( theme music playing )
**
Hello, Mr. Lawson.
Why, hello, Lori Anne.
How's my best girl?
I'm fine. I thought a lot about it, Mr. Lawson.
About what?
About marrying you. But when I grow up,
won't you be too old?
I'll tell you a little secret.
I don't grow old.
You don't? No.
So you'll have plenty of time.
Honest? Honest.
**
( reading ) "Regardless of what has gone on before,
"we're both interested in money.
"If you want to handle the sale of the Toomy place,
meet me there this afternoon."
( door creaks )
Kelland. Kelland!
**
( neighing )
Easy!
Whoa, boy. Settle down, now.
( neighs )
Mighty fine job. No question about it.
We work good together.
( thud )
Hello, Kyle.
Did you hear him? Been all this time,
and all he can say is "Hello, Kyle".
You haven't given him much of a chance.
I see you two have met.
We've met. I don't think I understand him, but I like him.
Don't try to understand him, honey. Just enjoy him.
Well, I'll be. If it isn't old ladies' man himself.
Trampas. How are you, Kyle?
He still workin' you to death?
Tell him about it.
Only way he'll ever die from overwork
is runnin' away from it.
That's an absolute true statement.
( both laugh )
We've got an awful lot of catchin' up to do.
You gonna be around for a while?
Ah, now, therein lies the problem.
Trouble?
Well, it's a--
Betsy...
I know. Man-to-man talk.
Well, you look like you could use some food.
Come on, Betsy. I'll help you to your horse.
What's up, Kyle?
There's a posse representing the law and will
of the people of Mt. Corpus, Montana.
When it finds me, it will take me back,
and after a sure and speedy trial,
I'll be hung by the neck until dead.
What did you do that'd be a hangin' matter?
They say I killed a man.
Now, Kyle, it seems to me
that they haven't gotten to know you in Mt. Corpus.
Nothin' they said or swore to or showed us
would make us believe that about you,
not about you killin' anybody.
But why'd you run?
Because someone's got it woven around me tight and custom-made.
What can we do for you?
Well, you can tell me to keep on running,
or to do...what else?
There's that line shack about 40 miles on the ridge.
No one's used that for years.
Right. First tell us what happened.
What do they say?
He that lives by the sword shall perish by the sword,
or some nonsense like that.
A woman.
Yes, a woman.
Well, a girl, really.
A beautiful, silken girl.
Married... Yeah.
to a man she didn't want to be married to.
A man she hated.
I made her-- made her laugh,
made her feel like a woman again.
A beautiful woman.
Yo.
But...
I'm afraid she took me too seriously.
It's been done.
Yes, to a point where it became difficult.
She was planning to leave her husband.
So I broke it. You know my philosophy.
There's no pleasant way to let a woman down,
so make it brief.
But, unfortunately, this time it didn't work.
A few days after her husband and I
had had a little, uh...set-to
in the middle of the main street,
he was killed, shot...
undoubtedly by my gun.
Where was I? I answered a note
that took me to where he was killed.
I walked in a room, alone,
and found the body.
When I got back to my office,
the note and the gun were gone.
That's when I knew I'd been trussed up good and proper.
So, you ran.
And now what happens?
I'd go back. I swear I'd go back
if I thought I had a chance.
But I haven't.
She has me measured for a pine box down to the last inch.
If I'm caught, the law will roll me into it.
Well, we'll know more how you set when we get there.
I don't deny that's what I wanted you to say, but--
but if you--
Save it.
You said you'd go back
if you thought you had a chance.
We'll go find out if you have.
I owe you at least that much, Kyle.
It's as simple as that.
It's not.
Leona's the only answer, and--
and she won't be easy.
Your lovely girl?
If you plan to see her--
I do.
Take a tight reign on your trust in me,
at least for a little while.
That's all I ask.
She's that much, huh?
You'll see.
Sure you don't want to rest up first
and then go up to that line shack?
It's about 40 miles from here.
I can't afford to rest.
**
If you will, please, just relate the events
following the finding of the body of Lawrence Kelland.
The body was discovered by two boys,
as I've said.
They notified me.
It was established that Mr. Kelland had been killed
the previous afternoon.
