WAITER: You need a reservation.
- She's not wearing a tie.
All I wanna do is talk
to my lawyer. Hey, Ben.
Thank God, I found you. You
gotta explain something to me.
Billy, I'm with a
client. Ask Cliff.
BILLY: I can't find Cliff. It's
a matter of life and death.
So is this.
Billy Lewis.
Welcome to the club.
This was delivered
to me this morning.
What's it mean?
Mm.
It means the Consumer Protection
Unit of the state attorney general's office
is bringing an action for
enforcement and fine for willful violation
of the Child Safety Act of 1989.
What the hell's that mean?
You and your friends are
being sued for $5 million.
[WHIMPERS]
- Hi. LEANNE: Hi.
Got your message.
What's the job?
- Well, it's...
- A murder case?
Cliff, it's...
It's not very big.
That's okay, really.
[SIGHS]
Actually, it's...
- Very challenging, right?
- Ugh.
- How do I say this?
- Personal injury? Wrongful death.
We want you to go undercover.
- Undercover?
- At the children's zoo.
- Undercover at the zoo?
- It's only for a couple of days.
Oh...
I just had this conversation
with your father.
I'm an accredited
attorney. I take depositions.
I wear suits.
I... I don't scuba
dive for a living. I...
Cliff...
I don't wanna go
undercover at the zoo.
Why not? You are
great with animals.
Leanne, I grew up on a farm.
Cows, I'm great with. Uh,
chickens, I'm great with.
Tigers, lions, boa constrictors,
I wouldn't be so great.
Oh, Cliff, we wouldn't ask you
unless we were really in a bind.
- Leanne.
- Please?
These animals eat
lawyers for lunch.
CLIFF: Nick Dempsey?
Yeah.
Cliff Lewis.
- I talked to you on the phone.
- Oh, right. Right.
I called a couple of your references.
Said you were a solid employee.
Especially that trainer
you worked for in Atlanta.
He gave you a great
recommendation.
Oh. Okay. I never worked in a
zoo before, but I'm a fast learner.
- Ha, ha. Found an apartment yet?
- Still looking.
We can put you in the maintenance
building till you find something.
You mean I got the job?
Come on, I'll
show you the place.
Then you can start
cleaning out the cages.
Great.
[SQUAWKS]
DEMPSEY: Lewis.
- Yes.
I need help over
at the panther pen.
- Right now?
- Yeah, come on.
Do you have them?
They're right here.
They're all of this quality?
Yes.
When will they be here?
You'll get them Thursday night.
Two hundred thousand now,
600,000 upon receipt of the others.
Provided they're the
same grade as these.
Deal.
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
EAGLETON: What do
you mean tomorrow?
It's okay. They're keeping the llama
in quarantine an extra day, that's all.
These things happen.
The llama will be here bright and
early tomorrow morning. No problem.
Make sure Ron tells McEvoy we won't
be making delivery until Friday night.
After this we're
gonna have to cool it.
For a couple of
months, maybe for good.
This murder screwed
up everything.
You worry too much, Elliot.
[LAUGHS]
All right, load her up again and
I'll meet you over at the tiger cage.
Right.
- Mr. Dempsey.
- Good boy.
Hi. I'm Leanne Mclntyre.
Oh, yeah, I know who you are.
You're that broad who
works for Ben Matlock.
Well, actually,
I'm his daughter.
Gonna harass me the way
you've been harassing Mr. Welker?
Oh, I haven't been
harassing him.
Mr. Eagleton? You've been
staying in his face pretty good too.
Well, while we're
on the subject,
I hear you and
Mr. Eagleton are pretty tight.
- I know the guy.
- I'll say you do.
Every time he comes here,
you two go off somewhere
and do a lot of whispering.
- Says who?
- Rick Stafford.
- Oh, well, sure.
- And me.
I've seen you.
What do you talk about?
Maybe that land you
bought in Costa Rica.
Great piece of
property, I understand.
Waterfront, very
expensive. You paid cash.
