A Blueprint for Murder Page #5

The death of the two children would make you

a rich woman. You wanted the child cremated.

You opposed an autopsy, though there was

doubt as to the cause of the child's death...

and Dr. Stevenson particularly requested it.

It all adds up. You were the only one

with the motive and the opportunity.

You... You think I did this thing?

That I killed Polly?

It's beginning to look

that way, Mrs. Cameron.

But... I loved the child as if she

were my own. I couldn't have done it.

Believe me, Mrs. Cameron...

you'll be making it much easier on yourself

if you'll just tell us the truth now.

If you kept me here all night, all I could

say, over and over, is, I didn't do it.

I didn't do it!

That'll be all for now, Mrs. Cameron.

Just wait in the next room, please.

- They think I did it.

- I know.

It's hard to tell what sort

of turn this thing will take.

- If it should go against me, what about Doug?

- Doug?

I may be held over for trial or something.

- From the way they talked, it could happen.

- I suppose so.

Well, if it does, would

you take him till it's over?

Of course I will. Here.

I'll take good care of him.

Mr. Cameron, Mr. Cole wants to

see you in his office right away.

- Excuse me.

- And will you try not to let him

hear about this?

Looks like Mrs. Cameron's it.

She's a cool number. Plenty shrewd.

- D.A. busy?

- [Woman On Intercom] He's just coming in.

- Tell him I'm coming up. It's important.

- Yes, sir.

Lew, check the servants. See if Mrs.

Cameron kept her bag in the bedroom closet.

Tell Captain Pringle the results.

Supposing I check with the boys,

see if they came up with anything.

Wanna come along, Cameron? It's okay.

Sure.

- How you coming?

- So far, it's a bust.

- No strychnine?

- No strychnine.

These are the calcium capsules. We

retrieved them from the hospital.

There were nine left in the bottle. I've

already analyzed five. This is the sixth one.

If it turns cloudy when I add this

Myers reagent, it's strychnine.

- Clear.

- Possibly the strychnine

was only in one capsule.

It checks. There were 12 altogether.

Kid took the first two

all right. Third was it.

[Woman On P.A.] Captain Pringle, telephone.

Keep at it.

Captain Pringle speaking. Lew?

Oh? Thanks.

She kept the bag in her closet, all right.

Well, we've drawn nothing but blanks so far.

Here are 632 reports from the

drugstores. More are coming in.

If a smart dame like Mrs. Cameron did it,

she'd never buy the poison at a drugstore.

Well, widen the circle. Keep at it.

They found Mrs. Cameron's bookstore,

but it didn't give us a thing.

- What about the servants?

- Nothing.

We wanted to see if any of them

had been boning up on poisons.

- What about the libraries?

- They're being covered.

I just received this report from the Cameron

apartment. They checked for rodenticides.

Went all through the medicines.

No trace of strychnine.

You must remember, even if we bring the

woman up for preliminary examination...

I'm sure no judge will

hold her over for trial.

- But you do believe she's guilty, don't you?

- Certainly.

- Captain Pringle too.

- Who else could have done it?

There's no doubt about

it in any of our minds.

It's one thing to believe someone's guilty.

- It's quite another to prove it

beyond a reasonable doubt.

- That's a must for conviction.

You just heard Captain Pringle. You're the

district attorney. You think she's guilty.

Maybe the jury'll think she's guilty too.

Convictions are obtained

on facts, not opinions.

Mrs. Cameron is already planning

to take my nephew to Europe.

Ayear, five years from now, he'll

suddenly die in some obscure place.

That's an angle.

By the time we hear about it,

the kid'll have been cremated.

That's supposition, not

evidence. We need more evidence.

There's no chance of winning the case.

There's no sense bringing it into court.

You mean, you base your reputation

on winning cases, not on losing them.

- So you play only the sure bets.

- Now, Mr. Henderson meant nothing of the kind.

But if we don't come up with

some new evidence, we're dead.

So's the boy.

Don't think for a moment we're not fully

aware of the gravity of this situation.

That boy's life is in your hands.

- I don't appreciate you're putting it

quite that way.

- There's no other way to put it.

I suppose not.

[Phone Rings]

Anderson speaking.

Okay. Thank you.

That was the medical examiner.

There was no evidence of poison in

connection with your brother's death.

That, at least, would have

been some help to our case.

That still doesn't alter the

situation regarding my nephew.

That's right.

I've got a lot of misgivings

about doing this...

but under the circumstances

I suppose it has to be done.

Get a complaint and a warrant

for the arrest of Mrs. Cameron.

We'll have her brought up

for a preliminary hearing.

[Spectators Murmuring]

Remain seated. Come to order.

[Gavel Raps]

From the examination of the evidence...

I find some grounds for considering

Mrs. Cameron a likely suspect.

However, the State has failed to offer any

tangible proof to sustain its contention...

that Mrs. Cameron put

strychnine in a calcium capsule.

Undeniably, Mrs. Cameron had a

possible motive for such a crime.

But, as the defense pointed

out, she is not the only one.

Mr. Whitney Cameron...

also stood to inherit the fortune, should

both the children and Mrs. Cameron die.

The defense has proved...

that Mrs. Cameron is a woman ofhigh repute...

and innumerable witnesses have testified...

that she was an affectionate and

indulgent mother to the children.

I find that the prosecution has

failed to establish probable cause.

I hereby order the defendant

discharged forthwith.

[Spectators Chattering]

- Look this way, please.

- Mrs. Cameron? Hold it!

I have to get custody of that boy.

- We've only got 15 minutes to catch Judge Adams.

- Well, let's go.

Wait. You can't get out of

talking to Lynne. Don't take long.

And don't get her back up, or

she may never let you see Doug.

Mrs. Cameron, look this way! Hold it!

- I'm sorry you had to go through all of this.

- It's a relief to have it over.

- How's Doug?

- He's fine. I told him you were in Chicago.

- I'll bring him around in the morning.

- Fine.

Judge Adams will be leaving by 5:00.

- Can't you telephone him, make him stay later?

- Comes 5:
00, they blow.

We've got to make it.

- Good night, Judge.

- Good night, Frank.

Judge Adams, just a minute, please.

We've got to talk to you on that

custody matter I spoke to you about.

I'm afraid you're late. I'm meeting my

wife. We're leaving town over the weekend.

- This'll only take a minute.

- I'm sorry. I just have time to catch my train.

- Couldn't we discuss it

on the way to the station?

- That'd be rather irregular.

She intends to murder the boy.

I can't consider the question of Mrs. Cameron's

guilt or her intentions toward your nephew.

That's a criminal matter, and the judge has

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