“Thanks,” Mason said in a whisper.
The lawyer turned to Jerome. “Mr. Jerome, you knew where Mr. Allred was going, didn’t you?”
“No, sir.”
“But you surmised it?”
“Objected to as argumentative, as an attempt to cross-examine his own witness,” Danvers said.
“Of course,” Mason pointed out to the Court, “this is a hostile witness and...”
“The Court understands,” Judge Colton interrupted. “If you want to assure the Court that this is your witness and you are calling him to prove some specific point which you can state to the Court, the situation will then be different. As matters now stand, this is merely a fishing expedition with one of the prosecution’s witnesses, and the Court will hold you to strict rules of procedure on direct examination. I take it, Mr. Mason, that you are not prepared to make any statement to the Court and Counsel of what you expect to prove by this witness?”
“No, Your Honor.”
“I thought not.”
“But,” Mason said, turning again to the witness, “you did follow Mr. Allred, didn’t you?”
“Objected to as leading and suggestive.”
“Sustained.”
“Were you at any time on Monday night in the vicinity of the Snug-Rest Auto Court?”
“Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. No proper foundation laid.”
“Sustained.”
“When was the last time you saw Bertrand Allred alive?”
“Objected to as already asked and answered.”
“Sustained.”
“When was the last time you talked with Robert Fleetwood before Allred’s death?”
“I can’t remember.”
“Did you talk with Fleetwood at any time on Monday?”
“I can’t remember.”
“Did you receive any message on Monday which had been left for you by Fleetwood?”
“Objected to as assuming a fact not in evidence, and attempting to cross-examine his own witness.”
Judge Colton said, “Mr. Mason, before I rule on the objection, I want to reiterate the position of the Court, which is that of being opposed to fishing expeditions by Counsel. Now, if you have any reason to believe...”
“I do, Your Honor. The witness, Fleetwood, has stated that he did leave a message for this witness.”
“Very well, the objection is overruled. Answer the question.”
Jerome said, “I received a message which I was told had been left for me by Fleetwood. It said not to make any settlement with Allred until I had talked with Fleetwood.”
“And when you talked with Fleetwood, what did he tell you?”
“Objected to as hearsay, incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.”
“Sustained.”
Judge Colton said, “I wish to call to the attention of Counsel that my position on all of these questions will be the same. If Counsel can state to the Court that he is prepared to prove some specific fact by this witness, there will be a great deal more leniency in connection with the examination of this witness.
“However,” Judge Colton went on, “it seems that we have reached the noon hour, and the Court will adjourn until two o’clock this afternoon. The defendant, in the meantime, is remanded to the custody of the sheriff. That’s all, Mr. Jerome. You will leave the witness stand and return at two o’clock this afternoon for further examination. Court’s adjourned.”
Mrs. Allred leaned over and touched Mason’s arm. “I want to talk with you,” she said tensely.
Mason said to the deputy sheriff, “My client wants to confer with me. May I have a few minutes?”
“Okay,” the deputy said. “Not too long.”
Mason nodded, took Mrs. Allred’s arm and escorted her over to a corner of the courtroom. “What is it?” he asked.
She said, “It’s the truth, Mr. Mason.”
“What is?”
“What Fleetwood has said.”
“You mean you were in the turtleback of that automobile?”
“Yes.”
Mason said grimly, “This is a hell of a time to say so.”
“I can’t help it, Mr. Mason. I had Pat to think of.”
“What about Pat? What does she have to do with it?”
“Nothing, Mr. Mason. Nothing at all. Now don’t misunderstand me. Please don’t misunderstand me on that. That would be the last straw.”
“I was merely taking what you said at its face value.”
“No, no. When I said I had to protect Pat, I meant that I felt it would be bad for her if I should admit I’d driven that automobile over the grade. I — well, that was what was in my mind all along — to try and avoid putting Pat in an embarrassing position.”
Mason said, “Well, suppose you try telling me the truth for a change. Just what did happen?”
“It was almost the way Bob Fleetwood said. He did drive the automobile off the road and stop, and I got out and ran down to the road. He called to me and told me that my husband was unconscious. I stopped then, and I saw him standing in front of the headlights. I saw him throw a gun just as far as he could throw it out into the darkness. And then I saw him turn and walk away from the automobile.
“I think it was because he threw away that gun that I was convinced. I knew he never in the world would have done that if my husband hadn’t been unable to hurt him. And, the way he did it, made me think that — well, you know, there was a certain gesture of finality about it. So I turned around and tiptoed back to the car and peeked inside to see just what the situation was.
“Bertrand was slumped over in a corner of the car, utterly motionless. You couldn’t hear a sound.”
“Fleetwood said he was breathing very heavily,” Mason said.
“Fleetwood is lying about that. My husband was dead.”
“You’re certain?”
“I should be certain. I stood there for a moment by the door of the car. Then I put my foot on the running board, raised myself up and said, ‘Bertrand.’ He made no answer. I leaned over and felt of his wrist. It had that peculiar clammy feeling that tells its own story. But I wanted to make sure. I felt of his pulse. He was dead.”
“Then why didn’t you go back and call the police?”
She said, “I didn’t realize the situation in which I’d placed myself until after I’d entered the automobile. I realized then that the ground was so soft that every single track showed.
“Bob Fleetwood is right about one thing. After I got in the luggage compartment, I lay there for a while, very cramped in that small space. Then I remembered we always kept an electric lantern in there for use in case of an emergency in changing tires. I found the electric lantern and switched it on. By examining the catch, I felt sure I could pry the catch back and get the lid of the luggage compartment open if I had a lever of some sort. Then I thought of the jack handle. I found that and tried it. It was pretty hard to manipulate things while the car was moving over the road, particularly that dirt road. It was a little rough.
“However, I finally got the catch back and got the lid so I could raise it. I was just in the act of raising the lid when the car turned off the road and stopped. I pushed the cover of the luggage compartment up far enough to get out, and jumped to the ground. I heard the lid bang down behind me, and I started running.
“I don’t think I’d gone over thirty or forty feet when I heard Bob Fleetwood call out that everything was all right and not to worry; that Bertrand was unconscious.
“I kept right on running, but I looked back over my shoulder and saw Bob Fleetwood throw the gun away. Then he walked away from the car. And, as I told you, I returned to the car and found my husband was dead.