God bless you.
Thank you.
Change in temperature will do it every time.
No, it isn't that. It's my hay fever.
All I have to do is go through Kansas,
I become a handkerchief case.
How did you get in the Secret Service with hay fever?
Kept it a secret.
Hey, we've stopped.
Hey, Jim, I just had a thought.
As long as we're here anyway, why don't we spend the night?
Because, Artie, it's still day,
and two hours is plenty of time
to find all the trouble we need.
Please, boys.
Boys, this morning we shipped our last roundup of steers
on the eastbound rail,
making this the biggest year
in the history of the Rawlins Ranch.
You've worked long and hard,
and you've done yourselves proud.
In appreciation of your efforts,
Mrs. Rawlins and I want you to share our humble table.
Eugenia, come on up here, honey,
and show your pretty face.
I just want to echo what my husband has said
and add my thanks to all of you.
You make an Eastern girl feel very much at home.
I just have one more thing to say to you, my good friends.
Have fun.
Say, uh, think they'd mind if we joined the party?
My stomach's sending up messages
for a little of that rare roast beef.
I don't think they'd mind.
Mrs. Rawlins.
Good afternoon, Mr. Creed.
Nice party you have here.
It must be costing your husband a pretty penny.
He's showing his employees how grateful he is.
Well, he must pay them a good wage, doesn't he?
Money's not the only way a man can say thanks.
Amos, you're spoiling these people
with all this fancy celebration.
They should be out doing extra work.
They all owe the bank money.
They'll pay you, Roger.
They're good, honest citizens. You'd find that out
if you treat them like men instead of account numbers.
That's easy enough to say.
Well, the truth always is.
It's 12:00, Roger. Sit down. Feed your face.
Well, if you don't mind, I'll-
Amos!
Amos, what's wrong? What's happened?
There he goes, the man who did it!
I tried to stop him!
I tried to stop him.
Which way did he go? There. There.
He may go out the back. I'll take him.
Who are you?
James West, United States Agent.
Well, what do you want?
Nothing, but I got an idea
the State of Kansas wants you. For murder.
So that while the defendant, Lucius Brand,
had no intention of killing Amos Rawlins,
he coldy and with calculation
did intend to take the life of Roger Creed.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my path is clear.
I will prove to you that Lucius Brand is guilty of murder
in the first degree.
That's him.
That's the man I saw pull a gun and shoot.
Uh, he was sitting on the bed when I got there.
The gun was in his hand.
Had it been fired, Mr. West?
Yeah, it'd been fired.
Mr. West, do you recognize this coat?
Uh, the defendant was wearing that coat
when he was apprehended.
And this pocket?
Uh, that was given to me by Abigail Moss.
And Miss Moss already has testified that she ripped it
from the coat of Lucius Brand.
Fortunately, I was able to remove myself
from the path of the bullet.
Poor Amos Rawlins wasn't so lucky.
Mr. Creed, tell the court of your dealings
with Lucius Brand.
Well, my bank loaned him money for his farm.
The drought last year caused him to forfeit his payments.
I was forced to foreclose on his mortgage.
I see.
And what was Mr. Brand's reaction?
Well, you might say it was violent.
He threatened to kill me.
And just before Mr. West busted in, I woke up.
That was past the hour of noon.
Mr. Brand, you're a farmer, aren't you?
I was.
Oh, yes. There was the matter of your lost farm.
Tell the court what happened after that.
Well, I just sent my wife back to live with the family.
and then I come to Kirby Gap looking for a job.
And just like that you stopped being a farmer, hm?
Uh, I don't understand what you mean.
Farmers get up at sunup before the roosters start crowing.
Everybody knows that.
Yet you tell the court
on the day Mr. West broke into your room,
you slept past the hour of noon.
Why, Mr. Brand?
Well, I g- I guess, I just had a mite too much to drink
the night before.
Mr. Brand, do you recognize this coat?
Yes, sir, but I don't remember tearing that pocket on it.
I see. And is this your gun?
Yes, but I-
I didn't-
Didn't what? I didn't fire it.
Gentlemen of the jury,
what we have here is Mr. Brand's coat,
which he claims he didn't tear,
and Mr. Brand's gun
which he claims he never fired.
The next thing we're likely to hear
is that Amos Rawlins was never really murdered.
