Эрл Гарднер - The Case of the Musical Cow

“It will be remembered that the fire was out shortly after midnight, that the authorities did not find and inspect the boat until well after daylight.

“I may further state that this morning I recovered a bullet from one of the piles on the little wharf to which the houseboat had been moored. That bullet was apparently a fresh bullet and it had been fired from the automatic which has been introduced in evidence as People’s exhibit number three. I personally examined that bullet and compared it with a test bullet under a comparison microscope, and as a result, I know that it was fired and fired recently from the same weapon.

“The Court will also note that in the event the deceased met his death at some appreciable interval after the fire started, the death was outside of the territorial limitations of this state, because the boat, according to the testimony of witnesses, and according to surveys that I have made very carefully, drifted out into the current and then across the stream where it lodged on a sandbar which is actually outside of this state.”

“Isn’t there a statute providing for joint jurisdiction in crimes which occur within a reasonable distance of state boundary?” the judge asked.

“I’m a doctor, not a lawyer,” Dr. Dixon said.

The district attorney said, “There are several statutes. I don’t know whether they cover this case or not. There is a statute that when a person intending to commit a crime does anything in this state which culminates in the commission of a crime without the state, the effect is the same as though the crime had been committed entirely in this state, and there’s also a statute providing that when an offence is started without the state but is consummated within the boundaries, even though the defendant was out of the state at the time of the commission of that crime, the defendant is liable just as though he were in this state.”

Rob Trenton said, “Well, Your Honor, I’m neither a doctor nor a lawyer, but it seems to me that the conditions mentioned by the district attorney have not been met in this case. If Harvey Richmond was killed by bullets fired before the fire took place, that murder may well have taken place in this state, but if he was killed by fire, even despite the fact there had been a previous blow on the head, it’s a question of where the man was killed.”

“Or whether the fire was set deliberately,” the judge said.

The judge pursed his lips, frowned and once more scratched his head, then suddenly turned to the district attorney and said, “Mr. District Attorney, as I understand it, the Court has the power in this case to bind the defendant over for trial and then, in the event it wishes to do so, release him on bail, or the Court has the power to dismiss the case entirely. Now, as I understand it, if the case is dismissed, that doesn’t constitute any bar to arresting this man all over again in the event there should be other evidence uncovered which connects him with the crime.”

“No,” the district attorney said somewhat dubiously, “I don’t suppose it would be any bar, but of course, there is the moral effect, Your Honor. And murder is not a bailable charge.”

“Also,” the judge pointed out, “there’s another thing you want to take into consideration, Mr. Prosecutor, and that is that if the Court binds this man over on this charge, and then you uncover evidence which points to someone else, the fact that an order was made binding this defendant over is also going to have a moral effect. If I were in your shoes I’d rather just forget about this thing for a while and make a further investigation.”

“Of course, Your Honor,” the district attorney said, “Dr. Beaumont is thoroughly convinced as to the cause of death.”

“Of course he is,” the judge said, “and I’m not saying anything against Dr. Beaumont. He made a post-mortem until he found what he thought was the cause of death, and then he quit looking because he had found what he was looking for — or he thought he had; but if he’d looked a little farther, he’d have found the same things Dr. Dixon did and probably would have reached the same conclusions.

“The thing that the Court wants to point out to all concerned is the fact that if it hadn’t been for Dr. Dixon entering the picture and performing a further investigation which disclosed these peculiar facts, which I take it are uncontroverted, the defendant in this case would have been bound over for murder, would undoubtedly have been convicted of first-degree murder and probably executed. The fact that Dr. Dixon performed a further post-mortem points a lesson that I don’t think we should overlook, not any of us.

“Now then, the Court is going to refuse to bind this defendant over, and as far as the Court is concerned, he is released from custody. The Court feels there’s opportunity for a lot of further investigation in this case; and I think this is the fair way to see that such an investigation is conducted in an unbiased and efficient manner. The defendant is released from custody and the Court is adjourned.”

The judge banged his gavel in a form of finality, effectively shutting off the half-hearted protests of the district attorney.

Rob Trenton observed the surge of spectators crowding towards him, intent upon shaking his hand.

He moved over quickly to Dr. Dixon before the physician could leave the space reserved for attorneys and witnesses. “I want to thank you,” he said.

“You don’t have to,” Dr. Dixon told him. “I merely performed a complete post-mortem, which I contend should invariably be done in every case of unexplained death, particularly where the circumstances indicate a homicide.”

Rob led him to one side. “I have a favour I want to ask of you.”

“What’s that?”

“Isn’t there some way I can get out of here without going through that crowd of people?”

“They’re waiting to shake hands with you,” Dr. Dixon said, his shrewd eyes studying the young man’s face. “They want to congratulate you, and make something of a hero of you.”

“I know it,” Trenton said, “and if the judge had ruled the other way and bound me over for murder, they’d have been looking at me as though I were a snake.”

Dr. Dixon’s eyes softened. “What do you want me to do?”

“I think there’s a side door out of here,” Rob Trenton said. “I want to get out. Can you show me where it is?”

Dr. Dixon hesitated only briefly, then nodded. “You could go into the door over there which leads to the judge’s chambers, as though you were intending to thank the judge for what he’d done, and then you could go down through the corridor and there’s a door there that opens on a side street. Come on with me if you want.”

Rob Trenton moved towards the door to the justice’s chambers.

On the other side of the rail, Merton Ostrander gestured that he wanted to see Rob, and Rob, smiling, nodded vaguely, made an ambiguous gesture of his hand, and accompanied Dr. Dixon through the door to the judge’s chambers.

“It just happens,” Dr. Dixon said smilingly, “that I have my car parked out here and I’ll give you a ride across the bridge. Something seems to tell me it will be a little better for you to get out of the state.”

“Flight?” Rob asked.

“Changing your base of operations,” Dr. Dixon said. “And incidentally leaving the jurisdiction of a hostile district attorney who has sustained wounds to his vanity and his political prestige, and who may, therefore, try to recover lost ground by having you rearrested if he can only find some ‘new’ evidence. After an hour or two he’ll remember that the two smugglers who are in custody are only too willing to buy themselves immunity by turning ‘state’s evidence’. When that happens it’ll be well for you to be in another state, and to resist extradition.”