He was shot and killed by someone using a Webley handgun,
caliber .32.
Since Lawson is the only person in this town I know of
to own such a weapon,
I went to his office to question him.
Yes? He wasn't there.
Other than the gun, and Lawrence's disappearance,
did you have any other reason to suspect the murder?
You and the whole town know the answer to that one.
Well, just for the record, Jonathan.
Because of what Kelland did to Lawson,
on Main Street in broad daylight.
What was that, Sheriff?
He beat him with a horse whip.
Thank you, Sheriff. That'll be all. You can step down.
Mrs. Kelland?
Will you take the stand, please?
Mrs. Kelland, the delay of this inquest
is solely because you've been confined to your bed
and unable to appear.
Was the reason for this the shock of your husband's death?
Yes, it was.
Mr. Kelland, you heard Sheriff Ballard say
that your husband...
quarreled with Kyle Lawson.
Was there a reason for such an act?
My husband was sometimes a violent man.
We're all aware of that, Mrs. Kelland.
Why did he put the whip to Kyle Lawson?
He had heard that Mr. Lawson had been seeing me.
Was that true, Mrs. Kelland? Were you seeing him?
( softly ) Yes.
I didn't hear that, Mrs. Kelland.
I said, yes.
( people murmuring, judge bangs gavel )
Where were you seeing him?
Occasionally we went riding together.
And once or twice he was a guest at my house.
Would you say, in any way, he, uh...
made any improper advances to you?
What you're doing has no place in this hearing.
Martha, please--
To try to suggest that my sister encouraged that man.
Will you answer my question, Mrs. Kelland?
We were simply friends
who enjoyed each other's company.
He was attentive to me, if that's what you mean.
Thank you, Mrs. Kelland.
You can step down now.
Well, now you've heard the testimony.
You can leave the courtroom now and decide upon your verdict.
We've already done our deciding, Jonathan.
Are you all in agreement? We are.
And the verdict is this:
that Lawrence Kelland met his death
at the hands of Kyle Lawson,
now a fugitive who should be caught, returned,
and tried for murder.
( people murmuring, judge banging gavel )
**
Sure is a prime, grade-A, number one batch of woman.
Are you staying in town?
As though that were a sensible question.
Then why ask, sister dear?
Try to get back early.
I will, most assured.
Fill the cup the clears today
of past regrets and future fears.
Yes, sir.
Well, how'd it go, Mr. Clain?
At the inquest, I mean.
Well, strangely enough,
everybody thought that Kelland was dead
and that Lawson should be brought to justice.
The hills shall be filled with the minions of the law,
seeking the town dandy,
who became an assassin for unrequited love.
He could be halfway out of the country by now.
Our Lothario in flight?
No. Crossing mountains and deserts?
Never.
This gentlemen, perhaps.
But Kyle Lawson, no.
It would not matter to me at all
if he eluded justice.
But he won't.
He's holed up in some crevice of the earth right now,
praying for a miracle.
Excuse me. Are you talkin' about the fella
that's supposed to have shot that Mr. Kelland?
Precisely.
You know him? Yes, indeed.
Hmm.
You believe in miracles, sir?
Yeah. They, uh, usually need
a little push to get started, though.
Excellent.
A mystic, a poet.
Pour this gentleman a drink.
I happen to be a poet also.
May I introduce myself? I'm Simon Clain--
poet laureate of Mt. Corpus, Montana.
More recently know to the townsfolk
as the brother-in-law of the murdered man,
and therefore the brother of the lovely bereaved wife.
And now that I have gratified one of my vices,
I shall proceed to another.
How's it makin'?
It's her brother.
Bartender.
I'm tapped out.
No luck.
Hey, uh... do you mind?
No, go ahead.
Table stakes.
Right.
Do your mystical powers
extend also to this classic game?
We'll soon find out.
Well, if not, all you really need to play poker
is money and the ability to lose it gracefully.
Hmm.
* I like what I see
* When I look at you
* I do, I do
* I do
* The very first time that I... *
You place a nice game.
I try.
You work this town steady?
I move around. I like it better that way.
I got here Friday.
If this is any example of your skill,
I also like it that way.
( chuckles )
* ... to you
* Making one from two
* And fifty years hence
* It will still be true
* I like...
