Erle Gardner - The Case of the Troubled Trustee

"Yes, I was to have five thousand dollars with me. If the information that was to be given me was as represented, I was to pay over the five thousand dollars."

"At the time of this telephone conversation, did you have occasion to notice the witness, Tom Fulton, who has previously testified?"

"Yes, sir, I saw him, but, of course, at that time, I had no idea he was taking any personal interest in me. I thought he was simply someone who was in a hurry to use the telephone. He came up to the telephone booth and made some sort of signs to me and I motioned him to go away."

"Subsequently, did you know that he was following you?"

"No, sir."

"You left the phone booth in a hurry and went through some red lights and a boulevard stop?"

"I'm afraid that I was in such a hurry that I violated several sections of the vehicle code."

"And went to the country club?"

"Yes."

"You are a member of that club?"

"Yes."

"Did you know that you had been followed to that club, or followed part of the way?"

"No, sir."

"What did you do?"

"I parked my car, used my key and went in. I looked around for the night watchman but didn't see him. I hurried out on the links."

"You were familiar with the location of the seventh tee?"

"Yes."

"What did you do?"

"I hurried out there and looked around; saw no one, but finally noticed a dark object lying on the ground. I bent over that object and it was the body of this man, Rodger Palmer."

"You knew him at the time?"

"I had not seen him previously. I had talked with him over the telephone. That was all."

"How many times?"

"Several times. First, after he had requested Desere Ellis to give her proxy and she had referred him to me. He had called me and then I had had several conversations with him over the telephone concerning a suggestion that I pay him for this information which he offered to give me."

"What time was it when you got to the Barclay Country Club?"

"It was just a few minutes before ten."

"What did you do after you discovered the body?"

"I looked around- That is, I wanted to make sure he was dead."

"And when you did make sure, then what did you do?"

"I got to my feet. My right foot encountered a hard object. I bent over to find out what it was, and saw that it was a gun."

"And then what did you do?"

"I realized it was my own gun and suddenly became panic-stricken."

"And what did you do?"

"I left the country club. I drove down the road for a short distance, threw the gun under a culvert where I hoped it would never be discovered; went to Ensenada in Mexico and registered at the Siesta del Tarde Auto Court under the name Frank Kerry."

"Frank is one of your names?"

"Yes, my full name is Frank Kerry Dutton."

"You recognized the gun as your own?"

"I thought it was mine, yes."

"And you knew you had given that gun to Desere Ellis?"

"Yes."

"Were you trying to protect Desere Ellis in-"

"Objected to," Hamilton Burger said, "incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial, argumentative, leading and suggestive."

"Sustained," Judge Alvarado said.

"Cross-examine," Mason snapped.

Hamilton Burger, the district attorney, masked his true feelings behind a facade of extreme courtesy as he arose and approached the witness.

"I have a few questions," he said. "Simply for the purpose of clarifying your story in my own mind and for the jury, Mr. Dutton, I take it you have no objections?"

"Certainly not," Dutton said.

It was quite apparent that Hamilton Burger, having been warned by Mason, would make every effort to tear him to pieces, the defendant was agreeably surprised by this attitude on the part of the prosecutor.

"We'll start in with finding the body," Hamilton Burger said. "What time was it that you arrived at the seventh tee? I believe you said it was a minute or two after ten?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, we should be able to clarify it a little better than that," Burger said. "You were in a hurry?"

"Yes."

"Is there, by any chance, a clock on the dashboard of your automobile?"

"There is."

"Was it accurate on the night in question?"

"I try to keep it accurate, yes, sir."

"Well, now," Burger said, smiling, "from the manner in which you make that statement, I gather that it is a habit of yours to be punctual and to know what time it is?"

"Yes, sir."

"So you keep your clock accurate at all times?"

"I try to, yes."

"Now, having made an appointment for that night and being in a great hurry, you undoubtedly looked at your clock several times while you were driving from the telephone booth to the golf club-you must have."

"I'm quite sure I did," Dutton said, matching the district attorney's affable courtesy.

"Exactly," Hamilton Burger said, his voice low and well modulated, "so you must be able to tell the jury what you mean by a minute or two after ten?"

"I would say that it was one minute before ten when I entered the golf club. I think I arrived there and had parked the car at one minute after ten."

"I see," Hamilton Burger said, "and how long did it take you to get to the seventh tee?"

"I would say about three minutes."

"So you arrived at the seventh tee at exactly four minutes after ten?"

"We could give or take a few seconds, but for practical purposes, right around four minutes after ten."

"So it takes you about three minutes to go from the seventh tee to the clubhouse?"

"Yes."

"Now, you have heard the detective, Tom Fulton, testify that you left the golf club at ten-twenty-two?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did you, by any chance, look at the clock on your automobile when you left?"

"I was rather excited. I didn't look at the clock at that exact moment. No, I remember I did look at it when I stopped the car at the culvert."

"And what time was it then?"

Dutton smiled. "Frankly, I have forgotten, Mr. Burger. The time registered with me but it didn't seem to have any particular significance. I do remember, however, looking at the clock. I think it was right around ten-twenty-five or something like that. I am not sure."

"Why did you glance at the clock?"

"Just a mechanical reflex, I guess."

"I see," Hamilton Burger said. And then suddenly added, "Oh, by the way, had you made up your mind to go to Ensenada at that time?"

"I was thinking of it, yes."

"So," Burger said casually, "you probably were checking the time to figure about how long it would take you to make the trip."

"I could have been, yes."

"Well, that sounds very reasonable," Burger said.

Dutton nodded.

"Now, let's see," Burger went on, "you got to the seventh tee at four minutes past ten. You were expecting to meet Rodger Palmer there, and, of course, expected him to be alive?"

"Yes, sir."

"There was a glow in the sky, that is, you could see the reflection of the lights of the city?"

"Yes, sir, quite a glow."

"Enough light for you to walk by and find your way?"

"Yes, sir."

"Not bright light, but a diffused light such as one would naturally expect on a golf course from the lights of the city reflected by the atmospheric impurities?"

"Yes, sir."

"And if Rodger Palmer had been standing up to meet you when you reached the seventh tee, he would have stood silhouetted against the skyline?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you must have suspected something was wrong almost immediately on reaching the seventh tee and failing to see him?"

"I think I did. I think that's what started me looking around."

"Looking around?"

"Yes."

"What do you mean by looking around?"

"Well, taking a few steps; looking on the ground."

"Looking on the ground? " Hamilton Burger said, his voice suddenly changing. "So, you began looking for the man you were to meet on the ground?"