The Wrong Man Page #5

to raise money on your policy.

Can you give me that?

Yes, of course, Mr. O'Connor.

Good. This will be an old story

to you, of course...

...but it's all new to me,

so take your time.

Mrs. Daily, I want you to take down

Mr. BalestrerO's statement.

All right, Mr. Balestrero...

...let's start with some of your background.

Start with your full name and address.

Well, my name is

Christopher Emanuel Balestrero.

I live at 402478th Street

in Jackson Heights...

...with my wife and my two boys...

Well, that does it for me,

Mr. Balestrero.

I'll take the case.

Oh, Mr. O'Connor, how wonderful.

There is...

...one difficulty...

...which it's only fair to mention.

I have little experience in criminal cases...

...and I shall be at a disadvantage

with a skillful prosecutor.

We trust you, Mr. O'Connor,

and you trust us.

We can't ask for more than that.

It's the money problem that...

- Yeah. Well...

...let's not think about that.

Let's just concentrate on winning the case.

If we can do that, then the rest

will take care of itself.

Now...

I...

I want you two to go home...

...and dig into your memories and

into any records you may have...

...and discover where you were

and what you were doing...

...on these two key dates, the dates that

the insurance company was held up.

We know where we were the first date.

We were vacationing

at a hotel in the country.

Can you remember what you

were doing that date?

Not offhand.

- No?

Mr. Ferraro might be able to help.

He's the owner of the hotel.

Well, why don't you both go out there

and make a thorough checkup.

We might be able to use Gene's car.

We can't keep Mr. O'Connor

any longer, Rose.

Yes. Goodbye.

Thank you very much.

Goodbye.

Thank you, Mr. O'Connor.

- Goodbye, Mr. Balestrero.

Of course.

You were staying here those four days.

But there was so many guests,

I just couldn't swear...

...to where anybody was on any one day.

The 9th of July, that's my birthday.

Yes, but you know where Manny

was that day?

No, I...

- I remember.

You had a birthday cake.

You were going to have a party...

...under the apple tree.

- No. We had the party inside.

Because it rained. Now I remember.

It pour rain all day long.

Not that it had...

- Was that that day it rained?

It was...

It just rained one day while we were here.

We played cards that day

because it rained so hard...

...four of us sat out here

and played cards at that table.

You know, I probably knew

their names then...

...but I can't remember one of them now.

First one I think of was a...

...short fella with heavy eyebrows

that grew out every which way.

Yes, a Mr...

- I don't remember him.

But we must have the names

in the register.

And then there was a tall fella with a...

I remember he walked slowly

and kind of stooped over.

And didn't he wear something like a wig?

Yes. A little wig, right up in front.

Yeah.

- That was Mr. Lamarca.

Yes. That was him.

- Lamarca. That's right.

He was here the first half of the summer.

And the third one was a tall fella,

used to be a boxer.

You don't remember any of their names?

No, I don't.

- They write in this book.

We just look the wrong place.

Was the little man with the

big eyebrows Mr. Molinelli?

Yes, I think that was his name.

Then here it is. Here is his address,

and Mr. Lamarca address too.

Is Mr. Lamarca in?

- Who?

Lamarca.

- They're the people that used to live here.

You know where they moved?

- Mr. Lamarca died...

...and Mrs. Lamarca...

I don't know where she is.

That was about three months ago.

We're looking for Mr. Molinelli.

They're on the third floor, D.

- Thanks.

Do you speak English?

What?

What did she say?

Molinelli is dead.

There's our alibi.

It's perfect.

And complete.

They'll find the other man,

the third one...

...you know, the boxer?

You remember him. And one's...

One's really enough.

It's my fault this happened to you.

It's these wisdom teeth.

I knew I shouldn't let you go down there...

...and yet I let you go right ahead.

It's just been an accident, Rose.

I let you go to the insurance company...

...to borrow money for me,

and then this fell on you.

We've been in debt before because

I haven't known how to handle things.

You had to borrow money from

relatives and the loan company...

...and now we're going

into debt to O'Connor...

...all because I haven't

known how to economize.

The truth is, I've let you down, Manny.

I haven't been a good wife.

But that's nonsense.

You've been the best wife

anybody ever had.

Rose, you're just talking nonsense.

You can imagine how we felt

when we found out...

...that Lamarca and Molinelli had both died.

You know, like somebody was

stacking the cards against us.

But since it happened,

it happened.

There was this other fella playing cards,

and Mr. Ferraro and his wife...

...will help us find him.

And we'll find him, won't we, Rose?

Yeah, it was... It was bad luck.

But we can't let that shake us.

You'll have to search your minds

and find other witnesses.

Find that ex-prizefighter, if possible.

We'll be able to use the Ferraros

as character witnesses, at least.

They promised they'd help us

any way they could...

...with the hotel register and

what they could remember.

Didn't they, Rose?

- Yes.

Of course, you realize

it'll be the prosecutor's job...

...to break down your alibi, if possible.

He'll have identification witnesses...

...and they'll swear you're the holdup man.

I think maybe you'll

have to go back to Cornwall...

...and dig up some more facts on your side.

Now, this second date...

...December 18th.

Did either of you recall

any event or circumstance...

...that might be useful to us?

December 18th?

- I remember I didn't go out much...

...before Christmas. I had a toothache...

...and my jaw was so swollen

I didn't feel like working.

I did work at the club,

but otherwise I didn't leave the house.

Was that noticeable?

- Oh, yes. The fellas in the band...

...kidded me about it all the time.

- How long did it last?

Two weeks before Christmas.

- See a dentist?

Yeah, several times.

And he'd testify to that?

And if you'd held up the insurance office

December 18th...

...this swollen face would be noticed.

Sure would.

- Yeah.

But this was not mentioned by

any of the girls who identified you.

Yeah. I think we may be able

to make something of this...

...and, of course, Rose

could testify to that too.

Yes.

I suppose so.

Yeah, I...

This swollen jaw of yours is

something for me to work on.

Have you got the name of the dentist?

I have it someplace.

I'll phone you when I get home.

I'm going to bring in a handwriting expert

because your printing...

...and the printing on the holdup note...

...will have to be compared

and proved to differ.

Well, now, I want you two

to think again about Cornwall...

...when you get home.

Try and get the name of that boxer.

Try and recall any other details.

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