The Case of the Duplicate Daughter

Chapter Sixteen

Word had been flashed around the courthouse and the courtroom was jammed as Judge Alvord took the bench.

“We’ll resume the hearing of the Case of the People versus Gilman,” he said. “I may state to counsel that I am advised that the witness, Hartley Elliott, wishes to purge himself of contempt and is now willing to come forward.

“The Court will, therefore, direct that proceedings be interrupted for Mr. Elliott to again take the stand and he will then be given an opportunity to purge himself of the contempt.”

Elliott emerged from the witness room.

Mason turned to Paul Drake. “Where the devil is Hancock?”

“The plane was late getting in,” Drake said. “There’s fog over the airport and they’re having trouble with landings.”

“Hang it!” Mason said. “He should have chartered a private plane and—”

“He’d have been in worse trouble on a private plane,” Drake said. “The field is pretty well socked in. But they’re bringing the planes in. Hancock was due in at eight thirty this morning. He probably has landed and is on his way to the courthouse now.”

“Find out,” Mason said. “Get someone to call the airport. See what’s happened to his flight. I may have to ask for a continuance.”

Hartley Elliott seated himself on the witness stand.

“Young man,” Judge Alvord said, “I understand that you have decided to subject yourself to the orders of the Court in order to purge yourself of contempt.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Very well,” Judge Alvord said, “the district attorney will resume questioning this witness. If the witness answers all questions fairly and willingly the witness will be deemed to have purged himself of the contempt and the sentence will be revoked. Proceed, Mr. District Attorney.”

Hamilton Burger, his face indicating triumphant pleasure, said, “Mr. Elliott, I am going to ask you when you first saw Glamis Barlow on the morning of the thirteenth. Understand now, I am asking you when you first saw her.”

“I didn’t leave her until after midnight,” Elliott said

“Very well. I will amend the question. After you had retired on the morning of the thirteenth, when was the next time you saw Glamis Barlow?”

“It was at eight twenty-five.”

“You’re certain of the time?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And where were you at that time?”

“I was standing at the window of the bedroom I occupied in the Gilman house at 6231 Vauxman Avenue.”

“And you saw Miss Barlow?”

“Yes.”

“Where was she when you saw her?”

“She was emerging from the door of the workshop.”

“Now, so there can be no misunderstanding as to what you mean by workshop, I am asking you to advance to the blackboard and point out the spot you mean on the diagram.”

The witness did so.

Hamilton Burger said, “For the sake of the record, let it be shown that the witness has pointed to the rectangle marked ‘Workshop’ on the diagram, People’s Exhibit B. That is correct, is it, Mr. Elliott?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now then, what did you see her do?”

Elliott hesitated perceptibly, then said, “She emerged from the door. She looked to right and left, then pulled the door shut, started walking, and then she ran around the house.”

“Around the house? What do you mean?”

“She went in a southerly direction and I lost sight of her as she turned the corner.”

“When did you next see her?” Hamilton Burger asked.

“About ten minutes later.”

“And where did you see her?”

“I heard her voice in the corridor. I opened my bedroom door a crack and I saw her standing there garbed in an exceedingly revealing night garment. She was two thirds facing me and talking with Muriell. I felt that it would be embarrassing...”

“Never mind what you felt,” Hamilton Burger said. “What did you see? What did you do?”

“I gently closed the door so that I would make no noise and so neither of the young women would know that I had seen them.”

“Could you hear any of the conversation?”

“I heard Muriell say that she had been looking for her father and Glamis said sarcastically, ‘In the attic,’ or words to that effect.”

“Cross-examine,” Hamilton Burger said.

Then, before Mason could get to his feet, Hamilton Burger addressed the Court and said, “If the Court please, my next witness is going to be Mr. Perry Mason. Mr. Mason has been served with a subpoena duces tecum to bring certain articles of evidence into court that were surreptitiously and wrongfully removed from the premises at 6231 Vauxman Avenue.

“I am fully aware that it is unusual to subpoena a defense attorney, but the fact remains that where the defense attorney has certain knowledge of facts proving the commission of a crime the defense attorney is a proper witness. I feel, however, that so there can be no delay or misunderstanding, I am entitled to know at this time and before Mr. Mason cross-examines this witness whether he has brought into court the articles referred to in a subpoena duces tecum which was served upon him yesterday.”

Judge Alvord’s face showed some concern. “You are planning to call the defendant’s attorney as a witness against the defendant himself?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Do you have anything to say, Mr. Mason?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Mason said. “I am entitled to have this case proceed in an orderly manner. I am entitled to cross-examine this witness. When the prosecutor puts me on the stand, if he chooses to do so, I will answer his questions at that time. I have never defied the process of this court or any other court, and there is no occasion for the district attorney to play to the galleries by making an announcement at this time, the effect of which primarily is to alert the press.”

