“Her face showed relief and she said, ‘I am Diana Douglas. I’ll take the ticket, please.’ ”
“So you gave her the ticket?”
“Yes.”
“And then what?”
“Then she left and I made it a point to look at the purse she was carrying. The gun in it distorted the purse’s shape and—”
“Move to strike out that it was the gun that had distorted the purse’s shape,” Mason said.
Judge Elliott hesitated, then said, “That may go out. The witness can state whether the purse was distorted.”
“The purse was distorted by some object which had been thrust into the purse, an object so long that the purse was out of shape.”
“Cross-examine,” Floyd said.
“Did you,” Mason asked, “ever pick the defendant out of a line-up?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“You didn’t see her from the time you talked with her at the ticket counter until you went into the courtroom today?”
“I identified her picture.”
“But you didn’t pick her out of a line-up?”
“I did not. That wasn’t at all necessary, Mr. Mason. After the manner in which my attention had been attracted to the defendant, I would have picked her out anywhere.”
“That’s all,” Mason said.
Floyd put on his next witness with an air of triumph. He was a middle-aged individual who gave his occupation as part of a crew who cleaned up airplanes for the United Airlines.
“Are you familiar with the plane which left the Los Angeles Airport Terminal at eight o’clock on the evening of Thursday, the twelfth of this month, and arrived in San Francisco approximately an hour later?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you clean that plane?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you find anything unusual?”
“I did.”
“What was it?”
“It was a gun.”
“Where was that gun found?”
“The gun had been concealed in an opening underneath a pile of towels in one of the lavatories. I may state that these towels are placed in piles in the containers and are replenished from time to time. On this particular occasion I wanted to get at one of the connections for the plumbing, and in order to do that I had to remove the towels and insert my hand in the opening in the back of the towels. When I did that I felt some foreign object in there and drew it out, and it was this gun.”
“Did you take any steps to identify the gun?”
“I took it to my supervisor.”
“And what did the supervisor do?”
“He notified the police and, at the request of the police, we took down the statistics on the weapon.”
“What were the statistics?”
“This was a twenty-two caliber single-action revolver, having a nine-and-three-eighth-inch barrel and a wooden handle. On the gun was stamped Ruger twenty-two, with the words single six, the number, one-three-nine-five-seven-three and the name of the manufacturer, Sturm — S-T-U-R-M — Ruger — R-U-G-E-R — and Company, Southport, Connecticut. The initials E.D. had been carved in the handle.”
“I’ll show you a gun and ask you if that is the gun that you found.”
Floyd came forward and handed the witness the gun.
Diana Douglas’ hand clutched Mason’s leg, the fingers digging in so hard that the lawyer surreptitiously lowered his own hand to loosen her grip.
Diana’s face was tense, tight-lipped and chalky.
The witness turned the gun over in his fingers, nodded, and said, “This is the gun.”
“What was the condition of the gun when you found it?”
“It was fully loaded except for one shell which had been discharged.”
“This is a single-action gun, and, in other words, it has to be cocked and then the trigger pulled. It isn’t the so-called self-cocking gun?”
“No, sir, it is what is known as a single-action gun.”
“Cross-examine,” Floyd said.
“You have no idea how long the gun had been in that receptacle?” Mason asked.
“No, sir. I know when I found it, that’s all.”
“Thank you,” Mason said, “no further questions.”
Floyd introduced in evidence the sales register of the Sacramento Sporting Dealers, Inc., showing that the Ruger gun in question had been sold five years earlier to Edgar Douglas.
His next witness was a young woman who identified herself as a hostess on the eight o’clock plane to San Francisco on the night of Thursday, the twelfth. She had noticed Diana, observed that she was a passenger, had observed the peculiar shape of the cloth purse she was carrying when she boarded the plane. She stated that Diana was carrying a sort of overnight bag as well as the cloth purse, and when Diana went to the lavatory she noticed that she carried both the overnight bag and the purse with her, which the stewardess thought was rather peculiar. Aside from that, however, she could contribute no evidence. She hadn’t paid any particular attention to the purse after Diana had been in the lavatory.
Then Floyd pulled his trump witness, the ballistics expert who stated that the fatal bullet which had killed Moray Cassel had come from the gun which had been registered in the name of Edgar Douglas.
This expert was followed by the manager of the San Francisco apartment house, who stated that after the automobile accident which had rendered Edgar Douglas unconscious and had resulted in his going to the hospital, his sister, the defendant, had been given a key to her brother’s apartment and had been in and out, straightening things up.
Next Floyd introduced the doorman at the Tallmeyer Apartments. He had, he admitted, not seen the defendant when she entered the apartments, but he had seen her when she left; he noticed she had been carrying a black type of overnight bag and a black cloth purse. The purse was stretched to the limit by some rigid object which was within it. He had noticed the purse particularly.
Floyd introduced a purse which was identified as the property of the defendant and asked the doorman if he recognized the purse. The doorman answered in the affirmative. It was either that purse or one that was an exact duplicate of it.
Judge Elliott glanced at the clock and cleared his throat. “Gentlemen, it is nearing the hour of adjournment and it would certainly seem there is no use in prolonging this inquiry further. There is undoubtedly evidence that a crime has been committed and an abundance of evidence connecting the defendant with the crime. In fact, the Court has been rather surprised at the amount of detailed evidence put on by the prosecution.”
Floyd said, “The prosecution is all too well aware of the reputation of defense counsel and wishes to leave no possible loophole.”
“Well, it would seem that you have left no loophole,” Judge Elliott said, smiling. “I think, gentlemen, we can adjourn the hearing and bind the defendant over.”
Mason arose. “If the Court please,” he said with respect but very firmly, “the defense may wish to put on some testimony.”
“Why?” Judge Elliott asked.
“Because I believe it is our right.”
“You have a right to subpoena witnesses, that is true. But this Court is not called upon to judge the credibility of witnesses. This Court is not called upon to weigh questions of reasonable doubt. You certainly can’t claim that a prima facie case has not been established.”
“The question of whether a prima facie case has been established,” Mason said, “depends upon the evidence at the conclusion of the case and any attempt to decide a case without giving the defendant a day in court would be—”
“Oh, all right, all right,” Judge Elliott said impatiently. “We’ll continue the case until ten o’clock tomorrow morning. I want to warn counsel, however, that we have a busy calendar and the Court does not take kindly to fishing expeditions or attempts to try a case on the merits at a preliminary hearing. The Court warns counsel that this Court will not weigh the credibility of witnesses and that any question of conflicting facts will be determined in favor of the prosecution as far as this hearing is concerned. However, the Court will try to do nothing which will preclude the defendant from having a fair hearing on the merits before a jury in the Superior Court, at which time the credibility of witnesses can be raised and the doctrine of reasonable doubt will apply.