The Case of the Nervous Accomplice

Chapter 14

Hamilton Burger put on his case with the deadly, well-rehearsed precision of a lawyer who has carefully blueprinted every possible development.

He introduced a map of the premises. He introduced the testimony of the police officers who had been summoned when the body was discovered. The ballistic expert told of the characteristics of the fatal bullet and the test bullets and stated that beyond question, the fatal bullet had been fired from the revolver that had been found on the side of the steep hill.

The taxi driver, who had picked Mrs. Harlan up at the Union Station, had driven her to her house, then to the parking lot, and from there to the building where Mason had his office, made a positive identification.

By the time of the noon recess, the district attorney had laid all the statistical groundwork of the corpus delicti. By afternoon he was ready to put on his array of witnesses who would clinch the case against the defendant.

Veteran courthouse attachés, who were following the trial with interest, realized that Jerome Keddie, the taxi driver whose testimony Mason had riddled at the time of the preliminary hearing, was being saved until such time as the prosecution had forged such a deadly chain of evidence that the failure of Keddie to make an absolute identification would be a minor matter.

After the noon adjournment, Hamilton Burger arose impressively. “Call Jacques Lamont to the stand.”

Lamont came forward, was sworn, gave his name and address, said that his occupation was that of a parking lot attendant.

“Are you acquainted with the defendant in this case?”

“By sight, yes.”

“In what way?”

“There is a beauty parlor about half a block down the street from my parking lot. She patronizes this beauty parlour regularly and leaves her car in my parking lot.”

“Directing your attention to the third day of June of this year, did you see the defendant?”

“I did.”

“At what time?”

“At about two-thirty.”

“And what happened?”

“She parked her car in the parking lot.”

“Did you see her again?”

“Yes, sir.”

“When?”

“At about four o’clock, a little before four, I guess.”

“What did she do, if anything?”

“She entered the parking lot. She was looking around, apparently looking for me and—”

“Never mind your conclusions. Just state what happened.”

“Well, she looked around. When she didn’t see anybody, she went directly to her car. She opened the glove compartment.”

“Where were you at the time?”

“As it happened, I had just been moving a car to let my assistant bring out a car which had been parked behind it. I was backing up, so that I was sitting in a car directly parallel with the defendant’s car.”

“How close were you to the glove compartment of the defendant’s car?”

“Seven or eight feet.”

“What did you see the defendant do, if anything?”

“She opened the glove compartment, took out a pack of cigarettes and a gun.”

“What do you mean by a gun?”

“It was a blued steel revolver.”

“I’m going to ask you to look at plaintiff’s Exhibit D in this case, and ask if you can identify it as the gun.”

“Well, I can’t say it was that gun. But I can say that the gun she put in her purse looked just like it. It was about the same size and appearance.”

“Very well. Then what happened?”

“She walked out of the parking lot and entered a car that was waiting by the entrance, a car that was being driven by a man.”

“Did you get a good look at that man?”

“No, sir, I did not.”

“You couldn’t identify him if you saw him again?”

“No, sir, all I know is that it was a man who was driving a car, a blue two-tone sedan. I didn’t notice the make.”

“Then what happened?”

“The defendant went away in that car.”

“When did you next see the defendant?”

“Later on, on the afternoon of the third, around five-forty-five.”

“And what did she do, if anything?”

“She drove up in a taxicab.”

“Where were you at the time?”

“I had been down at the far end of the parking lot with a car. I was walking back.”

“What did the defendant do, if anything?”

“She walked directly to her car.”

“And what did you do?”

“I thought she was going to take it out, so I—”

“Never mind what you thought. What did you do?”

“I walked rapidly toward the car, so that if she was wanting to pay the parking fees and take it out, I’d be handy.”

“What did you see her do, if anything?”

“I saw her open the glove compartment of her car.”

“What did she do?”

“She was doing something at the glove compartment.”

“Could you see what she was doing?”

“Sort of fumbling.”

“Then what?”

“Then she made a telephone call at the phone booth, and walked back to the taxicab which had been kept waiting.”

“When did you next see her?”

