Parnell Hall - The Innocent Woman

“And were you present on Friday, April 30th, when detective Samuel Macklin came to the office?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Can you tell us what happened on that occasion?”

“Certainly. There had been shortages in petty cash. Frank and I had decided to hire a private detective.”

“When you say Frank, you mean Mr. Fletcher?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt. Go on.”

“Anyway, we’d decided to hire a private detective, and Frank-Mr. Fletcher-hired Samuel Macklin. Mr. Macklin came to our office.”

“On April 30th?”

“That’s right.”

“Around what time?”

“Twelve-thirty.”

“What happened then?”

“Well, Frank-Mr. Fletcher-”

“You can say Frank.”

“Thank you. Frank counted out twenty-five twenty dollar bills and handed them to Mr. Macklin. Mr. Macklin wrote down the serial numbers in his notebook.”

“What happened then?”

“Mr. Macklin gave them back, and Frank took the bills and put them in the petty cash box, and put the petty cash box in the petty cash drawer.”

“Did you see him do this?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Can you testify that it was the same bills Mr. Macklin gave him that he put in the petty cash drawer?”

“Absolutely.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I was paying attention. You have to understand, it was an upsetting thing. The thought that someone was stealing from us. I didn’t know if it was true, so I was particularly concerned with what was happening. I paid attention because it was important.”

Pearson nodded gravely. “I see,” he said. “Were you there when Mr. Macklin left that afternoon?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Was that before or after the defendant returned from lunch?”

“It was before.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. We didn’t want her to see him. We didn’t want her to know what was going on.”

“How long was it between the time Mr. Macklin left and the time the defendant returned from lunch?”

“I can’t be sure. I would say fifteen to twenty minutes, but that’s an approximation.”

“How do you base it?”

“Mr. Macklin got to our office around twelve-thirty. He had to write down the serial numbers on the bills. That took between five and ten minutes. When he was finished, Frank put the bills in the petty cash drawer and Mr. Macklin left. That was somewhere in the neighborhood of a quarter to one. And the defendant would have returned to the office somewhere in the neighborhood of one, when the lunch hour was over.”

“I see,” Pearson said. “And in that fifteen minute interval before the defendant returned from lunch-what were you doing then?”

“Talking to Frank.”

“The whole time?”

“Yes. The whole time.”

“Why was that?” Pearson held up his hand. “Let me rephrase that. Without telling us what Mr. Fletcher said, which would be hearsay, can you tell us in general what you were talking about.”

“Of course. About Mr. Macklin and the money and the shortage in the petty cash drawer.”

“I see. So you were with Mr. Fletcher the entire time from when Mr. Macklin left until the defendant returned from lunch?”

“That’s right.”

“During that time, did he have occasion to go near the petty cash drawer?”

“No, he did not.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. We were in his inner office. The cash drawer is in the outer office, in Miss Dearborn’s desk.”

“You were with him in his office when Miss Dearborn returned from lunch?”

“That’s right.”

“And what time did you leave the office that day?”

“Around five o’clock.”

“Was anyone with you when you left?”

“Yes. Mr. Fletcher.”

“The two of you left together?”

“That’s right.”

“Was there anyone in the office when you left?”

“Yes. Miss Dearborn. She closes up at five-thirty.”

Pearson nodded in satisfaction. “And when is the next time you returned to the office?”

“Monday morning.”

“That would be May 3rd?”

“That’s right.”

“What happened then?”

“I met Mr. Fletcher outside the office.”

“What time was that?”

“Approximately eight-thirty.”

“What did you do?”

“We waited for Mr. Macklin. He arrived about five minutes later and the three of us went up and opened the office.”

“What did you do then?”

“Looked in Miss Dearborn’s desk, took out the cash box and inspected the petty cash.”

“Who actually took out the cash box?”

“Frank. Mr. Fletcher.”

“And what did he do then?”

“He counted the money. He told us-”

Pearson held up his hand. “Huh uh, Mr. Lowery. I’m sorry, but you’re not allowed to say what he told you. But after he counted the money, what did you do?”

“I counted the money.”

“You counted it yourself?”

“Yes, I did.”

“What did you discover?”

“There was a hundred dollars missing.”

“A hundred dollars?”

“That’s right.”

“Let me be very clear about this. You determined there was a hundred dollars missing? From you own personal observation? You’re not basing that on something that Mr. Fletcher said?”

“Not at all. I counted it myself.”

“Fine. And after you counted it, what did you do then?”

“Well, I told Mr. Macklin- But I guess I’m not allowed to say that.”

“No, no,” Pearson said. “Whatever you said is fine.”

“I see. Well, I told Mr. Macklin there was a hundred dollars missing.”

“Fine,” Pearson said. “And were you there when the defendant arrived for work that morning?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Without going into any conversations that may have transpired, did there come a time when Mr. Macklin identified himself to the defendant?”

“Yes, there did. He took out and showed her his I.D.”

“And did there come a time when Mr. Macklin inspected the contents of the defendant’s purse?”

“Yes, there did.”

“And what did he find?”

“He found four twenty dollar bills in her wallet.”

“And what, if anything, did he do with those bills?”

“He compared them to the list of serial numbers in his notebook.”

“With what result?”

“Two of the bills from the defendant’s wallet matched the serial numbers on his list.”

“Mr. Lowery, I have cautioned you about hearsay testimony. Do you know that because of something Mr. Macklin told you?”

“No, sir. I know that because after Mr. Macklin pointed it out, I compared the serial numbers myself.”

“You personally compared the serial numbers on those twenty dollar bills to the serial numbers on Mr. Macklin’s list?”

“Yes, I did.”

“And two of the serial numbers matched?”

“That’s correct.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lowery. That’s all.”

In the back of the courtroom, Tracy Garvin frowned. Frank Fletcher and Samuel Macklin had been duck soup for Steve Winslow. He had no problem making them look bad.

Marvin Lowery was something else. He had an open, honest quality about him. The jurors liked him. And they weren’t going to like it if Steve tore into him. That sort of strategy simply wasn’t going to fly.

Making him look foolish wouldn’t work either-Steve couldn’t pull an x-ray vision bit like he had with Macklin. Ridiculing Lowery would only alienate the jury.

So what could he do?

Steve Winslow rose slowly, crossed to Marvin Lowery and smiled. “Mr. Lowery, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe you testified that on the morning of May 3rd you met Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Macklin outside your office building at approximately eight-thirty. Is that correct?”