The Case of the Fan-Dancer's Horse

Chapter number 21

When Court reconvened a nervous, frightened Irene Kilby was on the witness stand and an exasperated District Attorney was quite evidently on the defensive. His manners plainly showed he was thoroughly angered at the police trick, which, by this time, Sergeant Holcomb had apparently confessed.

Mason said, “Now, Miss Kilby, you took the identity of Lois Fenton, you filled her professional engagements, you dressed like her, is that right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You had an agreement with her and you surrendered that agreement to John Callender, is that right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And so far as you know, that was the only copy of that agreement in existence?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You wanted to get possession of that agreement, didn’t you?”

“I have already said so. Yes.”

“And you made a search for it?”

“Yes.”

“And isn’t the real reason that you were so anxious to get that agreement because there was a clause in it providing that in the event Lois Fenton’s marriage wasn’t successful, or if at any time she wished to return to fan-dancing, you would step to one side?”

“No, sir.”

“Or words to that effect were in that agreement?”

“No, sir.”

“Think carefully, now,” Mason said. “You’re under oath. And remember, if John Callender had that agreement, sooner or later it is going to show up among the effects of his estate. That is a written agreement. It is signed by Lois Fenton and it is signed by you. Now, just remember that you’re under oath and that a lot more is involved here than your career as a fan-dancer.”

The witness bit her lip.

“Go on,” Mason said. “Let’s try making another answer to that question. Isn’t that the real reason you wanted the agreement?”

The witness shifted her position, glanced helplessly at the district attorney, then met the stern eyes of the judge.

“Well,” Mason said, “isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she answered, in a low voice.

“Now,” Mason said, “we’re beginning to get somewhere. It was vital to your career to have that agreement, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“And as long as John Callender had it, he had you, in a very great measure, in his power, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Now, then,” Mason went on, “let’s go a little farther. This fan which I will show you, the one which has been introduced as People’s Exhibit Number 2 — take a good look at that fan. You will notice the initials ‘L. F.’ on it. You will notice that it was made in St. Louis. You have seen that fan before?”

“Yes.”

“I gave it to you, didn’t I?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“The night of the murder — that is, you gave it to me on the evening of the sixteenth, and John Callender was murdered shortly after midnight that same night, which makes it the seventeenth.”

“Exactly,” Mason said. “Now, what did you do with that fan when I gave it to you? There were two of them, weren’t there?”

“Yes.”

“And what did you do with them?”

“I... I gave them...”

“Yes, yes, go on,” Mason said.

“I gave them to John Callender.”

“Now did you give them to John Callender personally, or did you give them to Harry Cogswell to give to John Callender?”

“Harry was to give them to him.”

“As soon as you got possession of those fans in Palomino, you and Harry Cogswell jumped into an automobile and drove just as fast as you could to report to John Callender that I hadn’t found the horse he wanted, that I had found two fans, and in order to support your story you took those two fans to Cogswell, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And you gave those fans to Cogswell to deliver to Callender?”

“Yes.”

“And Cogswell arrived at the hotel about one-twenty and went to see Callender, and left the fans?”

“He left one of the fans. I had one.”

Mason said, “For your information, Miss Kilby, and so I won’t take any advantage of you, I will state that I personally saw Harry Cogswell entering Callender’s room at approximately twenty minutes past one on the morning of the seventeenth. Now, is that about the time he went to the room, or do you know?”

“It was right about that time.”

“Where were you?”

“I was outside in the car. He couldn’t find a parking place near the hotel, so I drove around the block and Harry went in to talk with Callender. We probably could have found a parking place if we’d looked around, but we would have had to walk quite a ways, and... well, Callender wanted that fan just as quick as he could get it. He said he had to have it before two o’clock, and he wanted it just as soon as he could possibly get it.”

“Then you had talked with Callender over the telephone?”

“Yes.”

“As soon as I’d given you the fans?”

“Yes.”

