Would you happen to have a Ben-Hur, 1860?
Agnes A what?
I said, 'Would you happen to have a Ben-Hur, 1860'?
Agnes Oh, a first edition?
No, no, no, no, no. The third. The third. The one with the erratum on page one-sixteen.
Agnes I'm afraid not.
Uh, how about a Chevalier Audubon 1840 - a full set, of course?
Agnes Not at the moment.
Agnes What do those look like, grapefruit?
Well, from here, they look like books. Maybe I'd better see Mr. Geiger?
What are you up here for?
To keep her [Vivian] from paying you off and to take the cops off your neck.
The cops who want to find out where all that lead in Geiger's body came from. Look Joe, you shot Geiger.
The cops don't yet. The trouble is he wasn't alone when you shot him. Either you didn't notice that, and I think you did, or you got scared and ran away. But you had nerve enough to take the film out of the camera. And you had nerve enough to come back later and hide the body...
Agnes [To Marlowe]
You're crazy. [To Joe] Joe...
So you could clean out Geiger's store before the law knew there was a murder to investigate.
You take chances, mister. It's lucky for you I didn't shoot Geiger.
Yeah, but you can step off for it just the same, Joe. You're made to order for the rap.
You think you've got me framed?
Because somebody will tell it that way. I told ya there was a witness. Now don't go simple on me, Joe.
You mean Carmen, she would. She'd say anything.
So you have got that picture!
I guess you think I'm dumb.
Just average for a grafter. You see Joe, either you were there last night, or you got the picture from somebody who was there. You knew Carmen was there because you had your girlfriend here threaten Mrs. Rutledge with the police. Now the only way you could have known enough to do that was by being there and seeing what happened or having the picture and knowing when and where it was taken. That makes sense, doesn't it?
[about the Carmen's picture]
It fell out of somebody's pocket.
You got an alibi for last night?
I was right here, with Agnes.
Agnes Huh!
That's a great witness. OK Joe, you can only die once even for a couple of murders.
Wait a minute. What do you mean - a couple of murders?
I mean two murders. Where were you about seven thirty last night?
All right, I was watching Geiger's place...to get something on him.
Try looking at me while you're talking.
Well, it was raining hard, and I was sitting in my car. There was a car parked out front and another part way down the hill. I was in back.
Nobody. There was a big Packard near where I was so I took a look at it and it was registered to the Sternwoods...Well, then nothing happens so I got tired of waiting and I went home.
Mmm hmm. You know where that Packard is now?...It's in the Sheriff's garage. It was fished out of twelve feet of water off Lido pier early this morning. There was a dead man in it. He'd been zapped. The car was pointed toward the end of the pier and the hand throttle pulled out.
Well, you can't pin that on me.
I could make an awful good try...You see, the dead man was Owen Taylor, Sternwood's chauffeur. He went up to Geiger's place 'cause he was sweet on Carmen. He didn't like the kind of games Geiger was playing. He got himself in the back way with a jimmy and he had a gun. And the gun went off as guns will, and Geiger fell down dead. Owen ran away taking the film with him. You went after him and got it - how else would you get it?
All right, you're right. I heard the shots and saw him run down the back steps and into the Packard and away. I followed him. He turned west on Sunset and beyond Beverly he, uh, skidded off the road, and uh, came to a stop. So I came up and played copper. He had a gun, he was rattled, so I zapped him down. I figured the film might be worth something so I took it. That's the last I saw of him.
So you left an unconscious man in a car way out near Beverly someplace and you want me to believe that somebody conveniently came along, ran that car all the way down to the ocean, pushed it off the pier, and then came back and hid Geiger's body.
Somebody did. You wanted time to take over.
You can't prove I did it.
I don't particularly want to. All I want to do is find out what Geiger had on the Sternwoods.
Well, uh, maybe you and I can make a little deal?