“It was about half an hour later.”

“What did she do then?”

“She came and turned in her check, paid the parking fees, and picked up her car.”

Hamilton Burger turned triumphantly to Perry Mason. “Cross-examine,” he said.

Mason glanced at the clock, yawned, said, “No questions.”

“What?” Hamilton Burger shouted, surprised.

“No questions,” Mason repeated.

Hamilton Burger fought back his surprise; then, with the air of a man bringing a difficult task to a triumphant conclusion, said, “Jamison Bell Gibbs, take the stand.”

Gibbs gave his name, age, occupation and address to the court reporter, then turned expectantly to Hamilton Burger.

“You say your occupation is operating a service station?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you acquainted with the defendant?”

“Very well, yes, sir.”

“Do you, from time to time, service her automobile?”

“Yes, sir.”

“When was the last time you serviced her automobile?”

“On the third of June of this year quite early in the morning.”

“Who brought the automobile into your station for service?”

“The defendant.”

“What did she tell you?”

“She told me she was in a hurry, that she wanted a rush lubricating job and the oil changed in the crankcase.”

“What did you do?”

“I serviced the car, gave it a complete lube job, checked the tyres and the battery.”

“Did she ask you to do anything else?”

“She didn’t, no, sir. However, I did clean out the front of the car. I noticed it was a little dirty. Quite a bit of dust had been tracked in, and I took out the floor mats and cleaned it.”

“And then what?”

“I left a note containing the charges for the service, which is what I always do.”

“What did you do with that note?”

“I slipped it in the edge of the glove compartment.”

“What happened?”

“The latch on the glove compartment wasn’t entirely closed, and the paper slipped through, down to the bottom. I was afraid she wouldn’t see it, so I pressed the catch that opens the glove compartment and picked up the paper.”

“What did you see, if anything?”

Mason glanced at the jurors and saw that they were leaning forward with rapt interest.

“I noticed there was a gun in the glove compartment.”

“Anything else?”

“Some binoculars... that is, I assume they were binoculars. They were in the case.”

“What was the relative position of the gun and the binocular case?”

“The gun was to the front of the glove compartment.”

“Nearest your hand as you opened the glove compartment?”

“Yes.”

“And where were the binoculars?”

“In the back part of the glove compartment.”

“Now, what did you do with reference to that gun?”

“Well,” the witness said, “sometimes things get stolen out of glove compartments and—”

“Never mind that,” Hamilton Burger interrupted sharply. “I’m asking you to tell exactly what you did. You can discuss the reasons for what you did when you are asked the proper questions on cross-examination. I am only asking you to tell this jury what you did.”

“I took the gun out and handled it.”

“Are you familiar with revolvers?”

“Oh, yes. I’m a gun lover.”

“Have you ever fired a gun?”

“Yes, indeed, many times.”

“I hand you this revolver which has been introduced in evidence and ask you if you have ever seen it before.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Where?”

“In the glove compartment of the defendant’s car.”

“The same gun?”

“Well, of course, I didn’t take down the number on the gun, but it was the same make, model and style.”

“Cross-examine,” Hamilton Burger snapped triumphantly.

“No questions,” Mason said casually.

“Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said, “my next witness is a hostile witness. I have her under subpoena and am going to have to put her on the stand out of order because of various reasons, which I do not think are necessary to go into at this time. I may also state, if the Court please, that her testimony at this time will perhaps have no apparent connection with the case. However, I can assure the Court that it will be connected up, that it is important, and I ask permission of the Court to call this hostile witness out of order at this time.”

“Very well,” Judge Sedgwick ruled, “you may call the witness. If there are objections to the questions, the Court will rule on these objections as they come up.”

“Mrs. Ruth Marvel,” Hamilton Burger said.

“Oh, good Lord!” Sybil Harlan exclaimed in a despairing whisper.

“Take it easy,” Mason warned under his breath. “Remember now, a poker face! The jurors are watching you.”

Mason glanced at the clock, settled back in his chair as though all of these dramatic witnesses the district attorney was bringing forward were, after all, testifying to no more than routine preliminary matters.

