“Well, I made up my mind I would avoid saying anything about it unless the specific question was asked.”
“And did you reach that decision in your own mind, Lieutenant, purely because of instructions which had been given you by the district attorney?”
“I object,” Hamilton Burger said. “If the Court please—”
Judge Erwood shook his head. “Your objection is overruled, Mr. Burger. The question now goes entirely to the state of mind of the witness. If it appears that the witness reached a decision not to mention certain things because he had been asked by the prosecutor not to mention them, that shows bias on the part of the witness which not only can properly be disclosed by direct questions, but the Court may state that it is a matter of considerable interest to the Court. Answer the question, Lieutenant.”
Lt. Tragg hesitated a moment, then said, “Yes, I was instructed to say nothing about it unless I was asked.”
Mason, following up his advantage, said, “The only reason that caused you to determine to say nothing about that recording unless you were specifically asked about it was an admonition which had been given you by the district attorney. Is that right?”
“Same objection,” Hamilton Burger said.
“Overruled,” Judge Erwood snapped. “Answer the question.”
“That’s right.”
“Now then,” Mason said, “I feel that in the interests of justice, we should have the recording of that interview played to the Court.”
“If counsel wants to put it on as part of his case,” Hamilton Burger said, “let him get the recording, bring it in and offer it, and then we will make an objection on the ground that it is completely incompetent, that this Court is not bound by two unidentified voices on a tape recording.”
“Where is that recording now?” Mason asked Lt. Tragg.
“I turned it over to the district attorney.”
Mason said, “I ask that the district attorney be ordered to produce that recording, and that it be played to the Court. I think that this conversation between the defendant and Meridith Borden may be of great importance. The charge is that the defendant killed Meridith Borden. Quite obviously, one doesn’t have a conversation with a dead man.”
Hamilton Burger, on his feet, said angrily, “There’s no reason why he can’t have a conversation with a man and then shoot him. That tape recording shows that he had every reason to murder Meridith Borden.”
“Then it should be a part of your case,” Mason said.
“I’m the sole judge of what is a part of my case,” Hamilton Burger said. “All I need to do at this time is to show that a murder was committed and then produce evidence which will convince this Court that there is reasonable grounds to believe the defendant committed that murder.”
“I think that is correct,” Judge Erwood said. “However, the situation is now somewhat different. The defense counsel is calling upon the prosecution to produce that tape recording as a part of the defendant’s case. The Court is going to grant that motion. That is, that the tape, or whatever the recording was on, will be played to the Court. The Court admits that this case is taking a peculiar turn and the Court is interested in finding out what actually happened.”
“All of Mr. Mason’s cases take peculiar turns,” Hamilton Burger said angrily.
“That will do, Mr. Prosecutor. If you have that tape recording in your possession, produce it.”
“It will take a few minutes to get it here and set up so we can play it.”
“How long?”
“At least half an hour.”
“Then the Court will take a recess for half an hour.”
Drew tugged at Hamilton Burger’s coattails, and, as the district attorney bent over, Drew whispered vehemently.
“Just a moment, just a moment,” Hamilton Burger said suddenly. “I’ll try to have everything set up and get it here within ten minutes.”
Judge Erwood looked at Burger thoughtfully. “You said it would take half an hour, Mr. Prosecutor.”
“I find, on consulting with my associate, that the tape recorder is immediately available and we can get the tape here, I think, within ten minutes.”
“Is that what your associate whispered to you?” Mason asked. “Or did he whisper to you that a half-hour delay would enable me to get Dr. Callison here?”
Hamilton Burger turned angrily. “You mind your business and I’ll mind—”
Judge Erwood’s gavel banged on the desk. “That will do, gentlemen,” he said. “We will have no further exchange of personalities between counsel. However, Mr. Prosecutor, the Court was not born yesterday. You said that it would take half an hour to get the recording here, and the Court made an order that the Court would recess for thirty minutes. The Court sees no reason to change that order. The recess will be for thirty minutes.”
And Judge Erwood got up from the bench and stalked angrily into chambers.
Chapter Twelve
Five minutes before court reconvened, Paul Drake came hurrying into the courtroom, accompanied by a trim-looking woman.
Mason beckoned them over to the defense counsel table where he was seated in conversation with George Ansley.
“This is Dr. Margaret Callison, the veterinary,” Paul Drake said, “and this is Perry Mason, the lawyer for Ansley.”
“How do you do, Mr. Mason,” she said, giving him her hand and a warm smile. “I’ve read about you for a long time. I hardly expected to meet you. I told Mr. Drake that I don’t believe I know a thing that has any bearing on what happened.”
“Perhaps if you’ll tell me exactly what happened,” Mason said, “we can correlate your story with other facts in the case, and perhaps find something which will be of value. I have subpoenaed you as a witness and I want you to stand by, but I may not have to put you on the stand. Tell me what happened.”
She said, “I had one of the Borden dogs for treatment. Mr. Borden liked to have the dogs there at night. They would be brought in early in the morning, as a rule. I would treat them during the day and he would come for them at night.”
“And on this particular Monday?” Mason asked.
“I had one of the dogs which had been delivered at eight o’clock in the morning. I treated the dog, and Mr. Ferney was to come for it at nine o’clock that night.
“When he didn’t come, I waited around for his call, feeling that he had probably been detained. Actually, that call didn’t come until right around ten-twenty-five, and then it wasn’t Mr. Ferney who called. It was a man who said he was calling for Mr. Ferney, that Mr. Ferney had been unavoidably detained. He asked me if I could have the dog ready, despite the lateness of the hour. The man said Mr. Ferney was on his way.”
“You agreed?”
“Yes, I told him I would have the dog in my station wagon; that it would take me about five minutes to get the dog and load it.”
“You did that?”
“That’s right.”
“And when did Frank Ferney arrive?”
“Just after I had the dog loaded in my station wagon. He parked his car in front of my place, and I drove the station wagon to Borden’s place.”
“How far are you from the Borden place?”
“Only a little over two miles.”
“Then what happened?” Mason asked.
“Well, we went up to the gate, Mr. Ferney opened the gate with a key, and took the dog from me.
“I told him that I wanted to talk with Mr. Borden about the dog’s condition. I thought an operation might be advisable. There are a couple of glands which have a tendency to become calcified, and the dog was no longer a young dog. I suggested to Mr. Ferney that it would be well to discuss the matter with Mr. Borden, and he said that I should come on in with him, and I probably would have a chance to talk to Mr. Borden.”