“Incriminating to whom?” Judge Alvord said.
“Incriminating to both Glamis Barlow and Carter Gilman,” Burger said.
“If the Court please,” Mason said, “I think that is the wildest conjecture on the part of the district attorney. If Glamis Barlow entered that office for the purpose of getting a document which incriminated her in some way that is an entirely different case.”
“Not if she got the key which opened the office from Carter Gilman,” Hamilton Burger said. “And, furthermore, in order to show a joint purpose and a collaboration, we propose to show that fingerprints of the defendant, Carter Gilman, were found in the Las Vegas office of Vera Martel, and that this office as well as the Los Angeles office had literally been wrecked by someone who had pulled papers from the files and strewn them over the floor in a frantic search for some documents.”
Judge Alvord was visibly impressed by Burger’s statement.
“Can the prosecutor show when those fingerprints were made?” Mason asked. “Can he show those fingerprints were not made at a time prior to the death of Vera Martel?”
“The time is immaterial,” Burger snapped.
Judge Alvord pursed his lips, then slowly nodded. “In a public office, Mr. Prosecutor, an office where the public is invited by implication, fingerprints are not necessarily incriminating evidence unless it can be shown those prints were made at a time when the public was supposed to be excluded or because of a direct connection with some crime.”
“Not when the man who made those prints is shown to have transported the body of his victim in his automobile,” Hamilton Burger protested.
Judge Alvord frowned. “This is a very close question, gentlemen,” he said. “I have been somewhat impatient with the district attorney’s methods here, but in view of this latest statement and the possible testimony of this witness I am beginning to see an overall pattern which may be well within the permissible strategy of counsel for the People.”
“I still insist that it’s incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial,” Mason said, “until the district attorney first proves that the keys came from this defendant and that the document which Glamis Barlow was seeking was jointly incriminating.”
“I am inclined to think, in view of the manner in which the evidence is now developing,” Judge Alvord said, “that this may be permissible as tending to prove motivation. However, I will state to the prosecution, as I have stated several times before, that the prosecution has already made out a prima-facie case. If it intends to go ahead and try to prove a lot of details, such as motivation, it is going to open the door to a showing by the defense on those same matters.
“I would also like to point out that if these matters which would properly be a part of the case in the Superior Court are brought into the case at this time, and if it should then appear that the defendant is able to undermine the theory of the prosecution on any one of these matters, that weakens the case of the prosecution.
“Attempting to prove too much and failing in part of it may be just as fatal as attempting to prove too little.”
“I think I know what I am doing,” Hamilton Burger said. “I want to get this matter before the Court. I want to get these witnesses on the stand. I want to get their testimony in his case. I am willing to take my chances in the event any one of these factors in the case are discredited.”
“Very well,” Judge Alvord said. “I think, however, I would like to have a statement from you first as to what you expect to prove by this witness.”
“We expect to prove that this witness is acquainted with Glamis Barlow, that he has seen her several times in Las Vegas, that he has positively identified Glamis Barlow as the young woman he saw surreptitiously leaving the office of Vera Martel.
“The office of Vera Martel in Las Vegas is not in an office building but is on the second floor of a building which has a gambling establishment on the lower floor. Some of the upstairs rooms are devoted to apartments and there are a few offices. It happens that the office of Vera Martel is directly opposite the apartment occupied by this witness, an apartment which is given to him as part of his compensation as a card dealer in the casino downstairs.
“We expect to show that this witness saw Glamis Barlow surreptitiously leave the office of Vera Martel. We expect to show that the next morning the office of Vera Martel was found to have been burglarized and that files had been looted, papers strewn over the floor and that there was every evidence of a hasty search for some document, a search which presumably was successful.”
“May I ask the precise time that this took place?” Mason asked.
“The time was precisely nine fifteen in the evening,” Hamilton Burger said. “The witness can fix the time by reason of a radio program that had just given the time. And, if the Court please, we also expect to show the fingerprints of the defendant, Carter Gilman, were found in that office.”
“We renew our objection,” Mason said. “This is all by way of inference. Let the prosecution first prove that the defendant in this case turned over a key to Glamis Barlow.”
“I think we can sufficiently establish that fact by inference at this stage of the case,” Hamilton Burger said.
“Moreover,” Mason said, “a witness can’t testify as to a person’s manner in leaving a room as to that manner being surreptitious. That is sheer conclusion.”
“Not in this case,” Hamilton Burger snapped. “There are a dozen things that show a consciousness of guilt: the tiptoe exit, the look up and down the corridor, the glance back over the shoulder, the quiet closing of the door.”
“Then let him testify to those dozen things,” Mason said, “and I’ll cross-examine him on each one. But he can’t give his conclusion.”
Judge Alvord thought for a few moments, then reached a sudden decision. “The Court is going to take this matter under advisement,” he said. “I’m going to look up some authorities this afternoon and this evening, and tomorrow morning at ten o’clock I’ll make a ruling.
“Does the defense have any objection to a continuation of the case until ten o’clock tomorrow morning?”
“We have none,” Mason said.
“Very well,” Judge Alvord said, “the case is continued until ten o’clock tomorrow morning. The Court will take its ruling under advisement and announce its decision on this point at ten o’clock tomorrow morning. In the meantime, the defendant is remanded to the custody of the sheriff. Court is adjourned until ten a.m. tomorrow. All witnesses under subpoena will return at that time.”
Chapter Thirteen
As soon as court had adjourned, Mason, his eyes tense with concentration, said to Paul Drake, “All right, Paul, I want some action and I want it fast. Who’s the best polygraph operator in this area? I want to give some of my people a lie-detector test. Let’s find out who’s lying.”
“For my money, Cartman Jasper is about the best — but who’s going to take a lie-detector test? Carter Gilman is in custody and you can’t give him a lie-detector test without the consent of the police and the prosecutors. Glamis Barlow is being held as a material witness and...”
“Primarily I’m thinking of Nancy Gilman,” Mason said. “There’s a woman who is something of an enigma. She has too much poise, too much polish, too much sex, in a nice sort of a way. She’s dynamite and you’re never going to be able to tell what she’s thinking unless you can break below the surface.”
“All right, what do you want me to do?”
“Get Cartman Jasper in one of your offices. Get him to set up his equipment all ready for a lie-detector test.”