“What else have you found out, Paul?” Mason asked.
“That address in Carson City,” Drake said. “Helen Drexel, Harley Drexel’s daughter, is a friend of Connely Maynard. Her father had built a little house on the back of his lot. It was not the type of house that would readily rent to permanent residents, but it was an ideal place for persons who were coming to establish a six weeks’ residence in order to be able to file suit for divorce.
“So Maynard quite naturally took it up with his girl friend, Elvina Mitchell, and she arranged to tout for the place and keep it filled up.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed. “Then, if Minerva Hastings went there to establish a residence in order to get her divorce, Minerva must have been friendly with Banner at that time.”
“Or, with Banner’s secretary,” Drake said.
“Then Banner was representing Minerva all along and was responsible for the situation getting to a point where Hastings thought he was divorced, made a bigamous marriage and still had a legal wife in the background.”
Drake nodded and said, “The friendship is between Helen Drexel and Elvina Mitchell. On the Monday in question, Helen Drexel had driven the family car in to do some shopping in Los Angeles. Since she always runs in to have a visit and a coffee break with Elvina Mitchell when she’s in town, and since the parking lot next to the building here was as centrally located as any, with reference to the shopping district on the one hand and Banner’s office on the other, she parked her car there and left it there while she did her shopping. It doesn’t have anything to do with the murder case but it’s an interesting fact, just the same, and it shows some sort of a tie-in.”
“I’ll say it does,” Mason said. “Thanks for the information, Paul. I’m going to think it over and see if I can’t make something out of it.”
Chapter Fifteen
As Judge Fallon ascended the bench after the thirty-minute recess, Hamilton Burger said, “If the Court please, the prosecution intends to call a witness who will identify the defendant as being a person whom he saw at a certain place. At the time, the defendant was wearing dark glasses.
“In order to be fair to both the witness and the defendant, it is imperative that at the time this witness sees the defendant for the first time in court he sees her wearing dark glasses. I am going to ask the Court to instruct the defendant to put on dark glasses during this session of the court, and to keep them on.”
Judge Fallon shook his head. “I doubt that that is a fair request,” he said. “Personal identification is a field in which we have far too many mistakes as it is. If we force a party to put on dark glasses it would only be a step to asking that a holdup suspect put on a mask so the witnesses could identify him.”
“If the Court please,” Hamilton Burger said, “many things go toward making an identification; voice, manner, the shape of the head, the manner in which a person walks. I feel that the request is reasonable.”
Judge Fallon started to shake his head, then caught Mason’s eye.
Mason said, “We are perfectly willing to have the defendant put on dark glasses, if the Court please, provided all the witnesses are required to put on dark glasses and wear them at the same time that the identification is made.”
Burger’s face lit up triumphantly. “You’re willing to do that?”
“We’re willing to do that.”
“That seems most reasonable,” Burger said.
Judge Fallon still seemed dubious. “I think counsel is putting his client in a dangerous position. The Court has seen enough of eyewitness identification of strangers to realize the fallibility of that testimony, at best. Props of this sort can make it at its worst.”
“We’re perfectly willing,” Mason said, with a wave of his hand. “Let them all put on dark glasses.”
“Very well,” Judge Fallon said. “All witnesses who are in court, if you have dark glasses you may put them on. If you don’t have dark glasses you may leave the courtroom temporarily.
“Call your witness, Mr. Burger.”
Mason turned to the defendant. “Put on your dark glasses, Adelle,” he said.
Hamilton Burger settled back in his seat with a smile.
One of the officers whispered to him and Burger said, “If the Court please, Miss Mitchell has been delayed for just a few minutes. In order to save time, I would like to put on another witness out of order.”
“We have no objection,” Mason said, “with the understanding, however, that as soon as Elvina Mitchell enters the courtroom she will be called as a witness and this witness the district attorney is calling out of order may step down.”
“That is perfectly agreeable,” Hamilton Burger said. “I call Arthur Cole Caldwell.”
Caldwell, a well-built, slender-waisted individual of thirty-five or thirty-six, took the witness stand.
“Your name is Arthur Cole Caldwell, you are an aviator and have an airplane charter service here in Los Angeles?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you on Monday, the fourth, have occasion to charter an airplane to a young woman for a trip to Las Vegas?”
“Yes, I flew her to Las Vegas and then flew her back.”
“How long was she in Las Vegas in all?”
“A little over an hour.”
“What time did you leave?”
“We left the airport here at five-thirty. The charter had been arranged over the telephone earlier in the day and my plane was all gassed up and waiting to take off.”
“Was there anything peculiar about the appearance of this person who chartered the plane?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What was it?”
“Despite the fact that it was dark for a large part of the trip, she insisted upon wearing dark glasses at all times when she was in the plane.”
Burger said, “I’m going to ask you to look around the courtroom and see if you can see that same person who chartered your plane.”
“Now, if the Court please,” Mason said, getting to his feet, “we object to this means of identification. An identification should be made in a lineup where there are several persons similar in appearance.”
Judge Fallon said, “That of course is a better way to make an identification. However, that goes to the weight of the evidence, not to its admissibility. I think a question of this sort is perfectly permissible. If the prosecution wishes to make its identification in this manner, I overrule the objection.”
The door of the courtroom opened and Elvina Mitchell hurried into the courtroom.
“If the Court please,” Mason said, “Elvina Mitchell has now entered the courtroom and I request permission to put her on the stand immediately in accordance with the stipulation of counsel.”
“Very well,” Hamilton Burger said. “I will abide by my stipulation.”
Burger waited until Elvina Mitchell had been sworn and seated herself on the stand. Then he said, “Your name is Elvina Mitchell and you are employed as secretary for Huntley L. Banner, an attorney in this city?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How long have you been so employed?”
“For some seven years.”
Burger, carrying the photostatic copy of the will, approached the witness.
“I show you a photostatic copy of a document which purports to be a last will and testament executed by Garvin Hastings and signed by you and Mr. Banner as witnesses. Are you familiar with that document, and is that your signature?”
“Yes, sir. It is.”
“Were you all three present when that document was signed?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you signed as a witness?”