Judge Erwood raised his eyebrows over the pictures, spent some time examining them. Slowly he nodded. “These pictures are very artistic,” he said. “I am going to permit them to be introduced in evidence if the defense asks to have them introduced.”
“I ask they be received in evidence,” Mason said.
“They prove nothing,” Hamilton Burger objected.
“They may or may not prove anything,” the judge ruled, “but they may be received in evidence.”
“Just one more question of this witness, if the Court please,” Mason said, turning to Ferney. “Have you seen those pictures?”
“No, sir.”
“You’d better take a look at them, then,” Judge Erwood said.
Ferney looked at the photographs which Mason extended to him. “That’s Dawn!” he exclaimed. “That’s my wife.”
It was Mason’s turn to bow to Hamilton Burger and hand him a hot potato. “That’s all,” he said. “I have no further questions of this witness.”
Burger and Drew held a heated, whispered conference, trying to decide whether to let the witness go from the stand or to ask further questions. Drew finally obtained seemingly reluctant consent from Hamilton Burger, and got to his feet.
“Mr. Ferney,” Drew said, “just to get the essential issues in this case straight, you were the one who talked on the telephone shortly after eleven o’clock?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You were the one who said you were Meridith Borden?”
“Yes, sir.”
“As far as you know of your own knowledge, Meridith Borden was not alive at that time. You can’t say whether he was or whether he was not?”
“That is right.”
“You called his name?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And he didn’t answer?”
“That’s right.”
“And Dr. Margaret Callison was the woman who answered the telephone when it rang around eleven?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you,” Sam Drew said. “That’s all.”
Mason said, “I have no further questions of this witness, but at this time, if the Court please, I desire to recall Harvey Dennison to the stand for further cross-examination.”
“The manager of the Valley View Hardware Company?” Hamilton Burger asked.
“That’s right.”
“Any objection?” Judge Erwood asked.
Hamilton Burger smiled. “No objection, Your Honor. Counsel can cross-examine Mr. Dennison as much as he wants to, any time he wants to.”
Harvey Dennison returned to the stand.
Mason said, “Mr. Dennison, are you acquainted with a young woman by the name of Dawn Manning?”
“I am.”
“Was she ever in your employ?”
“She was.”
“When?”
“About three years ago she worked for us for... oh, about six months, I guess.”
“Was Dawn Manning in your employ at the time the Colt revolver Number 613096 was found to be missing from stock?” Mason asked.
“Just a moment, just a moment, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said. “That is not proper cross-examination, that’s making an accusation by innuendo, that’s completely incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.”
Judge Erwood shook his head. “The objection is overruled. Answer the question.”
“She was in our employ,” Dennison said.
“Dawn Manning was her maiden name?”
“It was.”
“Do you know when she was married?”
“I can’t give you the exact date, but she was in our employ until she married. She left our employ when she married.”
“Do you know the name of the man she married?”
“I don’t remember that.”
“Thank you,” Mason said. “That’s all.”
“Now, just a minute, just a minute,” Hamilton Burger said, angrily. “An accusation has been made that Dawn Manning stole this gun. Do you have any evidence whatever that would lead you to believe she took the gun, Mr. Dennison?”
“None whatever,” Dennison said. And then added firmly, “My opinion of Dawn Manning is that she is a very estimable—”
“Your opinion is uncalled for,” Judge Erwood interrupted. “Just confine yourself to answering questions.”
“Did you ever have any occasion to doubt her honesty?” Hamilton Burger asked.
“None whatever.”
“That’s all!” Burger snapped angrily.
Mason smiled.
“Any redirect?” Judge Erwood asked.
Mason, still smiling, said, “You have no occasion to doubt the honesty of Dawn Manning, but she was working for you at a time when the gun disappeared. Now, I will ask you this, Mr. Dennison: Did George Ansley, the defendant, ever work for you?”
“Your Honor!” Hamilton Burger shouted. “That is improper, that is misconduct, that is not proper cross-examination.”
Judge Erwood smiled in spite of himself. “The question, as such, is, I believe, proper. The witness may answer it yes or no.”
“No,” Harvey Dennison said, “George Ansley never worked for us.”
“As far as you know, was he ever in your store?”
“No.”
“That’s all,” Mason said.
“No further questions,” Hamilton Burger said, so choked up with anger that he could hardly talk.
Judge Erwood, still smiling slightly, said, “That’s all, Mr. Dennison. You’re excused. You may leave the stand.”
Drew and Hamilton Burger conferred in whispers, then Drew got to his feet.
“It would seem, Your Honor, that despite the desperate attempts of the defense to drag another person into this case, the defendant has no alibi, and, under the circumstances, there can be none. It would seem quite apparent that Meridith Borden was lying dead in the studio, that he was killed by a weapon which was subsequently recovered from the possession of the defendant, that the defendant had threatened to kill Borden, that the defendant had the motive and the opportunity to carry out his threats. In view of the fact that this is a preliminary examination, I fail to see what more evidence needs to be supplied in order to entitle the prosecution to an order binding the defendant over.”
Judge Erwood hesitated a moment, then slowly nodded.
“Just a moment,” Mason said. “I don’t think the case is ready for argument at this time. The prosecution was putting on rebuttal evidence.”
“Well, that’s all of it. That’s all there is. That’s our case,” Drew said.
“In that case,” Mason announced urbanely, “I wish to put on some further evidence of my own in surrebuttal. I want to call Loretta Harper to the stand.”
“Loretta Harper will come forward and be sworn,” Judge Erwood said.
Loretta Harper came forward with her chin up, her lips clamped in a line of firm determination. She took the oath and settled herself on the witness stand.
Mason said, “Your name is Loretta Harper.”
“That’s right.”
“Where do you reside?”
“At Mesa Vista.”
“That is how far from Meridith Borden’s place?”
“About a mile and a half.”
“You are acquainted with the defendant, George Ansley?”
“Until I saw him at the Borden place, I don’t think I’d ever met him in my life.”
“Are you acquainted with Frank Ferney?”
“I am.”
“Do you know his wife, who goes under the professional name of Dawn Manning?”
“I do.”
“Do you have occasion to remember the night of Monday, the eighth of this month?”
“I do, indeed.”
“Will you tell us exactly what happened on that evening?”
“Objected to,” Hamilton Burger said, “as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. What happened to this witness on the night of the murder has absolutely no bearing on the limited issues of the case at this time.”