“That’s not true,” Hamilton Burger shouted. “I simply want to know whether I can proceed with my case without—”

“That will do, gentlemen, that will do,” Judge Alvord interrupted. “The Court is inclined to feel that Mr. Mason is entitled at this time to cross-examine this witness. If the prosecutor had addressed the Court at the time the case was first called and asked more assurance as to whether counsel had obeyed a subpoena duces tecum, the Court might have considered the matter. But at this time the Court feels that the inquiry can well be suspended until after Mr. Mason’s cross-examination of the witness, or perhaps until Mr. Mason himself has been called as a witness.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Mason said, and turned to look at Paul Drake.

Drake shook his head.

Mason approached the witness. “You have known Glamis Barlow for how long, Mr. Elliott?”

“Some two months.”

“What is your occupation?”

“I am a manufacturer’s agent.”

“You represent several different manufacturers of merchandise?”

“Yes.”

“Within what territory do you operate?”

“The State of California.”

“You have the entire State of California for all of the manufacturers whom you represent?”

“For most of them. For one of them I have only Southern California. I may state that I also have a couple of manufacturers who have given me the states of Washington, Oregon and Nevada as well as California.”

“I see,” Mason said. “Do you have any manufacturers who have included the State of Arizona in your territory?”

“No, sir.”

“Did you have?”

“Yes. I have had. I gave those contracts up because it was unprofitable to work an extra state where I didn’t have enough contracts to make it economically profitable.”

“You move around the state quite a bit then?”

“Yes.”

“And up into Oregon and Washington?”

“Yes.”

“If the Court please,” Hamilton Burger objected, “I fail to see the object of this cross-examination. It appears to me that counsel is simply stalling for time, trying to put off—”

“That will do, Mr. District Attorney,” Judge Alvord ruled. “In view of the very important testimony this witness has given on his direct examination, the Court is certainly going to permit defense counsel to have the widest latitude in the matter of cross-examination. I think these questions go to the background of the witness and I assume they will soon be directed as to the number of times the witness has seen Miss Barlow and for the purpose of determining whether there could have been any mistake.”

Hamilton Burger smiled smugly. “Just let counsel ask this witness how many times he has seen Glamis Barlow and how well he knows her and the prosecution will have no objection, no objection whatever.”

“I think that comment is uncalled for,” Judge Alvord said. “The matter before the Court is an objection on your part and the objection is overruled. Proceed, Mr. Mason.”

Mason said, “Where is your residence, Mr. Elliott? Where do you do your voting?”

“In Redding.”

“In Redding!” Mason said.

“Yes, I have my office there. Much of my business is done by mail and I got started in the business in Redding. I am thinking of opening a Los Angeles office and—”

“Never mind what you are thinking,” Hamilton Burger cautioned the witness. “Just answer Mr. Mason’s questions and... I beg the Court’s pardon. I will ask the Court to admonish the witness just to answer questions and not to volunteer information.”

“Very well,” Judge Alvord said. “I think the witness understands. Go on with your cross-examination, Mr. Mason.”

Mason glanced at his watch, then back toward counsel table.

Della Street was making frantic signals to him.

“May I have just a moment, if the Court please?” Mason said.

“Very well, Mr. Mason. Please be brief, however.”

Mason approached Della Street.

“Paul Drake gave me these,” Della Street whispered. “Alan Hancock is now in the courtroom. He just arrived.”

Della Street thrust some voluminous newspaper clippings and photographs into Mason’s hands and whispered, her voice almost hysterical with excitement, “Take a look at Maureen Monroe’s picture.”

Mason looked at the photograph on top of the pile of papers, then, suddenly turning the photograph face down, approached the witness stand. For a moment he stood there contemplating the witness, his manner that of a man who is concentrating his every faculty.

“Please continue, Mr. Mason,” Judge Alvord said.

Mason said, “Yes, Your Honor,” then turned his piercing eyes on the witness. “So you live in Redding, Mr. Elliott?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And the reason you opened your office in Redding was because you were living there at the time you went into the manufacturers’ agency business?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Just how did you get into the manufacturers’ agency business, Mr. Elliott?”

“Oh, if the Court please, this certainly isn’t legitimate cross-examination,” Hamilton Burger said.

“I’m going to permit one or two more questions along these lines,” Judge Alvord said. “I think defense counsel is, under the circumstances, entitled to get a foundation here.”

“Answer the question,” Mason said.

“Well, I returned from service in the army and was sort of at loose ends. I was living there in Redding and I... I noticed an ad by a manufacturer that wanted salesmen. I answered the ad and then I answered several more and started out in a small way selling merchandise just in Shasta County, and then I gradually branched out. I made good on the contracts and the manufacturers gave me more territory and I expanded my business.”

“I see,” Mason said. “Now, you had been in Redding before you went to the army and that is the reason you returned there?”

“Yes.”

“What education have you had, Mr. Elliott?”

“I graduated from high school and had three years of college—”

“What high school?”

“Redding High School.”

“While you were living in Redding,” Mason asked, “did you know a family by the name of Monroe?”

There was a long period of silence.

“Can’t you answer that question?” Mason asked.

“Are you referring to G. W. Monroe, the big lumber man?”

“Yes.”

“I knew him, yes. I... yes, I knew him.”

“And,” Mason said, “did you know his daughter, Maureen Monroe?”

“Yes, I knew her.”

