The Case of the Stepdaughter’s Secret

Chapter Twenty-Four

Judge Hobart said, “Case of the People versus Phyllis Bancroft. This is the time heretofore fixed to resume the hearing and hear the defendant’s case. Are you ready, gentlemen?”

“Just a moment,” Hastings said. “If the Court please, we announced yesterday that we were going to rest our case but with the indulgence of the Court I would like to ask a few more questions to clear up certain matters which have been in doubt and remove certain criticisms which have been directed toward the law enforcement agencies of this county in a press conference—”

“The Court is not concerned with criticisms or with press conferences,” Judge Hobart interrupted. “If you wish to put on other evidence after having rested your case, the Court will consider this a motion to reopen the case. Is there any objection from the defence?”

“None whatever,” Mason said.

Hastings said triumphantly, “Call Sheriff Jewett to the stand.

“You have already been sworn, Sheriff. There is no need for you to take the oath again. Just be seated.

“Now, Sheriff, directing your attention to a so-called press conference which occurred yesterday afternoon, did you hear the defendant make any statement at that press conference?”

“I did.”

“Did that statement have any reference to the defendant’s actions on the night of the tenth?”

“It did.”

“What did she say, as nearly as you can recall, about the shooting?”

“She said that she had a gun in her purse, that she took the gun from her purse and killed Willmer Gilly, that she then jumped overboard from the yacht on which the killing took place, that at that time she was carrying a purse which she dropped — she thought she dropped it after she struck the water and she was holding the gun which she dropped as she went overboard. She said she thought she heard it hit the deck and then splash in the water.”

“Now then,” Hastings said, “after hearing that story, did you go to the place where she had indicated the shooting took place at the harbour?”

“I did.”

“Did you have anyone with you?”

“I did. I had a trained diver.”

“And what did this diver do under your direction?”

“He explored the bottom of the bay.”

“What did he find, if anything?”

“He found a woman’s purse.”

“I show you a woman’s purse,” Hastings said, “which contains some identification cards and a driving licence, rather water-soaked but still legible, in the name of Phyllis Bancroft, and ask you if you have seen this before?”

“I have. That is the purse which the diver handed me.”

“We ask that that be introduced as an appropriate exhibit,” Hastings said.

Judge Hobart frowned thoughtfully as he looked at Mason. “Are there any objections?”

“None whatever, Your Honour.”

“Now then, did the diver uncover anything else?”

“He did.”

“What?”

“A gun.”

“Can you describe that gun?”

“Yes, sir. That was a .38 calibre Smith and Wesson six-shooting revolver, No. 133347. It had five loaded shells in it and one exploded cartridge, and an examination of the records showed the gun had been purchased by Harlow Bissinger Bancroft, the husband of the defendant.”

“Did you make any ballistic tests with that gun?”

“I did, yes, sir.”

“And make any comparison of the test bullets fired from that gun, with the fatal bullet?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What was the result?”

“The tests showed this revolver was the weapon which fired the fatal bullet.”

“Now then,” Hastings went on, “in the course of the press conference there were some criticisms which were levelled at your office for not having marked the exact location where the boat was discovered on the afternoon of the eleventh, and not having explored the bottom near the place where the boat was found. Did you make any attempt subsequently to locate the exact place where that boat was found?”

“I did. Yes, sir.”

“And what was the result with reference to being able to locate the exact spot where the boat had been anchored?”

“I found the exact spot.”

“How?”

“By consulting a helicopter pilot who had first discovered the boat and who had taken a photograph showing the boat with reference to landmarks on the shore line which enabled us to pinpoint the location.”

“Did you send a diver down to that location?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What, if anything, did he discover?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“Now then,” Hastings said triumphantly to Mason, “you may cross-examine.”

Mason said, “Sheriff, as I understand it, this diver found the purse and the gun at the exact location Mrs Bancroft had told you it would be, or rather at the exact location she told you the articles should be found.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thereby corroborating her story?”

The sheriff crossed his legs and uncrossed them, smiled, and said, “Well, it depends on what you mean by corroboration. It’s like the hunter who tells you that he stood by an oak tree and shot a deer a thousand yards away with one shot and if you want corroboration he can take you to the oak tree.”

Spectators tittered in the courtroom.

Judge Hobart said coldly, “There is no cause for levity, and no reason to be facetious, Sheriff.”

“I beg the Court’s pardon. I was not trying to be facetious. I was asked if the finding of the articles didn’t corroborate the defendant’s story and I tried to answer as best I could. There was no corroboration of her story, no, sir — not to that part of her story as to what had happened aboard the yacht. The finding of the articles was equally consistent with wilful, premeditated murder.”

“Now, you say that you have a photograph taken by the pilot of the helicopter?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Showing the location where the boat was discovered?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Will you produce that photograph, please?”

