“No, sir.”
“Why not?”
“Because it is rather unusual to find fingerprints on a weapon of this type. The surface is usually somewhat oily and it is the exception rather than the rule to find any fingerprints. There is, however, one place where fingerprints are sometimes found. That is on the magazine clip. The clip is usually grasped between the thumb and forefinger and then pushed into place with the ball of the thumb. The magazine clip is not as oily as a rule as the rest of the gun, and sometimes we do find prints on the magazine.”
“Did you find any prints on the magazine of this weapon?”
“None that we could use.”
“Now, can you tell us exactly where you found this weapon?”
“Yes, sir. I found it under the pillow of the bed in the front room of the house occupied by Barton and Lorraine Jennings.”
“Do you know that this was a room occupied by the defendant?”
“Not of my own knowledge, no, sir. I know only that it was a room in the front of the house, and I know that the defendant had at one time been in that room.”
“How do you know that?”
“Her fingerprints were in various parts of the room, on doorknobs, by a mirror, on a table top and in other places.”
“Did you photograph the exact position of the gun after the pillows had been removed?”
“I did.”
“Do you have that photograph with you, or a copy of it?”
“I do.”
“May I see it, please.”
Tragg produced a photograph from the briefcase. Marshall stepped to the witness stand to take it from the witness, showed it to Perry Mason and said, “I would like to introduce this photograph in evidence.”
The photograph showed the head of a bed, a rumpled sheet, two pillows and an automatic lying on the rumpled sheet.
“No objections,” Mason said. “It may be received in evidence.”
“Cross-examine the witness,” Marshall said.
“I take it, Lieutenant Tragg,” Mason said, “that the pillows which are shown in the photograph had been moved prior to the time the photograph was taken?”
“Yes, sir.”
“But the gun was in exactly the same position that it was when you found it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then, in removing the pillows, the gun was not disturbed?”
“No, sir.”
“In removing those pillows then, you were looking for a weapon, were you not?”
“We hoped to find a weapon, yes.”
“Was that gun loaded or unloaded when it was found?” Mason asked.
“It was unloaded. It had been unloaded.”
“How do you know it had been unloaded?”
“Because of things that had been done to the barrel.”
“There was no shell in the firing chamber?”
“No.”
“None in the magazine?”
“No.”
“Were there shells in the bedroom where the defendant had left her fingerprints?”
“Yes. There was a partially filled box of .22 shells.”
“Did you find any fingerprints on that box of shells?”
“None that we could positively identify.”
“That’s all,” Mason said.
“If the Court please,” Marshall said, “Lieutenant Tragg can, of course, corroborate the finding of the empty cartridge case and the finding of the printing press, but I didn’t ask him about those matters because this is merely a preliminary hearing and since Sergeant Holcomb has already given his testimony I see no reason in cluttering up the record. I will state, however, to counsel that if he desires to cross-examine Lieutenant Tragg upon these matters we have no objection.”
“I have only one question on cross-examination in regard to that phase of the case,” Mason said.
He turned to Lt. Tragg. “Do you think it would be possible to pick up the printing press in question without getting some smears of ink on your clothing?”
“It would be possible,” Lt. Tragg said.
“But it would require some care in order to avoid doing so?”
“It would.”
“Who carried the printing press out from its place of concealment to the car which eventually transported it to police headquarters?”
“I did.”
“Did you get ink on your clothing?”
“Unfortunately, I did.”
“You have heard Sergeant Holcomb’s testimony about your falling through the brush?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you fall?”
“I fell.”
“Did you fall going out with the printing press?”
“No, sir, I used great care.”
“But it was daylight?”
“It was daylight.”
“In your opinion, Lieutenant Tragg, as an officer, was the printing press placed in a position of concealment where it was reasonably safe from detection?”
Marshall started to get to his feet and object, then changed his mind and sat back in his chair, quite evidently feeling Tragg could take care of himself.
“It wouldn’t be safe from detection in the sort of examination which is usually made in a homicide case.”
“In other words, you don’t join with Sergeant Holcomb in considering that his discovery of the printing press represented an epochal achievement in the chronicles of crime detection?”
There was a ripple of laughter in the courtroom and this time Marshall, on his feet, angrily objected.
“The objection is sustained,” Judge Kent said, but again there was a ghost of a twinkle in his eyes.
“No further questions,” Mason said.
“We ask that the .22 Colt automatic, number 21323-S be received in evidence,” Marshall said.
“No objection,” Mason said.
“Call Alexander Redfield,” Marshall said.
Redfield, the ballistics and firearms expert, came forward, was sworn and qualified himself as an expert.
Having been the victim of some of Mason’s ingenious cross-examination several times in the past, the expert was exceedingly careful in answering questions.
“I show you a Colt Woodsman automatic, number 21323-S, which has been received in evidence,” Marshall said, “and ask you if you have conducted a series of experiments with that weapon and if you have examined it.”
“I have.”
“I show you a .22-caliber bullet which has been received in evidence and which the testimony shows was the so-called fatal bullet taken from the body of Mervin Selkirk, and ask you if you have examined that bullet.”
“I have.”
“Did that bullet come from this gun?” Marshall asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“No, sir. I know that it was fired from a weapon made by the Colt Manufacturing Company similar to this weapon, but I can’t say that it came from this particular weapon.”
“Why not? Can’t you usually tell whether a given bullet comes from a given weapon?”
“Usually you can tell.”
“How?”
“There are certain characteristics which are known as class characteristics,” Redfield said. “Those relate to the pitch of the lands in the barrel, the dimension of the lands and grooves, the direction in which they turn, the angle of turn which gives a twist or rotation to the bullet, and from those class characteristics we can generally tell the make of weapon from which the bullet was fired.
“In addition to these general or class characteristics there are characteristics which are known as individual characteristics. Those are little striations which are found on a bullet, and are caused by individualized markings in the barrel itself. By comparing these markings, we are able to tell whether the striations on a fatal bullet coincide with those on a test bullet fired through a weapon, and from that we are able to determine whether a bullet was fired from a certain weapon.”
“But you are unable to make that determination in the present case?”