- When a man, jailed for embezzling, is released and returns to his hometown, a girl he knows also returns to have him clear her name. She asks Paul to back her up so, when the man is found murdered, Paul calls in Perry to defend her.
- Three years ago, in Piñon City, Fred Swan was caught, having embezzled from his bank. The money wasn't found, and people figured that Iris McKay, whom Fred had dated a few times, knows where it is. The weight of this suspicion caused her to move to L.A. But, now she has received an anonymous tip that Fred is back in Piñon City, so she goes there to confront him. There, she sees various people in an unsuccessful attempt to find Fred. She finds clues that might lead to the stolen money, including a package Fred may have given her aunt. She calls Paul, who is out, so Perry takes her call to look for a package in her apartment her aunt sent her. Perry finds the apartment ransacked. Paul, called in to help, has trouble tracking down Iris and eventually finds local reporter Dan Southern standing over Fred's corpse and Iris's bicycle outside. Iris is found at a nearby home and eventually arrested for murder when her fingerprints are found on the tire iron used to kill Fred. To save Iris, Perry will need to uncover an old scam and a much older scandal. He'll also have to learn why the embezzlement was for the specific amount of $33,750.—arthurblock
- Iris McKay is determined to return to her home town and clear her name in a three year-old bank theft. She was never charged with an embezzlement of $33,750 but a whisper campaign connected her to the man responsible, Fred Swan, and forced her out of town. She stays with her Aunt Sarah McKay, who isn't very happy to see her, and reconnects with people like her boss, Realtor W.L. Picard, and also reporter Dan Southern. She's really keen on finding Swan and it's suggested to her that he may be out at a nearby farm. When Swan is found there dead, Iris is charged with murder and Perry Mason defends her. A very old secret will be revealed in court as will the explanation of the odd sum embezzled. It will also point to the killer.—garykmcd
- An old embezzlement leads to a treasure hunt - and murder. To save his client, Perry will have to uncover family secrets and unravel an intricate criminal scheme.
- SPOILER ALERT *** This Synopsis follows IMDb's definition, meaning it covers the entire plot to the end of the episode.
In his office, Paul gets a visit from Iris McKay, whom he'd been unable to help in a case three years earlier. Back in her old hometown of Pinon (pronounced "Pinion") City, Iris had dated Fred Swan a few times. When Swan was discovered to have embezzled $33,750, he went to prison but the money was never recovered. Everyone suspected that Iris had it in her possession or at least knew where it was. Eventually, she moved to L.A. She then recently received an anonymous note that Swan was out of prison and back in Pinon City, so Iris intends to go there and confront him. She asks Paul to be available to come to Pinon City if needed, and he agrees.
In Pinon City, Iris sees first her starchy Aunt Sarah, with whom she'll be staying, and newspaperman Dan Southern. When Iris asks Dan about Swan's whereabouts, he acts jealous, but nevertheless tells her that Swan and his blue camper have been spotted at a cabin in the Plantation Motel. Iris borrows Aunt Sarah's old car and goes to the cabin, but meets only Marta Wiltern, who has returned to Pinion City for a visit. She tells Iris that Fred dropped by the day before, but she doesn't know where he is now. Once Iris leaves, Marta drives to the old Buskirk farm, where Swan is hiding. She warns him about Iris, and freely admits that her involvement with Fred is based purely on mercenary motives.
Meanwhile, Iris visits Alf Needham at his restaurant, and gets him to admit that he sent Iris the anonymous note. He reminds Iris of a package they had both seen in Swan's possession just before he was caught - perhaps containing the stolen money. He now reveals that he had seen Swan, while out of Iris's sight, take the package to Aunt Sarah's car and return without it. Iris gets upset and goes home. There, she finds her former boss, realtor W. L. Picard, helping Sarah get her property taxes in order. This is important because a dam to be constructed in the area is attracting business and making property values skyrocket. Sarah asks Iris to put her copies of the tax documents with family papers she'd sent Iris a year ago, in a sealed folder. Iris rushes out to a phone booth and tries to call Paul to have him look for the folder in her L.A. apartment, but can only reach Perry. She tells him that she's worried that the folder may contain the stolen money.
Perry and Paul find Iris's place ransacked and the folder missing. Paul goes to Pinon City, where he has an odd encounter with the police. As part of a town festival, beardless men are "arrested", even going through the procedure of being booked and getting a mug shot. All in good fun, with the $5 "fine" going to charity. Paul looks for Iris at Sarah's place and Picard's office, then learns that Iris had heard about Swan's camper being spotted at the Buskirk farm. There, he finds no Iris, but clues she had been there, plus a very excited Dan Southern and a very dead Fred Swan. At the town jail, Iris tells Paul that she went to the farm and confronted Swan, who drunkenly tried to grab her, but she just pushed him off and ran away. However, the police have her fingerprints on the tire jack used to crush Swan's skull, so they arrest her for murder. (Neither Dan nor Paul is a suspect because they'd been seen elsewhere at the time of Swan's death.)
In court, Sarah denies Alf's story about receiving Swan's package, but she refuses to answer detailed questions about the contents of the folder she gave Iris. Perry gets her to testify that there was no money in the folder. Marta testifies that she was related to the recently deceased Buskirks who had owned the farm. Three years ago, they sold it to a Letitia Cochran of San Diego for $45,000. W. L. Picard arranged the deal. During a break, Dan hands Paul a list of all the men who had been arrested for being "barefaced" during the town festival. Perry has a hunch that whoever burgled Iris's apartment probably came immediately afterward to Pinon City - beardless.
Back in court, Perry gets Picard to reveal that the sale of the Buskirk place was a scam. Picard had been on the commission that picked the dam site, so he knew long before anyone else that the land would be vastly more valuable in a few years. He partnered with Swan, who was to provide the purchase price while Picard provided the inside information and came up with the fake Leititia Cochran. However, Swan didn't have all the money - he was $33,750 short, hence the embezzlement. Next, Sarah admits that she was the sham Letitia. She didn't profit from her participation but was forced into it by Picard. He threatened to reveal her secret, that years ago she had a baby (who died in childbirth) in what once passed for shameful circumstances. "I think it's called... a common law marriage!", she sobs. However, none of this gives those involved a motive for murder. Both Picard and Sarah knew there never was any missing money to be found. It all went to the Buskirks as part of the sale of the farm. (No one ever reveals where the money ended up. Since the Buskirks were apparently poor, perhaps before they died they settled their debts or went on a spending spree.)
However, there were others interested in the supposedly missing money who knew nothing of this. Using Perry's hunch, Paul tracked down the burglar and learned that he had been hired by Alf Needham. Alf admits that he got into a fight with Swan, knocked him out, then finished him off with the tire jack he'd seen Iris handle, careful not to leave his own prints. In the epilogue, Iris again borrows Sarah's car to go for a drive with Dan. Sarah admits to Perry that it may be time for her to buy a new car.
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What is the Spanish language plot outline for The Case of the Barefaced Witness (1961)?
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