The sheriff extended his hand and District Attorney Hastings handed him an eight-by-ten photograph.

“This is the photograph,” the sheriff said. “That is, it’s an enlargement that shows the boat and you can see where we have drawn cross-lines on the photograph, tying in with certain landmarks which are unmistakable.”

“Very well,” Mason said. “Now, have you compared that photograph and the position of the yacht with the geodetic survey chart which I had introduced in evidence?”

“I haven’t, but I can.”

“Please do so, and tell us the depth of the water at that point.”

The sheriff turned to the clerk who fumbled through papers and then produced the chart which Mason had had introduced in evidence earlier in the hearing.

After some computation and checking, the sheriff said, “As nearly as I can tell, the depth of the water at that point at mean low tide is ten feet.”

“You don’t know how much anchor chain was out on the boat when you found it?”

“Yes, sir. I do. There was approximately fifteen feet of anchor chain.”

“But when you found the boat and when this photograph was taken,” Mason said, “the boat was swinging around the anchor on an outgoing tide. A few hours earlier the boat must have been swinging around on an incoming tide, and with fifteen feet of anchor chain out the boat would have swung in quite an arc.”

“I think the diver made allowances for that.”

“You say you think he did.”

“I instructed him to cover the bottom all around there.”

Mason said, “At this time, if the Court please, I move to strike out all statements made by this witness as to what the diver did, what the diver saw and what the diver recovered, because those remarks represent hearsay and are not the best evidence.”

“Oh, if the Court please,” Hastings said, “we can connect these matters up. We have the diver here in court. I hadn’t intended to call him but I can if it becomes necessary.”

“Then you had better call him,” Mason said, “because I will state that if I have an opportunity to cross-examine this diver I will withdraw my motion. Otherwise I will ask to have all of this evidence stricken.”

“Very well,” Hastings said, “you may step down, Sheriff, and I will call Fremont L Dibble to the stand.”

Dibble took the oath, qualified himself as the diver who had been employed by the sheriff and the district attorney to search the bottom of the bay in certain definite localities.

“Directing your attention to the first location which was near a fuelling wharf immediately to the north of the yacht club, what did you find on the bottom?”

“I found a woman’s purse and a gun.”

“I show you this woman’s purse which has been introduced in evidence and ask you if that is the purse you found.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I show you a gun and ask you if that is the gun you found.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Cross-examine,” Hastings snapped.

“Is this purse in the same condition as when you found it?” Mason asked.

The witness looked it over carefully. “Yes, sir.”

“The contents are the same?”

“Yes, sir.”

“There was no money in the purse when you found it?”

“Yes, sir, there was. There’s a coin purse in there containing three twenty-dollar bills, two ten-dollar bills, a five-dollar bill, three one-dollar bills and some small change.”

“That was in the purse when you found it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“No other money?”

“No other money. No, sir.”

“The gun is in the same condition as when you found it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Where was the gun with reference to the purse?”

“The gun was lying about... oh, twenty or thirty feet away, I would say.”

Mason said, “Now, the district attorney didn’t ask you, but apparently you are the diver who subsequently went to the point which I am now indicating on the coast geodetic chart by a penciled circle which I will mark with the word ‘yacht’. Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you searched the bottom there?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And found nothing?”

“That is right.”

“Absolutely nothing?”

“Oh,” the witness said, “there was an old bait can that had been used for bait and thrown overboard. That, however, was about a hundred feet from the boat; that is, the place where the boat was found.”

“But if the boat had been swinging around with the tide it would have been nearer to the boat at high tide?”

The witness thought for a moment and said, “Yes, I believe so.”

“How did you know it was a bait can?” Mason asked.

The witness smiled and said, “In water of that depth the illumination is very good. I was able to read the label on the can. It had contained canned beans and was empty. Therefore, I called it an old bait can.”

“What kind of a label?”

“Oh, just an ordinary label, a piece of paper that had been circled around the can and pasted.”

“You described it as an old bait can?”

“Well,” the witness said, smiling, “I didn’t see anyone fishing and I judged it had been there for some time.”

“With the label still on it?” Mason asked.

The witness frowned thoughtfully and said, “Well, come to think of it, since the label was still on it I guess I’d better describe it as just a bait can rather than an old bait can. It is a question of how old is old.”

The witness smiled at the district attorney.

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

“Now, if the Court please,” Mason said, “in view of this evidence I would like to ask one or two more questions on cross-examination of the prosecution’s witness, Stilson L Kelsey.”

“I think you are entitled to recross-examine any witness you care to in view of the introduction of this new evidence after the prosecution had closed its case,” Judge Hobart said. “Mr Kelsey, come forward.”

Kelsey, with something of a swagger this time, took his position on the stand.

