Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Duplicate Daughter

“And Madeline was with you in the breakfast nook at the time you mention?”

“Yes.”

“How were you seated?”

“We were seated at a table and looking out the window.”

“Were you both on the same side of the table?”

“Yes. That is, it’s not exactly a table. It’s a sort of counter — I might say, a combination bar and table — a food bar — on which food can be served. It looks out to the north and over the backyard.”

“Was your daughter facing the same direction that you were?”

“Yes, sir. She was seated beside me.”

“Did you comment to your daughter on anything unusual that you saw at that time?”

Judge Alvord glanced at Mason. “Any objection on the part of the defense?”

“No objection,” Mason said.

Judge Alvord said, “Well, it seems to me counsel is entitled to lay the foundation for his testimony but this is certainly going far afield. The defendant isn’t bound by any conversation which may have taken place between this witness and her daughter.”

“There is no objection by the defense,” Mason said. “As a matter of fact, we welcome the situation, because once the prosecution has opened the door by showing a part of this conversation we are entitled to show it all on cross-examination.”

Judge Alvord smiled slightly and said, “Under those circumstances, the witness may answer the question.”

“Just a minute, just a minute,” Hamilton Burger said hastily. “I... on second thought, Your Honor, I will withdraw the question.”

“Very well,” Judge Alvord said.

“I am now going to renew my request,” Hamilton Burger said. “I ask this witness to relate to the Court what it was she saw that was unusual on the morning of the thirteenth while she was in the breakfast nook, facing toward the workroom of the defendant in this case.”

“Same objection,” Mason said.

“Same ruling,” Judge Alvord said. “At this time the objection is sustained.”

Hamilton Burger made no attempt to conceal his exasperation. He said, “May I have a moment, Your Honor?” and walked over to engage in a whispered consultation with Edwardo Deering.

Deering seemed to have a very positive idea in regard to an approach and after a few moments Hamilton Burger nodded.

“Very well,” he said, “I will temporarily withdraw this witness from the stand, with the idea, if the Court please, that I am going to lay a proper foundation so that the question I want her to answer will be relevant.”

“Very well,” Judge Alvord said. “I may once more point out, Mr. Prosecutor, that you have established a prima-facie case, that the deeper you go into this case the more avenues you open up, the more possibility there is that complications may develop.”

“I think I know what I’m doing, if the Court please,” Hamilton Burger said.

“I hope you do,” Judge Alvord commented drily. “The Court wishes to state, however, that Carter Gilman is the defendant in this case. But quite apparently your more recent witnesses have been called for the purpose of involving Glamis Barlow, who is not a defendant. The Court feels that if witnesses are to be called with the idea of involving Glamis Barlow, she should be a defendant and, as such, should have counsel who could subject the witnesses to searching cross-examination.”

“I think I understand the Court’s position,” Hamilton Burger said, “and I’m quite certain I understand what I have in mind.

“I now wish to call Glenn Beaumont McCoy.”

The door of the witness room opened and McCoy, a tall, slightly stooped individual in the early fifties, walked with loose-jointed deliberation to the stand, raised his hand, took the oath, and then seated himself on the witness chair.

“Where do you reside, Mr. McCoy?” Deering asked, while Hamilton Burger, seated at the table, was busily engaged in scribbling notes on a pad of legal foolscap.

“Nevada.”

“Where were you residing on the thirteenth of this month?”

“Las Vegas, Nevada.”

“What is your occupation?”

“I am a card dealer.”

“Are you acquainted with Glamis Barlow?”

“I know her by sight.”

“How many times have you seen her?”

“I can’t recall offhand. Several times.”

“Where have you seen her?”

“At the place where I am employed.”

“Did you see her on the evening of the thirteenth of this month?”

“I did.”

“Where?”

“Now, just a moment, if the Court please,” Mason said. “I wish to interpose an objection on the ground that all of this is incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.”

“I propose to connect it up,” Deering said.

“That isn’t sufficient,” Mason said. “An attempt is now being made to try Glamis Barlow as a codefendant with Carter Gilman. While I am representing Carter Gilman as his attorney I am not representing Glamis Barlow and I am not prepared to cross-examine witnesses who may testify to things that would involve Glamis Barlow in the commission of this crime. I think she is entitled to her own counsel.”

“I think so, too,” Judge Alvord said.

“Just a minute,” Hamilton Burger announced, getting to his feet. “Before the Court rules on this objection I should like to state that it is the contention of the prosecution that Carter Gilman killed Vera Martel, that he took wax impressions of the keys in her key container, that he had keys made from those impressions, that he delivered those keys to Glamis Barlow and that she, in accordance with a common purpose, went to Las Vegas, Nevada, on the evening of the thirteenth and, using the keys given her by the defendant, entered the Las Vegas office of Vera Martel for the purpose of searching through papers in order to find some incriminating document.”

“Incriminating to whom?” Judge Alvord said.

“Incriminating to both Glamis Barlow and Carter Gilman,” Burger said.

“If the Court please,” Mason said, “I think that is the wildest conjecture on the part of the district attorney. If Glamis Barlow entered that office for the purpose of getting a document which incriminated her in some way that is an entirely different case.”

“Not if she got the key which opened the office from Carter Gilman,” Hamilton Burger said. “And, furthermore, in order to show a joint purpose and a collaboration, we propose to show that fingerprints of the defendant, Carter Gilman, were found in the Las Vegas office of Vera Martel, and that this office as well as the Los Angeles office had literally been wrecked by someone who had pulled papers from the files and strewn them over the floor in a frantic search for some documents.”

Judge Alvord was visibly impressed by Burger’s statement.

“Can the prosecutor show when those fingerprints were made?” Mason asked. “Can he show those fingerprints were not made at a time prior to the death of Vera Martel?”

“The time is immaterial,” Burger snapped.

Judge Alvord pursed his lips, then slowly nodded. “In a public office, Mr. Prosecutor, an office where the public is invited by implication, fingerprints are not necessarily incriminating evidence unless it can be shown those prints were made at a time when the public was supposed to be excluded or because of a direct connection with some crime.”

“Not when the man who made those prints is shown to have transported the body of his victim in his automobile,” Hamilton Burger protested.

Judge Alvord frowned. “This is a very close question, gentlemen,” he said. “I have been somewhat impatient with the district attorney’s methods here, but in view of this latest statement and the possible testimony of this witness I am beginning to see an overall pattern which may be well within the permissible strategy of counsel for the People.”