Would you mind telling me
how you did that on your salary?
Word to the wise, lady.
Keep your nose
out of my business.
Oh, come on, you can tell
me. What do you two talk about?
Animals.
Elliot just loves animals.
[DOOR BELL RINGING]
Ben?
- Son.
- Dad, what are you doing here?
Looking for Ben. Ben?
He not here, Dad.
I left four messages on
his answering machine.
You'd think with my life
hanging by a shoe string,
he'd have the decency to
return one of my calls. Ben?
- Dad, he's not here.
- My trial begins in two hours
and my attorney's probably
out chasing some pretty blond.
- Now, that's just...
- Couldn't care less I could go broke.
Dad. Dad, he'll be here, I promise
you, if you've got a court date.
He's on another case.
Just to be on the safe side,
why don't you come with me,
- in case he doesn't show?
- I can't.
- Why not?
- Heh.
I gotta go to the zoo.
- The zoo?
- Yeah, I'm on a case.
You know the other
case that Ben has?
I'm... I'm on it. I'm...
I'm sort of undercover.
- Doing what?
- Um...
Kind of cleaning
up after the animals.
I didn't put you
through law school
so Ben Matlock could have you tending
to the sanitation problems of a monkey.
- It's not like that.
- You're a lawyer!
Stand up and act like one!
What's the matter with you?
Dad, nothing's the...
Dad. Dad, it's okay.
Nothing's the matter with me.
He'll be there, I promise you.
But can you do me a favor?
Since you're gonna see him first,
will you give him
a message for me?
Please? Please.
BILLY: Where you been?
I was at the coast all morning.
Gee, you look nice, Billy.
Thanks. I phoned
your place four times.
- They call the case yet?
- They said any minute now.
Yeah, well, just relax.
You like tormenting
me, don't you, Ben?
It's that mean streak of yours.
First you make a mental
case out of my sister,
now you try to give me a stroke.
- You want me to go home?
- No.
Uh, I saw Cliff. He, uh... He
gave me a message for you.
I'm supposed to
be able to read this?
I was nervous, my
hand was shaking.
- Why didn't Cliff write it?
- He didn't have a pencil.
What's it say?
Said, "He overheard
Elliot Esolman..."
Eagleton.
"and Nick Dumpster..."
- Dempsey.
- Yeah.
He overheard them talking.
"They said the llama's being
delivered tomorrow morning.
And after that,
they're gonna cool it."
Llama?
- You sure he said llama?
- Yeah.
- Pretty sure.
- What else?
Uh, he said he's real unhappy
about this undercover work.
He wishes you'd let him be a
lawyer. The boy worked as hard...
Billy, what about the llama?
What'd he mean about the llama?
I don't know.
What's he want me
to do about the llama?
I don't know.
Billy, one of these days...
BAILIFF: State of Georgia v.
Hermanski, Lewis, Foster and Smith.
Oh, that's us.
Come on.
Mr. Matlock, you have a motion
to sever your client
from these proceedings?
Uh, yes, sir, I do, Your Honor.
Uh, it's totally improper
for my client to be here.
These gentlemen
are culpable, he is not.
Your Honor, these
men, Mr. Lewis included,
are, by valid
contract, partners.
They rode in together,
they should hang together.
I think I'll hear
testimony on this.
MATLOCK: Mr. Lewis,
would you please tell the judge
what you do for a living?
[QUIETLY] I'm a
farmer, semi-retired.
Say again.
I'm a farmer, semi-retired.
Would you say that you're a
man of, um, substantial means?
- Huh?
- Do you have a lot of money?
What's that got to
do with anything?
Just answer the question.
Well, I ain't exactly
rich. I got some money.
Least, I used to.
What do you mean, you used to?
Practically everything I
had went into those dolls.
Ten thousand dollars.
And I borrowed another
10 grand on top of that.
Hmm. How'd you
hear about these dolls?
Mr. Hermanski told me
his dolls were a sure thing.