The jury has found you guilty of murder.
I therefore sentence you to be transported
to the state prison at Hastings,
where two days from this day, at sunset,
you will be hanged by the neck until dead,
And may god have mercy on your soul.
Hold your fire, sheriff.
You're kind of quick on the draw, aren't you?
This man wasn't going anywhere.
Yeah, well, you can't be too careful with these killers.
Why didn't you let him get killed?
It would have been kinder.
I'm sorry, Mrs. Brand.
You have a lot to be sorry for, don't you?
Don't you know that- That Lucius couldn't have done
what all those others and you said that he went and did?
All wives and close relatives
always become emotional at times like this.
Yeah, they do, don't they?
Come on, Jim. We're two days late
for St. Louis already.
Yeah, let's get to St. Louis.
Come on, Jim. It's an open-and-shut case,
for pete's sake.
Artie, that's the part that bothers me.
Yeah, I know. I know you.
You're probably still wondering
why Brand would lead you right to his very home.
Since you brought that up.
Well, you know as well as I do
murderers do strange things under stress.
Now, forget about it, will you? Come on.
Plus, if you'd brought up the matter
why he wasn't even out of breath
when you finally caught up with him
after chasing him all that time,
or why he wouldn't even bother to throw away his gun
when he knew that we were chasing him
right after the murder.
Artie, what were you saying about an open-and-shut case?
Hm.
Yeah.
Help me, you say?
If you want to help somebody,
you help my wife when she winds up a widow
and my son when he gets around to being born.
Just run through the events
of the night of the murder again, won't you, Mr. Brand?
Why?
Because I think you might be innocent, that's why.
All right.
I had dinner at the Kirby Gap Hotel.
Then I had two or three drinks with a couple of cowhands
from the Rawlins Ranch.
They must have been pouring triples
because I- I guess I passed out.
Then the next thing I remember,
I woke up in a sweat, and you come busting in.
What about the gun?
Well, when I woke up, I spotted it on the floor,
and I just picked it up. That's all.
And the coat?
I wore it the night before,
but I still don't remember tearing that pocket off of it.
How did you happen to wake up just before I busted in?
I- I heard-
I had a nightmare.
You never mentioned that in court.
Well, because they just would have hooted at me, that's all.
Because it wasn't really a nightmare.
I was awakened by a...
A train that was bearing down on me.
Well, now you can go ahead and hoot at me too.
Guard.
Listen, now- Now, wait a minute.
I didn't shoot Creed.
It's true I hated him, but I didn't shoot him
and I didn't kill Amos Rawlins either.
Now, what are gonna do about it?
I don't know, but you got two days
for us to think of something.
Find anything yet, Artie?
I'm not quite sure what it is I'm looking for
now that I think about it.
Well, when you find it you'll know.
How about behind the pictures?
Artie?
No need to shout, Jim. I hear you perfectly fine.
You mind giving me a clue where you are?
Not at all. Just follow my voice.
Come on, Artie. Keep talking.
The minute you say keep talking,
I can't think of anything to say.
Come on over here, will you? I think I got something.
"When in the course of human events
"it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political bands which have connected them-"
I found you, Artie.
Congratulations.
Now, where's the rest of you?
Just walk in the living room, sit down in that armchair,
and move the right arm panel.
Will you ever find out.
Well, we know how Brand's double got out so quickly.
Right. The minute he came inside
he tossed the gun into Brand's bedroom,
had himself catapulted up through the ceiling
and left Brand to hold the bag.
Remember the sound of the oncoming train
that Brand said he heard which woke him?
Mm-hm. Get a load of this.
Nice work, Artie.
Now we'd better go and have a talk-
Don't look now, Artie, but I think we're on fire.
You know something. I think you're right.
Suggest we make a hurried exit.
I like your thinking.
Now, let me get this straight.
A chair that brings you through the ceiling,
and a black box that sounds like a train. Is that right?
That's right, judge.
And that's your evidence that Brand was framed?
It was the evidence.
Unfortunately, it was burned in a fire.
Well, what do you want me to do?
I'd like you to give me a few days
so I can prove Brand is innocent.
Hm, well, I don't suppose it would do any harm
to give you another day or two.
Excuse me, judge.
Lucius Brand did more than just kill a man.
