The Paradine Case Page #7

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No, LaTour. I don't want you

to go over your evidence again.

But did you not stand in that box

and swear by Almighty God...

that you'd tell the truth...

the whole truth and

nothing but the truth?

Very well, I put it to you that your

evidence was a tissue of lies.

You were trying to cover up

what really happened.

There's another person

in court who was there...

who knew what happened.

Remember that.

Mr Keane,

what is your question?

Do you still alledge that

Mrs Paradine invented a story...

about you leaving the Colonel

and this precipitated the quarrel?

- Yes, sir, she did.

- It would be her word against yours.

Yes, sir and so it was then

with the Colonel.

You're asking his lordship

and the jury to believe...

that after years of devoted service

in the field and the sick chamber...

that you were in this position?

That Paradine had absolutely

no faith in your word of honour?

I put it to you, LaTour, that

your story is a pack of lies.

- Do you persist in it?

- If she says the contrary, she'd...

What was that

you started to say?

Answer the question.

I stick to what I said.

If you don't mind, I'd like to

go over that night with you again.

In case any small incidents

have slipped your memory.

After the butler took

the Colonel his dinner...

- where were you?

- In my room.

Did he tell you about

the burgundy?

- Yes.

- Was that, or was that not unusual?

- Maybe so.

- Was it or wasn't it?

- It was.

- And after he'd told you this...

- then you went upstairs again?

- Yes.

- Why?

- I had no special reason, sir.

Shortly before, the Colonel

had denounced you...

for deserting him.

And yet you went upstairs

for no special reason?

I was unhappy about being

on bad terms with him.

What's that? Speak up,

the jury can't hear you.

I wanted to make it up

with the Colonel.

Very well. You knocked at the

Colonel's door and went in?

I knocked on his door.

I did not go in.

Very well, you knocked.

What happened then?

- The Colonel told me to go away.

- He told you to go away?

Without even knowing

who was knocking?

He asked who it was, I told him,

then he told me to go away.

You're very sharp, LaTour.

Tell me, what tone

did the Colonel use?

When he told you to go,

to get away from him.

My lord, when LaTour

gave his evidence...

his words were "The Colonel told me

to go away" not "get away from me".

Go away, get away from me,

what's the difference?

My learned friend can well appreciate

difference in shades of meaning...

and I'd prefer that he be

accurate in these matters.

It's a point of no importance.

Make it go away if you like.

Counsel is right in his contention,

you should be more careful.

If your lordship pleases, I'll

continue the cross examination.

LaTour, you used to help the

Colonel get to bed, did you not?

Quite a complicated matter

getting a blind man into bed.

Didn't everything

have to be ready?

Toothbrush, pyjamas,

hot-water bottle?

- Yes, sir.

- Yet you did not enter the room.

Not even to check that Leakin

had put the burgundy...

in the right place where the Colonel

wouldn't knock it over by mistake.

I wasn't thinking

about the burgundy.

Very well, you were wondering

how to make it up with the Colonel.

You were very much upset.

Is that putting it fairly?

Yes, I think so.

You stated that you saw

someone else in the hall.

- Yes, sir, Mrs Paradine.

- What was she doing?

Going to her bedroom.

Mrs Paradine's room was

across the hall...

- from the Colonel's room, correct?

- Yes, sir.

At the moment

you saw Mrs Paradine...

did you know where

she'd come from?

No, sir.

She might've come out of her room,

seen you and turned to go back again.

- It's possible.

- But...

she couldn't have come from the

Colonel's room without going around...

or through you.

Is that correct?

Yes, sir.

You saw Mrs Paradine

go into her room and shut the door.

- What did you do then?

- Nothing...

I hung about

for a minute or two...

- and then...

- What was your purpose...

in hanging about

for a minute or two?

I didn't have

any purpose. I just...

I just didn't know what to do.

Then I decided to go downstairs.

Tell me LaTour...

have you ever seen anyone

else die by poison?

No, sir.

Or any animal?

No, sir.

Wasn't there an old dog poisoned

at Hindley about 2 years ago?

Yes, sir, I beg your pardon.

I almost forgot.

Yes, so we noticed.

- It was killed by poison, wasn't it?

- Yes.

It was the Colonel's old

hunting dog. It was sick.

So we put him away.

You see...

You mean you put him away.

- Yes, sir.

- What poison did you use?

- I don't know, sir.

- Don't know?

- Did you keep any of it?

- We got a single dose from the vet.

Don't keep saying we.

- You mean you did.

- Yes, sir.

It wasn't a big dose?

No sir, very small.

And it acted very quickly.

Yes it did.

I understand what you

mean to say.

He's accusing me of poisoning my

Colonel. But I didn't. I didn't.

I must ask the witness

to collect himself...

But it's not true, I tell you.

I didn't do it. How could I?

I must again

caution the witness...

to just answer the questions.

He is not on trial.

It is unneccesary for him...

to protest his innocence

concerning actions...

with which he has

not been charged.

And I think, Mr Keane, that this is a

convenient opportunity to adjourn.

We will resume at 5 past 2.

I swear by Almighty God...

that I shall keep this jury...

in a convenient place...

with such accomodation

as the court shall direct.

I will not suffer

any person to speak to them...

neither will I speak to them myself

touching this trial, except...

to ask if they are agreed

upon a verdict...

without leave of the court.

Tony.

Keane, Keane...

- Tony's torn him to pieces.

- It was horrible.

But darling, you've got to

remember it's Tony's job.

- It's gone well for us this morning.

- Has it?

- Surely you must know that.

- I'm not a lawyer.

Good heavens, you're a clever woman.

Don't you realise how I shook him?

You have not kept

faith with me.

- What do you mean?

- I didn't agree to what you did today.

I objected when you wanted to say that

Andre helped my husband kill himself.

I objected even to that. And now you

make him out to be a murderer.

No, I will not forgive you

for what you have done today.

Forgive me?

I've exhausted myself...

destroying everything

to save you?

I did not ask you to do that.

Forgive me...

you forgive me.

When I was idiot enough to

fall in love with you.

Did you hear that?

If it's true, how could you deceive

me as you've done today?

Look...

the case has narrowed itself

down to this. One of three things.

Either your husband

poisoned himself...

or LaTour did it,

or you did.

As you like. But I will not have

you making Andre a murderer.

- Are you in love with him?

- What has that to do with it?

You're my lawyer

not my lover.

Someone else

said something...

very like that to

me recently.

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