After the death of a wealthy woman, two men claim to be the father of her 18-year-old daughter, Trudy. The marriage had been a rocky one and wildly unpopular with the extended family and Father had flown the coop when Trudy was just a toddler. Trudy begins to bond with the first Father and she goes to Perry Mason for advice on getting proof that Father is who he says he is.
This is a family of cousins who don't trust each other. Trudy is the one with big bucks. Her elderly cousin, Francis X. Bushman, has been blind for the last five years but he had normal vision in 1943, which is when Trudy's father left his wife and child. Perry calls FXB one evening in regard to identification. Just as the housekeeper answers the phone, she spots her employer dead on the floor. As you might expect, she freaks out.
Tragg was particularly Traggish in this episode.
Here we are at the scene.
PM: I wasn’t able to calm the housekeeper.
Tragg: She said you tried to pump her.
Tragg, yelling to Paul, who is checking the registration of a car in the driveway: We’ll tend to the detective work around here if you don’t mind!
Mason is cross-examining Tragg and coming up with a scenario to explain why the defendant’s fingerprints were on the poker (murder weapon). PM describes the argument between the defendant and victim and puts the lieutenant in Trudy's shoes. Wouldn't you do thus and so? "I might." Or how about this reaction? "Possibly." Wouldn’t *you* pick up a handy poker and wave it around to encourage an angry man to keep his distance?
Tragg: No, I wouldn’t do that. I just wouldn’t count on the sight of a blind man reacting to a poker.
Perry has the creepiest cousin on the stand and is exploring motive. If you discount Trudy and the guys who claim to be her father, who's next in line to inherit?
Witness loses his cool: This is a large family. Mr. D.J. Evanson over there is just as close a cousin as I am!
One line and he muffs it.
Clerk: Do you solemnly swear to promise ...
At the end, Trudy acknowledges mistakes have been made.
Trudy: Everybody can’t be perfect – like Mr. Mason is. (She plants a smooch on his cheek, then leaves the office.)
DS: Perfect, hmm?
PM: That’s what I keep telling you.
This is a family of cousins who don't trust each other. Trudy is the one with big bucks. Her elderly cousin, Francis X. Bushman, has been blind for the last five years but he had normal vision in 1943, which is when Trudy's father left his wife and child. Perry calls FXB one evening in regard to identification. Just as the housekeeper answers the phone, she spots her employer dead on the floor. As you might expect, she freaks out.
Tragg was particularly Traggish in this episode.
Here we are at the scene.
PM: I wasn’t able to calm the housekeeper.
Tragg: She said you tried to pump her.
Tragg, yelling to Paul, who is checking the registration of a car in the driveway: We’ll tend to the detective work around here if you don’t mind!
Mason is cross-examining Tragg and coming up with a scenario to explain why the defendant’s fingerprints were on the poker (murder weapon). PM describes the argument between the defendant and victim and puts the lieutenant in Trudy's shoes. Wouldn't you do thus and so? "I might." Or how about this reaction? "Possibly." Wouldn’t *you* pick up a handy poker and wave it around to encourage an angry man to keep his distance?
Tragg: No, I wouldn’t do that. I just wouldn’t count on the sight of a blind man reacting to a poker.
Perry has the creepiest cousin on the stand and is exploring motive. If you discount Trudy and the guys who claim to be her father, who's next in line to inherit?
Witness loses his cool: This is a large family. Mr. D.J. Evanson over there is just as close a cousin as I am!
One line and he muffs it.
Clerk: Do you solemnly swear to promise ...
At the end, Trudy acknowledges mistakes have been made.
Trudy: Everybody can’t be perfect – like Mr. Mason is. (She plants a smooch on his cheek, then leaves the office.)
DS: Perfect, hmm?
PM: That’s what I keep telling you.