The Case of the Sulky Girl

Chapter 20

The newspapers predicted that the first major witness for the prosecution would be either Arthur Crinston, the business partner of the murdered man, or Don Graves, who had been the only eyewitness of the murder.

In this, the newspapers showed that they underestimated the dramatic trial tactics of the chief trial deputy. Drumm would no more have plunged into the drama of that murder without preparing the minds of the jurors for the gruesome tidbit, than would a playwright have opened his presentation with a crisis lifted from the third act.

He called to the stand, instead, Judge B.C. Purley.

Necks craned as the Municipal Judge, coming in from the back of the courtroom, strode down the aisle with the stately bearing of one who realizes to the full the dignity of his appearance, and the importance of his position.

Whitehaired, ponderous, deepchested and heavywaisted, he held up his right hand while the oath was administered to him, and then took the witness chair, his manner indicating a respect for the tribunal and what it stood for, a dignified tolerance of the attorneys and jurors, a calm disregard of the restless spectators.

"Your name is B.C. Purley?" asked Claude Drumm.

"Yes sir."

"You are now a duly elected, qualified and acting Judge of the Municipal Court of this city?"

"I am."

"And, on the night of October twentythird of this year you had occasion to be in the vicinity of the residence of Edward Norton?"

"I did."

"At what time did you arrive at the residence of Edward Norton, Judge Purley?"

"At precisely six minutes after eleven."

"And what time did you leave that vicinity?"

"At precisely thirty minutes past eleven."

"Will you explain to the jury, Judge Purley, why it is that you are able to testify with such exactness as to the time of arrival and departure?"

Perry Mason recognized the trap, yet had no alternative but to walk into it.

"Objected to, Your Honor," he said. "The witness has given his testimony. The mental processes which led up to it are incompetent, irrelevant, immaterial, and, at best, matter only for crossexamination."

"Sustained," said Judge Markham.

Claude Drumm's smile was ironically sarcastic.

"I will withdraw the question, Your Honor," he said. "It was an error upon my part. After all, if Counselor Mason desires to go into the matter, he is at liberty to do so upon crossexamination."

"Proceed," said Judge Markham, pounding his desk with the gavel.

"Who was with you on the occasion of your visit?" asked the deputy district attorney.

"Mr. Arthur Crinston was with me when I went to the vicinity of the house, and both Mr. Arthur Crinston, and Mr. Don Graves were with me at the time I departed."

"What happened while you were there, Judge Purley?"

"I arrived at the grounds in the vicinity of the house, stopped my car to allow Mr. Crinston to get out, turned my car, shut off the motor, and waited."

"During the time that you were waiting what did you do?"

"Sat and smoked for the first ten or fifteen minutes, and looked at my watch rather impatiently several times during the last part of the period I was waiting," said Judge Purley.

And he glanced, with just a trace of subdued triumph, at Perry Mason, his manner indicating that, being fully familiar with court procedure, he was going to get the damaging parts of his testimony in, whether the defense wanted them in or not. The inference to be drawn from the fact that he had glanced several times at his watch was that he was aware of the exact minute of his departure, and he was sufficiently adroit to get that inference across to the jury without violating the ruling of the court.

Perry Mason eyed the witness with placid indifference.

"Then what happened?" asked Claude Drumm.

"Then Mr. Crinston came out of the house to join me. I started the motor of my car, and at that moment the window of the house in the southeast corner of the building was opened, and Mr. Norton thrust his head out of the study window."

"Just a moment," said Claude Drumm. "Do you know of your own knowledge that that was Mr. Norton's study?"

"No sir," said Judge Purley. "I only know it from the fact that it was the room in the southeast corner on the second story of the house, and is the room marked on the map and diagram as room number one, Mr. Norton's study."

"Oh," said Drumm, "then the room is that which is indicated on Plaintiff's Exhibit A by the figure one marked in a circle?"

"Yes sir."

"Very well," said Drumm, "what did Mr. Norton say?"

"Mr. Norton called down to Mr. Crinston, and said, as nearly as I can remember: 'Arthur, would it be all right for you to take Don Graves in to your house in your car and let him get the documents? Then I will send the chauffeur to pick him up. "

"And," said Drumm, "what happened next?"

"Mr. Crinston said, as nearly as I can remember: 'I am not in my own car, but with a friend. I will have to ask my friend if it will be all right. "

"Then what happened?"

"Mr. Norton said: 'Very well, do so, and let me know, and withdrew his head from the window."

"Then what happened?"

"Then Mr. Crinston came to me and said that Mr. Graves was to get some documents…"

"Objected to," said Perry Mason in a casual tone of voice. "Anything which took place without the hearing of this defendant is admissible only as a part of the res gestae. By no stretch of the imagination can this be considered as a part of the res gestae."

"The objection is sustained," said Judge Markham.

"Very well. Then what happened?" asked Drumm suavely, smiling over at the jury as much as to say: "You see how technical the defense is in this case, ladies and gentlemen?"

"Then," said Judge Purley, "Mr. Crinston went back to a position under the study window, and called up, as nearly as I can remember his words: 'It's all right, Edward. He can go with us. And at about that moment, the front door opened and the figure of Mr. Graves ran down the steps, Mr. Graves saying, 'I am ready, or words to that effect."

"And then what happened?"

