Stranger on the Third Floor Page #2

I was up all night

with a terrible toothache.

Well, that's too bad.

'But it's your duty

to stay awake.'

And try and follow the evidence

with as much intelligence

as you've got.

'Proceed.'

All they want is to get it

over with, go home.

You said you didn't

go there to rob.

Why didn't you call the police

instead of running away?

I was scared. I didn't want

to get mixed up in it.

So scared that you ran back

to your room to pack your bag.

You were packing your bag

when you were arrested, right?

- Yes, sir.

- Why?

Well, I-I don't know.

- I-I was panicky.

- I'll tell you why.

This is not the first time

you committed a crime, is it?

No, sir.

Why did you lie

about that previous conviction?

That was a mistake.

'You forgot that fingerprints

will always give you away.'

'You served three years

in the Ohio State Reformatory'

'for the holdup of a gasoline

station at Lima, didn't you?'

Yes, sir... but I was a kid.

I-I was desperate.

I only took five dollars.

There must have been

at least 50 there.

If that man at the filling

station had fought

you'd have killed him

as you killed Nick.

No, sir, and I didn't kill Nick.

I swear I didn't.

I didn't kill him.

I DIDN'T. I DIDN'T. I DIDN'T.

What's the matter, Jane?

I just couldn't stand

listening to him.

I know, it's always

pretty awful.

But suppose, for just one minute

that he's telling the truth.

You're just upset. Everybody is

at their first trial.

No, it isn't that. It's you.

If they convict him,

it'll be on your testimony.

What should I do, lie?

I had to tell them what I saw.

Oh, Michael, why did you have

to be there that night?

Pull yourself together, darling.

I've got to call the office

then we'll look

at the apartment.

- No, not today.

- But they might rent it.

- We'll find another place.

- Okay.

Wait right here, and we'll

go out and get a cup of coffee.

Michael.

- Hello, Jane.

- Hello, Martin.

Will you tell Michael

that I've gone home?

- Alright, sure.

- Thanks.

I'll wait for the verdict.

Sure, I'll call right away.

- Where are you going?

- To the drug store with Jane.

- She said, she had to go home.

- Oh.

What's the matter? A little

family row?

No. She got upset by the trial.

Well, that happens.

Come on, I'll buy you a drink.

Funny part is, she acts as if

I were responsible

for the whole thing.

Well, maybe you are.

If you hadn't seen him,

he'd never be caught.

But I did. What was I to do?

Take it easy,

you did the right thing.

What if she's right? He didn't

do it and he gets the chair?

Suppose they do?

What difference will it make?

Too many people

in the world anyway.

What's the use

of talking to you?

- You think everything's a joke.

- My son, it is.

If it weren't,

life wouldn't be worth living.

Mine host, two more of the same.

'Two more. Yes, sir.'

No, thanks. Not for me.

Got to get back

to the courtroom.

That's a good boy. Go in there

and earn your raise.

'All rise,

the Justice of the court.'

Be seated.

The defendant will rise

and face the jury.

Ladies and gentlemen

of the jury.

Have you reached a verdict?

Yes, Your Honor.

We find the defendant guilty

of murder in the first degree.

No!

- Come on, son.

- NO!

I didn't do it.

I-I didn't do it. I..

Let me go. Let me go!

Mr. Ward. Mr. Ward.

I didn't do it.

You know I didn't do it.

- 'Come on.'

- 'Nick was dead, Ward.'

What's the matter, Mike?

Didn't you like the verdict?

That's what you wanted,

wasn't it? Well, so long.

Yes, Michael.

I don't know.

I-I got awfully tired.

What was the verdict?

They have? I knew it.

Well, it's over, anyway.

What say we go to Tony's?

No, Michael, I don't feel like

going out tonight.

Can't you understand?

I-I want to be alone.

I'm tired.

Oh, I can't. I can't forget it.

Please, Jane. What do you know

about law and trials

and all those things.

Odds are million to one

that boy's guilty.

It doesn't make

any difference, Michael.

He'll be with us

the rest of our lives.

'I'll always hear his voice.'

Jane. Jane.

Oh, excuse me, I thought

you all had gone already.

Oh, that's alright.

I'm going now.

I didn't do it. I didn't.

What's the matter with me?

I'm getting soft.

He did it. Of course, he did.

'Suppose for just one minute

that he's telling the truth?'

What if she's right?

After all, I didn't see

Briggs actually kill Nick.

All the rest of the evidence

was circumstantial too.

So what? That doesn't

make it less reliable.

If the courts had to have

an eyewitness for everything

nobody would ever be convicted.

But sometimes they do

get the wrong man.

Why did he have to have

a criminal record?

Now, they'll have

to give him the chair.

He'll die, and I'll

never know for sure.

Business as usual.

All you have to do

is repaint the sign.

Put Jack instead of Nick

and they'll drink their coffee

as though nothing had happened.

Paper, Mr. Ward?

Why did I have

to live across the street?

Lot of people live in Brooklyn.

Why couldn't I?

Then I wouldn't be

mixed up in it.

What a gloomy dump.

Why can't they put in

a bigger lamp?

Listen to him snore.

It'll be a big day in

my life when I move out of here.

Poor kid.

She'll forget all about it

in a couple of days.

How I hate doing this

every night?

Two years, I don't know

how I stood it.

With that snoring animal

next door.

He was certainly easy to spot.

I'll never forget

the way we met.

- What do you want?

- Mr. Ward.

What's the idea of breaking in?

Mr. Meng can't sleep, with you

pounding on that machine.

I have some work. It's only ten.

People who don't loaf all day

don't have to work nights.

This isn't an office building.

That's right.

It's a rooming house.

Exactly! I've paid my rent,

and I'll do as I please.

Now, if you don't mind.

You ought to be

ashamed of yourself.

Mr. Meng's been living here

nearly 14 years

and always paid

his rent promptly.

- Every week.

- So do I.

Yes, but you won't

live here 14 years.

Heaven forbid.

But as long as you do live here,

stop using that thing.

Come, Mr. Meng.

If you have to write,

write with a pencil.

I am tired.

Who's that?

It isn't Meng.

Looking for somebody?

What do you want?

Who are you?

Hey, wait a minute.

Where the devil did he go?

Why do I care?

What was he doing in here?

Was he trying to rob the place?

Can't be very bright.

There isn't anything worth

stealing in the whole block.

What an evil face.

He and Meng

would make a swell team.

Meng, he isn't snoring.

He must be awake.

Maybe he heard

that man in the hall.

But why is he so quiet?

I can't hear a sound.

Is he..

Is there something wrong?

That man..

...maybe he did something

to him, maybe he killed him.

What's the matter with me?

I'm acting like an old woman.

'You forgot that fingerprints

will always give you away.'

Why is it so quiet in there?

He didn't hear me.

Shall I knock again?

I'll wake the whole house.

What if I do?

Why should they think I had

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