Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece

“Yes… I guess so.”

“Where?”

“Under the pillow of the bed in Uncle’s room.”

“And it was in approximately the same condition that it now is? That is, with reference to the stains on the blade?”

“Yes.”

“Now, then, when you locked that sideboard drawer on the evening of the thirteenth, was the knife inside the drawer?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you know?”

“Because I didn’t open the drawer to look.”

“Who was with you at that time?”

“Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial,” Mason said.

“Overruled.”

“Mr. Mason.”

“You mean Perry Mason, the attorney, seated here in the courtroom?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Is this knife, People’s Exhibit Number Two, different in any way from the knife which you placed in the sideboard drawer on the morning of the thirteenth?”

“I don’t think so. It is similar to the knife which I put in the drawer there at that time.”

“When you made a statement to the officers on the morning of the fourteenth you stated it was the same knife, didn’t you?”

Judge Markham glanced over at Perry Mason as though expecting to hear an objection, but Mason remained motionless and attentive.

“Yes, I guess so.”

“Now you will only admit that it’s similar to the knife you found under your uncle’s pillow on the morning of the fourteenth and placed in the drawer. Can you explain the apparent discrepancy in these two answers?”

“Only that when I came to think the matter over, I realized that many knives might look alike.”

“And so far as you know, this knife, People’s Exhibit Number Two, is the same knife which you found under the defendant’s pillow on the morning of the thirteenth and placed in the sideboard drawer, is that right, Miss Hammer?”

“It is similar in appearance to that knife,” she said.

“Crossexamine,” Hamilton Burger announced triumphantly.

Mason began his questions soothingly. “How did you happen to discover the carving knife under your uncle’s pillow on the morning of the thirteenth, Miss Hammer?”

“I… I… was worried about him.”

“In other words you had reason to believe that he might have been walking in his sleep the night before, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“And your anxiety about his sleepwalking was due to the fact that it was approaching a period of full moon?”

“Yes,” she said in a low voice.

“How did you know, Miss Hammer, that sleepwalkers are more apt to become active during the full of the moon?”

“I read it.”

“In a book?”

“Yes.”

“A medical book?”

“Yes.”

“Where did you get that book?”

“I sent away for it.”

“You’d studied that book prior to the time you locked the sideboard drawer?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Over how long a period of time?”

“Perhaps six weeks or two months.”

“Now, directing your attention to this knife, Defendant’s Exhibit A, I will ask you if you have ever seen that knife before?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you put that knife in the sideboard drawer at a date subsequent to the murder, in accordance with instructions from me?”

Hamilton Burger jumped to his feet, started to object, then slowly sat back in his chair.

“Yes, sir.”

“I told you, I believe,” Mason said, smiling over at the district attorney, “that I desired to plant the knife in the sideboard drawer and have it discovered the next day by Sergeant Holcomb; that I wanted to confuse the issues and make it increasingly difficult for the district attorney to get witnesses to identify the murder knife as the one which had been in the sideboard drawer, didn’t I?”

District Attorney Burger blinked his eyes as though doubting his senses. Judge Markham leaned forward, started to say something, paused and stared at Mason, his eyes wide with astonishment.

Blaine jumped to his feet. “Your Honor, I think Counsel should be warned that, if this question is answered in the affirmative, the district attorney’s office cannot afford to ignore the cold record, but will take steps to see that such unprofessional conduct is…” The district attorney grabbed his assistant by the coat, pulled him back to his chair.

“Answer the question, Edna,” Mason said, paying no attention to Blaine’s comment.

“Yes, sir.”

“And this knife which I gave you is the one which I have had marked for identification as Defendant’s Exhibit A?”

“Yes, sir, I think so.”

Edna Hammer’s voice was low and embarrassed. Her eyes reflected the confusion of her mind.

“And you did lock this knife, Defendant’s Exhibit A, in the drawer?”

“Yes.”

“But it wasn’t there when you opened the drawer the next morning?”

“No, sir.”

Mason said kindly, almost conversationally, “So you’ve known you were walking in your sleep for about six weeks or two months, Edna?”

The counsel at the district attorney’s table were deeply engaged in a whispered consultation. The question slipped by their ears unnoticed. Edna Hammer, her mind in a half daze by the brazen manner in which Mason had publicly proclaimed their conspiracy, was thrown off her guard.

“Yes, sir,” she said, mechanically.

It was Judge Markham who grasped the significance of the question and answer. He leaned forward to stare at the witness and said, “What was that answer?”

“Yes, sir,” she said, and then suddenly realizing what she had said, “Oh, I didn’t mean that… I didn’t…”

“What did you mean, Edna?” Mason asked.

“What’s this? What’s this?” Hamilton Burger shouted, getting to his feet. “I object. Not proper crossexamination.”

“The question relating to her sleepwalking has already been asked and answered,” Mason said. “I am now giving her an opportunity to explain what she meant by her answer.

“And I object.”

“Very well, Your Honor, I’ll withdraw the question. The first answer speaks for itself,” Mason said. Burger, looking very much annoyed, slowly sat down. Mason asked, in a kindly tone, “Did you habitually use that receptacle under the coffee table as a place in which to conceal articles from time to time, Edna?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So that when you locked the sideboard drawer on the evening of the thirteenth and went to sleep with the thought uppermost in your mind that your uncle might get the carving knife in his possession while walking in his sleep, you walked in your sleep, and, not trusting the locking of the sideboard drawer to safeguard the knife, took the knife from the drawer and placed it in that oblong receptacle under the coffee table at exactly quarter past twelve, didn’t you?”

“Objected to!” Burger shouted. “This is not proper crossexamination. This is argumentative. This is utterly improper. There is no proper foundation laid.”

“Indeed there is,” Mason assured the Court. “This witness has testified to locking the sideboard drawer; has testified to seeing the knife on the morning of the thirteenth, and to next seeing this knife on the morning of the fourteenth. I have the right to crossexamine her to show that she must have seen it earlier on the morning of the fourteenth, to wit, when she took it from the sideboard drawer.”

“But,” Burger protested, “if she did this while walking in her sleep, she wouldn’t know anything about it.”

“In that event,” Mason answered, “she can answer the question by saying, ‘I don’t know.’“

Judge Markham nodded. “The objection is overruled,” he said.

Edna Hammer said in a voice which was almost a wail, “I don’t know.”