Show202
From The Perry Mason TV Show Book
When retired fire chief Carey York is accused by TV reporter Tommy Towne of burning his own warehouse, he contacts Perry, who tells Towne to broadcast a retraction or face a whopping $1.5 million slander suit. Towne eventually goes on the air to admit his first charge was incorrect, sort of….Carey didn’t torch the building to get the insurance, he says; he did it to keep his son from bankruptcy. A sophisticated (Potentiometer) machine destroyed in the fire would have helped his son’s competition. Carey never gets a chance to file a second suit against Towne-—the reporter is found dead inside a car at the bottom of a cliff. The car belonged to Carey and that lands the ex-chief in jail for murder.