Mason said, “Now, Mr. Elliott, you have testified that on the morning of the thirteenth you saw Glamis Barlow running from the workshop. I am going to show you this photograph and ask you if this isn’t the person you saw running from the workshop.”

“Just a moment, just a moment,” Hamilton Burger said. “I want to see that photograph before it is shown to the witness.”

The district attorney came bustling forward.

“Take a look,” Mason said, handing him the photograph.

Hamilton Burger looked at the photograph, then smiled. “No objection, Your Honor. No objection whatever.”

Mason pushed the photograph in front of the witness. “Just answer the question,” he said. “Isn’t this a photograph of the person you saw running from the workshop? Didn’t you see Maureen Monroe rather than Glamis Barlow?”

Had Mason hit the witness in the face with the photograph he could not have caused more consternation.

Hamilton Burger, watching the sagging jaw of the witness, jumped up, protesting and waving his hand as though to attract attention, but actually trying to reassure the witness. “Your Honor, Your Honor,” he said, “the question is improper. The photograph is quite plainly that of Glamis Barlow and—”

“I suggest the district attorney be sworn,” Mason said, “or perhaps he should look more closely. The caption which has been folded under the photograph states very plainly that it is a picture of Maureen Monroe, daughter of G. W. Monroe, whose engagement has just been announced to a wealthy young businessman of Arizona and New York.”

Judge Alvord said, “Let me see that photograph, please.”

Hamilton Burger came pushing toward the bench. “I think, Your Honor, there has been some trickery here, that this is another of Mr. Mason’s attempts—”

“Let me see the photograph,” Judge Alvord interrupted.

Mason handed up the photograph.

Judge Alvord studied the photograph, then turned down the sheet of flimsy which had been pasted on the photograph and folded under. He read the typewritten caption, then, without a word, handed the photograph back to Perry Mason and turned to the witness.

“Answer the question,” Mason said, “and remember you’re under oath. Was it Glamis Barlow or was it Maureen Monroe who ran out of that room?”

“Objection, Your Honor!” Hamilton Burger shouted. “We don’t know that this photograph is properly authenticated. I object to the question on the ground that it is argumentative, that it calls for a conclusion of the witness, that it is not proper cross-examination, that no foundation has been laid.”

“Overruled,” Judge Alvord snapped. “The witness will answer the question.”

“I... I... I don’t know. Looking down from the window... now that I think of it... there is a very remarkable resemblance.”

“I see,” Mason said. “So now you are not prepared to swear that it was Glamis Barlow you saw running out of that workshop?”

“No, sir.”

“You wish to change your testimony to state that you are not sure that it was Glamis Barlow you saw?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now, then,” Mason said, “how long have you known Vera M. Martel?”

The witness began to fidget in the chair.

“You’re under oath,” Mason said. “How long have you known her?”

“Objected to as not proper cross-examination,” Hamilton Burger said.

“Overruled,” Judge Alvord snapped.

“I... I first met her about a month ago.”

“Where?”

“In Las Vegas, Nevada.”

“And how did you meet her?”

“I was introduced to her by a friend who told me that she was a very resourceful, daring private investigator.”

“Now then,” Mason said, leveling his finger at the witness, “did you or did you not enter into any business transaction with Vera Martel?”

The witness suddenly straightened. “I refuse to answer,” he said.

Judge Alvord leaned forward ominously. “Upon what ground?”

The witness looked up defiantly. “Upon the ground,” he said, “that the answer would tend to incriminate me.”

Mason calmly walked back to the defense counsel table and sat down. “No further questions, Your Honor.”

Hamilton Burger was on his feet. “Your Honor, this... this comes as a most complete surprise. A situation has developed here which certainly should be investigated. I want to find out more about that picture. I want to authenticate that picture. I feel that counsel has been guilty of a substitution here, that this picture of Glamis Barlow, has received a wrong caption and has been used deliberately to confuse this witness. I would like to ask for a continuance until I can verify this picture and ascertain what has happened.”

“I have no objection to a continuance,” Mason said. “The defense would like very much to have the district attorney verify the photograph, and I feel that the district attorney should pursue further the question of why this witness refuses to answer questions about his business deal with Vera Martel.”

Judge Alvord said, “Mr. Mason, I am going to ask you if, to your knowledge, there has been any substitution of photographs or captions in this case.”

“No, Your Honor. I have just received this photograph from a detective who arrived in this court just a few minutes ago in response to a telephone conversation with him I had last night in which I asked him to bring down photographs of Maureen Monroe.”

In the silence that followed there was the sound of a woman sobbing.

Judge Alvord looked down at Nancy Gilman, who was crying.

“The Court is going to take a recess until tomorrow morning at ten o’clock,” he said. And then, turning to Hamilton Burger, said, “I would suggest that, in the meantime, the police make every effort to get at the bottom of this. There is certainly a situation here which should be thoroughly investigated.”

“Very well, Your Honor,” a chastened Hamilton Burger said.

“Court’s adjourned,” Judge Alvord announced, and then gave Mason a long look of puzzled respect before arising and leaving the bench.