Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece

Judge Markham started to say something, then checked himself and said, “Objection overruled.”

“Answer the question, Mr. Harris. Did you go to Mrs. Doris Sully Kent’s residence?”

“I did.”

“What did you do on arriving in Santa Barbara?”

“I went to Mrs. Kent’s house. A Mr. Jackson from Mr. Mason’s office was watching the house. He offered to stay on duty until two o’clock, but I knew he had work to do in court in the morning so I told him to take Miss Warrington to a hotel and I’d stay there to watch the house. He and Miss Warrington drove away in Mr. Jackson’s car and I parked my car where I could see the house, and waited until I was relieved by a private detective some time around eight or nine o’clock in the morning.”

“Were you there in front of Mrs. Kent’s residence at three o’clock in the morning?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What happened?”

“Mrs. Kent received a telephone call.”

“Could you hear what she said over the telephone?”

“Yes.”

“What was it?”

“Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger protested, “the vice of this entire line of questioning now becomes apparent. This witness is hostile to me, friendly to the Defense, as was plainly evidenced by his manner in answering the one important question for which I called him. Now, under the guise of crossexamination, and by the use of leading questions, the defendant is seeking to establish something which could not be established on direct examination.”

“But, Your Honor,” Mason pointed out, “Counselor himself asked this witness where he was at the time of the murder, and…”

“And you desire to test his recollection by crossexamination upon this particular point?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“I think,” Judge Markham said, “that the ruling of the Court will be that you may examine him as to where he went, what he did and what he saw, and generally what he heard, but not specifically as to what other persons may have said in his presence; I think that’s going too far afield, particularly if it covers matters which may either be inadmissible, or may only be admissible as a part of the defendant’s case.”

“Very well, Your Honor.”

There was a moment’s silence. “Proceed, Counselor,” Judge Markham said to Perry Mason.

“At the time that telephone conversation took place where were you?” Mason asked.

“Across the street from Mrs. Doris Sully Kent’s residence.”

“Do you know her personally?”

“Yes.”

“Did she answer the phone in person?”

“Objected to,” Hamilton Burger snapped, “on the same grounds. Counselor Mason can’t prove his case by crossexamining my witness.”

“I can if he opens the door on his direct examination,” Mason insisted.

“I think I’ll overrule that objection,” Judge Markham said. “It might test the recollection and credibility of the witness. However, I’ll not permit his recollection to be tested by a showing of what that conversation consisted of. I think that’s a part of the defendant’s case.”

“Did she answer the telephone?” Mason asked.

“Yes.”

“Did you see her clearly?”

“Yes.”

Mason said, “By the way, did you know…” Mason stopped abruptly in midsentence, as, swinging about in his swivel chair, his eyes rested on the crowded court room. Suddenly he was on his feet. “Your Honor,” he said, “I happen to notice that Mrs. Doris Sully Kent is in the courtroom. I understand that Mrs. Kent was originally subpoenaed by the Prosecution but, in view of the fact that certain legal proceedings had been instituted by her seeking to set aside a divorce decree, there is some question as to whether she is competent to testify as a witness against the defendant in this action. A short time ago a complete settlement of the various claims under dispute was negotiated, so that the final decree of divorce in the case of Doris Sully Kent versus Peter B. Kent has now dissolved the marriage between them. Inasmuch as Mrs. Kent is now in the courtroom, I wish to use her as a witness for the Defense. May I ask the Court to instruct Mrs. Kent not to leave the courtroom until I can have a subpoena served upon her?”

Judge Markham frowned, said, “Mrs. Doris Sully Kent, will you please stand up?” The blonde young woman arose while necks craned toward her. “You will not leave the courtroom,” Judge Markham ordered, “until Counsel has an opportunity to serve a subpoena upon you, and in order to facilitate the immediate service of such a subpoena, the Court will take a recess of ten minutes, during which Mrs. Kent will be instructed not to leave the courtroom. During the recess the jury will remember the usual admonition of the Court not to discuss the case with anyone nor permit it to be discussed in your presence, and not to form or express any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the accused until the case is finally submitted to you. Court will take a tenminute recess.”

Judge Markham started for his chambers. The courtroom became a babble of noise. Mason, stepping to the Clerk’s desk, had the subpoena issued, handed it to the bailiff with instructions to serve it upon Mrs. Kent. Casually, Perry Mason strolled toward the door which led to the judge’s chambers. He was joined by Hamilton Burger, who said, with frigid formality, “I think it would be well for us to visit Judge Markham together, Mr. Mason.”

“Oh, very well,” Mason assented. Together, the pair entered the judge’s chambers. Judge Markham, seated behind a desk which was piled high with law books, looked up from the index of the Penal Code which he was reading. His manner was that of one who has been interrupted in a hasty search for something important.

“I didn’t want to make the suggestion in front of the jury, Judge Markham,” Burger said, with cold formality, “but I feel that Mr. Mason’s conduct amounts to a contempt of Court.”

“My conduct?” Mason asked.

“Yes.”

“In doing what?”

“In deliberately planting that duplicate knife in the sideboard drawer in order to confuse the authorities in the case.”

“But I didn’t plant any knife with any such purpose,” Mason said.

Judge Markham frowned, his face was grave with concern. “I am afraid, Counselor…” he began. At something he saw in Mason’s face he paused abruptly.

Burger said vehemently, “You can’t get away with that, Mason. Edna Hammer has sworn absolutely, on her oath, that such were your intentions.”

“But she doesn’t know anything about my intentions,” Mason pointed out. “She isn’t a mind reader. She didn’t qualify as a telepathic expert.”

“But she testified that you told her what your intentions were.”

“Oh, yes,” Mason admitted, “I told her that.”

“Am I to understand,” Judge Markham asked, “that you now claim you made a false statement to her?”

“Why, certainly,” Mason said, lighting a cigarette.

“What the devil are you getting at?” Burger inquired.

Mason said, “Oh, I knew she must have been walking in her sleep. You see, Burger, she had the only key to the sideboard drawer, and yet the knife had disappeared. Of course, there was some chance that Kent might have picked the lock or had a duplicate key, so while Kent was in jail, I thought I’d make another test. My theory was that Edna Hammer was herself a sleepwalker; that she was worried about her uncle, and went to bed with the thought of that carving knife preying on her mind. My experience with her, when she hid a cup in the receptacle under the coffee table, convinced me she had used that place to conceal things in before. So what more natural than that she should worry about the knife in her sleep, decide the sideboard drawer was not a safe hiding place, arise and, clad only in a nightgown, unlock the sideboard drawer, take out the knife, lock the drawer again and hide the knife in the receptacle under the table? I felt that the only way I could find out about this was by duplicating the circumstances, so I gave her another carving knife and impressed upon her how important it was that it should be locked in the drawer. It was a moonlight night and she went to sleep with the knife on her mind. Habit reasserted itself. When I start introducing my case, Mr. Burger, I shall show that this knife marked Defendant’s Exhibit A was the same knife which I gave her to place in the sideboard drawer, and that it was subsequently discovered by one of Paul Drake’s detectives in the oblong receptacle under the top of the coffee table.”