Ruth Marvel had evidently been crying and was apparently angry. She permitted herself to be sworn, gave her name, address, took the witness stand, avoided Sybil Harlan’s eyes and glared angrily at the district attorney.

“You have been a friend of the defendant for some time?” Hamilton Burger asked suavely.

“Yes,” the witness snapped.

“You knew her on the third of June of this year?”

“Yes.”

“You saw her on that date?”

“Yes. Several times.”

“What was the last time you saw her?”

“I don’t know the exact time. In the evening.”

“The early evening?”

“Yes.”

“What did you do at that time?”

“I went with her to look at some property.”

“Where?”

“I don’t remember.”

“What kind of property?”

“Real estate.”

“More than one parcel?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Did she tell you she was interested in property?”

“She asked me to go with her.”

“Did she tell you she was interested in property?”

“She asked me to go with her.”

“Did she tell you she was interested in property?”

“She told me to tell the taxi driver we were to look at property.”

“Now then, Mrs. Marvel,” Hamilton Burger said, “you’re testifying in a murder case. You’re under oath. There are severe penalties for perjury. There are severe penalties for becoming an accessory after the fact. I am going to ask you if the defendant made a statement to you as to the reason, the real reason, she wanted to engage that taxi.”

“Now just a moment, Your Honor,” Mason said. “I don’t like to object to routine questions of these preliminary witnesses—”

“Preliminary witnesses!” Hamilton Burger shouted, his face livid with rage.

Mason glanced at him in some apparent surprise.

Hamilton Burger started to say something, then caught the judge’s eye and lapsed into silence.

“Proceed, Mr. Mason,” the judge said.

“In this case, however,” Mason said, “counsel is cross-examining his own witness. He is taking leading questions. He is threatening the witness. Moreover, the testimony seems to be incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.”

“May I be heard?” Hamilton Burger asked.

Judge Sedgwick nodded.

“If the Court please,” Hamilton Burger said, “this witness will, I believe, if she is forced to, testify to a most damaging admission made by the defendant. She is friendly with the defendant; she is hostile to me; she has never told me what her testimony would be. I only know by inference and from what she has told other people. The Court has my assurance, professionally, that this is the case.”

“The objection will be overruled,” Judge Sedgwick announced. “However, I will entertain a motion to strike out this testimony should it not prove pertinent or be materially different from that outlined by the district attorney in his statement.”

“You will answer the question, Mrs. Marvel.”

“She said she wanted to engage a particular cab.”

“Did she say why?”

“She... she said—”

“Yes, yes, go on,” Hamilton Burger prompted.

“She said that it was a cab she had ridden in earlier in the day.”

“And did she tell you that she didn’t want the cab driver to recognize her?”

“Something like that.”

“Go on,” Hamilton Burger said. “What did she tell you?”

Ruth Marvel started to cry.

“I must insist on an answer,” Hamilton Burger said

“She said that her lawyer had told her to get this cab, to have me ride around with her, and pay him off when the meter got to two dollars and ninety-five-cents.”

“Would you know the cab driver if you saw him again?”

Ruth Marvel nodded mutely.

“Will Mr. Jerome C. Keddie stand up?” Hamilton Burger asked.

Keddie, the cab driver, stood up.

“Is that the man?” Hamilton Burger asked.

“Yes,” Ruth Marvel said, in an answer that was almost indistinguishable.

“Cross-examine,” Hamilton Burger snapped triumphantly.

Mason smiled reassuringly at the witness. “Mrs. Marvel, there’s no reason for you to be upset about any of your testimony. Didn’t the defendant simply tell you that she was acting under my advice, that she thought a certain taxicab driver was going to identify her and that she wanted to test his memory to see whether he really knew who she was?”

“Now, I object to that,” Hamilton Burger said. “Counsel is leading a witness who is very friendly to his side of the case and—”

“How do you know she’s friendly?” Mason said. “She certainly testified for you readily enough and without reservation. This is cross-examination, and I have a right to cross-examine the witness.”

“Objection overruled,” Judge Sedgwick said.