He snuffed out the most loved man in this town.
Now, if you grant him a stay without any show of evidence,
why you're just begging for mob action.
Yes, yes. Uh, I was coming to that. That's right.
No, it's, uh- It's out of the question, Mr. West.
I'm sorry.
What makes you so hot about this anyway, West?
The man's innocent.
Prove it, Mr. West. Prove it.
I hope you're having more success with that
than I had with Judge Blake.
Jim, come here a minute, will you?
I want you to see something.
I've been studying these plates for hours.
Now, this is the first one,
which was made just before the shooting.
All right? Now look at this.
That's the other plate.
And that's Abigail Moss.
Right, and the gentleman there
in the tweed jacket and the rolled collar,
that's our own Lucius Brand.
Or the man Abigail claims was Brand.
Exactly. It's too bad that we can't see his face.
If we had, maybe Brand wouldn't be the man
being hanged tomorrow.
Uh, I've been examining
this thing for over an hour.
Trying to find one thing
that didn't show up at the trial.
And?
I think I found a balloon.
Uh, a balloon.
According to my calculations,
released one second after the shot was fired.
Artie, that balloon was a signal.
Exactly.
That's the device, which set the entire
complicated machinery into synchronized motion.
There was a man sitting in the attic looking out the window.
When the balloon began to rise,
that was a signal that the shot had been fired
and the murderer was on his way to Brand's place.
At which point Brand was roused by the sound
of that oncoming train. It was just beautiful.
Artie, blow up the picture with the balloon hawker.
That is my first stop tomorrow morning.
Why don't I have a little chat with Abigail Moss.
Why don't you.
Rent $12 a week in advance.
No pets, poker or parties. Supper $2.50 extra.
First come, first served till victuals is gone.
Well?
Uh, no- Uh, you- Uh, you don't understand.
I am not, uh, really here about a room.
Reverend, if it's about a contribution
to one of those heathen missions-
No. It's not money that I want.
It's just information.
Information?
With all the chores I'm saddled with?
Well, I -
All right, young lady. Thank you.
Would you be good enough to tell your mother,
the woman of the house, that I was here?
It happens I'm the woman of the house.
You're joshing?
No.
Why, it doesn't seem possible. You seem so young.
Well, it's information you want, Reverend.
Won't you step in?
Oh, thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Oh, my.
Oh, my goodness.
Oh.
Oh, oh, oh.
Oh.
Oh, of course, it ain't Buckingham Palace,
but we call it home.
Yes. How fortunate that Miss Abigail Moss
can call this home too.
Oh, it's about her you're here, eh?
Yes. Well, let me tell you
that she's-
Oh, mercy. My burgoo.
Oh, excuse me, Reverend,
but where were we?
Uh, we were, uh-
Uh, speaking about Miss Moss.
Oh, yes. Her.
Well, this morning, bright and early, she-
Oh, Reverend? Hm?
Would you mind giving me your opinion?
Oh, uh, not at all.
Manna from heaven.
No, no, no, no.
Truly, I wouldn't think of depriving you of any more.
Moderation in all things, you know.
You sure you ain't just being polite,
turning down thirds?
No, truly, Mrs. Peacock,
I couldn't put down another bite.
Now, uh, about- Uh, about Miss Moss.
When did you say she'd be arriving?
She won't. Early this morning she left town.
I see.
Uh, where, uh-?
Where did our bird of passage fly to, dear lady?
Well, it seems some uncle left our bird of passage
a fortune in jewels. At least that was her story.
If you ask me, she has more than her share of uncles.
Yes, well, perhaps she has very large family.
Uh, where did she go to?
She came downstairs this morning
wearing a diamond brooch and a sapphire bracelet,
neither of which ever came from no novelty counter.
I'm quite sure, Mrs. Peacock.
Her destination, uh, where did-?
No notice. No nothing. Just up and went.
Where did-?
Miss Moss go to, dear lady?
Well, land sakes. She ain't gone nowhere yet.
What do you mean?
Well, she said she was taking the noon stage,
but that don't leave for another hour yet.
Thank you, Mrs. Peacock.
Thank you very much indeed.
Wait, Reverend! Wait!
Are you sure you wouldn't like some more of this burgoo?
Mrs. Peacock, never before in my entire life
have I been more sure of anything!