I'll open for $10.
And, uh...ten more.
I'll see you once.
How many cards to the opener?
I'll play these.
Hmm, a pat hand, huh?
That gives me pause.
However, I feel compelled.
I must play these.
( singing continues )
Three to the dealer.
I fold.
( song ends )
How proud are you of that hand?
I just lost faith in it.
A pat hand?
Mm-hmm.
Well, an ace-high flush
wins the magnificent sum of $40
in a no-limit game.
Happens sometimes.
( stops playing )
If I'd draw three cards,
what three would you have drawn?
You probably would've had, uh...
four kings?
Or a full house?
You saying I rigged that hand?
You're sayin' it.
Move that hand any farther,
it'll never deal another card...
friend.
( guitar playing )
I, uh, like your style.
It frightens me, but I like it.
Barkeep, give my friend a drink here.
Thank you.
No, no, I insist.
He had me set up beautifully--
the ox ready for the fatal blow.
Instead, you won $40.
And a friend, I trust.
By all means.
As a fellow poet and philosopher,
do you have any realization of what it means
to a man like me to live in this town?
I've found that all towns, they got one thing in common.
They got a road goin' out of them.
Heh. I like that.
I like that very much.
And I may take that road someday.
And now I would like you to do me a favor.
Or let you do another one for me.
Uh, I would like you to come to dinner as my guest.
I'd like you to meet my sisters.
I'd like you to come to the Kelland Ranch tonight
at 7:00 as my guest. Will you do that for me?
It'd be my pleasure.
Well, until then...
good day, sir.
Good day to you.
How'd it go?
I got lucky. Dinner with the Kellands.
With her? ( whistles )
Well, I do agree-- that is an "A" number-one invite.
I only hope you're man enough to handle that batch of woman.
If I need your help, I'll send for you.
Yeah, well, what I was about to suggest was--
**
Another toast, if you don't mind, my friends.
Simon, please.
And this time...
to the one who set us free,
who released us from our chains
and gave us back the sun
and the gentle air.
I mean, of course, Kyle Lawson.
May he have the freedom
he so graciously gave to us.
Simon, that isn't amusing.
It wasn't meant to be.
It is a statement I mean with my whole soul.
It's a private affair
and shouldn't be discussed in front of our guest.
And why not?
There isn't a person in this whole town
who was not aware of the hate that was in this house.
You were there today.
What did you hear?
Only what was said at the inquest.
Heh. The portrait in brief
of our dear departed.
The mad, wild, Violent man!
Simon, I want you to stop it now.
Black does not do you justice, my dear one.
It dulls you.
The suits and trappings of woe.
And there is another.
If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
Well, I have no tears, and I'll wear no suit of woe.
I'm glad Lawrence Kelland is dead,
and I have only one regret.
That I did not have the courage to kill him myself.
Simon, you're ill. Go to bed.
Yes. Yes, I'm ill.
And I've been a most ungracious host.
Not at all. I--
No, thank you.
Now, if you'll excuse me...
Surely.
Ladies.
I'm sorry.
No need to be.
You haven't told us yet
what brought you to Mt. Corpus.
I'm in the cattle business.
There's a spread near here that's known for good seed bulls.
Mr. Dunson's. That's right.
I'm afraid you'll have difficulty with him.
He drives a hard bargain.
So I've heard.
Won't you sit down?
Leona, I think we'll all had a long and trying evening.
Well, it's been a pleasant evening for me, Mrs. Kelland,
and I certainly thank you.
But you're looking a little warm, if you don't mind my saying so.
Would you like to step outside for a breath of air
for a moment?
Thank you. I'd like that very much.
Miss Clain.
**
You mustn't mind Simon.
He drinks to escape.
From what?
Things. The world.
He's a poet.
Yes.
A lot of people are poet,
but only a few know how to work at it.
How do you mean?
I once knew a man who could barely write his own name.
But he could talk to the birds.
He could tell where a mountain cat
had walked across a bed of pine needles.
He could tell his age by the trees
and the weather by his bones,
after he got old, that is.
I always considered him to be a poet.
Who was he?
My father.
I would've liked him.
Yes, you would.
That's something Simon lacked.
