The Unknown Man Page #2

No, of course.

Why not, Mr Masen? It might be fun.

I wonder why they came to you?

Oh, some baloney about

my passion for justice.

Well here we are, kids.

Thanks a lot.

You two be good now.

Bye.

Say .. how about those two?

When I went into the

study just now, they ..

Do you think it's serious?

I don't know, dear.

What were they doing?

She was cramming him

in accident liability.

Oh, then it is serious.

That's how I helped you, remember?

You did nothing of the sort.

Of course I did. It was all my doing

from the first moment I met you.

You hadn't a chance.

And I thought you were a nice girl.

You ought to get around more.

Oh well. Too late now.

"I was just getting together with

my second Old-Fashioned .."

"And wondering hopefully

how much longer until chow."

"When I say Layford go to meet them."

"Normally, I'm a cynic,

concerning the gentler sex."

"But there was something

about Mrs Masen."

"I don't know."

"Life had been sweet to her

all the way. You could tell."

"But somehow with her, you felt

good about it. Wished it would last."

"I still feel that way about Mrs Masen."

"As for her husband? Well .."

"His figure was fine and his

forehead was noble and .."

"He knew how to wear a dinner coat."

My dear, I don't think you've

met the District Attorney.

Joe Bucknor - Mrs Bradley Masen.

No, but I've heard about Mr Bucknor.

Nothing good, I hope.

Brad, I imagine you two have

crossed swords before.

Glad you could come. How are you.

I .. I don't know who your

tailor is, but I like him.

I rented it from the

waiter at Greasy Joe's.

Martini, Stella?

Lovely, thanks.

Brad?

Thanks, I don't.

I do.

A certain lawyer named Cicero once said:

"Non Minus Juris Consultus

Quam Justitiae."

Justice is even more important than law.

Your Crime Commission is a fine example.

And you've been doing a good job.

Since you stopped buying yachts and took

a closer look at the town you live in.

Don't you agree with me, Brad?

Judge, I don't know

very much about crime.

Andy and I play golf together.

That's all.

He's a sound man in the bunker.

Why don't you join the Commission, Brad?

Are you serious?

The reason I asked you over here.

We can certainly use a new man.

And a good one.

May I think it over?

Please.

The D.A. needs all the help there is.

We were over on Cedar Street today.

The Hulderman killing.

Have fun?

It's a shocking business.

Brutal.

The father was prostrated with grief.

How does the case look, Joe?

Will you get a conviction?

Don't .. don't answer that, Joe.

Not while I'm here.

That case comes up before me next month.

Judge.

It was odd your quoting

Cicero and justice.

It was my father's favorite quote.

That was my grandfather's. Came down the

line from him to father and then to me.

Yes .. but you're ten minutes slow.

I am?

You know, I've never been able

to make up mind which I prefer.

That, or ..

"Justice is the foundation of empires".

Yes, I know.

Who is defending the boy, Rudi ..?

Rudi Wallchek?

Wayne Kellwin, I guess.

It won't help much. We've got

a chair reserved for Wallchek.

It's a wrap-up.

You sound awfully sure, Mr Bucknor.

I am.

Do you mind?

Are you equally sure he's guilty?

Don't tell me you care?

I was asked to defend

Wallchek this afternoon.

I refused.

I guess crime doesn't

pay your kind of fee.

If I .. wanted to see the prisoner do

you suppose you could arrange it?

I might.

When?

Tonight?

Alright.

I'm Masen.

Wayne Kellwin came to me and ..

He told me .. you taking the case?

Forget it, mister.

It's hopeless. Forget it.

Shall we sit down?

Sorry it's so late. I hope I

didn't disturb your sleep.

I sleep afternoons and

do my thinking nights.

Uhuh. How long you been here?

Three weeks, four days and a half.

Treating you alright?

Three meals a day and all

the smokes you can buy.

They even filled two teeth for me, here.

Did they?

The guy said they ought to come out but

figured maybe he could save them.

Just a chance, he says.

He did. He saved them.

Good.

A crazy guy.

I don't know why he troubled.

I don't know why you trouble, either.

Did you do it?

What do you think?

I don't know yet.

Sure you don't. How could you?

So why should you care?

Why have you come here anyway? Why?

Kellwin says you're innocent.

You believe Kellwin?

Not necessarily.

He knows you. I don't.

He could still be wrong.

No, you're different.

You're not like Kellwin.

New to this game, aren't you?

What game?

Crime.

Yes, I'm new to it.

I'm not.

You have a record?

Long as your arm. Larceny,

car theft, assault and battery.

Twice.

That shakes you, doesn't it?

I've been on the grift

since I was a kid.

How did you get started?

My Pop died when I was six, I guess.

Yeah, I guess that started me.

I liked my old man.

Ma was no good, but he was.

We got along just fine.

One day, he went out

and got himself killed.

Just a smash-up.

They said he was quite a mess

when they pulled him out.

Quite a mess, they said.

That's sob stuff.

Look, you'd better get of here mister

before you get your fingers burned.

Look, you want the truth,

the whole truth, and nothing but?

Alright, I'll tell you the truth.

A guy gets cut to bits on Cedar Street.

Okay, that's too bad.

Too bad for me.

Because I'm in bed and

asleep when it happens.

In bed and asleep, see.

But I got no proof.

No proof, no alibi, nothing.

Just my word.

My word? Oh brother, is that a laugh.

Because who is taking it?

The cops, the D.A? You?

Are you going to believe

me, with my record?

Are you crazy?

For a guy like me mister,

there ain't no justice.

Go home to bed.

See this little bean-shooter?

It's a Czechoslovakian Czeska.

Only been fired once.

And it shouldn't have been, because

it went through the mail man.

The killer got sentenced this morning.

What else have you got in here?

This knife did for Marjorie Oldfield.

He wanted to divorce. She wouldn't.

This little hatchet was Mrs Thompson's

idea for dropping the curtain on hubby.

If you look close, you can

still see the blood on it.

Want to look close?

All these milestones in

your brilliant career.

Morbid isn't it.

Uhoh, no luck.

We got a mouse here, name of Molly.

She's quite a character.

She eats all my doughnuts

and search warrants.

Only moll that ever got away from me.

I'll get her one of these days, though.

How did you make out

with Wallchek upstairs?

I asked you at dinner whether

you thought he was guilty.

What do you think, Joe?

He's as guilty as Cain

and he'll go to the chair.

"The case of the people

versus Rudi Wallchek."

"His Honor, judge Holbrook presiding."

Be seated.

"For the people:

Joseph Bucknor, District Attorney."

"For the defendant:

Dwight Bradley Masen."

"The case looked solid."

"One night in his father's

shop on Cedar Street

"Young Johnny Hulderman

had come to a sudden end."

"It took the doctor from the Coroner's

office an hour to explain to the jury."

"In medical language that

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