“Isn’t that substantially what happened?” Mason asked sympathetically.

“Yes,” she said.

“Well, don’t feel bad,” Mason told her, “simply because the prosecution called you to testify as its witness when one of your friends is on trial. The defendant told you that under my instructions she was going to test the recollection of a possible witness, didn’t she?”

“That’s right,” Ruth Marvel said.

“And you got in the taxicab that was being driven by this gentleman, this Jerome C. Keddie who has just stood up?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Mr. Keddie didn’t recognize her, did he? In any event, he gave no sign of recognition that you could see?”

“No, sir.”

Mason smiled and said, “That’s all. That’s all the defendant was trying to accomplish. There’s no secret about it.”

“There isn’t now!” Hamilton Burger shouted. “Now that your scheme has backfired!”

“Backfired?” Mason asked, as though Burger had taken leave of his senses.

“That will do,” Judge Sedgwick ruled. “There will be no personal exchanges between counsel. Mr. Prosecutor, your remark was uncalled for. The witness is excused.”

“Now,” Hamilton Burger said, “I’ll call Jerome C. Keddie to the stand.”

Keddie came forward and was sworn.

“Did you see the defendant on or about the third day of June of this year?” Hamilton Burger asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Where?” Hamilton Burger asked.

“I was coming back from the country club and—”

“Do you see this map on the blackboard”

“Yes, sir.”

“Can you point to the place where you saw the defendant?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Please do so.”

The witness approached the map. “It was right here,” he said. “And when I first saw her she was running up the street. Then she stopped and walked for a way, getting her breath. Then she started running again. Then she walked. Then she saw me and waved her arm.”

“Return to the witness stand, please,” Hamilton Burger said. “Then what happened?”

“She got in the cab with me and was all breathless. She seemed very much excited and disturbed. I asked her where she wanted to go. She couldn’t tell me at first. Then she told me to take her to the Union Station.”

“And you took her there?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What time was this?”

“I picked her up a little before five o’clock. Around a quarter to five, I guess.”

“And what time did you get to the Union Station?”

“A little after five o’clock.”

“On the third of June?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Cross-examine,” Hamilton Burger said.

Mason smiled affably. “When did you next see the defendant, Mr. Keddie?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Mason asked in simulated surprise.

“No, sir. I know that I saw her the next day in a lineup, and I may have seen her again that evening, but I just can’t be sure. You see, we have so many passengers and sometimes we don’t look back when—”

“Now just a moment,” Mason said. “Never mind making an argument. Just answer the question.”

“Your Honor, I submit that’s part of his answer,” Hamilton Burger said. “A witness always has a right to explain his answer. I submit the witness be allowed to finish.”

“I think it would be better for you to bring these matters out on redirect examination,” Judge Sedgwick ruled. “You’ll have ample opportunity to bring out the complete situation on redirect examination.”

“Very well,” Hamilton Burger said, yielding with poor grace.

“Now, when you testified on the preliminary examination,” Mason said, “you were very positive that you hadn’t seen the defendant from the time you picked her up on the afternoon of June third until you saw her in the lineup on June fourth, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’s all,” Mason said.

“Were you mistaken at the time of the preliminary examination?” Hamilton Burger asked.

“I was confused.”

“Were you mistaken?”

“Yes, sir, I was.”

“That’s all.”

“Just a minute,” Mason said. “You say you were mistaken, Mr. Keddie?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you mean by that that you swore to something that wasn’t so?”

“Oh, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said, “I object to that as not proper cross-examination. That’s an attempt to browbeat the witness.”

“I’m not browbeating the witness,” Mason said. “I’m just asking him if he swore to something that wasn’t so.”

“It was an honest mistake,” Hamilton Burger said.

“Are you now trying to testify,” Mason asked, “as to the state of mind of this witness?”

“I’m telling the Court the facts.”

“I want the witness to tell the facts,” Mason said.

“The objection is overruled,” Judge Sedgwick said.

“You testified to something that wasn’t so?” Mason asked.

“Yes, sir, I was mistaken. I was confused.”

“You aren’t confused now?”

“No, sir.”