Our parents died when we were very young.
Martha raised us.
And Simon was the gentle one.
We always protected him.
From things and the world?
Yes.
When I married, I insisted that he and Martha
come live with us.
I shouldn't have.
He gave up too much of himself.
Now he drinks.
I know he embarrassed you. I apologize for that.
He didn't embarrass me.
Why should you apologize for Simon?
Because it's my fault what he's become.
I told him today--
every town has a road out of it.
Oh, that's so easy to say.
I once found a baby squirrel.
It had been hurt.
And I kept it in a cage,
fed it and cared for it,
and when it was better, I let it out.
It ran away.
But the next day, it was back in its cage,
and I let it stay.
Do you know what I'm trying to say to you?
Yes.
Yes, I do.
Good-bye.
Not good-bye, Mrs. Kelland.
Good night.
**
No, sir. Mr. Lawson was my best customer.
I cannot condemn him.
Hmm. You're in the minority.
Only because I have no fear for my wife.
Please understand-- my wife is a beautiful woman,
but she weigh 200 pounds.
In Italy, this would be something else.
But in America,
where the women are all so skinny, like this,
I am fearless!
( laughs )
This Lawson made love to all the ladies, huh?
Yeah, love.
You might call him the Casanova of Montana.
He know how to make an ugly woman feel beautiful
and a beautiful woman feel irresistible.
But no man can make a fat woman feel thin.
( both laugh )
You all done? Yeah.
Here's a towel. Thanks.
Hmm.
They never give up.
Each day they search.
So many men. They even send telegrams.
I hope that they don't hang such a man,
especially such a man who tips so generously.
Oh.
There.
Keep the change. Grazie, signore.
( whistles ) Look mighty fine.
Thanks.
You figurin' on dazzling her to death?
I'm figurin' on buyin' some bulls.
Why not?
We need a reason for being here.
Buyin' seed bulls is it. Good enough.
You stay here and keep talkin'.
Don't be obvious, but find out about her...
and how it was with her and Kyle,
where she was that day.
Who do I start askin'?
Anybody and everybody.
I'll go door to door.
**
Whoa.
Leona. Ha ha! Good to see you.
I was figuring you'd forgotten where I bedded down.
How are you?
Well, right now, I feel better
than I have in many days. Thank you, Tom. How are you?
Ornery as a wild one, and just as useless.
Come on here, let me help you down.
Well, I see you had an old-fashioned bringing-up.
Won't you step down, mister?
Thank you kindly.
He's here to take a seed bull from you.
Well, sir, you can have the missus of the family,
but I'll wrestle you to a frazzle
if you touch one of my stock. They're my babies.
I told you he'd be difficult.
Well, the bargaining's just started.
From what I've heard, the stock you have
might not measure up to what I'm lookin' for.
Now, look here, mister,
any man buys one of my bulls
gets the finest br--
( Tom chuckles )
It's gonna be a pleasure to do business with you, mister.
Heard you talkin' about buyin' some stock.
What outfit are you with?
Shiloh Ranch.
Where's that?
Medicine Bow, Wyoming.
Good luck on your tradin'. Thanks.
Nice seeing you, Tom, Mrs. Kelland.
Well, let's look at the babies here...
and hassle about not letting you buy one of 'em.
Miss Leona.
This is number one.
Pick this one, I'll throw the brisket in here.
Partner's name is Trampas.
Both of 'em showed up all of a sudden yesterday at the inquest.
**
( Virginian laughing )
( both laughing )
**
Hello.
I want you to stop seeing my sister.
You have any particular reason?
You've had plenty of time to finish your business with Mr. Dunson.
Why do you stay here?
Dunson's a stubborn man.
Your interest isn't in Mr. Dunson
or his prized stock.
It's my sister that keeps you here.
An attractive young woman, a widow...
just come into a great deal of property.
And you ride by at exactly the right time--
a common hand, a Saturday-night roisterer
without a dollar in your pockets.
Don't you think she deserves better than that?
Whatever I am, I think it's her business.
No, it isn't.
It's mine.
I've seen two men--
one an animal, the other an irresponsible dandy--
all but destroy her.
I'm not gonna stand by and let her go through anything like that again.
