Parnell Hall: The Innocent Woman

“We waited for Miss Dearborn to come in to work.”

“What time did she come in?”

“Nine o’clock.”

“What happened then?”

“Mr. Macklin identified himself, showed Miss Dearborn his I.D., and asked her to empty her purse.”

“What did Miss Dearborn do?”

“She seemed somewhat flustered. She-”

“One moment,” Judge Dalrymple said. He looked down at the defense table where Steve Winslow sat, looking unconcerned and somewhat bored, almost as if he weren’t paying attention. Judge Dalrymple cleared his throat. “So far there has been no objection from the defense. Still, if the witness would avoid giving his opinion as to what the defendant thought or felt.”

“Yes. Sorry, Your Honor,” Frank Fletcher said. “Ah…Could you repeat the question?”

“What did the defendant do when Mr. Macklin asked her to empty her purse? Never mind what you thought or felt-just confine yourself to what she said and did.”

“Right. Well, as I recall, she asked me what was going on. Am I allowed to say that? And I told her there’d been a robbery and Mr. Macklin was investigating it, and I asked her if she’d cooperate with him in clearing the matter up.”

“What happened then?”

“She withdrew her objection and allowed him to look in her purse.”

“Did he find anything significant?”

“Yes, he did.”

“What was that?”

“She had some twenty dollar bills in her change purse. Mr. Macklin took them and compared them to the list of serial numbers he had written down.”

“With what result?”

“Two of the bills were on the list.”

“The serial numbers matched?”

“Yes, they did.”

“What did you do then?”

“I called the police. They came and arrested Miss Dearborn.”

A.D.A. Pearson smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Fletcher. That’s all.”

Judge Dalrymple looked over at the defense table where Amy Dearborn’s long haired lawyer sat looking bored as ever. “Does the defense wish to cross-examine?”

Steve Winslow sighed. “I have one or two questions, Your Honor.” He got to his feet, stretched, crossed in to the witness stand. He frowned, rubbed his head. “Mr. Fletcher, correct me if I’m wrong. This happened on May 3rd?”

“Yes, it did.”

“That was the day you called the police and they arrested Miss Dearborn?”

“That’s right.”

“Did you also mention May 3rd as the day Miss Dearborn left your employ?”

“Yes, I did.”

“That was her last day with your firm?”

“Yes, it was.”

“I believe you said you fired her, is that right?”

“Yes, I did.”

“ Why did you fire her?”

Frank Fletcher was a thin-faced man with a rather arrogant quality when he smiled. He did so now. “You want me to answer that?”

“I certainly do.”

“I fired her for stealing.”

“I see.” Steve Winslow nodded gravely. He turned, walked over to the jury box. Turned back to the witness. “Mr. Fletcher, you weren’t here for jury selection. But we had quite a discussion of the concept of innocent until proven guilty. Are you familiar with that concept?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then how can you have fired the defendant for theft when she has not been found guilty of theft?”

Frank Fletcher drew himself up. “I consider that a mere formality.”

“Formality?” Steve said. “You consider our judicial system a mere formality?”

“Objection, Your Honor,” Pearson said. “Incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. Let counsel stick to the facts.”

“Sustained,” Judge Dalrymple snapped. “Mr. Winslow, try to move it along.”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Steve said. As if taking his cue from the judge’s admonition, he picked up the pace. “The fact is, you believe the defendant is guilty of theft?”

“Yes, I do.”

“You base that belief on the fact she had two of the twenty dollar bills in her possession?”

“Yes. And the fact she was alone in the office Friday night and had the opportunity to take them.”

“You consider that conclusive?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Beyond any reasonable doubt?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, let me see if I can change your mind,” Steve said. “You stated that you withdrew the twenty dollar bills from the bank and placed them in the cash drawer?”

“That’s right.”

“Before you did so, you gave the bills to your detective, Mr. Macklin. He wrote down the serial numbers. Is that right?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Did he put the bills in the cash box.”

“No. I did.”

“After he wrote down the serial numbers, he returned the bills to you and you put them in the cash drawer?”

“Yes, I did.”

“And what was the amount you put in the cash drawer?”

“Five hundred dollars.”

“In twenty dollar bills?”

“That’s right.”

“At five per hundred, that would be twenty-five twenty dollar bills. Is that right?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Mr. Macklin wrote twenty-five serial numbers in his notebook?”

“Ah…” Frank Fletcher hesitated. “To the best of my knowledge, he did. I didn’t actually count them. Mr. Macklin should speak for himself. But I understand the notebook is here in court. You can count them if you want.”

“I most certainly will,” Steve Winslow said. “But to the best of your knowledge, Mr. Macklin wrote the numbers of all those bills in his notebook?”

“Yes, he did.”

“And the amount you put in the cash box was five hundred dollars?”

“Yes, it was.”

“When was that done?”

“Approximately twelve-thirty on Friday afternoon.”

“And what was the date again?”

“April 30th.”

“That was the same day you withdrew the money from the bank?”

“Yes, it was.”

“How did you withdraw the money?”

Frank Fletcher frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

“I mean, did you write a check? Did you go to a cash machine? How did you get the twenty dollar bills?”

“I wrote a check.”

“On what bank?”

“Chase Manhattan.”

“You wrote it that day?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Was that a company check or a personal check?”

“A company check, of course.”

“An F. L. Jewelry check?”

“That’s right.”

“Well,” Steve said. “If I understand your testimony correctly, if we were to examine your company bank records, we would find a company check for five hundred dollars made out to cash, signed by you, dated and cashed on April 30th. Is that right?”

Frank Fletcher took a breath. “Not exactly,” he said.

“Oh?” Steve said. “And why is that?”

“I didn’t say I wrote a check for five hundred dollars.”

“You didn’t? I’m sorry. I guess I misunderstood you. Didn’t you say you took out five hundred dollars from the bank?”

“Yes, I did.”

“And didn’t you say you wrote a check?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Then please explain yourself. What do you mean when you say you didn’t write a check for five hundred dollars?”

“That wasn’t the amount of the check.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Because that wasn’t all the money I needed at the time.”

“Are you saying you wrote a larger check than five hundred dollars?”

“Yes, of course.”

“How large a check did you write?”

“As I recall, I wrote a check for eight hundred dollars.”

“Eight hundred dollars?”

“That’s right.”

“And what was the extra three hundred dollars for?”

“Objection, Your Honor,” Pearson said. “Incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.”