“How did you happen to recognize your mistake?”

“Why, the district attorney found the person who had rented the cab. He pointed her out to me and told me she was a friend of the—”

“Just testify to what you know of your own knowledge,” Hamilton Burger said. “Don’t testify to hearsay.”

“No, no, go right ahead,” Mason said to the witness. “Tell me what Hamilton Burger told you.”

Judge Sedgwick smiled.

“Your Honor, that’s improper. That’s hearsay evidence,” Burger protested. “What I may have said to the witness is entirely outside of the issues.”

“He’s giving his reasons, Your Honor,” Mason said in a conversational tone of voice which was in sharp contrast to Hamilton Burger’s excited tones.

“Go ahead,” Judge Sedgwick said, smiling. “Answer the question.”

“Go ahead,” Mason told the witness. “You were saying that Hamilton Burger told you — What did he tell you?”

“Well, he told me that he’d had detectives trace down all of the close friends of the defendant to see if they could find the person who had been in the cab with her, and he pointed out this witness who has just been on the stand and told me she was the one, and then I recognized her.”

Mason smiled. “The district attorney pointed her out to you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Where did he point her out to you?”

“In his office.”

“Did she see you at that time?”

“No, sir. I was in another room. It was a room that had one of those trick mirrors — it was a window on my side but a mirror on her side.”

“The district attorney put you in that room?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And then put Mrs. Marvel on the other side of this trick mirror?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And then the district attorney came into the room and pointed out Mrs. Marvel to you and told you she was the one?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So that made you feel that you had testified erroneously at the preliminary hearing?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And sworn to something that wasn’t so?”

“Yes, sir.”

“At the preliminary heating, before you had had the benefit of the advice of the district attorney, you said you had never seen the defendant again until you saw her in the lineup on the fourth, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well,” Mason said affably, “you’re to be congratulated on having the district attorney take such pains with you. If it hadn’t been for his interference, you’d have testified to the same thing now that you testified to at the time of the preliminary examination, wouldn’t you?”

“I suppose so. Yes.”

“So your testimony today has been inspired by statements made to you by the district attorney?”

“Well, I guess so, yes.”

“Thank you,” Mason said. “That’s all.”

Hamilton Burger, angry and exasperated, said, “Very well, that’s all. I have no further questions. I’ll call Stephen Ardmore to the stand.”

Ardmore came forward, was sworn, testified that he was a detective and had been a detective on the third of June of the present year.

“Did you have occasion to examine the house occupied by the defendant and her husband, Enright Harlan?”

“Yes, sir.”

“When was that examination made?”

“On the fourth of June of this year.”

“Did you have occasion to examine certain wearing apparel belonging to the defendant?”

“I did.”

“I call your attention to a certain pair of gloves and ask you if you examined those gloves?”

“I did.”

“What did you find, if anything?”

“When I placed those gloves under a vacuum cleaner in which there was a filter to trap any dust recovered from those gloves, I found certain foreign substances in the filter paper.”

“Did you identify some of those foreign substances?”

“Yes, I identified one of them.”

“And what was it?”

“Several granules of sugar.”

“Sugar?” Hamilton Burger asked, smiling at the jury.

“Yes, sir.”

“You mean common household sugar?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So then what did you do?”

“So then I went to the house occupied by the defendant and her husband and examined the various sugar containers.”

“And what did you find, if anything?”

“In the bottom of a sugar bowl I found a set of car keys.”

“Did you indeed?” Hamilton Burger said. “Did you mark them for identification?”

“I did.”

“I hand you a set of keys and call your attention to the mark etched in the keys and ask you if that is the set of keys that you found?”

“Yes, sir, a set of two keys.”

“Did you subsequently determine what locks those keys fit?”

“Yes, sir, I did.”

“What locks were they?”

“This one is the key to the ignition of the automobile driven by George C. Lutts on the day of his death, and this is the key to the trunk of that automobile.”

“You tried them to make certain they worked?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Cross-examine,” Hamilton Burger said.

Mason grinned. “You don’t know who put those keys in the sugar bowl, do you, Mr. Ardmore?”

