Hamilton Burger gave a contemptuous glance at the floor plan and said, “No questions,” when Mason turned the witness over for cross-examination.
“That’s all of our evidence, Your Honor,” Mason said.
“Do you have any rebuttal?” Judge Erwood asked Hamilton Burger.
“None, Your Honor. It certainly appears that there is reasonable ground to believe the defendant committed the crime. The testimony of Loretta Harper standing alone is sufficient to warrant an order binding the defendant over.”
“May I be heard in argument?” Mason asked.
“I don’t think it is necessary, Mr. Mason, nor do I think it would do any good. However, I’ll not preclude you from arguing the case.”
“Thank you, Your Honor.”
“The prosecution has the right to open the argument,” Judge Erwood said.Hamilton Burger, smiling, said, “We waive our opening argument.”
“Proceed, Mr. Mason,” Judge Erwood said.
“If the Court please,” Mason said, “I claim that this case is a frame-up. Those pictures of the defendant were not taken in Meridith Borden’s photographic studio. We have the evidence of the camera expert that the photographs could not have been taken with Meredith Borden’s camera. And now, if the Court please, I will call the Court’s attention to one other item of physical evidence. The Court will note that according to the testimony of Loretta Harper, the defendant had been thrown from the car and had skidded along on her hip. Thereafter, the witness had dragged the defendant a still further distance on her hip.
“The Court will notice that the next day the hip of the defendant was so bruised and scraped that she could not pose as a model for any so-called cheesecake shots.
“Now then, if the Court will carefully examine the photographs which purport to have been taken with the camera in Meridith Borden’s studio at a time after the accident, the Court will find irrefutable evidence that these pictures were taken at some time prior to the night of the murder and then planted in the Borden camera.
“Bear in mind that this defendant is a professional model. She poses almost daily for amateur photographers who are interested in various types of photography, particularly the so-called cheesecake pictures.
“It would have been readily possible for any accomplice to have paid this defendant her posing rate, have taken these pictures and then have held them for as long a period of time as desired until finally turning them over to the murderer of Meridith Borden to be planted in the camera of the victim.
“If the Court will carefully study the left hip of the defendant, as shown in the Borden photographs, the Court will see that there are absolutely no grass stains, no mud-stains, no scrapes, no blemishes of any sort. It would have been a physical impossibility for the defendant to have been photographed immediately after that accident without some of these defects showing.
“For the benefit of the Court, I wish to call the Court’s attention to this picture of the defendant which was taken the day after the accident, and which shows the extent of the scrapes and bruises on the defendant’s left hip.
“The Court will notice that the defendant worked at the Valley View Hardware Company until her marriage. In other words, it is reasonable to suppose that Frank Ferney was courting her during the time she was engaged as a clerk in that store.
“Someone stole the murder weapon from the store. That thief was a man. If the defendant had been dishonest enough to steal a weapon for her own protection, she would have taken one of the small automatics of a type that could be placed in her purse. This weapon is a man’s weapon. It was stolen by a man. It is reasonable to suppose that Frank Ferney was in and out of the store many times, and, enjoying the confidence of the defendant, that he was permitted behind the counter.
“Turning to the so-called time schedule, or alibi of Frank Ferney, I ask the Court to notice the plans which have been introduced by James Goodwin showing the fourth floor of the apartment house where Loretta Harper has her apartment.
“It is to be remembered that Frank Ferney was supposed to have passed out and to have been placed in this bedroom to sleep it off. The Court will notice that the fire escape runs right past this bedroom in 409. It was a simple matter for Ferney to slip out of the window, go down the fire escape, go to Meridith Borden’s house, commit the murder and return in time to be aroused from his apparent sleep when Loretta Harper came in to tell the spectacular story of her kidnaping.
“I think it is a fair inference that there was a deliberate attempt on the part of Loretta Harper and Frank Ferney to kill Meridith Borden and to do it under such circumstances that the crime would be blamed on this defendant.
“The evidence of that frame-up not only exists in the extrinsic evidence in this case, but, if the Court will carefully study the pictures which were taken of this defendant, and which were in Meridith Borden’s camera, the Court will realize that those pictures simply couldn’t have been taken on the night of the murder.”
Mason sat down.
Judge Erwood frowned, said, “Let me look at those pictures.”
He started comparing the Borden pictures with the photograph Mason had taken of the hip of Dawn Manning.
Hamilton Burger jumped to his feet. “That’s all very simple, Your Honor. Just a little retouching would have fixed up those pictures.”
“But these pictures haven’t been retouched,” Judge Erwood said. “The films are here in Court.”
Hamilton Burger slowly sat down.
Abruptly Judge Erwood reached his decision. “I think some more investigative work needs to be done in this case,” he said. “I am going to dismiss the case and discharge the defendant from custody. The Court is satisfied there is something peculiar here, and the Court feels that there should be a much more careful check of the evidence.
“The defendant is discharged, the case is dismissed, and court is adjourned.”
Chapter Sixteen
Perry Mason, Della Street, Paul Drake, George Ansley and Dawn Manning sat in the lawyer’s private office.
“Well,” Dawn Manning said, “I have to hand it to you, Mr. Mason. I certainly thought you had tossed me to the wolves.”
“I did,” Mason admitted, “but then I came along with another car and picked you up before the wolves got there.”
“Just what do you think happened?” Della Street asked.
Mason said, “I think that Meridith Borden had caught Frank Ferney in some theft or embezzlement. I believe Borden handled large sums of money in the form of cash which were passed out here and there as bribes and which were received by various people. Borden didn’t dare to have checks made so they could be traced on his bank account. He didn’t give checks.
“It is reasonable to suppose that with that much cash around, Frank Ferney had managed to embezzle some. The probabilities are he was about to be discovered, or perhaps he had been discovered and Borden had decided to report the case to the police.
“An elaborate plan was worked out by which Dawn Manning would have been brought on the grounds immediately after nine o’clock and then left there. She would have been escorted to the photographic studio by Loretta Harper. In the meantime, Frank Ferney would apparently have been nowhere around. Loretta Harper, who was driving a stolen car so that the car and the driver couldn’t be traced from the license plates, would have asked Dawn to excuse her for a moment, telling Dawn to go ahead and run up to the studio. Then Loretta would have vanished. She would have been back at her apartment in time to corroborate Frank Ferney’s alibi.