He told me if I'd
give him $20,000,
I was almost sure to double
my money within a month.
Mr. Hermanski a friend of yours?
I didn't know him from Adam.
Is he in the courtroom today?
He's the guy sitting over
there, Ben. You know who it is.
Which guy?
The one in the blue suit.
Mr. Lewis, were you aware
that the company you invested in
was selling dolls that
were made in direct violation
of the Georgia Child
Safety Act of 1989?
I told you I didn't know that.
Do you know what
a general partner is?
No. Don't know that either.
Why you asking me
questions like that?
Just answer... Were you aware
that you were a general partner
in Weird Wally
Dolls Incorporated?
No.
You're making me
look like an idiot, Ben.
Just answer the questions.
You signed a contract. Didn't
you read it before you signed it?
Sure I read it.
Doesn't mean I understood it.
JUDGE: I think
I've heard enough.
Is there any particular reason
why you wanted to press charges
against Mr. Lewis here?
Yes, Your Honor.
He's a general partner, and
as such, he should be liable.
A willful act requires at least a
modicum of knowledge, Mr. Price.
I'm going to entertain a defense motion
to dismiss all charges against this man.
So moved.
No objection.
Mr. Lewis, you're free to go.
You know, Ben,
you made me look like
a real jackass in there.
Thank you.
MATLOCK: Leanne?
Hi. I have been through every
nook and cranny of this place.
If there is a connection
between those two con artists
- and one of our suspects, it's not here.
- Hmm.
Did you get anything
out of Nick Dempsey?
- Not much.
- Oh, this is hard, isn't it?
It's very hard. How'd court go?
Oh, Billy loves me
because I got him off.
[CHUCKLES]
Pretty soon we're gonna have
to get a job where we get paid.
[LAUGHS]
I went by the bank
on my way over here.
The Lavelles, or whoever
you wanna call them,
opened up a checking
account about a month ago.
Since Lieutenant Andrews
said they were from Galveston,
I thought there was
some kind of bank transfer.
- Was there?
- No.
They had $20,000 in cash, and a
lot of very legitimate-looking IDs.
The only checks they wrote were to
the man they rented this place from,
the utility companies,
and the grocery store.
No long-distance
phone calls, either.
- Not even to Galveston.
- Mm.
They really knew what
they were doing, didn't they?
- Did you check that?
- No, not yet.
MAN [ON MACHINE]: Hello?
You there? I hope you can hear this.
[JACKHAMMER POUNDING
IN DISTANCE ON MACHINE]
There's some construction work
going on outside. Driving me bananas.
Anyway, I got your
message. Very interesting.
[CHURCH BELLS RINGING
IN DISTANCE ON MACHINE]
We'll have a lot to talk about,
mate. Call me after 7, my time.
LEANNE: Long distance.
- English accent?
- Australian?
I wonder where he
was calling him from.
Probably a phone booth.
Did you check the trash can?
Oh.
I haven't been to Galveston
in I don't know how long.
- What do you think?
- Couldn't hurt.
No.
[SNORING]
[RATTLING]
[GRUNTS]
[GRUNTS]
[GRUNTS]
[MACHINERY HUMMING]
Hi.
You wanna go for a walk?
MAN: Hey, look. Look at that.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
[LAUGHING]
Whoa! Whoa, good boy. Good boy.
Don't get the chance
to examine many llamas.
So what'd you find?
Well, his teeth could
use a little looking after.
But, uh, other than
that, he seems just fine.
- That's it?
- That's it.
- Nothing unusual?
- Nope.
And you looked...?
You looked everywhere?
If this animal's being used to
smuggle some kind of contraband
into the country, I'll
eat my medical degree.
[GROANS]
[HUMMING]
You sure you don't want
me to take you to the airport?
- I got 20 minutes. I should be fine.
- Okay.
Oh, oh, oh! I promised
Judge Cooksey we'd...
Would you tell him
I'll call him next week?
- I'll do it right now.
- Okay.
- Have a safe trip. Bye.