“I only know that there was sugar on the gloves of the defendant.”

“Answer the question. You don’t know who put those keys in the sugar bowl?”

“No, sir.”

“And prior to the time you discovered those keys, you had been searching the house?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Other police officers had been searching the house?”

“Yes, sir.”

“The husband was living in the house?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Some witnesses had been interrogated in the house?”

“Some, yes, sir.”

“Why didn’t you look in the sugar bowl before all these other persons had an opportunity to go through the house, planting evidence wherever they wanted?”

“You can’t do everything at once, Mr. Mason.”

“Then why didn’t you shut up the house until after you had searched it?”

“Well, we... we didn’t know what we were going to find.”

“So you feel you should know what you’re going to find before you take any steps to see that evidence isn’t planted?”

“I don’t think this evidence was planted.”

“I’m not asking you what you think,” Mason said. “I’m asking you why you didn’t look in that sugar bowl before anyone had an opportunity to plant something there.”

“Because I didn’t know there was anything in the sugar bowl.”

“And,” Mason said, “you didn’t search the gloves, the wearing apparel, or even look under the fingernails of any other person in that house to see if you could find any sugar?”

“Well, no, sir.”

“This woman’s husband was there all the time. Didn’t you examine his fingers to see if you could find traces of sugar under the nails?”

“No, sir.”

“That’s all,” Mason said.

“No further questions,” Hamilton Burger said.

Hamilton Burger called Janice Condon to the stand. She testified that she had been employed as Enright Harlan’s secretary for a period of some three years, covering the time when the revolver which had been introduced in evidence had been purchased. She had been instructed by her employer to go to the gun store and pick up the gun, which had previously been ordered by Harlan, and to sign his name to the register of firearms; that she knew it was irregular and that the dealer knew it was irregular, but Harlan was a very good customer and the dealer had conveniently turned his back while she was signing Harlan’s name and had winked at the irregularity.

“Cross-examine,” Hamilton Burger said to Perry Mason.

“No questions,” Mason said casually. “We would have stipulated to the testimony of this witness. There was no necessity of calling her.”

“You could have said so earlier,” Hamilton Burger snapped.

“You didn’t ask me,” Mason retorted, smiling.

“That will do,” Judge Sedgwick said. “Proceed with your case, Mr. District Attorney.”

Hamilton Burger said, “Your Honor, I note that it is after four o’clock. I have one more witness. I may state that I have been taken entirely by surprise in this case. We started getting the jury yesterday afternoon. This morning we had the jury by ten-thirty. I had expected that it would take me at least three days to put on my case. I call to the Court’s attention that so far there have been very few questions asked on cross-examination, there have been almost no objections to evidence on the part of the defence. This has made for a very unusual situation. I find that I am running far ahead of schedule. I think it would be in order to request an adjournment at this time.”

Judge Sedgwick, obviously completely puzzled by Mason’s tactics, looked down at the lawyer.

Mason smiled and said, “Well, Your Honor, we’ve made remarkable headway, and I frankly confess that I see no reason to object to evidence which I think is pertinent and have no desire to cross-examine witnesses who are obviously telling the truth. It seems to me, therefore, that counsel can put on his last remaining witness and then the people can, in all probability, rest their case by the time we usually adjourn.”

“No, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said. “This witness will undoubtedly be subjected to a long and grueling cross-examination. He is a surprise witness and—”

“And therefore,” Mason interrupted, “the prosecution obviously would like to take advantage of a surprise attack. The defendant insists that we proceed in the ordinary course of events and that this witness be called now. We resist any motion for an adjournment at this time.”

Judge Sedgwick said, “I think the defence position is well taken, Mr. Prosecutor. You may call your witness.”

With poor grace, Hamilton Burger said, “Ezekiel Elkins.”

Ezekiel Elkins came forward and took the witness stand. He gave his name, age, occupation, and settled back with tight-lipped determination.

“You are a director of the Sylvan Glade Development Company and a stockholder in that company?”

“Yes, sir.”

