BOB: The man Thorne murdered?

Chan shrugs and goes on hunting. He feels in the inside coat pocket and brings out a stub of a railroad ticket.

CHAN: (Reading) Chicago to Palm Springs... (He turns the ticket over)...purchased February 8th. BOB: (Staring excitedly) That would get him to Palm springs the 11th...Wednesday...the night before I got here.

Chan nods thoughtfully. He takes out a folded vest and searches the pockets. In the right hand lower one, he finds a rather old fashioned watch. He suddenly starts examining the watch pocket itself, turning it inside out. It is chamois lined.

CHAN: Note chamois lined watch pocket. BOB: (Surprised) What about it? CHAN: Specially constructed right side of vest.

SCENE 269
BOB - CLOSE SHOT
Bob instinctively feels in his right hand pocket.

BOB: Well, that's correct... (Surprised)...no it isn't. You usually carry your watch on the left.

SCENE 270
CHAN - CLOSE SHOT

CHAN: (Nodding) Because easier to reach with coat buttoned. Murdered man was left-handed.

SCENE 271
AT TWO - MEDIUM CLOSE

BOB: (Helplessly) But where does he fit in?... Why would Thorne kill him? CHAN: Had hoped to learn same from late parrot. BOB: (Nodding) Tony must have heard everything. CHAN: For which he received sad reward of being poisoned. BOB: (Startled) Poisoned? CHAN: (Nodding) With arsenic. Only remaining witness is bearded man you saw running past garage night you arrived. BOB: (Grunting hopelessly) No chance of finding him. It'd be like hunting for a needle in a haystack. CHAN: Only requires careful inspection of hay.

He reaches under his blouse and pulls from a pocket an old battered top of a canteen bottle.

Person in question runs on to desert where pack donkey is waiting...loses top to canteen bottle in darkness. BOB: That doesn't tell much who he is. CHAN: Man who sits by side of road sees world pass by. Will ask storekeeper in El Dorado.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

SCENE 272
MOUNTAIN TRAIL - MEDIUM SHOT - DAY
Chan puffs up the last few steps of a steep trail and reaches level ground. He gives a sigh of relief, mops his forehead and looks around with interest.

SCENE 273
EXTERIOR SHACK - MEDIUM SHOT - CHAN'S ANGLE
A small one-room shack built of odds and ends of wood and tin. It is deserted. A burro is tethered nearby.

SCENE 274
AT CHAN - MEDIUM CLOSE
He exits from scene toward shack.

SCENE 275
FRONT OF SHACK - MEDIUM CLOSE
As Chan enters. A prospector's outfit, including a shovel and pick, is parked on a bench outside the door. Lying beside it is an old canteen with shiny new top. Chan examines it.

SCENE 276
TOWARD HILLSIDE - MEDIUM SHOT
Hewitt, the man we have seen at Madden's, comes striding down the hillside, lighting a pipe. He comes to a startled stop in foreground, glaring suspiciously off scene, then strides on.

SCENE 277
EXTERIOR SHACK - MEDIUM SHOT
Hewitt strides past the end of it.