"I have given you only a brief outline of the steps involved."
Burger nodded and said, "It is, then, a very specialized profession?"
"Very much so."
"Can you give us any better idea of what a specialized profession it is?" Burger asked.
"I can tell you this," Bates said. "There are not more than thirteen men in the United States who are recognized as being firstclass artificial eye makers. There are so many things which enter into the making of an eye; first, there must be a very expert manipulation of the materials; then there must be a certain individual artistry of color blending. A really successful maker of artificial eyes must combine the skill of an artist, when it comes to blending colors, with the craftsmanship of a very expert glassblower."
"It is, therefore, possible to recognize the work of certain individuals," Burger asked, "in the same manner that an artist could recognize the work of another artist by reason of the manner in which the pigments were applied?"
"In many instances it is," Bates said.
"I will," Burger said, "hand you herewith an artificial eye, which has been introduced in evidence as People's Exhibit A. It is an eye which was found clasped in the hand of a murdered man. I will ask you to examine such eye and state whether or not you can tell anything concerning that eye."
Bates looked at the eye which Burger handed him and nodded his head.
"Yes," he said, "I can tell a great deal about it."
"What can you tell?" Burger asked.
Judge Winters frowned, looked at Perry Mason as though expecting an objection. When he heard none he said to Burger, "The question is rather peculiarly put, Counselor."
"There is no objection," Mason said.
"This eye," Bates stated, "was made by a very expert craftsman. I think that I can give the name of that craftsman. He is one who resides in San Francisco. The eye is a bloodshot eye. That is, it is an eye which was made to be worn only on occasions, yet, the eye has been worn, or used, as you may care to put it. The man who wore it is one who has a very high degree of bodily acidity."
"How," asked Burger, "can you tell that?"
"By this ring, which you can see about the edge of the eye. That is caused by body acids entering the glass and causing a slight discoloration. After a certain period of use, this discoloration becomes quite pronounced. It can be partially removed by a bleaching treatment, but the life of the eye is shortened by these body acids which enter the glass and which cause it to become unduly brittle."
Burger nodded to Perry Mason.
"With your permission, Counselor," he said, "I will ask this witness questions concerning another eye, which I will subsequently identify. In order that there may be no question of taking advantage of Counsel, I will state that the eye, concerning which I am about to interrogate Doctor Bates, was one which was found in the hand of another dead person, to wit, one Harry McLane."
"It is your contention," Judge Winters asked, "that you have the right to introduce evidence of more than one crime, Counselor?"
"No," said Burger, "I am introducing evidence only against these defendants for the murder of Hartley Basset. The evidence which I am now about to introduce is evidence to explain motivation."
"Very well," Judge Winters said, "it will be limited to that purpose."
Burger opened another envelope, took from it an artificial eye, and dropped it into the extended palm of the witness.
"What can you tell us about this eye, Doctor?"
"This eye was not as carefully constructed as the other. It is, I would say, a stock eye. That is, it is an eye which was not made to order for any particular person, but is one of a large stock of eyes such as is kept by any wellequipped optician in a large city."
"What are your reasons for making that statement, Doctor?"
"The eye was completed and was covered with crystal. It was then a clear eye—that is, it was an eye made to match a normally clear eye. After it was covered with crystal, a hurried attempt was made to simulate a bloodshot eye. These little glass veins, which give the white of the eye the bloodshot appearance, were put on after the crystal covering had been placed on the eye. There is no trace whatever of any color line on the eye, and I would, therefore, say that it had not been worn, at any rate, for any appreciable period of time, particularly by the person who wore the other eye which you first gave me."
"May we," Burger asked, "have this eye marked, for identification, as People's Exhibit B?"
"No objection," Mason said.
"Let it be marked for identification," Judge Winters ordered.
"Crossexamine," Burger said.
Mason asked casually, "Why should a person have a socalled bloodshot eye, Doctor?"
"Some people are very sensitive about their artificial eyes. They don't want it known that they have them. For that reason, they go to elaborate precautions to keep from being discovered. They have eyes made to wear in the evening; eyes to wear when they're not feeling well; eyes made to wear when their natural eye is inflamed."
"In other words, then, it is difficult to tell when a person has an artificial eye?"
"Very difficult."
"Why is it necessary to have a separate eye to wear in the evening?"
"Because the size of the pupil of a natural eye varies during the day. With the glare of bright light, the pupil contracts. At night, under artificial lights, the pupil is larger."
"Is it, then, virtually impossible to detect the wearer of a wellmade artificial eye?"
"If the socket is in proper shape and the eye is properly fitted, yes."
"The wearer of such an eye has the ability to move the artificial eye?"
"Oh, yes."
"How is the artificial eye held in the socket?"
"By a vacuum. The eye is fitted in such a manner that the air between the artificial eye and the socket is virtually all removed."
"It should, then, be a difficult matter to remove such an eye."
"It is not difficult, but the lid must be pulled down in a manner to let air in back of the eye before it can be readily removed."
"That is done by the wearer of the eye?"
"Yes. The lid must be pulled, down."
"Quite far down, Doctor?"
"Quite far down."
"Then," Perry Mason said, "if a man with a wellfitted artificial eye was committing a murder and bending over the man he was murdering, it would be an impossibility for his artificial eye to drop out accidentally, would it not?" There was a gasp of surprise from the crowded courtroom, as, the spectators realized the point which Mason had been driving home.
"Yes," Doctor Bates said, "it would be virtually impossible."
"So that, if a murderer, emerging from a place where he had committed a murder, exhibited an empty eye socket, it would be because he had, himself, deliberately removed the artificial eye which was in that socket. Isn't that a fact, Doctor?"
"I would say so—yes. That is, of course, conceding that the murderer wore an eye which was properly fitted."
"Such an eye as that which was first given you by the district attorney, and which was claimed to have been found in the hand of Mr. Hartley Basset?"
"Yes."
"That eye, in your opinion, was carefully fitted?"
"Yes, sir. That eye was made by an expert."
Mason waved his hand.
"That is all, Doctor," he said. "Thank you."
Burger leaned forward in frowning attention. His eyes were puckered into a worried look.
"Your next witness," said Judge Winters.
"Mr. Jackson Selbey."
A welltailored individual, wearing a very high, starched collar, shuffled importantly forward, held up a wellmanicured right hand, took the oath, walked to the witness chair, carefully hitched up his trousers, so as to preserve the crease, crossed his knees, and smiled at Burger, after the manner of one who is accustomed to discharging his duties with dapper efficiency.