STEVENS: Tell us what happened on January sixteenth, Miss Andre.
KAREN: Bjorn came to my house, that night. I'll never forget his smile when he stepped out of the elevator: he loved danger. We had dinner together. At nine thirty we went to Regan's. He had O'Toole's body dressed in traveling clothes. We drove back to my house. Bjorn wanted to be seen entering the building. So I didn't use my key. I rang the door bell. We were dressed formally, to make it look like a gay party. Bjorn and Regan supported the body as if he were a drunken friend. The night watchman opened the door. Then we went up in the elevator.
STEVENS: And then what happened?
KAREN: Bjorn exchanged clothes with the corpse. He wrote the letter. Then they carried the body out and left it leaning against the parapet. Then . . . then, we said goodbye.
[KAREN's voice is not trembling; she is not playing for sympathy; only the slightest effort in her words betrays the pain of these memories]
Bjorn was to go first. He went down in the elevator. I stood and watched the needle of the indicator moving down, fifty floors down. Then it stopped. He was gone.
STEVENS: And then?
KAREN: Regan followed him a few minutes later. They were to meet ten miles out of the city where Regan had left his plane. I stayed alone for an hour. The penthouse was so silent. I didn't want to wait out in the garden -- with the corpse . . . the dead man that was supposed to be Bjorn. I lay on the bed in my bedroom. I took Bjorn's robe and buried my face in it. I could almost feel the warmth of his body. There was a clock by the bed and it ticked in the darkness. I waited. When an hour passed, I knew that the plane had taken off. I got up. I tore my dress -- to make it look like a struggle. Then, I went to the garden -- to the parapet. I looked down; there were so many lights . . . the world seemed so small, so far away . . . Then, I threw the body over. I watched it fall. I thought all of Bjorn's troubles went with it . . . I didn't know that . . . his life went, too.
STEVENS: That is all, Miss Andre.
FLINT: I must confess, Miss Andre, that there is not much left for me to do: you've done all my work yourself . . . Now, tell us, didn't Mr. Faulkner have a clear conception of the difference between right and wrong?
KAREN: Bjorn never thought of things as right or wrong. To him, it was only: you can or you can't. He always could.
FLINT: And yourself? Didn't you object to helping him in all those crimes?
KAREN: To me, it was only: he wants or he doesn't.
FLINT: You said that Bjorn Faulkner loved you?
KAREN: Yes.
FLINT: Did he ever ask you to marry him?
KAREN: No. What for?
FLINT: Don't you know that there are laws made for situations such as these?
KAREN: Laws made by whom, Mr. Flint? And for whom?
FLINT: Miss Andre, did your attorney warn you that anything you say here may be held against you?
KAREN: I am here to tell the truth.
FLINT: You loved Bjorn Faulkner?
KAREN: Yes.
FLINT: Such as he was?
KAREN: Because he was such as he was.
FLINT: Exactly, Miss Andre. Now what would you do if a woman were to take away from you the man you worshipped so insanely? If she appealed to his soul, not to his animal desires as you seem to have done so successfully? If she changed the ruthless scoundrel you loved into her own ideal of an upright man? Would you still love him?
STEVENS: Your Honor! We object!
JUDGE HEATH: Objection sustained.
KAREN: But I want to answer. I want the District Attorney to know that he is insulting Bjorn Faulkner's memory.
FLINT: You do? But you thought nothing of insulting him while he lived, by an affair with a gangster?
REGAN: [Jumping up] You damn --
KAREN: [Calmly] Don't, Larry.
[REGAN sits down reluctantly]
You're mistaken, Mr. Flint. Regan loved me. I didn't love him.
FLINT: And he didn't demand the usual . . . price, for his help?
KAREN: He demanded nothing.
FLINT: You were the only one who knew all the details of Faulkner's criminal activities?
KAREN: Yes.
FLINT: You had enough information to send him to jail at any time?
KAREN: I'd never do that!
FLINT: But you could, if you'd wanted to?
KAREN: I suppose so.
FLINT: Well, Miss Andre, isn't that the explanation of Faulkner's visits to you after his marriage? He had reformed, he wanted to avoid a crash. But you held it over his head. You could ruin his plans and expose him before he had made good for his crimes. Wasn't it fear, not love, that held him in your hands?
KAREN: Bjorn never knew the meaning of the word fear.
FLINT: Miss Andre, who knew about that transfer of ten million dollars to Buenos Aires?
KAREN: Only Bjorn, myself and Regan.
FLINT: Regan! Now, Faulkner could have had perfectly legitimate business reasons for that transfer?
KAREN: I don't know of any.
FLINT: You mean, you won't tell of any. Now, Miss Andre, Bjorn Faulkner kept you in extravagant luxury for ten years. You enjoyed platinum gowns and other little things like that. You hated to change your mode of living. You hated to see him turn his fortune over to his investors -- to see him poor -- didn't you?
KAREN: I was never to see him poor.
FLINT: No! Of course not! Because you and your gangster lover were going to murder him and get the ten million no one knew about!
STEVENS: Your Honor! We object!
JUDGE HEATH: Sustained.
FLINT: You've heard it testified that Faulkner had no reason to commit suicide. He had no more reason to escape from the first happiness he'd ever known. And you hated him for that happiness! Didn't you?
KAREN: You don't understand Bjorn Faulkner.
FLINT: Maybe I don't. But let's see if I understand you correctly. You were raped by a man the first day you saw him. You lived with him for ten years in a brazenly illicit relationship. You defrauded thousands of investors the world over. You cultivated a friendship with a notorious gangster. You helped in a twenty-five million dollar forgery. You told us all this proudly, flaunting your defiance of all decency. And you don't expect us to believe you capable of murder?
KAREN: [Very calmly] You're wrong, Mr. Flint. I am capable of murder --for Bjorn Faulkner's sake.
FLINT: That is all, Miss Andre.
[KAREN back to her seat at the defense table, calmly, indifferently]
STEVENS: Lawrence Regan!
CLERK: Lawrence Regan!
[REGAN takes the stand]
You solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?
REGAN: I do.
STEVENS: What is your name?
REGAN: Lawrence Regan.
STEVENS: [A little hesitantly] What is your occupation?
REGAN: [Calmly, with a faint trace of irony] Unemployed.
STEVENS: How long have you known Karen Andre?
REGAN: Five months.
STEVENS: Where did you meet her?
REGAN: In Faulkner's office. I went there to . . . to do some business with him. I gave up the business, because I met his secretary.
STEVENS: How did you happen to become friendly with Miss Andre?
REGAN: Well, that first meeting wasn't exactly friendly. She wouldn't let me in to see Faulkner. She said I had enough money to buy orchids by the pound -- and I had no business with her boss. I said I'd think it over -- and went. I thought it over. Only, I didn't think of the business. I thought of her. The next day I sent her a pound of orchids. Ever see how many that makes? That's how it started.