Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Shapely Shadow

Mason said, “Mrs. Theilman, you will recall the evening of the fourth in the city of Las Vegas when we were having a conference in a motel. That conference was interrupted by the police who escorted Della Street and me to the airport, leaving you there in the motel. Now, I believe that it is in evidence that you took a taxi-cab to the Double Take Casino after we had departed.”

“That is right,” she said. “I took the cab that was waiting there.”

“When you arrived at the casino, do you remember how you paid the cabdriver; that is, what money you gave him?”

“Why, yes,” she said. “I remember I gave him a fifty-cent tip and the bill was, I think—”

“What I am trying to get at,” Mason interrupted, “is how you paid him. Did you have the exact amount of cash with you or did you pay him with a larger bill?”

“No,” she said, “I paid him with a five-dollar bill. I remember I had— Now, wait a minute. I didn’t either. I got the five-dollar bills from the taxi driver. I remember I had three five-dollar bills when I entered the Casino. I was playing the twenty-five-cent machine and I turned in two of the five-dollar bills for quarters. I... I received three five-dollar bills and some silver from the cabdriver in change.”

“Then,” Mason said, “you must have given him a twenty-dollar bill.”

“That’s right. I remember now that I did. I had a twenty-dollar bill and gave it to him.”

“Did you only have one twenty-dollar bill in your purse?” Mason asked.

“No, I had several. I think I had, oh, perhaps ten or twelve twenty-dollar bills. I gave him a twenty-dollar bill.”

Mason bowed to the Court. “Thank you, Your Honor,” he said. “That is all.”

Hamilton Burger and his deputy engaged in a whispered conference.

“Do you have any questions on redirect, Mr. Prosecutor?” Judge Seymour asked.

Hamilton Burger, plainly exasperated, got to his feet. “Where did you get this twenty-dollar bill that you gave the taxi driver, Mrs. Theilman?”

“Why, I had it in my purse.”

“And where did you get it when you put it in your purse?”

“I got it from my bank in Los Angeles.”

“Exactly,” Hamilton Burger said, “you couldn’t by any conceivable possibility have received that twenty-dollar bill from your former husband, could you?”

Mason was on his feet before she could answer the question. “Just a moment, Your Honor,” he said. “That question is argumentative; it calls for a conclusion of the witness; it is leading and suggestive. If the prosecution is going to present its case on circumstantial evidence, the circumstances have to speak for themselves. This witness cannot testify to a conclusion.”

“But this is redirect, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said.

“That doesn’t make any difference,” Judge Seymour said. “You can direct the attention of the witness to a certain specific subject on redirect examination but you can’t lead the witness and you certainly can’t put the words in her mouth. The objection is sustained.”

Hamilton Burger made no attempt to conceal his anger. “When had you last seen your ex-husband prior to the time you came to Las Vegas on the fourth, Mrs. Theilman?”

“It had been over two years.”

“When had you last seen his secretary?”

“It had been about the same length of time.”

Hamilton Burger said angrily, “All right, I’ll let the facts speak for themselves,” and sat down.

“Now just a moment, Mrs. Theilman,” Mason said, “I have another question on recross-examination.”

“Now, if the Court please,” Hamilton Burger objected, “this is just what I warned the Court was going to happen. Perry Mason recalled this witness, assuring the Court he only wanted to ask one more question on cross-examination about that twenty-dollar bill. Now he’s trying to prolong this and drag it out with arguments and further questions and general fishing expeditions until the hour for the noon adjournment.”

“I think the prosecution is right, Mr. Mason,” Judge Seymour said. “This witness was recalled only for the purpose of one question.”

“That is quite correct, Your Honor, and that is all I wanted to ask. But the prosecution has taken over and has brought in a lot of new matter. Now I want to ask a question relating to the questions which were brought up on redirect examination by the district attorney.”

“You certainly have that right,” Judge Seymour said. “If your questions relate only to that phase of the interrogation, you can ask them.”

Mason approached the witness. “You say that you hadn’t seen your former husband for a period of about two years?”

“Objected to as already asked and answered,” Hamilton Burger said. “If he keeps this up we’ll be here all day.”

Judge Seymour frowned at the district attorney and said, “The witness could have answered that question in half the time it has taken for your objection. I take it this question is preliminary only, Mr. Mason?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Objection overruled. Answer the question,” Judge Seymour snapped.

“That is right,” the witness said.

“Now then,” Mason said, “have you, or did you, within a period of twenty-four hours before the time of your arrival in Las Vegas have any dealings of any sort with A. B. Vidal?”

“Objected to as not proper cross-examination,” Hamilton Burger shouted.

“Overruled,” Judge Seymour said.

The witness hesitated for a moment, then said, “Since I am under oath I will have to state that I had a telephone conversation with a man who said his name was A. B. Vidal.”

“When did you have this conversation?”

“At eight-thirty p.m. on the evening of the third. That was Tuesday.”

“What did this man want?”

“The same thing the others wanted. He wanted to negotiate with me for my stock.”

“He said his name was Vidal?”

“That’s right. A. B. Vidal.”

“Did he say where he was?”

“It was a long-distance call from Bakersfield.”

“Did you recognize the voice?”

“Not the voice of A. B. Vidal, but I could hear over the phone someone giving instructions in a low voice and I am satisfied that voice was the voice of my husband. It was an exceptionally good connection and, as it happens, I have keen ears.”

“What was the conversation?” Mason asked.

“I told the person with whom I was talking that if his principal wished to talk with me, I would meet him in Las Vegas, Nevada; that I would take the Union Pacific Domeliner, The City of Los Angeles, on the evening of Wednesday, the fourth. I told this person that I would negotiate, not with any agent, but only with the principal. I said that I knew who the principal was and that if they wanted me to be there and negotiate, they could send me a hundred dollars to cover expenses in the form of cash, and if that money was forthcoming I would meet with the principal in Las Vegas.”

“Then what?” Mason asked.

“With that,” she said, “I hung up the telephone without waiting for any further comment.”

“Did you get the money?”

“I did. The next afternoon the money was brought to my house. It was in an envelope marked ‘Expenses to Las Vegas.’ It contained five twenty-dollar bills.”

“Thank you,” Mason said. “That’s all.”

Hamilton Burger was on his feet, confronting the witness. “You put this money in your purse?”

“Yes.”

“And took it to Las Vegas with you?”

“Some of it. I bought a ticket with some of the money.”

“You never told me this dummy gave the name of Vidal,” Hamilton Burger accused.

“You never asked me,” the witness said. “I told you a lot of people were trying to get my stock and that I had reason to believe some of them were acting as dummies for my husband. I didn’t go into details because you didn’t ask me.”