“Now,” Mason said, “let’s be frank about this thing, Miss Kilby. You’ve been trying to protect your own interests, but I think you’ve been unnecessarily cautious. Suppose J should tell you that I could prove that when you called on John Callender at 2:23 on the morning of September seventeenth he was already dead, and that when you opened the door you found his body lying on the floor. Would that make you change your testimony about being the one who was in the hotel at that time?”

Irene Kilby looked at him with wide, round eyes, her face showing startled surprise.

Judge Donahue leaned forward and said, “What-was that? Mr. Court Reporter, read me that question. I want to get it.”

The Court Reporter, in a monotone, repeated the question to Judge Donahue.

The Judge frowned, looked at the witness, then at Perry Mason, said to the witness, “Do you understand that question, Miss Kilby?”

“Yes,” she said, hesitantly.

“Can you answer it?”

“I... Yes.”

“You mean that’s your answer?” Mason asked.

“Yes.”

“All right,” Mason said. “Now, let’s get at the truth of this thing. You didn’t go to the hotel to call on John Callender at around two o’clock, did you?”

“No.”

“But you did learn in some manner from the police, or from a source close to the police, that they had found a maid who saw Lois Fenton emerging from Callender’s room at two o’clock, and you felt certain that sooner or later some witness would be found who knew that you were going in to see John Callender,’ so you decided that you would swap identities with Lois Fenton and claim that you were the woman who was seen leaving the room at two o’clock in the morning, isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

Mason said, “If the Court please, simply for the sake of clearing up the record and playing fair with the witness, I will call to the attention of the Court and counsel, that, according to the testimony of the witness, Faulkner, Arthur Sheldon dashed out of room 511 and entered room 510 across the corridor almost immediately after Faulkner had taken up his station in the mop closet. That was approximately 2:21 A.M. At 2:23 this witness went to John Callender’s room, but if the Court will bear in mind this witness had encountered the house detective, and that the house detective had forced her to phone Callender’s room, the answer immediately became obvious. Arthur Sheldon must have been in Callender’s room at the time the phone rang. When Arthur Sheldon left the room, he didn’t leave it in the manner that a man would leave a room where he had been visiting some person. He left it in the manner of someone who was fleeing from something. You will note that the witness, Faulkner, testified that Sheldon stepped swiftly out into the corridor, pushed the door shut behind him, jerked open the door of room 510 and vanished. It is obvious, therefore, that something must have been wrong when he left that room; that in all probability Callender was dead at that time. But it is perfectly plain that Arthur Sheldon was in that hotel room at the time the telephone rang in response to the call placed by the house detective from the room telephone in the lobby. I feel it is a fair inference that, for reasons of his own, Arthur Sheldon answered that telephone when it rang and it was Sheldon’s voice the house detective heard answering the telephone, that it was to Sheldon this witness announced that she was in the lobby and was coming up.

“But so long as this witness felt it was established that John Callender had been alive at approximately 2:20, when that telephone call was placed, she didn’t dare admit that she was the person who went to the room at 2:23. I think that covers the situation.”

Hamilton Burger said, “Are you now claiming that Arthur Sheldon killed him?”

“I’m not claiming anything,” Mason said, impatiently. “I’m trying to get the defendant in this case acquitted. As far as the murder case is concerned, you are at perfect liberty to solve it. That is the end of my cross-examination of this witness.”

“Any redirect examination?” Judge Donahue asked Burger.

“None, Your Honor,” the somewhat dazed district attorney said.

“Very well,” Judge Donahue said. “There are some questions I want to ask this witness, but in view of the peculiar developments in this case I feel that it may not be fair to counsel for either side to ask questions in front of the jury. However, this witness has admitted giving false testimony, and I now order her into the custody of the sheriff to await such action as may be taken.”

Mason, getting to his feet, started putting papers back into his briefcase. He smiled reassuringly at his client.

“I think that does it, Your Honor,” Mason said with calm confidence. “The district attorney can either dismiss the case against this defendant now, or we will take an adjournment until two o’clock.”

Judge Donahue took one look at Hamilton Burger’s face and announced crisply, “Court will take a recess until two o’clock this afternoon.”