“Yes.”
“The car which was there all the time you were parked under the trees there?”
“Yes.”
“The car which was in front of the car that was driven by the woman?”
“Yes.”
“Very well. Now, referring to the car which came driving up there, what did you do? What did you see?”
“I saw this woman get out of the car.”
“And what, if anything, did she do?”
“She walked across to the parked car.”
“And then what?”
“She paused by the door of that car. She took something from her purse.”
“Could you tell what she took from her purse?”
“I think it was a gun.”
“Did you see a gun?”
“I saw the light reflect from something metallic.”
“And then what?”
“I don’t know what happened after that. We got out of there, fast.”
“Her car was still there when you drove out?”
“Yes.”
“She was standing there?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know whether she had seen your car; or that is, the car in which you were riding before you started the motor and turned on the lights?”
“I don’t think she had. If she did, she hadn’t paid any attention to it. It was when we drove out that she jerked back to look at us and I think she screamed; at least her mouth was wide open and I think she was screaming.”
“Did you see her face?”
“I saw her face.”
“Plainly?”
“Plainly.”
“Would you recognize that woman if you saw her again?”
“I would.”
“Do you see that woman here in court at this time?”
“I do.”
“Can you point her out?”
The witness arose from the stand, leveled a pointing finger at Norda Allison and said, “That’s the woman, the one sitting right there.”
“The one sitting over here next to Mr. Perry Mason?”
“That’s the one.”
“Would you please step down from the witness stand and put your hand on her shoulder.”
The witness marched down, placed her hand on Norda Allison’s shoulder, turned and walked back to the witness stand.
Hamilton Burger smiled. “You may cross-examine,” he said to Perry Mason.
Mason arose to face the witness. “When you entered the parking lot,” he said, “were you sitting on the side nearest the parked car?”
“Yes.”
“Then the car was parked on the right-hand side of the parking lot as you drove in?”
“Yes.”
“Then as you drove out, the car would have been to your left?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must have looked across the driver of the car; that is, the driver of the car in which you were riding, to see the two cars as you left?”
“What do you mean, the driver of the car?”
“Exactly what I said,” Mason replied. “The driver of the car in which you were riding.”
“I was driving the car.”
“When you went out?”
“Yes.”
“Where was your companion?” Mason asked.
“Crouched down on the floor in the back of the car,” she announced defiantly.
There was a slight ripple of mirth in the courtroom which Judge Kent frowned into silence.
“Perhaps you can explain exactly what happened a little more clearly,” Mason said.
“I’ve told you my boy friend was married. When we saw this car drive in there, the first thing we thought of was that it was one of those things — you know, a private-detective raiding party with a camera and flashbulbs. We thought his wife had framed him so as to get the kind of a settlement she wanted.”
“Do you mean that she had framed him or caught him?”
“Well, caught him.”
“That’s what you both thought?”
“Sure,” she said. “What else would you expect? This car comes driving up there around three o’clock in the morning, coming like sixty.”
“Now, when you say one of those things,” Mason asked, “do I gather that this is something usual in your life, that you have been previously photographed by some raiding party led by an irate wife?”
The witness was silent for a moment.
“We object, if the Court please,” Hamilton Burger said. “That’s not the proper cross-examination. The question is asked only for the purpose of degrading the witness. It is prejudicial misconduct on the part of counsel.”
Judge Kent said, “There was that in the answer of the witness which seemed to invite the question. However, under the circumstances, I think it makes little difference in this case. The situation speaks for itself. The Court will sustain the objection.”
“Were you sitting at the steering wheel when this other car came up the driveway?” Mason asked.
“No, I was not.”
“Did you get behind the steering wheel at your own suggestion?”
“My boy friend suggested I had better drive it out.”
“I take it then that he didn’t see the woman who got out of the car?”
“He didn’t see anything. He was down on the floor just as flat as he could get, and I took that car out of there just as fast as I could snake it out.”
“But you did notice the license number of the car which drove up?”
“Sure.”
“Why?”
“I thought... well, he said, ‘My God, that’s my wife,’ and... well, I looked the car over, looked at the license plate and it was an easy license plate to remember and I told him that it wasn’t his wife’s car.”
“You know his wife’s car?”
“Yes, I’ve seen it.”
“When you and your friend drove into the San Sebastian Country Club parking place you turned the car around so that it was headed out?”
“Yes.”
“And why was that?”
“So we could make a quick getaway if we had to without having anyone get the license number of the car. If the car had been left headed into the trees, then we’d have had to back and turn.”
“And the idea was that if you saw headlights coming you’d get out of there fast.”
“Yes.”
“But when you saw headlights coming you didn’t get out of there immediately. You waited until after the other car had come to a stop and a woman had got out.”
“Well... yes.”
“And you got in the driving seat and the man who was with you remained in the rear.”
“I didn’t say he remained in the rear.”
“Well, you did say he was on the floor in the rear.”
“Yes.”
“And that is right, is it?”
“Yes.”
“Now when you identified the defendant you pointed a finger and said that the woman you had seen was the defendant at whom you were pointing.”
“That’s right. That was the truth.”
“And then you got up and went down and put a hand on her shoulder.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, that identification had been carefully rehearsed, hadn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“You had been talking with the deputy district attorney, Manley Marshall, about how you were to make that identification and he told you, ‘Now, when I ask you if you can see that woman in the courtroom you are to point at the defendant. Just point right straight at her and say, That’s the woman, sitting right there.’ Didn’t he say that?”
“Well, he told me to point at her.”
“And did he tell you to put some feeling in your voice?”
“No, sir. He did not.”
“Did he tell you that he was going to ask you to get up and walk down and put your hand on her shoulder?”
“No, sir.”
“Didn’t anyone tell you to put some feeling in your voice and be dramatic and say, ‘That’s the woman, sitting right there,’ or words to that effect?”