She's been hurt...
deeply hurt.
And you're taking advantage of the way she feels!
It's inhuman of you!
I tell you now and for the last time--
you're going to leave my sister alone.
**
You have a good day?
So-so.
I would've been mighty happy to have traded with you.
You find out anything from our hatchet woman?
When you saw her there at the inquest
and looked at her close,
what did you really think?
Well, I thought just about
what Kyle told us we'd think--
that she was sure a fine batch of woman.
Yeah.
I'm hungry. Let's eat.
Yo.
**
I had them ready the buggy.
There's a hamper in back. Do you like picnics?
I like 'em fine.
I must say Martha was terribly angry
when I decided to change from my mourning.
I imagine she was.
**
You know, I've been watching you,
and I bet I know a secret about you.
What?
This is your own special place, isn't it?
Mm-hmm.
When you were young, didn't you have a place?
One time.
In Virginia? Yes.
And you've never been back?
No.
I suppose every child in the world
he can run to to hide and dream...
perhaps cry.
But you don't bring other people to your place, do you?
Not usually, no.
Leona? Leona, I--
**
Martha was right. I shouldn't have changed
from my widow's mourning.
Tell me about your husband, Leona.
No.
I'd like to know.
Why?
Well...
when a man is interested in a woman,
he starts thinking about her...
and of the special place of hers like this.
All the people she's known,
and everything she's done before they met.
He has to know, or imagine it.
And it's better to know because then he can...
tell her he's sorry.
Be some comfort to her if she's been hurt.
If I've been hurt, it doesn't matter now.
I loved my husband when I married him.
I thought so.
He was a compelling man
in a way that a stampeding herd is compelling--
powerful and fascinating.
After a very short time,
he became someone I hadn't known.
Maybe he never existed.
Powerful.
Violent, they said at the hearing.
That was later.
Did he mistreat you?
He mistreated everyone.
I've heard that he whipped that man Kyle Lawson.
Yes.
Jealousy?
Yes.
I don't blame him.
He had no right to.
I only meant that you'd make any man jealous
of any other man that knew you.
I'm sorry for Kyle, terribly sorry.
It's like waiting for some storm to break
or some awful happening.
And all the while thinking of him
hiding out like some animal.
They'll find him, Leona.
I hope they don't.
I pray then don't.
You said at the hearing that he was only...
casually attentive to you.
You want to know, so you won't imagine?
No, I was just wondering why you felt so sorry for him.
I was very fond of him.
I needed someone,
companionship of some sort.
Someone who could laugh,
or at least be a little less than solemn.
We rode together,
told each other tall stories.
And he began to change.
He became a little more than attentive.
It wasn't quite the truth, what I said at the hearing.
I know he couldn't resist making love to a woman.
Perhaps I let him believe more than I should. I--
He became difficult.
We had a bitter quarrel.
Or do you believe what the whole town does?
I don't live by what other people believe.
Leona...
You mean to find out for yourself?
No, no.
I feel cold.
I'd like to be taken home now, please.
**
* If I had tears *
* A few more tears
* I'd cry for you
* There are no tears
* I have no tears
* To dry for you
* When we said good-bye
* 'Twas too late to cry
* Now when I weep
* It's way down deep
* Deep in my heart
Very pretty. Thank you.
Yes, sir.
( humming tune )
Are you in some kind of trouble?
* If I have tears
What?
All the time I was singing,
the deputy was starin' at you.
He just likes me.
Can I ask another question?
Sure, if you give me a turn.
What's keeping you in town?
Heh. Well, now...
part of it, I think, is you.
Oh?
And what's the other part?
You really care?
Just enough to ask.
Oh?
Kyle Lawson?
What do I have to do with him?
I hear a lot.
I also see a lot.
Hmm. You know Kyle?
He bought me a drink once.
So did I. What's that tell you?
He always treated me nice.
I liked him.
Well, when they catch him,
you can be a character witness at the trial.
Heh heh. I'd do him a lot of good.
I'd take your word for anything.
Then you can take it for this.
Leona Kelland was in town that afternoon.
Which afternoon?
When her husband was killed.
Her buggy was in the alley
just by Kyle's office.
You saw her?
I saw her.