- Thanks. Bye.
Hello, Ben.
- Billy, I'm just on my...
- These are for you.
- They need water.
- Oh, oh, all right. Thanks.
Uh, ahem.
There. Uh, there you go.
You don't like them.
Uh, I like them, Billy...
You helped me, Ben.
I'm trying to say thank you.
- You're welcome.
- And I'm trying to help you.
Some people might think
you're a tough, uncaring,
unfeeling, tightwad,
rich person.
And while you are,
I believe somewhere,
hidden in there,
is a somewhat sweet,
kind, almost giving person.
I'm trying to show
you you can be likable.
You finally, for whatever
your hidden reason,
did something good. For me.
And I'm trying to help you
get that little good part of you
out from under all
the muck and mire.
Billy, I... I don't
know what to say.
But I guess I'll just
have to keep being
my same jackass self
and catch my plane.
I've got everybody out fanning
the area. Couldn't have gotten far.
Well, well, well. Look at that.
DEMPSEY: Hey, what
in the hell are you doing?
He got away from me.
What do you mean
he got away from you?
What were you doing
with him in the first place?
I saw his cage needed to
be cleaned, so I cleaned it.
When I went in there,
something spooked him,
he knocked me over and ran away.
I've been chasing him
all over the city ever since.
How'd he get through the gate?
Jumped right over it.
Oh, you should have seen.
All right. Nice job.
Put him back inside.
Hey, when are we
gonna put him in the pen?
Soon as we finish
redoing the drainage.
Okay, come on.
Come on.
Hold on.
There you go.
You said you were
gonna take care of him.
- I thought I had.
- What happened?
- Who knows?
- Look, we're better off anyway.
Oh, come on. This proves
he's working for Ben Matlock.
He heard you talking
about the llama yesterday,
so he stole him so they
could have him checked out.
Yeah, and they
didn't find anything.
That means they still go
no idea what's going on.
Maybe we should
get the stones out now.
No. We are going to remain calm.
As long as we keep our
friend away from the cage,
we are home free. All right?
You stole a llama?
Just long enough to have
him checked out by a vet.
He couldn't find
anything, though.
- Nothing?
- I'll tell you what I wanna know is,
who put the rattlesnake
in my bed last night?
What did you say?
I said somebody
put a rattlesnake...
There's Dem... Dempsey's
coming. I gotta go.
Somebody put a
rattlesnake in your bed?
- Yeah. Bye.
- Cliff. Ugh.
LEANNE: Hi.
- Hello, Mr. Eagleton.
- What are you doing here?
Hi, Mr. Dempsey.
Good to see you again.
You just can't seem to get
enough of this place, can you?
This harassment has got to stop.
Now leave or I'll call the police.
No need. The
police are right here.
Elliot Eagleton, Nick Dempsey,
I'd like you to meet
Lieutenant Andrews.
He's with Homicide.
Gentlemen. We're looking for a friend
of Miss Mclntyre's named Cliff Lewis.
- Never heard of him.
- Oh, I have. He works here.
I hired him last week.
Friend of yours, huh?
- Where is he?
- Well, the last time I saw him
he was working on a
pen for our new llama.
Come on, I'll take you over.
- What the hell is going on here?
- Lewis.
Somebody here to see you.
- Is that him?
- Yeah.
ANDREWS: He looks okay to me.
What, is there a problem?
You bet there is.
See what's going on?
That man is a spy,
hired by Ben Matlock and
his daughter to find something,
anything that would involve
this zoo with his client's trial.
- Wheel barrows.
- Wheel barrows?
Oh, it's this little story
my dad told me once.
You see, there was
this cement factory.
And every day, one of
the guys who worked there
would leave with a
wheel barrow full of sand.
Now, the guard figured the
guy was stealing something,
so every day he would
sift through the sand,
and every day he
wouldn't find anything.
That went on for ten days.
Next day the guy quit.
Day after that, huh,
somebody went to the depot
to get a wheel barrow.
And what do you think?
No wheel barrows.