Mason said, “Mr Kelsey, you were not at the press conference yesterday when the defendant told her story.”

“No, sir.”

“But you did hear what that story was?”

“I did.”

“And did you then hurriedly make a trip to the beach with a diving outfit, go to the place the defendant had described, dive under water, there find the purse belonging to the defendant and which contained some three thousand dollars in fifty and hundred-dollar bills, which you appropriated, and then, in order to plant evidence which would clinch the case against the defendant, drop the murder gun near the place where the purse was lying?”

“What!” Kelsey exclaimed. “Why, I—”

“Oh, Your Honour,” Hastings interposed, “this is improper cross-examination. This is completely incompetent. This witness is not on trial.”

“He will be on trial,” Mason said, “because I propose to show that before the defendant told her story I had a diver carefully explore the bottom of the bay at this point, that at that time the defendant’s purse was lying there with three thousand dollars in it; that I had the diver take out the three thousand dollars and substitute three thousand dollars which I had drawn from a bank and on which I had kept the numbers of the bills; that at that time there was no gun anywhere near the location of the purse.

“Now then, someone hurriedly went to the spot, removed the three thousand dollars from the purse and put the murder weapon where it would be found.

“That person must have been the murderer — the person who was Gilly’s partner, who joined him on the yacht sometime after the defendant had left, who had a boat which he tied to the yacht, who stayed with the yacht while the tide rose and the boat drifted to another part of the bay, who sat with Gilly while he made a meal of canned beans which they took from the boat’s stock of provisions; that they tossed the bean can overboard, that they then got in an argument, that this person accused Gilly of double-crossing him on the reward, and shot Gilly with the weapon which Mrs Bancroft had dropped to the deck of the boat when she jumped overboard.

“Then this person left the body on the yacht, after searching it for money and finding none.

“The murderer then rowed back to shore and—”

“Now, wait a minute,” Kelsey said, “you can’t accuse me of that because a detective was shadowing me. He followed me all the way from my interview with Eve Amory to the Ajax-Delsey Apartments.”

Mason smiled. “So you knew you were being followed?”

“Of course.”

“And,” Mason said, “what was to prevent you, knowing that you were being followed and the detective was shadowing the front of the Ajax-Delsey Apartments, from slipping out the back way, borrowing a car which you found parked there, and going to the harbour?”

“You can’t prove anything of the sort,” Kelsey said.

“Yes I can,” Mason said, “because those bills which I had placed in Mrs Bancroft’s purse were furnished me by a bank long after the murder had been committed, and the bank has the numbers of those bills, and unless I’m very mistaken you have that three thousand dollars in bills either in your pocket now or concealed somewhere in your room or in your automobile, and I intend to get a search warrant and—”

For one long, trapped moment Kelsey surveyed Mason, sized up the situation, then suddenly and before anyone could stop him, bolted from the witness stand and through the door to the judge’s chambers.

After the first numbing shock of surprise the sheriff went pell-mell in pursuit.

Mason turned and grinned at Bancroft.

From a distant corridor came the sound of a voice shouting, “Halt or I’ll shoot!”

Two shots were fired in quick succession.

A few minutes later the sheriff returned to court, leading a handcuffed Kelsey.

“Now then, if the Court please,” Mason said, “I think if the sheriff will search his prisoner he will find a roll of bills in the prisoner’s pocket and that the numbers on those bills will coincide with the list furnished me by the bank, and which I now hand to the sheriff.

“Kelsey thought that Gilly had double-crossed him in connection with the three thousand dollars. After hearing Gilly’s story on the yacht he thought that Gilly had again double-crossed him in that Mrs Bancroft had given him a large sum of money before she had pulled the gun on him.

“The Court will remember that the jar of the yacht running aground was sufficient to throw Mrs Bancroft off balance and cause her to pull the trigger of the gun. It is only natural to assume that Gilly was also thrown off balance, and after having been shot at, had the presence of mind to lie still so that he wouldn’t be shot at again.

“Kelsey accused Gilly of double-crossing him. He had the gun, which had not fallen overboard at all but had remained where it had dropped on the deck. He used that gun to kill Gilly in cold blood, and then searched him for the money which he thought Gilly would have. He was disappointed and surprised to find that Gilly didn’t have it.

“He then left the yacht, rowed ashore, got in the car he had borrowed or stolen, returned to the back door of the Ajax-Delsey Apartments, went to Gilly’s apartment and there carefully fabricated the evidence which indicated Gilly’s last meal had been consumed in the apartment before he went to the yacht club. In that way he was able to cause the coroner’s office to believe death had occurred several hours earlier.”

Judge Hobart looked at the cringing Kelsey, said to the sheriff, “Search that man. Let’s see if he has bills in his possession, the numbers of which coincide with this list which Mr Mason has just handed me.”