Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Long-Legged Models

“What did she do with the gun?”

“She placed it on a table in the living room in her apartment.”

“Then what did you do?”

“Then Mr. Mason and I left the apartment.”

“Then what happened?”

“As we started across the lobby, we saw two officers entering the apartment house.”

“Do you know those officers?”

“I do now. I didn’t then.”

“What were their names?”

“Sgt. Holcomb and Lt. Tragg.”

“Now the gun that you gave Mr. Mason had been in your possession, you say, all during the 7th of October of this year?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Cross-examine,” Hamilton Burger said triumphantly to Perry Mason.

Mason arose to his feet, faced the witness. “You say that the gun you gave me had been in your possession all of the seventh of October?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You had been out to lunch?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you take the gun with you?”

“No, sir.”

“Where was it?”

“In my desk drawer.”

“Was the desk locked?”

“No, sir.”

“You consider that that was being in your possession?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Where were you on the evening of October seventh?”

“I was calling on a customer about a car deal.”

“Did you have the gun with you?”

“The gun was in my desk.”

“When did you take it out of your desk?”

“After the conference was over. I returned to my office, took some cash out of the safe, and slipped the gun into my pocket.”

“And then took it home?”

“Yes.”

“What time was it that you took it home?”

“About nine-thirty or ten o’clock, as nearly as I can judge.”

“You had recently been married?”

“Yes.”

“Did you keep the gun in your pocket after you got home?”

“No, sir. I took it upstairs and put it on the dresser.”

“What time did you go to bed that night?”

“About half an hour after I got home.”

“What did you do with the gun?”

“I left it on the dresser.”

“Was your office locked on the evening of the 7th of October?”

“Yes.”

“Who has a key to that office?”

“I have a key. My father has a key, my secretary has a key, and the janitor has a key.”

“Did your wife have a key?”

The witness hesitated, then said in a surly voice, “Yes, my wife had a key.”

“And what did you do when you got up the next morning?”

“I dressed and had breakfast, I shaved, I cleaned my teeth,” the witness all but shouted in his anger.

“And then what?”

“Then I went to my office.”

“And did you take the gun with you?”

The witness started to say something, then suddenly stopped, checked himself, thought for a moment, said, “I— As a matter of fact, I did not.”

“What did you do with that gun, the one we have been referring to as the Junior Gun?”

“I left it on the dresser in my house.”

“And then?” Mason asked.

“Then my wife telephoned and I asked her to bring the gun to me.”

“So,” Mason said, “you assume that the gun which you handed me was the same gun which you took home on the night of October seventh. Is that right?”

“There was only one gun. My wife took it off the dresser.”

“How do you know she took it off the dresser?”

“Well, why... of course, I wasn’t there.”

“Exactly,” Mason said. “So for all you know you may have handed me the murder weapon which could have been given you by your wife.”

The witness jumped from the stand.

“That’s a lie! I resent that!!!”

“Sit down,” Judge Decker said. “The witness will sit down and remain in order.”

Hamilton Burger said, “If the Court please, that last question was argumentative, it was not proper cross-examination, it contained a dastardly insinuation, it...”

“And as far as this witness knows,” Judge Decker said, “it is true. The witness may resent it if he likes, but Mr. Mason is representing a defendant in a murder case. The objection is overruled.”

“Now then, if the Court please,” Mason said, “I again move to strike out all of the evidence in this case concerning the identity of the gun which was handed me by the defendant because it is now apparent that the entire testimony was based on hearsay testimony.”

“I’ll connect it up! I’ll connect it up,” Hamilton Burger shouted.

“How will you connect it up?” Judge Decker asked.

“By putting the wife of this witness on the stand.”

Judge Decker shook his head. “The jurors will be permitted to consider the testimony of this witness insofar as it relates to what the witness did. But as far as the identity of the weapon which was handed Mr. Mason is concerned, it now appears that all testimony along that line was founded upon hearsay evidence and it will go out.”

Judge Decker turned to the discomfited District Attorney. “Now, Mr. Prosecutor,” he said, “if the Court might make a suggestion, it would seem that a bullet was fired from whatever weapon Mr. Mason had in his hand. That bullet certainly didn’t fade into thin air. You have a ballistic expert here who has testified, and test bullets have been fired from this gun which is Exhibit 30. It would certainly seem to the Court that there would be no great difficulty in demonstrating whether the weapon which was discharged either accidentally or otherwise by Mr. Perry Mason at that time was Exhibit 30, or was some other weapon.”

“We can’t prove it, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said.

“Why not?” Judge Decker asked.

“Because someone took that bullet as a souvenir.”

“Didn’t the police take it?” Judge Decker asked sharply.

“No, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said.

“Very well,” Judge Decker snapped, “you can’t penalize the defendant in this case because of the negligence of the police. The ruling of the Court will stand.”

“I have no further questions of this witness,” Mason said affably.

“You may leave the witness stand,” Judge Decker said. “That’s all, Mr. Garvin.”

Garvin, his face livid, passed close to Perry Mason on his way from the courtroom. “I’ll kill you for this,” he said under his breath as he walked past the lawyer.

“Just a moment, Your Honor,” Mason said. “I do have one more question of this witness. Will you please return to the stand, Mr. Garvin?”

Garvin hesitated.

“Return to the stand,” Judge Decker ordered.

Garvin retraced his steps to the stand.

“As you were just about to leave the courtroom, and as you walked past me just now,” Mason said, “you said something to me. What was it?”

“Oh, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said. “I object. This is not part of the case. Whatever the witness’s personal feelings toward Perry Mason may have been, they certainly can’t affect the prosecution. I will confess that I have been and am very exasperated over the manner in which this entire hocus-pocus was handled.”

“Your feelings don’t enter into it,” Judge Decker said. “You’re not on the stand. The defense has every right to prove any bias on the part of the witness.”

“What did you say?” Mason asked.

Garvin shouted, “I said I’ll kill you for this and, by God, I will!”

“That’s a threat?” Mason asked.

“That’s a promise,” Garvin shouted. “I’ll...”

“You will spend twenty-four hours in jail for contempt of Court,” Judge Decker snapped. “The courtroom is no place for threats such as you have just made. This witness has been repeatedly warned. I can realize that the witness is under an emotional strain, but the witness will spend twenty-four hours in jail for contempt of this Court. Mr. Bailiff, will you please take the witness into custody.”