"Your name?" Burger asked.
"Jackson Selbey."
"What is your occupation, Mr. Selbey?"
"I am manager of the Downtown Optical Company."
"How long have you been employed as manager for that company?"
"Four years."
"Prior to that time where did you work?"
"For the same company, but in the position of chief clerk. I was promoted to the position of manager at the time I mentioned."
"The Downtown Optical Company keeps a stock of artificial eyes, does it, Mr. Selbey?"
"Yes, sir; a very complete stock."
"Are these eyes as well or as carefully made as eyes which are made by the more expert artisans, such as Doctor Bates mentioned in his testimony?"
"They are quite well made. They are made in various color combinations, so that any normal eye may be readily matched. They are well enough made to make a very satisfactory match for any natural eye."
"Do you, in your stock, carry a supply of what might be called bloodshot eyes—that is, eyes in which the veins over the white part of the eye are sufficiently red and pronounced to give the eye a bloodshot appearance?"
"No, sir."
"Why not?"
"Because such eyes are required only by persons who go to great lengths to prevent the detection of artificial eyes. Such persons usually employ one of the recognized experts to match their natural eyes, whereas the person who purchases artificial eyes from us does so because he wishes to save money. He usually doesn't have sufficient funds to have a complete set of eyes."
"Have you, however," Burger asked, "upon occasion, been asked to make bloodshot eyes?"
"Yes, sir, upon one occasion."
"And how was it suggested that be done?"
"By taking an eye from stock and having an eye maker add bloodshot veins to it by using the very fine reddish veinglass which is manufactured for such purpose."
"Was that recently?"
"Yes, sir."
"I will ask you," Burger said, "to look at the people present in this courtroom and tell us if you have seen any of these persons in your store."
"Yes, sir, I have."
"Did one of them order the bloodshot eye to which you have referred?"
"Yes, sir."
"Who was that person?"
Selbey pointed his finger at Brunold.
"The defendant, Brunold, sitting there," he said, "was the man."
The eyes of the court attaches and spectators turned toward Brunold. Brunold sat, arms folded across his chest, chin slightly sunk forward, eyes fixed. His face was absolutely without expression.
It was Sylvia Basset whose face showed the emotion which newspaper reporters like to describe in sensational articles. She bit her lip, leaned forward to stare at the witness, then sat back with an audible, tremulous sigh.
"When did he order the bloodshot eye?" Burger asked.
"At nine o'clock in the morning, on the fourteenth of this month."
"What time does the Downtown Optical Company open its doors?"
" Nine o'clock in the morning."
"He was there when the doors opened?"
"Yes, sir."
"What did he say, if anything?"
"He said that it was necessary for him to have a bloodshot eye at once. He said he wanted an eye to take the place of the one which he had lost."
"Did he say when the eye had been lost?"
"Yes, sir, the night before."
"Did he mention a time?"
"No, sir."
"Did Mr. Brunold tell you under what circumstances the eye had been lost?"
"Yes. I told him we couldn't possibly make the eye he wanted, as he wanted it and within the time limit he had fixed. So he then gave me a story by way of explanation and, apparently, in an attempt to enlist my sympathies."
"Who was present at the time of this conversation?"
"Just Mr. Brunold and myself."
"Where did the conversation take place?"
"In the consulting room of the Downtown Optical Company."
"What did Mr. Brunold say?"
"He said that he had been calling upon a former sweetheart who had since married a man who was very jealous; that on the previous evening he had been talking with this woman when one of the servants had knocked on the door. Mr. Brunold said he had wanted to face the husband and have it out with him, but that the woman, because her son had been legally adopted by the husband, had refused to leave. He said that the woman pretended to have been bathing so that she could delay the servant's entrance long enough to enable Brunold to jump out of a window and make his escape. He further said that the bloodshot eye, which he customarily carried with him in a chamoislined pocket in his waistcoat, had dropped from his pocket when he climbed from the window; that he was afraid the husband had recovered the eye and would trace it; that if this was done the husband would uncover a lot of information which would be damaging to the woman, and work a great injustice upon her.
"He then said it was necessary for him to have an eye to take the place of the one he had lost at once, so that he could either claim he had never lost the eye or, if it appeared more to his advantage to do so, he could claim that someone had stolen his eye and substituted a counterfeit, and that he was afraid the person who had stolen the eye intended to 'plant' it where it would get him into trouble."
"And you're certain," Burger asked, "that the man who made these statements to you was none other than the defendant, Peter Brunold, who is now sitting here in court?"
"Yes, sir."
Burger smiled triumphantly at Perry Mason.
"Now, Counselor," he said, "you may crossexamine."
Perry Mason nodded, got to his feet, pounded his heels belligerently across the courtroom to the counsel able where the district attorney sat.
"Please let me have that second eye," he said, "which was marked, for identification, People's Exhibit B."
Burger handed him the eye in the stamped envelope, saying, as he did so, "Please be very careful to return the eye to that marked envelope, Counselor."
Perry Mason said, "Certainly. I am no more anxious hen you are to get these eyes confused, although, with the expert testimony you have produced, we should be able to identify them in the event such a confusion takes place."
He advanced to the witness, shook the eye out of he envelope, and said, "Calling your attention to an eye which has been marked, for identification, People's Exhibit B, I will ask you whether this was the counterfeit eye which you sold to Peter Brunold."
Selbey shook his head, and his lips twisted in a triumphant smile.
"No, sir," he said sweetly, "it was not."
"It was not?" Mason demanded triumphantly.
"No, sir. You see, we didn't sell Mr. Brunold any eye. He appeared and said that he wanted such an eye, and explained the reasons why he wanted it. But we refused to make the eye. Doubtless he was able to get some other firm to do so."
Chapter 15
Paul Drake came crowding through the spectators as the courtroom buzzed with the activity of a recess. He paused just before the mahogany railing in the courtroom, waited until he had caught Perry Mason's eye, then gave him a significant wink.
Mason moved over to a corner where there was some opportunity for privacy. Paul Drake joined him.
"Well," the detective said, "I ranked the job. Have you seen the newspapers?"
"No," Mason said. "What happened?"
Drake opened a brief case, took out a newspaper still damp from the press, handed it to Perry Mason with a wry face, and said, "That tells the story—not as well as I could tell it, but it's a damn sight easier for me if you read it rather than have me tell it."