Brooks called a series of people to help lay out the state’s case. Archer declined to cross-examine any of them.
The judge finally looked over at him. “Mr. Archer, just checking to see if maybe you’ve fallen asleep over there.”
The crowd tittered at this.
“No, Judge, just biding my time,” replied Archer.
“Well, don’t wait too long. You might find your ‘time’ has run out, son.”
Finally, Archer perked up when Brooks said, “The state calls Miss Jacqueline Tuttle.”
Archer turned to see Jackie Tuttle rise from the back row and head to the witness box set directly next to the bench. She was dressed in a modest dark blue dress, low heels, black stockings, a matching turban with a little veil attached, and a string of fake pearls around her neck. She was sworn in by the bailiff and took her seat. Jackie took a moment to lift her veil and fix it to a hook on the turban.
Brooks approached. “You are Jacqueline Tuttle, the daughter and only child of Lucas Tuttle?”
“I am.”
“Do you know the defendant, Aloysius Archer?”
Jackie gave a searching look at Archer. He stared back at her, impassively.
“I do.”
“What can you tell us about the events that led up to the death of your father?”
“I was there when Mr. Hank Pittleman, who was a friend of mine, employed Mr. Archer to collect a debt owed by my father. Mr. Pittleman was going to pay him one hundred dollars when the debt was paid, but Mr. Archer asked for and received a forty-dollar advance.”
“Why was that?”
“He said he might have some expenses in collecting the debt and needed some money up front. I thought it made sense, actually.”
“And did he use some of the money?”
Jackie hesitated.
“Miss Tuttle, did he use some of the money?” Brooks asked again.
“He bought himself some new clothes.”
Brooks held up a piece of paper. “New clothes that we have determined cost about thirty-five dollars.”
“He looked good in them.”
“And did the time come when Mr. Archer sought to collect this debt?”
“Yes. He told me that he’d had a good first meeting with my father and that he intended to keep working away at it.”
“Was he successful?”
“At first, no.”
“Can you walk us through that, please?”
“Hank wanted Mr. Archer to take back a Cadillac that my father owned and that he had assigned as collateral for the loan.”
“Did Mr. Archer secure this collateral?”
“No, he later told me that my father had burned it up.”
“And what happened after that?”
She glanced at Archer before replying. “Mr. Archer was worried because he’d already spent most of the money Hank had advanced and he was concerned that Hank might come after him for it.”
Brooks looked over at the jury and saw them hanging on every word of this testimony.
“And what was Mr. Pittleman’s reaction to Mr. Archer having spent the money?”
“He told Archer if he didn’t get the car back, he was going to make Archer pay somehow.”
“How did Mr. Archer take that?”
“Like anyone would have. He was worried about it.”
The jury and the crowd started mumbling about this until the judge restored quiet with smacks of his gavel.
“Thank you for making things so clear, Miss Tuttle. Now, did there come a time when Mr. Archer met with your father again?”
“Yes, I let him drive my car out there to meet with him.”
“And what happened?”
“Archer convinced my father to pay back the debt.”
“How much money did he come back with?”
“Um, five thousand dollars plus another fifteen hundred dollars in interest.”
“Wasn’t Mr. Archer paid as well?”
“Yes. My father also paid him an additional three hundred dollars as his commission.”
These large sums caused whistles and musings from those gathered until the raps of the judge’s gavel ended the distraction.
“So just to be clear, this three hundred dollars paid by your father was in addition to the amounts promised to Mr. Archer by Mr. Pittleman?”
“Yes.”
“Do debtors ordinarily pay the men collecting their debts?”
“Well, I thought it was strange. But it happened.”
“But you don’t know that it did, Miss Tuttle. You only had Mr. Archer’s word for it that your father paid him the three hundred dollars. Isn’t that correct?”
“But why would he lie about that?”
Brooks glanced at the jury. “Oh, I think most people could think of a few reasons.”
He refocused on Jackie. “Now, your father was murdered the very same day that Mr. Archer went out there, correct?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Wasn’t his safe also emptied?” asked Brooks, interrupting.
“His safe?”
“Yes. His safe was cleaned out. Can you tell us what was in it?”
“No. The last time I was there, the safe had nothing in it.”
“But what did Mr. Archer tell you was in the safe?”
Jackie glanced at Archer, but he looked down at his hands.
She looked back at Brooks, who was waiting patiently for her answer.
“Miss Tuttle?” he prompted. “Didn’t Mr. Archer tell you what was in the safe?”
She nodded but said nothing.
“Can you share what you know with the court?” he said pleasantly but firmly.
She sighed and said, “He told me that it was full of cash, stock and bond certificates, and even gold bars.”
“And where did this wealth come from?”
“He said that my father had told him that the reports of oil on his land had come back favorably, and that was where the money had come from, with more to follow once they commenced drilling.”
“And you weren’t aware of this until he told you?”
“That was the first that I had heard of it. I had been gone from home for a year.”
The crowd once more verbally fussed over all this until the judge’s gavel smacked down again.
“And then?” prompted Brooks.
“And then I went out to my father’s house with Mr. Irving Shaw, the detective on the case. He had the safe opened, but it was empty.”
“What else did Mr. Shaw tell you? About your car specifically and traces of things inside it?”
Brooks had now moved so that Jackie’s sight line to Archer was blocked. “Mr. Shaw said that the trunk of my car had residue of gold dust and the imprint on the carpet of the gold bars.”
Brooks said to the jury, “Although unfortunately Lieutenant Shaw is still in the hospital and cannot be here to testify, we have photographs and other evidence of all this, which will be entered into evidence.” He turned back to Jackie. “Again, to be clear, you had given Mr. Archer permission to use your car that day to drive out to your father’s home to meet with him?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So to clarify for the jury, Mr. Archer went to see your father, collected the debt, and your father ended up dead that very same day. Then his safe was emptied and the wealth from the safe was placed in the car that Mr. Archer was driving.” He paused. “That is correct, isn’t it?”
“That is correct,” she said quietly.
Brooks glanced over at the jury. He smiled because every single one of them was nodding and, Brooks could tell, connecting the dots. “And even though we never found the murder weapon, a gun can easily be disposed of. And a former soldier like Mr. Archer would no doubt know how to do so.”
Archer didn’t bother objecting to this or looking at the twelve men who would decide his fate; he kept his gaze on Jackie.
Brooks continued. “And the, let’s call it, treasure that Mr. Archer told you that he had seen in the safe? That meant that it must’ve been opened by your father while he was there?”