Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Duplicate Daughter

Judge Alvord, watching Elliott curiously, said, “Raise your right hand and be sworn.”

Elliott raised his right hand, was sworn and took the witness stand.

“I’m directing your attention to the morning of Tuesday, the thirteenth of this month,” Hamilton Burger said, conducting the examination personally.

“Yes, sir,” Elliott said.

“Where were you on that morning?”

“I was at the home of the defendant, Carter Gilman, at 6231 Vauxman Avenue.”

“Were you a guest in that home?”

“I was.”

“What time did you arrive there?”

“Do you want to know when I first arrived there?”

“That is what the question calls for.”

“About two or two thirty in the morning, I would presume.”

“And what did you do?”

“I escorted Glamis Barlow to the house. We sat on the porch for a while, then she invited me in for a drink.”

“And then?” Hamilton Burger asked.

“Then I said good night and went out to start my car. She came to stand in the doorway and see me off. I had inadvertently left the ignition on. My battery had evidently been run down. When I tried to start the car the self-starter wouldn’t work.”

“Then what happened?”

“Miss Barlow suggested that I stay there in the house until morning, when I could get another battery put in my car and in the meantime have my own battery charged at a nearby service station.”

“Was that service station open at that hour of the morning?”

“Not when I tried to start the car, no. It opened at eight o’clock in the morning.”

“All right,” Hamilton Burger said. “What did you do then?”

“I went to bed.”

“Now then,” Hamilton Burger said, “I want to have the Court understand exactly where you were sleeping. Can you describe the bedroom?”

“It was on the northwest corner of the house.”

“That was toward the back of the house?”

“Yes.”

“From your room could you see the garage in back of the house?”

“Yes.”

“Are you familiar with the location of the darkroom used by Mrs. Gilman?”

“Yes.”

“And you are also familiar with the woodworking shop used by the defendant in this case, Carter Gilman?”

“Yes.”

“I refer you to People’s Exhibit B, a sketch of the floor plan of the house showing the location of the driveway, the garage, the workshop and the darkroom. Do you orient yourself on that diagram?”

“Yes.”

“Will you kindly point out to the Court exactly where your bedroom was located?”

“It was this bedroom on the second floor.”

“And that is directly over the dining room?”

“I believe so, yes.”

“Now then, I am going to ask you, when did you next see Glamis Barlow after you had said good night to her at an early hour in the morning on the thirteenth? When was the very next time you saw her?”

“I... I refuse to answer.”

“On what ground?”

“I simply refuse to answer.”

Hamilton Burger looked at Judge Alvord.

Judge Alvord said, “The witness will answer unless there is something in the question that would tend to incriminate or degrade him, in which event he can place his refusal to answer on those grounds and the Court will then pass upon the refusal.”

“I refuse to answer.”

“If you simply refuse to answer,” Judge Alvord said, “you are going to be held in contempt of this court.”

“I simply refuse to answer. I am not going to permit anything I may have seen to be used to crucify an innocent person.”

Hamilton Burger frowned.

“Very well,” Judge Alvord said. “If you refuse to answer the Court is going to hold you in contempt, and I may assure you, Mr. Elliott, that this contempt is not going to be a light sentence. This is a continuing matter. This is a murder case. Your evidence may be vital.”

“I refuse to answer.”

Hamilton Burger said, “If the Court please, I feel that the Court should use sufficient pressure to get an answer from this witness. Here we have a hostile witness who has evidence which may have a great bearing upon the solution of this case. It may furnish evidence not only as to motivation, but it may indicate the necessity of having two defendants jointly charged with this murder. The answer of this witness is of very great importance. I can assure the Court that, in view of the attitude of this witness, in view of the fact that the witness has already endeavored to conceal himself, there is every possibility that the witness will not be available at the time of trial in the Superior Court unless he is held in custody as a material witness. Even then, it is impossible to anticipate what his testimony may be after he has had an opportunity to think it over and to be coached by interested parties.

“It is vital to the case of the People that this witness be forced to answer this question here and now.”

Judge Alvord said, “Mr. Elliott, I am going to warn you that unless you answer this question you are going to be committed to jail for contempt of court and you are going to stay in jail until you do answer the question or until you show some legal grounds why the question should not be answered.”

“I refuse to answer.”

“Very well,” Judge Alvord said, “it is the judgment of this Court that you forthwith be committed to the sheriff of this county, that you be confined in the county jail for contempt of this court and that you be held in the county jail until such time as you either answer this question or show legal cause why you should not answer it.”

Hartley Elliott stood up, folded his arms, regarded the judge with steady, steely eyes and said, “I refuse to answer.”

Judge Alvord nodded to the officer.

The officer came forward, took Elliott’s arm and escorted him from the courtroom.

Hamilton Burger turned dramatically. “I call Paul Drake to the stand,” he said. “Paul Drake is here in the courtroom. Come forward and be sworn, Mr. Drake.”

Drake glanced in dismay at Perry Mason.

“Come forward and be sworn, Mr. Drake,” Judge Alvord ordered.

Drake came forward, was sworn and took the stand.

“You are a private detective?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Licensed as such?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And were so licensed on the fourteenth day of this month?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you acquainted with Hartley Elliott, the witness who was just on the stand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I am going to ask you if, on the fourteenth day of this month, in the apartment of Hartley Elliott, number 6-B at the Rossiter Apartments on Blendon Street in this city, you and Perry Mason did not have a conversation with Hartley Elliott. Now, you can answer that question yes or no.”

Drake hesitated, finally said reluctantly, “Yes.”

“I am going to ask you,” Hamilton Burger said, “if at that conversation and in the presence of Perry Mason as attorney for the defense you did not ask Hartley Elliott what had happened on the morning of the thirteenth and if Hartley Elliott didn’t then and there tell you that he had seen Glamis Barlow at about eight thirty on the morning of the thirteenth, dash from the door of the workshop, previously referred to in this testimony and shown on the diagram, People’s Exhibit B, and run around the corner of the house.”

Mason got to his feet. “Just a moment, if the Court please,” he said. “I object to the question on the ground that it calls for hearsay testimony.”

“It is by way of impeachment,” Hamilton Burger said.

“There is nothing to impeach,” Mason said. “Even if Hartley Elliott had testified that he hadn’t seen Glamis Barlow on the morning of the thirteenth it would still be an improper question. An attorney cannot impeach his own witness.”