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.
Uh, my- My horse went lame over that hill, there.
Are you by any chance going by Paradise Flats?
That's our next stop, mister. Climb aboard.
Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.
Thank you, yes. Thank you.
Golly!
What a collection of sparklers.
Sparklers?
What sparklers? I didn't see any sparklers.
Whatever you do, don't come any closer.
Mister, I never saw such sparklers in my whole life,
especially that blue one.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I-I'm sorry, young lady, but you understand.
Hey, you-
You like nice jewelry, huh?
More than anything else I can think of.
Oh, that's so nice.
You know, around here, 100 miles from nowhere,
the women, they don't know the difference
between fine jewelry and Indian beads.
They think a carat is to feed a horse.
Oh.
You- You- You like nice jewelry.
I- I show you a little something, huh?
Here.
I think sure you will love to see this.
Ah, look, don't touch.
Now, this is a brilliant cut gem.
It was cut from the Star of Kimberley.
That is 12 carats of absolute perfection.
Golly.
It's the most beautiful thing I ever saw.
Yeah.
Well, this certainly isn't in your class,
but it's nice, isn't it?
Oh, yes, that's very nice, indeed.
It certainly is, for costume jewelry.
Costume jewelry?
Yes. But it's a very fine reproduction,
but I just deal in genuine diamonds.
Oh, these are genuine diamonds.
All right.
Very nicely cut glass,
but, uh, no matter how you cut it, glass is glass.
You mean it's worthless?
Worthless?
Oh, absolutely not.
Why, you can get for that, uh... 3, $4.
Whoa!
This is it, folks, Paradise Flats.
Driver, when is the next stage back to Kirby Gap?
I thought you was going to Kansas City, ma'am.
Well, I changed my plans. When is it?
Next westbound Number 6. Be through here in an hour.
All right, Henrietta.
Time for you to go to work, sweetheart.
There we are.
That's a good girl.
That's right.
Carry the little message back home.
Now, whatever you do, sweetheart,
don't stop to talk to any hawks.
Well, what do you got there for me, Henrietta?
Hm?
Okay, girl, you take care of the place, huh?
There are laws against trespassing, Mr. West.
You should know that.
I do, Mr. Poore.
And there are laws against murder.
You should know that.
The murder of Amos Rawlins is a closed case.
Lucius Brand goes to the gallows
in just four hours.
You paid Abigail Moss to lie in court?
Or should I ask her, since she just left town?
I'm not under cross-examination, West.
You and I are gonna have a talk with Judge Blake
before Brand hangs for a murder he didn't commit.
Well, now, that seems reasonable enough.
His office is just across the street.
All right, now.
In here now, quickly.
Hello there, Henrietta, sweetheart.
How are your pinfeathers, huh?
You just hold on to them, sweetheart,
because by this time tomorrow...
You'll be dead.
We've been waiting such a long time
for you, Mr. Gordon.
We?
Me and the baby
that my husband will never live to see.
Um...
may I ask what you intend to do with that, Mrs. Brand?
Lucius is gonna die for a killing he didn't do.
And so why not you,
and after you, Mr. West too?
He'll die too.
Oh, no, Mrs. Brand.
Whatever else you do,
you be very, very careful not to kill me.
Because if you do,
your husband will surely die.
What do you mean?
I mean I'm going to save him,
because he's not guilty.
And unless I've become a complete and total idiot,
I can prove it too.
Now put that silly thing away, will you,
and give me a hand here.
You can start by turning down those wall sconces.
Now I have here two daguerreotypes,
which I have studied until my eyes almost gave out.
Here's the first one.
You recognize those people, don't you?
If you're gonna tell me that my husband's in that picture-
Now, wait a minute, Mrs. Brand.
Please, just let me show you the second daguerreotype
right over here,
taken immediately after the murderer fired.
Notice, if you please,
that standing between your husband's look-alike
and the murderer's victim is this gentleman.
That's it!
That's just what I figured!
Look.
These grids convert
the two-dimension of the daguerreotype
into a kind of a mathematical three-dimension.
Now,
look at that.
Grid A-3.
Rawlins, the murderer's victim.
Grid B-4.
Creed, the target for the gunman.
Grid B-7.
Mr. Lucius Brand's look-alike, right next to dear Abby.