He'd stolen every
last one of them.
What are you talking about?
It's not the llama,
it's the cage.
- Hey, what are you doing? Stop that.
- Hold it. Hold it.
Leanne, what are you doing?
[LEANNE GASPS]
Oh, raw, undeclared diamonds.
From Peru, maybe.
Wonder what they were
gonna do with these?
[CHURCH BELLS
RINGING IN DISTANCE]
[JACKHAMMER POUNDING]
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
MAN: Take it easy.
WOMAN: Goodbye.
MAN: Thanks for lunch.
Hi. What can I get you?
Uh, give me a real light beer.
Coming up.
We have mutual friends.
Oh, yeah? Who?
David Levine and Suzie Barron.
- David...?
- Levine?
- And Suzie...?
- Suzie Barron.
Barron.
- Never heard of them.
- Sure you have.
I was at their house.
There was nobody home,
but look what I
found in the garbage.
Looks like they were regulars.
- Lots of people come here.
- Yeah, but you called them.
That house they rented in
Georgia. Left a message.
- I don't know what you're talking about.
- Sure you do.
The church bells, jack hammer in
the construction across the street.
Your accent. I know it was you.
You've had quite
enough already. Get out.
Those people were killed.
But you obviously know that.
You may be an accessory.
What, are you a cop?
No. But I know a lot of cops.
If you don't talk to me, I might
introduce you to some of them.
Well, if Marvin Estes knew
about the diamond smuggling,
why didn't he say something?
Maybe he didn't know.
Maybe he just suspected
and said something
to the wrong person.
- What are you doing?
- I'm looking for whatever we missed.
My hands are really killing
me. I got blisters all over them
from cleaning out all
those animal cages.
Well, that's what you get.
There's got to be
something in here.
- Did Marvin Estes wear glasses?
- No.
Look at this.
Mr. Welker, Marvin Estes
hired you to do what?
To be the curator of the
children's zoo he owned.
And as curator, you decided
which animals would be
bought and sold, that sort of thing.
- That was part of it, yes.
- Mm-hm.
My client says that
Mr. Estes believed
that something untoward was
going on at the children's zoo.
Did he ever say anything
about that to you?
No, never.
How about your friends,
Mr. Eagleton, Mr. Dempsey?
You think he might have
mentioned it to one of them?
WELKER: Not as far as I know.
So Mr. Estes had no idea
that you and your friends
were smuggling diamonds
into the country in cages
of imported animals.
- Objection. WELKER:
I don't have to answer.
MATLOCK: I'll rephrase.
You, Mr. Eagleton
and Mr. Dempsey
were arrested last
week on what charge?
- Smuggling.
- So something untoward
was going on at
the children's zoo.
Just because we were charged
doesn't mean we're guilty.
Oh, I can't argue with that, no, I
can't. Can't argue with that. No, no.
Uh, who would you say, uh,
was Mr. Estes' best friend?
Me, probably.
So you knew that he was capable
of some pretty strange behavior.
Everyone around him knew that.
But you were the
only one who knew
this Theresa Lavelle
person didn't exist, right?
No, I thought she existed.
You didn't visit his boat one
day and accidentally come across
one of those letters he
had typed to himself?
WELKER: No.
MATLOCK: I'll bet you your friend
and Mr. Estes' lawyer, Mr. Eagleton,
told you that Marvin Estes
had left his entire estate
to a woman named
Theresa Lavelle, right?
Yes. But...
MATLOCK: You didn't
tell him she didn't exist.
Because that's when you
came up with your big plan.
Kill two birds with one stone.
Make sure that Marvin Estes
would never point the finger
at your smuggling operation.
And by bringing in a
phony Theresa Lavelle,
you saw your opportunity to get
your hands on that $200 million.
That is a lie.
I never lie in
court, Mr. Welker.
Never. I know better.
Never lie in court.
Tell us, uh... Tell us
who Alvin Leacock is.
- I'm sorry, Alvin who?
- The gentleman right over there.
