Маргарет Миллар - Spider Webs

When court reconvened, copies of the transcript were given to the judge and the district attorney. Standing at the lectern, Donnelly read aloud from his copy.

“Mr. Pherson’s testimony begins at page six hundred seventy-three, but the relevant portions begin on pages seven ninety-one, line eight. The questioner at this point is District Attorney Owen.”

Q: Are there any close family ties, Mr. Pherson?

A: Madeline had a very deep relationship with her mother.

Q: Does her mother live in Bakersfield?

A: No. She died in March. She and Madeline had been planning a trip to Hawaii when her mother became ill. Madeline took it very hard. That was the reason I wanted her to go on a vacation. I thought the change of scene would be good for her, cheer her up. The irony of that haunts me day and night, the irony that I should be responsible for her death while trying to help her.

“Skip now to page seven-oh-one, line eight, Mr. Owen still the questioner.”

Q: So you persuaded her to take a vacation, get a change of scene.

A: Yes. She chose the San Diego area. My secretary made the necessary travel and hotel reservations, and I drove her to the airport. She called me when she arrived. She sounded quite cheerful. It was the last time I heard her voice.

“Skip to next page, line twenty, defense counsel cross-examining.”

Q: Mr. Pherson, you said your wife sounded cheerful when she called you. Did this surprise you?

A: I was happy about it.

Q: Yes, but were you surprised?

A: I thought it would take longer for her to snap out of her depression and begin to enjoy life again. So the answer is, I was pleasantly surprised.

Q: Did she ever talk of suicide?

A: No, never.

Q: I believe you stated that Mrs. Pherson counseled the terminally ill and their families, did you not?

A: Yes.

Q: Wouldn’t the subject of suicide come up naturally in the course of these conversations?

A: When I said she never mentioned suicide, I meant in regard to herself. Such a thing would never have occurred to her.

Q: Even though she was, according to your testimony, in a state of depression after her mother’s death?

Donnelly took a sip of water before continuing to read from the transcript. Angelino Gomez, the hotel maid, was the witness, Owen the questioner.

Q: Did you enter the room during Mrs. Pherson’s absence?

A: Yes.

Q: Had she unpacked?

A: Yes, sir. Everything was hung up in the closet or put away in drawers. She was a tidy lady. All I had to do was replace a couple of towels she had used.

Q: The clothes that were hanging in the closet, had they been put there carefully?

A: Oh, yes, just like they were for sale in a store, all zipped and buttoned on their hangers to keep their shape.

Q: Just where were you when Mrs. Pherson came back unexpectedly?

A: In the bathroom. I offered to leave and come back later, but she said no, it didn’t matter because she was going out right away. So I finished tidying up the bathroom, replacing two towels. I heard her talking to herself in the bedroom. At least I guess it was to herself. There wasn’t anybody else there. It was like when you’re dressed to go out and before you leave, you look in the mirror and say, “Hey, looking good.”

Q: Did she sound happy, Miss Gomez?

A: Oh, yes, real happy, like maybe she’d had a couple of drinks.

Q: Did you listen to what she was saying?

A: I had to listen. I was there. You can’t open and close your ears the way you can your eyes.

Q: What did you hear?

A: Something like, “You always wanted to go to Hawaii, and now you get to go.” Stuff like that. I didn’t think anything of it. A lot of people would like to go to Hawaii, me included...

Q: Then she seemed to be looking forward to the trip, is that right?

A: Sure. Why not?

Mr. Elfinstone’s testimony began on page 709, line 13. A couple of pages later were the pertinent parts. Mr. Owen had asked Mr. Elfinstone what Mrs. Pherson said when she came to the desk to retrieve the green leather case which she’d just had put in the safe an hour before.

A: That she intended to do something that she’d never done before in her life and would assuredly never do again. Then she laughed...

Q: Were you puzzled by her remarks?

A: Not frightfully. I usually don’t pay much attention to what people say. It’s what they do that counts.

Q: And what did she do?

A: Took the elevator up to her suite. A few minutes later she came down again, walked across the lobby and joined a man...

Now that I come to think of it, I recall asking her what she meant to do. She said she couldn’t tell me, it was a secret and, if anyone found out, they might try to stop her. I wouldn’t, I told her.

I believe in people reaching for the brass ring, seizing the day. Carpe diem. As I watched her cross the lobby, I thought: Yes, the little lady is going to seize the day.

Q: Then as far as you could tell, Mrs. Pherson did not appear to be despondent?

A: My word, no. Happy as a lark...

“Skip to next page, line six,” Donnelly said. “Here the cross-examination of defense counsel of Mr. Elfinstone by defense counsel begins.”

Q: Mr. Elfinstone, how many years have you been in the hotel business?

A: Over twenty years.

Q: During this time have you had any experience with guests checking in and subsequently committing suicide?

A: Alas, yes. Yes, indeed, though we try to keep such things private. People tend to avoid rooms where a tragedy has taken place.

Q: In your years of experience have you observed that potential suicides exhibit similar behavioral patterns?

A: No.

Q: Some were obviously despondent, were they?

A: Yes.

Q: And some quite cheerful?

A: Yes.

Q: Did others have a calm, pleasant manner?

A: Oh, yes. Lull before the storm, you know.

Q: Are you saying, in other words, that you couldn’t pick out a potential suicide on the basis of appearance and behavior?

A: If we could do that we would steer them to an establishment run by our competitors.

Donnelly closed the transcript and prepared to go back to his chair. “It’s getting late,” the judge said. “If you’re thinking of starting to call your witnesses, Mr. Donnelly, you’d better postpone it until the next session.”

“I’m not calling any witnesses, Your Honor.”

“None?”

“None.”

“I hope you’ve considered this very carefully.”

“Yes. The prosecution’s witnesses did so well by my client that it seems best to leave it like that.”

“Very well. I’d like to see both counsel at the side bar.”

After a brief conference at the side bar it was decided that court would be adjourned until the following Tuesday in order to give both Owen and Donnelly time to prepare their closing arguments.

Owen worked on his closing speech the entire weekend. On Monday he taped it, making corrections, omissions and additions and changing voice inflections for emphasis and drama. He listened to the final version with pride and pleasure and on Monday night played it for Vee and the boys after dinner. There was considerable audience defection. Thatcher went to sleep on the floor, Jonathan had a phone call from a girl, an attack of hiccups sent Chadwick to his room and Vee began making out the week’s grocery list.

His Tuesday morning audience was more attentive. Donnelly and the judge took notes, as did all of the jurors except No. 2. Elsie Ball was a licensed vocational nurse doing private duty from eleven at night to seven in the morning. She was never quite awake, and Owen’s loud, clear voice fell on her ears soft as snow. It didn’t matter anyway: On the very first day of the trial she had made up her mind how she was going to vote and she didn’t intend to change it.