"Then the three of us got in my automobile, Mr. Crinston sitting in the front seat with me, Mr. Graves sitting in the rear seat. I started the machine and started to drive up along the road, lettered on the map 'People's Exhibit B' as 'Winding Roadway. We traveled up that road until we were in a position on the curve…"

"Just a moment," said Claude Drumm. "Can you take a pencil and indicate the exact point on the curve which you had approached when the event took place, concerning which you were about to testify?"

Judge Purley nodded, got to his feet, and walked with ponderous dignity to the blackboard, turned up the map and marked a small oblong on the curve in the roadway.

"This represents the approximate position of the car."

"And what happened when the car was in that position?" asked Claude Drumm.

"Mr. Graves looked back through the back window and exclaimed…"

"Objected to," snapped Perry Mason. "Hearsay, incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial, not part of the res gestae, not binding upon the defendant."

"Sustained," said Judge Markham.

Claude Drumm made a helpless gesture.

"But surely, Your Honor, in view of what is to take place…"

"The objection," said Judge Markham coldly, "is sustained. You may call Mr. Don Graves at the proper moment, counselor, and let him testify as to anything he saw. As to anything which was said or done outside of the presence of this defendant, and which is not a part of the res gestae, the objection is well taken."

"Very well," said Drumm, turning to the jury, and all but bowing, "at the proper time I will call Mr. Don Graves, and Mr. Don Graves will testify as to exactly what he saw at that place.

"Go on, Judge Purley, and tell the jury exactly what was done at that time and place with reference to what you, yourself, did in relation to the operation of the automobile."

"I did nothing at exactly that place, but proceeded along the winding road, as indicated there on the map, for a distance of several rods, until I came to a place in the road which was wide enough to turn. There I turned the car by backing and twisting, and went back down the winding roadway, stopping once more in front of the house of Edward Norton."

"And then what did you do?"

"Then Mr. Graves and Mr. Crinston entered the house, and at their request I accompanied them. The three of us went up the stairs and into the room marked by the numeral 'one' in a circle on People's Exhibit A, and saw there a body, which was subsequently identified to me as that of Edward Norton, lying sprawled across the desk, with its head badly crushed. The body was lifeless at the time of my arrival. There was a telephone near one hand, and several papers, including a policy of automobile insurance, on the desk."

"Did you notice, Judge Purley, what automobile was covered in that policy of insurance?"

"Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial," said Perry Mason.

"Your Honor," said Drumm, "this is vital, and I propose to connect it up. It is a part of the theory of the prosecution that the defendant, Frances Celane, made a statement to the effect that she was out driving this Buick automobile; that these statements were made after she had been advised that police had been notified that the Buick automobile had been stolen. In other words, she knew that Edward Norton had telephoned that the Buick automobile had been stolen. Frances Celane, knowing that…"

"Very well," said Judge Markham, "there is no necessity for further argument, counselor, as to the relevancy of the testimony. Upon the assurance of the prosecution that the matter will be connected, I will overrule the objections as to its relevancy, and permit the question to be answered, subject to a motion on the part of the defense to strike out if the evidence is not subsequently connected.

"This ruling, however, goes only to the relevancy of the testimony. It is, of course, apparent that the evidence called for by the question is not the best evidence. The automobile insurance policy, itself, is the best evidence of its contents, but there seems to be no objection made upon that ground."

Judge Markham looked down at Perry Mason with a puzzled expression on his face.

Perry Mason seemed to smile, the faintest trace of a quiver at the corners of his lips.

"No, Your Honor," he said, "there is no objection upon that ground."

"Very well," snapped Judge Markham, "the objection, as made, is overruled. Answer the question."

"The policy," said Judge Purley, "as I noticed at the time, or a few minutes later, covered a Buick sedan number 6754093, with a license number I2MI834."

Claude Drumm made a gesture with his hand.

"You may crossexamine the witness, Mr. Mason," he announced.

Perry Mason regarded Judge Purley with a placid smile.

"Judge Purley," he said, "did I understand you to say that when you went into the study you saw the body of Edward Norton lying across the desk?"

"You did not," snapped Judge Purley. "I stated that I saw the body of a man who was subsequently identified to me as being that of Edward Norton."

Perry Mason looked crestfallen.

"My mistake," he said.

There was a moment of silence, during which Judge Purley gazed at the courtroom with an air of complacent selfsatisfaction, the air of one who has given testimony in a very credible manner, and the manner of one who has confidence in his ability to avoid any trap which can be set for him by crossexamining counsel.

"You see," explained Judge Purley, "I had never personally met Mr. Norton, despite the fact that I was quite friendly with Mr. Crinston and had, upon at least one prior occasion, driven Mr. Crinston to Mr. Norton's house."

Perry Mason seemed to be smiling.

"On how many occasions had you discussed any business matters with Mr. Norton on the telephone?" he asked.

Judge Purley showed his surprise.

"Why, I never talked with the man on the telephone in my life," he said.

"Then you'd never discussed the trust fund of his niece, Frances Celane, with him?"

Judge Purley's eyes bulged with surprise.

"Good heavens, no! Of course not!"

"Had you," asked Perry Mason, "ever discussed this trust fund with anyone else?"

Drumm was on his feet.

"Your Honor, that is objected to, not proper crossexamination, hearsay, incompetent, irrelevant, immaterial. Counsel has simply started upon a roundabout way of calling for conversations which could not possibly…"

"Sustained!" snapped Judge Markham.

Drumm sat down.

There was silence in the courtroom. Perry Mason's face was expressionless.

"Any further questions?" asked Judge Markham.

"No, Your Honor," announced Perry Mason, to the surprise of the courtroom. "There is no further crossexamination."