And Grid G-2.
Our obliging cowboy friend,
standing right between the murderer
and his intended victim.
You- You mean that- That Lucius-
Is going to be a free man, Mrs. Brand.
As soon as I can get these over
to the district attorney's office.
Ah, there you are, Mr. West.
You'll pardon me if I keep on working away at this.
Of course.
I assume the Secret Service
has a substantial insurance plan
to comfort your loved ones.
Double indemnity if I'm barbecued in the line of duty.
Good.
Now, this should give us some time for unfinished business.
Before my accidental death by fire.
Exactly.
When the candle burns down-
Oh, let me guess.
The candle burns down to the rope,
the rope burns,
and the lamp falls and the room is on fire.
And James West goes out in a blaze of glory.
That's the same method you used in the livery stable.
You're in a rut, Poore.
I wouldn't be concerned.
You'll be in a grave soon enough.
Let's go.
Rawlins' position at the head table was here.
Mm-hm.
Mr. Creed was right next to him over there.
Now, somewhere in the crowd,
a man identified as Lucius Brand.
Brand, the pawn.
Hm.
Now, the main point is this.
Optical measurements of two daguerreotypes have shown
that a man seated on a horse
was directly in the line of fire
between Rawlins and Brand.
Brand's double could not have fired the shot
that killed Rawlins.
It was physically impossible.
Mm-hm.
Roger, he presents an interesting challenge.
Yes. I think we know what must be done,
and quickly.
Yes. There's very little time before the execution.
Your execution, Gordon.
There's a chill to the air, but, uh,
you'll be warm soon enough.
You know, that's not a bad arrangement.
You know how I'd do it, though? I'd put-
Excuse me for cutting in, but we don't have much time.
Oh, I- I know that.
I was just, uh, commenting on the arrangement, that's all.
Artie.
This is a firing mechanism.
The trigger man was a female.
Wild guess:
Mrs. Rawlins, the bereaved widow.
You're quite right, gentlemen.
Mrs. Rawlins.
Because of Poore's bungling,
I've spent two more days in this town than I planned.
Oh, you're leaving Kirby Gap, just when it's all yours?
I despise this godforsaken place.
I bet not as much as you despised your husband.
Kindly Amos Rawlins?
I was a lady of breeding before he brought me here.
You consider that a ladylike thing to do,
murdering your husband?
Search them.
Jim.
Well, of course, I no longer can tell for sure,
but I say that we may have about 30 minutes
in which to save Lucius Brand from hanging.
You will join us, won't you?
You know what I can't understand?
I don't know why we didn't figure that...
Of course.
The solution to the whole thing
was right there all the time.
On a chess board?
Everybody knows the queen
is the most powerful piece in the game.
Boy, walking out of that cell
was the happiest day of my life.
Well, I hope you left it neat and clean, Lucius,
because it will probably be housing Mrs. Rawlins
and Creed and Poore.
Mr. West, Mr. Gordon,
If it hadn't been for you...
Oh, now, come on, you promised, Mrs. Brand.
All right.
Here's to good friends.
Would, um, one of y'all tell me what Mrs. Rawlins
figured to get out of all this?
Rawlins brought her here from Boston.
She was the daughter of a very wealthy man who went bankrupt.
She hated it here, and she hated him.
So she enlisted Creed's aid to help her get rid of him.
All Creed had to do was duck that bullet
and, uh, make me the perfect suspect.
Well, uh, what about Mr. Poore?
Oh, he ran the rest of the show.
The drugging of your drink,
the theft of your gun, the tearing of your coat.
Creed was to get half of Rawlins' interest.
Poore hoped that Creed would back him politically.
It was a real neat plan.
Um,
Mr. West, if you don't mind,
uh, I'd just as leave you'd change that slide there.
It kind of gives me the willies.
My pleasure.
Whoa, my pleasure.
Hey, she's lovely.
Just say the word, and I'll arrange an introduction.
Well, consider the word said. What's her name?
Uh, Jennifer Colt, alias Prudence Mallery.
And if you lighten the hair just a little,
you'll know her as Abigail Moss,
wanted in four states.
Why do you always have to spoil everything?
Artie, I didn't spoil a thing.
If you want to see her, you can,
the first Sunday of every month.
All right.