Leave Her to Heaven Page #7

- I'm Richard Harland.

- Use the phone number one.

Thank you.

Hello.

Yes, this is...

Oh, hello.

What?

Well, how did it happen?

Oh, yes, of course.

I'll take the first train back.

Dr. Saunders, I'm sorry to get you

out of bed, but she's much worse.

Would you hold on

for just a minute, please?

- Oh, Dick.

- Thanks.

- Where is she?

- In her room.

It happened very suddenly. We were

having a picnic lunch at the beach.

Doctor, it seems to be more serious

than you thought. Come at once, please.

Richard.

I'm going to die.

Don't talk like that, Ellen.

You're going to be all right.

No.

And you mustn't feeI sorry for me.

I'm not afraid.

Only...

Only, promise me one thing.

I want to be cremated.

Like my father.

And my ashes scattered

in the same place.

- Remember?

- I remember.

Promise?

Of course, I promise.

Anything you like, only...

Richard!

I'll never let you go, Richard.

Never.

Never.

Never.

Murder.

Cold, brutaI, premeditated murder.

The State will prove that

on the afternoon of September 5th...

...at a picnic attended by Ellen Harland,

her mother and her adopted sister...

...that Ellen met death

as a result of poisoning.

The State will prove that the sugar

with which Ellen sweetened her coffee...

...was mixed with poison...

...and that she met death

by reason of that poison.

The State will prove that the defendant

had both motive and opportunity...

...to commit this dreadfuI crime.

And the State will prove

that the defendant, Ruth Berent...

...deliberately and maliciously plotted

and carried through the murder.

It'll be all right.

I refer now to the envelope found

in the defendant's leather jacket.

When you analyzed the contents

of this envelope, what did you find?

The apparent sugar

tested 60 percent arsenic.

Shortly after you made this test,

I came to you with a sealed parceI.

The contents was a bottle

half full of white powder.

I show you the bottle.

- That's it.

- You analyzed the contents?

- I did.

- What was it?

Pure arsenic.

- Your witness, Mr. Robie.

- No questions.

Mr. Medcraft, you are the manager

of the Bay State Mortuary?

I am.

Were the remains of the late Mrs. Ellen

Harland cremated at your establishment?

- Yes, sir.

- Who made the arrangements?

Miss Ruth Berent.

Your witness.

- No questions, Mr. Quinton.

Mr. Carlson, what is your occupation?

Vice president

of the Seaboard Trust Company.

Your bank is trustee for the estate

of the late Ellen Berent Harland.

Yes, sir.

When was the last time

you saw Mrs. Harland?

After she got out of the hospitaI.

Did she make any provision in her will

about being cremated after her death?

No, she did not.

Would you tell the jury

what provision she did make?

She requested that she be buried in the

family vault at Mount Auburn Cemetery.

- Hello, Dick.

Hello.

- Good evening.

Good evening, dear.

Tomorrow, Dick,

you'll go on the witness stand.

You must remember that Quinton

isn't just the prosecutor.

You may rest assured he'll have

his brass knuckles on.

He'll throw the whole book at you.

He'll ask you some questions

that won't be easy to answer.

One in particular.

Do you swear to tell the truth...

...and nothing but the truth,

so help you God?

I do.

Your name?

- Richard Harland.

- Your profession?

- Writer.

If you don't mind, Mr. Harland, I shall

ask you for a moment to be a reader.

I have been asked how I happened

to investigate the death of Mrs. Harland.

This letter is my answer.

I ask you to read it.

- Aloud?

- Please.

"Dear Russ,

I'm writing this letter to you...

...because we once meant

a great deaI to each other...

...and there is no one else to whom

I can go for help. Richard is leaving... "

Proceed, please, Mr. Harland.

"It was after I left the hospitaI I first

began to sense a change in my husband.

At first I thought it might be due

to the loss of our child...

...and then the truth, the awfuI truth,

began to dawn on me.

The reason for the change was Ruth.

Russ, they love each other,

and want to get rid of me.

When Richard suggested a divorce...

...I went to Ruth and begged her

to give him up.

She said she intended to have him

and would stop at nothing.

I told Ruth I would never

give Richard a divorce.

Then she threatened to kill me. "

Go on, Mr. Harland.

"Russ, I know she means it,

and is capable of it.

She will kill me first chance she gets. "

If you don't mind, Mr. Harland, would

you read that last paragraph louder?

"She will kill me

the first chance she gets. "

Go on, Mr. Harland.

"I'm afraid to stay in the house,

but I can't leave without Richard.

I'd rather die than give him up.

I don't know what to do

or where to turn, except to you.

- Please help me. Ellen. "

- Mr. Harland...

- ...identify the handwriting in this letter.

- Ellen's.

I call your attention

to the first sentence:

"I am writing this letter to you because

we once meant a great deaI...

...to each other. "

Do you know the significance of this?

I suppose it refers to the fact

you once were engaged to her.

Yes, we were once engaged.

Did you know that

when you first met her?

- She was wearing an engagement...

- When you met...

- ...you knew she was engaged?

- Yes.

- In spite of that, made love to her?

- I suppose.

Will you tell the jury

about this courtship?

I didn't exactly court her.

- She courted you?

- No, not that either.

Well, then what do you mean?

- I knew she'd marry me if I asked her.

- So you decided to ask her?

- No, I decided not to.

- Did she ask you?

- Not exactly.

- Then how'd you happen to get married?

Why, I found one day that she had

removed her engagement ring.

She gave me to understand...

I realized then

that I was in love with her.

- Did you tell her so?

- Yes.

What did she say?

She said she would never let me go.

How soon after this

were you married?

A couple of days later.

She wanted it that way.

- Were you reluctant?

- I was doubtfuI.

Now, Mr. Harland, I don't say this

critically, nor in mockery...

...nor to suggest

that you are conceited.

But simply to be sure

that I understand you correctly.

You suggest that a beautifuI young

woman, engaged to another man...

...falls in love with you, wins you, and

persuades you into a quick marriage...

...against your better judgment.

Is that a fair statement?

- Yes.

- I see.

Now, how soon after did you begin

to regret your surrender?

- Were you happy for the first month?

- Completely.

- Second, third, fourth?

- Yes.

Was Ruth at the New Mexico ranch...

- ...when Ellen met and courted you?

- Yes.

- Did you see much of Ruth at this time?

- No.

Where did you go

after you left New Mexico?

To Warm Springs, Georgia,

to visit my brother, Danny.

During your residence

in Warm Springs...

- ...did you have any servants?

- No.

- Who did the housework?

- Ellen.

- And the cooking?

- Ellen.

- You couldn't afford servants?

- It wasn't a question of afford.

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