Erle Gardner - The Case of the Runaway

“Did she have arsenic and cyanide of potassium?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you talk with her about poison at any time?”

“Well, yes.”

“And did she tell you that she had arsenic and cyanide of potassium?”

“She told me that she had some things for sprays.”

“Did she tell you she had arsenic and cyanide of potassium?”

Mason said, “Your Honor, this seems to be an attempt on the part of counsel to cross-examine his own witness.”

“She’s a hostile witness,” Vandling said.

“Objection overruled,” Judge Siler said. “It’s quite apparent that she’s a hostile witness.”

“Did she tell you she had cyanide of potassium and arsenic?” Vandling asked.

“Yes.”

“Did she discuss with you the fact that she had tried to conceal those poisons and bury them so that the authorities couldn’t find them?”

There was a long silence.

“Answer the question,” Vandling said.

“Yes,” Sara Ansel said.

“And you actually saw her burying some of those packages containing poison?”

“She didn’t want to be subjected to a lot of inquiry and—”

“Did you actually see her burying those poisons?”

“I saw her digging a hole. I don’t know what she put in the hole.”

“Did she tell you what she put in the hole?”

“Yes.”

“What did she say she put in the hole?”

“Poisons.”

“Now then, directing your attention to Monday, the twelfth. You and Mrs. Davenport were at the Delano house?”

“Yes.”

“And at some time in the morning, around nine o’clock, you received a telephone call from a doctor in Crampton, did you not—a Dr. Herkimer C. Renault?”

“Yes. The call came through.”

“Did you talk on that call or did Myrna Davenport?”

“I did.”

“And what did Dr. Renault tell you?”

“He asked for Mrs. Davenport. I told him that I was Myrna Davenport’s aunt and that I could take any message to her. He said it was serious news concerning her husband.”

“Now as far as the telephone conversation itself was concerned,” Vandling said to Judge Siler, “I think that probably is hearsay evidence, but as far as what this witness told the defendant concerning that telephone conversation it goes to the defendant’s knowledge and state of mind—”

“I’m not making any objection,” Mason interrupted. “Go right ahead.”

“Very well. What did that conversation consist of?”

“Dr. Renault told me that Mr. Davenport, was in a motel in Crampton, that he was very seriously ill, very, very ill; that he understood the man had high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries, and that he thought it was advisable for Mrs. Davenport to get there just soon as possible.”

“Now I won’t waste time with a lot of details,” Vandling said, “but you and Mrs. Davenport promptly packed up, made arrangements to catch a plane which would get you into Fresno shortly after noon. You grabbed a taxicab and then you persuaded Mrs. Davenport that she should stop at the office of an attorney, and you did stop at the office of Perry Mason, did you not?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now prior to that time you had some knowledge of the fact that Mr. Davenport had left a letter of some sort, to be delivered to the officers in the event of his death?”

“He had accused Myrna of—well, of lots of things, and he said that he had left a letter to be delivered to the officers in case anything happened to him.”

“And you went to the office of Perry Mason with Mrs. Davenport, and Mr. Mason was retained to go to Paradise and get that letter so that it would not be delivered to the officers in the event of Mr. Davenport’s death? Isn’t that true?”

“Now there, Your Honor,” Mason said, “I’m forced to interpose an objection because it calls for a confidential communication between a client and an attorney.”

“ You didn’t employ Mr. Mason, did you?” Vandling asked Sara Ansel.

“Me? Certainly not. What would I want with a lawyer?”

“But Myrna Davenport did?”

“She told him what to do.”

“And you told him what to do, didn’t you?”

Well, Myrna was pretty well shaken up and—”

“And you told him what to do, didn’t you?”

“Well, perhaps I explained certain things to him.”

“And you were present at all of the conversation?”

“Yes.”

“Tell us what was said at that conversation.”

“I object,” Mason said. “It’s calling for a confidential communication”

“Not with a third person there,” Vandling said.

Judge Siler said, “This question calls for the instructions that were given Mr. Mason as an attorney by Mrs. Davenport as a client?”

“Yes, Your Honor, in the presence of Sara Ansel, a third person.”

“I don’t think it’s admissible,” Judge Siler said.

“May the Court please, I have, authorities on the subject,” Vandling said, “I think it is quite clearly admissible.”

“Well, I’ll study the authorities,” Judge Siler said, “but I’ll want to take a little time to look them over. I don’t like the idea of introducing evidence of what a client told a lawyer.”

“I will give Your Honor the authorities and you can—”

“Well now, wait a minute,” Judge Siler said. “Why don’t I look those up during the noon hour? Why do you have to bring this question up at this time? Can’t you withdraw this witness and put on another witness?”

“Yes, I suppose I could,” Vandling said.

“Very well. Why not withdraw this witness? We have a question. We have Mr. Mason’s objection to the question. You have some authorities on the point. After the noon recess I’ll rule on the question and then the witness can either answer or not, depending on my ruling, and the attorney for the defense can proceed with his cross-examination.”

“Very well,” Vandling said. “Step down, Mrs. Ansel. You may leave the stand.”

Sara Ansel heaved herself up out of the witness stand, glared at Vandling.

“But don’t leave the city,” Vandling warned. “Remember you are under subpoena. You are to remain in attendance here in court during all of the sessions and you are to be here following the noon adjournment”.

“Yes,” Judge Siler said. “You are under subpoena. Don’t try to leave. You are to be here during the entire trial. Do you understand?”

She studied him contemptuously.

“Do you?” Judge Siler asked, raising his voice and showing some irritation.

“Yes,” she said.

“See that you’re here then,” Judge Siler said. “Call your next witness, Mr. Vandling.”

“I will now call Dr. Renault to the stand.”

Dr. Renault, a slender man about fifty years of age, his manner precisely, coldly professional, took the witness stand and surveyed the district attorney with dark eyes that held no expression whatever. His manner was the carefully cultivated professional manner of a physician who has been on the witness stand before and, while preparing to weigh questions and answers carefully, has a certain professional superiority.

“Your name is Dr. Herkimer Corrison Renault?” Vandling asked.

“That’s right. Yes, sir.”

“You are licensed to practice in this state as a general practitioner, a doctor of medicine?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh, we’ll stipulate the doctor’s qualifications subject to the right to cross-examine,” Mason said.

“Where do you practice, Doctor?”

“In Crampton.”

“And have been there for how long?”

“About three years.”

“On the morning of the twelfth you were called on to administer to a patient who was staying at a motel in Crampton?”