Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Stepdaughter’s Secret

“With how much chain?”

“Well, with not very much chain. Only a few feet.”

“What do you mean by a few feet, eight feet? Ten feet? Twenty feet?”

“I would say somewhere around fifteen to twenty feet, yes.”

“And you moved the yacht?”

“I ordered it moved so we could get our paraphernalia and equipment aboard. We had to.”

“Did you mark the exact place where the yacht was when you found it?”

“Well, not the exact place, no. Of course, I know approximately.”

“But with twenty feet of anchor chain out you couldn’t tow the yacht.”

“We picked up the anchor and dropped it aboard the yacht.”

“And then towed it.”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t know the exact place where the yacht was located?”

“I know approximately.”

“But not exactly.”

“Well, I couldn’t put it right back in exactly the same place, no.”

“What was the tide at that time?”

“I don’t know for sure. It was going out, but I think it was high, pretty high.”

“Did you ever return to that place at low tide to search the ground adjacent to the place where the yacht was found?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because nobody had been aboard that boat for some time. It had floated with the tide. It floated in there and to a point where the anchor engaged the bottom of the bay.”

“How do you know?”

“Because of various and sundry discoveries we made. The dinghy was still fastened to the yacht and the anchor had been just dragging along at the end of about fifteen or twenty feet of chain.”

“How do you know that?”

“By circumstantial evidence.”

“How do you know the yacht hadn’t been taken to that point and anchored there?”

“There was no reason to anchor it there.”

“But someone might have had some reason to anchor it there?”

“We made a careful search of the shore line. We found no indications that any boat had landed. We decided the yacht had drifted with a dragging anchor line to the place where it finally came to rest at high tide.”

“That was just your conclusion?”

“From circumstantial evidence, yes.”

“You don’t know now exactly where you found the boat?”

“Certainly I do. We found it out about three hundred and fifty yards from—”

“Did you measure it?” Mason interrupted.

“No.”

“When you say about three hundred and fifty yards you’re making just an estimate?”

“Yes.”

“You couldn’t go back and pinpoint the exact location of that place?”

“No, I have already said that.”

“Do you know how long the boat had been there when you found it?”

“It had drifted in on the high tide. I assume that it had probably drifted in on the tide the night before.”

“What is the basis of that assumption, Sheriff?”

“We know almost exactly when Gilly met his death. He had been seen on the club landing. He had been taken aboard the yacht. He had eaten canned beans at his apartment. Death had been within approximately two hours of the time he had his last meal. The yacht had evidently been drifting aimlessly with the tide. There was virtually no wind.”

Mason said, “Let’s just check those tides, Sheriff. I show you a tide table. You will note it shows that high tide on the tenth actually took place on the early morning of the eleventh, at one-fifteen a.m.”

“That is correct.”

“The next high tide was at two-thirty-two on the afternoon of the eleventh.”

“That’s right, yes, sir.”

“And you found the boat at low tide?”

“The tide was dropping very rapidly. It was not quite low tide.”

“And you promptly hooked onto the boat and towed it in to the float?”

“After I got there I ordered it towed in to where we could go to work on it, yes.”

“That’s all,” Mason said.

Hastings said, “If the Court please, I am now going to call another witness, Stilson L Kelsey. This man is partially hostile. I cannot vouch for him but I want his testimony because it is vital.”

“Very well,” Judge Hobart said. “Mr Kelsey to the stand.”

Kelsey presented a somewhat different appearance from the man Mason had seen at Eve Amory’s apartment. He had had a haircut, his suit was new, his shoes were new. He had an air of complete assurance.

“What is your name?” the district attorney asked.

“Stilson L Kelsey.”

“What is your occupation?”

“I refuse to answer.”

“On what grounds?”

“On the grounds that the answer will incriminate me.”

“Are you acquainted — or were you acquainted — with the decedent, Willmer Gilly, during his lifetime?”

“I was.”

“Did you have any business arrangements with him?”

“I did.”

“Did you have any arrangements with him concerning a business transaction which was to culminate on the evening of the tenth?”

“Yes, sir. I did.”

“On the tenth of this month what was your occupation, Mr Kelsey? Now, that question is limited to the tenth of the month.”

“Well, I didn’t have any regular occupation.”

“How were you making your living?”

Kelsey took a deep breath, said, “I received donations from various people.”

“Come on, speak up,” Hastings said. “What was the nature of the occupation? What caused those donations?”

Kelsey shifted his position, crossed his legs and said, “Blackmail.”

“And did you have any arrangement with Willmer Gilly covering the blackmail of any member of the Bancroft family?”

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

“We propose to connect it up. We propose to show motive,” Hastings said. “This witness is a key witness in the case. He has turned State’s evidence as to this particular transaction. His testimony is going to be most important and most significant. I am willing to waive blackmail in order to clear up a murder.”

“I’ll overrule the objection,” Judge Hobart said. “The Court would like to get to the bottom of this. Go ahead.”

“Answer the question,” Hastings said.

Kelsey said, “Gilly came to me with a story.”

“What was the story?”

“Objected to as hearsay,” Mason said.

“I propose to show it is part of the res gestae ,” Hastings said.

Judge Hobart frowned. “Does this story have to do with your business relations with Gilly?”

“Yes, Your Honour.”

“I’m going to allow the testimony,” Judge Hobart said. “It may be I will strike it out after I hear it, but I am going to allow it subject to a motion to strike.”

Kelsey said, “Gilly had become very friendly with a man in the same rooming house where he was living.”

“What was the rooming house?”

“The Ajax-Delsey Apartments.”

“All right, go ahead.”

“Well, Gilly said that he had become very friendly with a man named Irwin Victor Fordyce; that Fordyce had a past and that he finally confided his story to Gilly; that Gilly was the only one that he had ever told; that he told Gilly the story because of friendship with Gilly and because he felt he could trust Gilly’s discretion.”

“Now, did you take action on that story — as a result of that story?”

“I did.”

“That action was directly responsible for the joint business association you had with Mr Gilly?”

“It was.”

“Generally, what was the story?”

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

“Overruled. I’m going to hear it,” Judge Hastings said, “subject to a motion to strike.”