He's from Galveston.
And he's prepared to
testify that Suzie Barron,
the woman who impersonated
Theresa Lavelle, was a friend of his.
And that he's a
friend of yours too.
You wanna tell us the
rest of it, Mr. Welker?
- There's nothing to tell.
MATLOCK: Come on now.
Tell us how Mr. Leacock
recruited Suzie Barron
and David Levine to
play her husband for you.
Tell us how he acted
as a go-between
so there could never be any
connection between you and them.
Tell us how you
used him to tell them
all the things that were
typed in all those letters,
knowing that people
like me would use that
to track down this
Theresa person.
You wanna tell us,
Mr. Welker? If you don't, he will.
I have no idea what
you're talking about.
[CHUCKLING]
You broke into a car that
night, set off the alarm,
to lure the guard off
Marvin Estes' boat.
- No.
- A car in which you placed
a credit-card receipt
that you had stolen
- from my client's office to frame him.
- That's not true, either.
After the guard left the boat, you
went aboard, wearing a wetsuit.
- No.
- You... You had with you
the bottle of sleeping pills that
you got with a phony prescription.
You found a bottle
of Scotch in the bar.
A bottle on which my client
had the misfortune to leave
his fingerprints earlier that day.
You took that bottle
of Scotch, of course,
wearing the gloves from
your wetsuit. No fingerprints.
You went below, where
Marvin Estes lay asleep.
You grabbed his head and started
forcing sleeping pills in his mouth
- and washing them down with Scotch.
- No.
You forced sleeping pill after
sleeping pill down his throat
till he finally passed out.
Then you went
upstairs to the salon,
found the typewriter,
grabbed your mask,
went up to the deck, threw
the typewriter in the bay,
so that no one would ever know
that Theresa Lavelle was a
figment of Marvin Estes' imagination.
Then you jumped in the bay
yourself and made your escape.
No. Not one word
of that is true.
Every word of it's
true and I can prove it.
We found this mask
on Marvin Estes'
yacht three days ago,
it was removed by the
police with a warrant.
Everybody assumed it
belonged to Marvin Estes
because he was such
an avid scuba diver.
But it didn't. It
belongs to you.
You were in such a hurry to
leave the scene of the crime,
you picked up the
wrong mask, didn't you?
- That's not my mask.
- Yes, it is.
These lenses were specially
ground for a nearsighted person.
Marvin Estes had
perfect eyesight.
Didn't even need to
wear reading glasses.
You're nearsighted.
It isn't my mask.
The record at Merrill
Opticians on Larime Street,
where these lenses were specially
ground and fitted, show that it is.
All right, wait a minute,
wait a minute, wait a minute.
Come to think of it, I haven't
seen mine around the house.
Maybe it is my mask.
Look, I probably left it there the
last time Marvin and I went diving.
When was that?
- A couple of weeks before his death.
- No.
According to Merrill Opticians,
this mask was picked up the
afternoon Marvin Estes was murdered.
I guess you knew you'd
be needing it that night.
Wanna try it on,
see how it fits?
[SINGING INDISTINCTLY]
Well, here they come.
I got mustard, ketchup,
relish, sauerkraut.
- A man after my own heart.
- Oh, there you go.
BILLY: Hey, Ben?
Hope you like this one.
Where do you want me to plant
it? It's gotta be in the sun, you know.
It's kind of dead.
Just needs some water.
Oh, I almost forgot.
Here's a cashier's check.
Good news is you
can cash it any time.
The bad news is there
are 27 distant relatives
suing for a share of
Uncle Marvin's estate.
- Twenty-seven?
- Mm-hm.
They just keep crawling
out of the woodwork.
It's gonna be a while
before you get your cut.
Several decades.
BILLY: Water pressure's low. I'll fix it.
- Don't bother.
BILLY: One turn of the
wrench, Ben, that's all it'll take.
- What is he doing?
- Oh, he's trying to repay me but...
He doesn't know
anything about plumbing.
Billy, no.