“George C. Lutts, the decedent, was also a stockholder and a director?” Hamilton Burger asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Were there any unusual developments in connection with your directors’ meeting on the third of June of this year?”

“There certainly were.”

“I will state to Court and counsel,” Hamilton Burger said, “that I am going to connect up these matters.”

“No objection,” Mason said. “Go right ahead.”

“Describe what happened at the directors’ meeting,” Hamilton Burger said.

Elkins gave a brief picture of what had happened at the meeting.

“Now then, what did you do after the meeting?” Hamilton Burger asked.

“I thought that George Lutts was slipping one over and—”

“Never mind what you thought,” Burger interrupted sharply. “I am asking you what you did.”

“Well, I decided to follow George Lutts because I thought he might be in—”

“Never mind what you thought. You followed George Lutts, did you?”

“Yes.”

“Where did he go?”

“Well, he went out to lunch with Doxey, his son-in-law and secretary of the company, and then he got in his car and drove to the Acme Coiffure and Beauty Salon.”

“And then what?”

“He parked his car and waited.”

“For about how long?”

“Oh, I’d say for two or three minutes.”

“Where were you?”

“About half a block behind.”

“Then what happened?”

“Then the defendant came out of the beauty parlor, and George Lutts opened his car door and called to her.”

“And what did she do?”

“She got in the car with him.”

“Then what?”

“Then they talked for a little while.”

“And then what?”

“And then Lutts drove down about half a block to this parking lot, where the defendant had her car.”

“And then what?”

“Then the defendant got out and went up to where her car was parked—”

“Now, just a minute,” Hamilton Burger said. “Do you know, of your own knowledge, that it was her car?”

“No, sir, I don’t.”

“Then, just tell what you know of your own knowledge, please.”

“Well, she went to a car. She opened the glove compartment, and I don’t know what she did.”

“You could see her open the glove compartment?”

“Well, I saw her hands up there on the dash, about where the glove compartment was.”

“And then what?”

“Then she got back out of the car and closed the door and walked back out to where Lutts was sitting in his car.”

“And then what?”

“Then she got in the car with Lutts and they drove away.”

“What did you do?”

“I followed along until I got to a point where I realized they were going up to the Sylvan Glade Property and—”

“Never mind what you realized. Just how far did you follow them?”

“Well, I followed them out to within about half a mile of where the road turns off to the Sylvan Glade Property.”

“Then what did you do?” Hamilton Burger asked.

The witness seemed embarrassed.

“Go on,” Hamilton Burger said.

“Well, I was concentrating on following the car in front of me and I... well, I cut in on another car.”

“And then what happened?”

“I cut in front of him, and he speeded up and got over on my left side and ran me off the road, so I had to stop.”

“Then what?”

“Then there was an altercation.”

“What do you mean by an altercation?”

“I wanted to hurry on, so I could follow Lutts and the defendant, and this man became abusive and I was in a hurry and impatient and lost my temper and... well, I said some things and he said some things and—”

“Go on,” Hamilton Burger said.

“And he poked me in the eye,” Elkins admitted.

“And then what?”

“Well, then several cars stopped and... and I took a swing back at him, and he hit me in the stomach and... well, I got sick. I had the wind knocked out of me.”

“And then what?”

“Then he got in his car and drove away.”

“And left you standing there?”

“Yes. But I wasn’t standing — I was all doubled up.”

“So then what did you do?”

“I turned around and went home.”

“And when did you next see Mr. Lutts?”

“I saw his body at the funeral.”

“You may inquire,” Hamilton Burger said.

Mason looked at the clock and smiled at the Court. “If the Court please, it has now reached the hour of adjournment.”

Judge Sedgwick, recognizing Mason’s tactics, smiled back at him and said, “So it has. It is now time for the Court to adjourn.”

“If the Court please,” Hamilton Burger said, “it seems to me that if counsel has a brief cross-examination, it would be possible to rest the prosecution’s case and—”

“You are assuming that the cross-examination will be brief,” Judge Sedgwick said. “The Court cannot make such assumption. This is the conventional hour of adjournment, Mr. District Attorney, and the Court will take a recess until tomorrow morning.”