Well--
Where's your friend?
I rightly couldn't tell you.
Out at the Kelland Ranch?
I wouldn't blame him.
Who could? Yeah.
Sure is a might nice conversation we're havin'.
Surely is.
She was in town that afternoon.
She had her carriage in the alley by Kyle's office.
We can find out what time it was.
Could be either when she went to get Kyle's gun...
or when she came back to get the note.
( knock on door )
Sheriff.
I never claimed to be almighty clever,
but I'm not a stupid man.
And you made the mistake of thinkin' me one.
You're right.
That's always a mistake.
What do you want?
I've been on the telegraph
to Sheriff Evans, Medicine Bow.
He talked to the people at your Shiloh Ranch.
A Miss Betsy Garth.
Do you know Kyle Lawson?
Yeah.
We know him.
Do you know where he is now?
Yeah.
Are you gonna tell me?
No.
I can get you a lot of time in jail
for what you just said.
Still wouldn't get you Lawson.
Leona Kelland know that you're a pal of Lawson's?
I watched you nestle in tight with her.
What are you working her for?
How are you gonna use her?
Sheriff...
get him out of here.
Allen, you can go back to the office.
Have you seen Lawson since the murder?
THE VIRGINIAN: Yes, I have.
What'd he say?
He said he didn't do it.
Lawson ran.
You a poker player, Sheriff?
I've dealt my share, yeah.
What do you do when you find yourself holding a busted flush?
I fold it.
So did Kyle.
How do you know he didn't kill Kelland?
We fought together in Cuba, the three of us.
We saw some trouble, real bad trouble.
In all of it, he never pulled a trigger, not once.
The fact is, Sheriff,
he killed as many of the enemy as they killed of him.
It just wasn't in him to kill.
I think he's the same man today.
I'll tell you something.
But if you say I said it,
I'll call you both liars.
This whole town is sure of his guilt.
They haven't given it a second thought,
but I have.
I think he's a fool about women,
but I don't think he's such a fool
that he would leave a gun he had used beside the body.
Especially a gun this whole town knew was his.
No man is that much of a fool.
Who did he say measured him?
Are you gonna answer that question?
Sheriff...
how can I get a little time from you?
For what?
There's some questions of my own I've got to get answered.
Look, you said yourself you didn't think he did it.
Look at it this way. Wouldn't it make a difference for him
if he came back in himself?
Maybe.
Are you saying that you can get him to come in?
No, I'm not sayin' that.
But he said he'd come in if he thought he had a ghost of a chance.
That's all we're trying to get for him.
That's not good enough.
All right, Sheriff.
You call it.
You can have us workin' for you
and for what you say you believe about Kyle,
or you can throw us in your rotten little jail.
Now, what's it gonna be?
I'll give you till Friday morning.
And I'd like it fine to see him come riding in.
Thank you, Sim, that will be all.
You're a friend of Kyle Lawson's.
Yes.
And that's why you came here?
Yes. To meet me.
That's the way it started.
To nestle in with me,
as the deputy so charmingly phrased it.
Leona, I--
Build up a confidence, a trust,
a leaning post.
And what more-- a love affair?
Leona, listen to me--
While you watched and waited and listened
for the slip or the word or whatever it would be
that you were certain would come if you were clever enough.
And you knew that you were.
That's the way it started, but--
I suppose I'm really very much like Simon.
I haven't learned to face reality, either.
I guess we'll both have to try a good deal harder.
Will you leave now, please?
No, Leona.
Not until you've answered a question for me.
No.
One thing I know beyond any doubt--
Kyle didn't kill your husband.
Once it would've been an easy thing to ask you.
But it isn't anymore.
Tell me--
were you in town the day your husband was shot?
Would you believe anything that I said?
Leona, can you tell me that you didn't go in anytime that day?
Take your hands away from her!
She was here at home with me,
all that day.
Were you?
No, I wasn't.
I was wherever you choose to think I was.
Will you go now, please?
I'll go.
**
( chatter and laughter )
Allen?
Good evening. Evening.
Does the sheriff know about your little errand
to Mrs. Kelland's?
Matter of fact, he didn't.
Planned on telling the sheriff about it?
Can't say that I did.
