Letty Lynton Page #6

Of course, I don't.

Where did this happen?

At a hotel.

New York? Yes.

Did you know this man, Letty?

Yes, I did, Mr. Darrow.

But I left him in South America.

It's murder. I wouldn't talk much.

We'll have to start right away.

Now, wait a minute...

I'm sorry, sir. But its orders.

Oh, what a shame.

I'm awfully sorry. It's too bad.

Do we have to stand for this just because

she happened to know the man?

I've got to do as I'm told, sir.

I guess there's no use arguing.

It's so embarrassing.

There's nothing you can do about it.

No, I guess not.

I'll be right down.

When did this happen?

I haven't read the papers.

Last night, about 10 o'clock.

Oh.

I'll have to go with her.

Of course you will.

Isn't it a shame, mother?

Can you imagine anything

as ridiculous as this?

I'll be right with you.

He's almost half an hour late already.

He'll be here soon enough.

Tired, darling?

Oh, that long ride and no sleep.

This won't last long.

Mother,

you've hardly spoken to me.

Why?

Because I'm in exactly the same position

as the District Attorney.

I'm waiting for this hearing.

You're not afraid.

I don't know.

When you walk into this building,

something seems to close in on you.

Well, good morning.

I'm frightfully sorry to have kept

you waiting.

I was unavoidably detained.

I had to go to court for a second or two.

You'll excuse me a moment.

Send Baker in here.

How unpleasant.

There isn't a scrap of anything to connect

you with this murder.

Nice of you to come.

I appreciate it.

Tell Kingsley to take care of this.

And Babson on the Renaul murder...

get a hold of the Consul of whatever

country that bird belonged to

and find out all you can about him.

A lot of that ground has been covered.

Do it as I told you, tell Babson.

And not a word to the press

about this hearing.

Why have you made such a point

of getting my daughter here?

We found out, Mrs. Lynton,

that this man Renaul came north with

your daughter in the same ship she did.

Somebody's been kidding you,

Mr. Haney.

I was on that boat and he certainly

was not.

Well... what about this?

We found that on the body

of the dead man.

Oh, I had forgotten about that.

You see, he happened along

as I was going through the customs

and insisted upon taking care of it for me.

Oh, I see, I see.

Oh, this is Doctor Sanders

who examined the body

of the murdered man.

Your name is Jerry Darrow, isn't it?

Yes.

Did you by any chance meet this man Renaul

as he...

just happened along at the customs?

Why, er... no, I didn't.

I suppose you have seen this.

The headlines shout romance, but

look at the picture.

You see, the photographers asked her

to get up on the rail and cross her legs.

Oh, oh, oh...

Well, was the shock as great as that?

It's frightfully exaggerated.

Cameras play funny tricks.

What sort of a fellow was this man,

Renaul?

What do you mean?

I mean, what did he do?

He travelled, mostly.

His business kept him 3 or 4 months

out of every year in South America.

Was he a wealthy man?

I'm sure I don't know. He seemed to be.

Sort of a man that might have enemies?

I should think so, yes.

You didn't, by any chance, happen to know

any of the enemies he might have had.

No, I don't remember any.

I see.

This must have just come.

We wired the police down there

to get a resum of that man's life.

How long were you there, Miss Lynton?

Nearly three months. Indeed?

Well I made a little foray to Rio

and other places.

Must have been having a pleasant time.

Yes, I suppose I was.

Renaul doing his share?

He was very agreeable.

You must have behaved yourself.

The police make no mention of you.

You left him at Montevideo?

Yes, he came north by plane.

Oh, then he was at the dock to meet you.

Yes.

Was that a surprise? Rather.

I was wondering if the horror caught

by this camera was just a surprise...

You're trying to trap this girl,

aren't you, Mr. Haney?

Oh Lord, no, Mrs. Lynton. Just a habit.

You see, one's brain gets to play

over a case like a searchlight.

Just a habit.

When did you two meet?

On board ship.

Love at first sight?

You see, we were three weeks

coming from Montevideo.

Did Renauld have the bad luck

to fall in love with you, too?

Yes, I guess he did.

Don't you know he did?

He did get to be a bit of a nuisance.

He followed you north, didn't he?

What if he did?

That doesn't prove anything, does it?

You'd been living with this man

for months, hadn't you?

I did nothing of the kind... Look here,

sir, you can't get away with this.

Just hold your horses, youngster.

I feel sorry for you.

We found these yesterday.

In a box in the hotel office.

Letters written by you.

During one of these forays,

as you call them.

Miss Lynton, I must warn you that anything

you say from now on may be used against you.

It is my duty to turn you over to the

police and hold you for the grand jury.

Why? On what?

Writing some foolish love letters?

These are not foolish love letters.

They speak very frankly

and intelligently.

Just listen to this one.

Written in November, from Rio.

Jerry, please let me fight this out alone.

I thought so.

She didn't want you to know...

that these nights were

agonies of loneliness

for this romantic foreigner.

Here's another one.

Don't make a fool of yourself, Haney.

I know all about those letters,

I know all about this situation.

We're not living in the early 90s.

You can tell that to the grand jury.

You're not going to take this thing

into court for nothing

and make a laughing stock of yourself.

You entered that man's rooms prepared to kill

him or get these letters back, didn't you?

I did nothing of the kind.

I had no more idea of killing him

than I had of killing my mother.

But you did kill him.

That's a lie. I did not.

You went to this man's rooms

at 10 o'clock, or thereabouts.

You asked for these, they were refused you.

And then you killed him, you poisoned him.

You're trying to force me into saying

something that is not true.

It is not true!

In your haste to get away...

you forgot something.

All right, if you must have it.

I did go to see him.

I had told Jerry Darrow nothing.

Don't you see I couldn't let him know

what a rotten worthless thing I was

because I might lose him.

That's why I went to see Renaul.

I told him that for the first time

in my life I was in love.

I begged him to give me a chance

but he only laughed at me.

I didn't go there to kill him.

It never entered my mind.

Wait a minute, Letty.

There's no way out of this but the truth.

At 8:
30 that night...

I met Miss Lynton in the lobby

of the hotel.

We went to my apartment...

and spent the night there.

That's the truth.

That's exactly what happened.

Don't be a fool, Darrow.

Right back at you, Mr. Haney.

You're not bright enough to prove it.

This girl could be at two places

at the same time.

If you want to take this thing

into the court

for the sheer pleasure of throwing mud

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