You fixin' to tell the sheriff...
about his deputy?
No. I think we ought to keep it
right here between us, where it belongs.
**
( whistles loudly )
Oh, was ever a man glad to see you.
Brought you something.
I can use it. And the company, too.
Another day out here, and I'll be ready for a cage.
Mmm! But the question uppermost in my mind--
what is your considered opinion?
You're still in trouble.
Well, tell me.
You saw her?
Yeah, I saw her.
Mm-hmm.
You looked at the child's face,
listened to the warm wind,
and now you don't believe me.
I believe you didn't kill anybody, Kyle.
And that she didn't?
All she wanted from you was a little friendship, right?
But she was going to leave her husband.
Yes, but not for you.
So, you've decided that I didn't tell the truth,
that I didn't break with her, end it.
No, I believe that.
But you don't believe that she loved me,
that she wanted to leave with me.
Maybe I was mistaken.
Maybe I didn't mean that much to her.
Maybe she tricked me even in that.
It could be simply that she meant to use me from the first,
for just what she did.
She knew the whole town would believe it.
All of them.
Not all of them.
The barber likes you...
'cause you're a big tipper. And he's got a fat wife.
Heh heh.
And the sheriff doesn't believe it.
He doesn't think you're that big a fool.
And there's a saloon girl
that saw Leona in town near your office that day.
Well, did she see her go in?
No.
But that's proof she could have.
She knew where I kept the key to the rear door.
She must've gone in and taken the note from the wastebasket.
All right, what do we do?
Well, the question is, do you want to risk it?
How?
Well...
you've got to go in, Kyle.
No. No, I can't.
The sheriff's on our side.
If you go in, we can turn that town on its head
and shake it till the truth falls out.
We'll have a lever.
The other way around, you can run.
Do you want me to go in?
I didn't say that, Kyle.
I said it was a risk, a big risk.
I can't put you in it.
You've gotta be the one to say for yourself.
Sleep on it.
**
Say, Lawson's back! Lawson's comin' in!
Lawson's back!
Leona, I know you don't want to talk to me, but...
I've got to tell you something about Kyle,
why I had to help him.
I was in the war in Cuba.
One fine day, I found myself
lyin' in a ditch with a hole in my back.
I couldn't move.
I just laid there for a long time...
feelin' my life pouring out me into the mud.
Then I looked up, and there he was,
crawlin' down to me.
Kyle Lawson.
The Gatling gun had been chewin' up the ground
on that field all day long.
Nothin' had any right to be alive out there.
But he'd been out there for five hours lookin' for me.
Well, after a while, when it got to be dusk,
he got me out of there.
Carried me at first--
miles and miles.
And then he fell and...
couldn't carry me anymore.
So he dragged me.
He dragged me and...
I couldn't do anything to help him.
All I could do was watch him reach inside himself
for the strength to keep on going.
That's why I'm here.
And that's why I had to do anything,
anything at all that I could,
to help him.
And I'll tell you that, uh...
I'm not very proud of the way I went about it.
All right, you told me.
I accept it.
One more thing, Leona.
Kyle rode into town this afternoon.
He gave himself up.
Why?
Because he's innocent.
He wants to see you.
You once told me you felt sorry for him,
that you hoped he'd get away.
You said it was like waiting for a storm to be over with.
Well, Leona...
if they hang Kyle...
how long will it be before the storm is over for you?
Will you take me to see him?
**
( keys rattling )
Kyle.
Leona.
Can you tell me that you weren't responsible
for my husband's death?
Responsible?
You can put it more clearly than that.
You shot him.
You can actually stand here,
you can look at me steadily and calmly and say that?
Kyle, you ran.
Certainly I did.
I had no story to tell, nothing that they'd believe.
The note that sent me to find his body
was gone when I got back.
My gun was gone.
You saw to that.
Didn't you expect me to run?
Wasn't that what you wanted?
Now I'm back, Leona.
And only the truth can do me any good.
**
Sheriff?
Yes, Mrs. Kelland.
I've been playing a part for some time now,
but I can't play it any longer.
I am responsible for my husband's death.
SHERIFF: Oh, well, maybe in a way, you think you are.
I planned it so that Kyle would be suspected,
so that he would have time enough to know
and could get away.
I thought that he could get away easily.
Hank Hutchins is your attorney, isn't he?
I don't need my attorney.
Please sit down, Mrs. Kelland.
I'm gonna fetch your attorney anyway.
Why, Leona? Why?
I know you're not the one,
just as surely as I know Kyle isn't.
Leona, we're alone. No one can hear us.
Tell me why.
Leona, I know you didn't do it.
Why?
Do you know who it was?
Yes.
Do you think I could stand by
and see Simon die?
I couldn't live with that.
Stand by and watch him be torn and broken...
and try to find the strength and not be able?
I couldn't.
I can't, because the guilt is mine, the real guilt.
It's my fault.
My own weakness.
I married a man that I didn't love.
Not enough, not nearly enough.
I married him to get things for myself.
For my brother and sister.
And that was a sin.
Mine.
I put Simon-- poor, weak Simon, who depended upon me--
into a shameful position.
And he felt he had to do what he did.
He thought so, for me.
Not for himself.
I couldn't let him pay for what he's done.
Simon wouldn't know how to die.
I do.
If that's necessary,
I can.
**
( indistinct chatter )
Simon.
( groans ) Yes, Myron?
Did you hear about your sister?
I hardly think I care to discuss--
She walked into the sheriff's office
and said she was the one who killed her husband.
That's impossible.
That's what they say. It's all over town.
You'd better go look into it yourself.
**
I waited at the Toomy place to see Kyle arrive.
I saw him ride up and go in.
I went to where I'd left my carriage,
and drove away.
That's all.
Well, it can't be all.
You had to come back to town to find the note.
Lawson just told me so.
Yes, I did.
Leona...
I would like to tell you what is in my heart.
Simon, it isn't necessary.
Until now, I know I've been a failure.
Simon.
Leona?
I've come here to bring you to your senses.
Now, please tell the sheriff the truth--
that you've been tormented and played upon by this man
until you've become obsessed by all the foolish
and romantic nonsense he's been feeding you.
Martha, Martha.
There's no reason.
No reason for you to confess to something you didn't do.
Martha, please!
It's weakness...
for a man like Kyle Lawson.
He isn't worth it.
Mr. Ballard, please.
Sheriff, let her go!
I'm sorry, Miss Clain.
She didn't shoot her husband.
You know she didn't.
She says she did.
Leona, they'll believe you.
They won't have mercy.
They'll believe what they wanted to all along
about you and Kyle.
They won't have mercy!
You're right, Miss Clain.
An unfaithful wife kills her husband.
They'd have very little mercy.
Miss Clain...
can you tell me what was in the note
that was sent to Kyle Lawson
to get him to go out to the Toomy place?
It said...
"Regardless of what has gone on before,
we're both interested in money."
That's enough. Leona...
can you tell me in front of Lawson
what was in the rest of that note?
SHERIFF: Well, Mrs. Kelland?
Of course she can't.
She never saw it.
I killed him.
A hundred days and a hundred nights.
I killed him for every time he put his hands on her.
I killed him for every cruelty he did to her.
It was so easy...
to kill him that one more time.
( both sobbing )
( guitar playing )
Got the horses ready.
They're all packed and out front.
You still want to leave tonight?
Mm-hmm.
I thought you might want to throw our weight around--
gamble...belt somebody?
Guess we're in a hurry, huh?
Not that much. Go ahead.
I'll catch up with you.
I'm sorry, son.
I wish--
Martha?
She said she never would've let him hang.
You believe that?
I'm going to.
You never thought it was Leona.
Not after the first day, no.
She's at the sheriff's now.
You're leaving tonight? Mm-hmm.
You'd better see her.
Everybody has to face up to something, friend.
I think it's your turn.
Have a drink, Mr. Clain?
No.
Well...
just one.
I--I'm leaving now.
I'm--I won't be back this way again.
But I'd like to tell you something before I go...
if you listen to me.
I'll listen.
I came very near telling Kyle to run.
Why?
Because I didn't want to see you hurt.
Remember that someday...
and remember what we said and what we did
at your place.
Maybe then you'll believe me.
Maybe, someday.
But it won't help anybody then.
It'll help me.
**
( theme music playing )