“I left it on the dresser in my house.”
“And then?” Mason asked.
“Then my wife telephoned and I asked her to bring the gun to me.”
“So,” Mason said, “you assume that the gun which you handed me was the same gun which you took home on the night of October seventh. Is that right?”
“There was only one gun. My wife took it off the dresser.”
“How do you know she took it off the dresser?”
“Well, why... of course, I wasn’t there.”
“Exactly,” Mason said. “So for all you know you may have handed me the murder weapon which could have been given you by your wife.”
The witness jumped from the stand.
“That’s a lie! I resent that!!!”
“Sit down,” Judge Decker said. “The witness will sit down and remain in order.”
Hamilton Burger said, “If the Court please, that last question was argumentative, it was not proper cross-examination, it contained a dastardly insinuation, it...”
“And as far as this witness knows,” Judge Decker said, “it is true. The witness may resent it if he likes, but Mr. Mason is representing a defendant in a murder case. The objection is overruled.”
“Now then, if the Court please,” Mason said, “I again move to strike out all of the evidence in this case concerning the identity of the gun which was handed me by the defendant because it is now apparent that the entire testimony was based on hearsay testimony.”
“I’ll connect it up! I’ll connect it up,” Hamilton Burger shouted.
“How will you connect it up?” Judge Decker asked.
“By putting the wife of this witness on the stand.”
Judge Decker shook his head. “The jurors will be permitted to consider the testimony of this witness insofar as it relates to what the witness did. But as far as the identity of the weapon which was handed Mr. Mason is concerned, it now appears that all testimony along that line was founded upon hearsay evidence and it will go out.”
Judge Decker turned to the discomfited District Attorney. “Now, Mr. Prosecutor,” he said, “if the Court might make a suggestion, it would seem that a bullet was fired from whatever weapon Mr. Mason had in his hand. That bullet certainly didn’t fade into thin air. You have a ballistic expert here who has testified, and test bullets have been fired from this gun which is Exhibit 30. It would certainly seem to the Court that there would be no great difficulty in demonstrating whether the weapon which was discharged either accidentally or otherwise by Mr. Perry Mason at that time was Exhibit 30, or was some other weapon.”
“We can’t prove it, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said.
“Why not?” Judge Decker asked.
“Because someone took that bullet as a souvenir.”
“Didn’t the police take it?” Judge Decker asked sharply.
“No, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said.
“Very well,” Judge Decker snapped, “you can’t penalize the defendant in this case because of the negligence of the police. The ruling of the Court will stand.”
“I have no further questions of this witness,” Mason said affably.
“You may leave the witness stand,” Judge Decker said. “That’s all, Mr. Garvin.”
Garvin, his face livid, passed close to Perry Mason on his way from the courtroom. “I’ll kill you for this,” he said under his breath as he walked past the lawyer.
“Just a moment, Your Honor,” Mason said. “I do have one more question of this witness. Will you please return to the stand, Mr. Garvin?”
Garvin hesitated.
“Return to the stand,” Judge Decker ordered.
Garvin retraced his steps to the stand.
“As you were just about to leave the courtroom, and as you walked past me just now,” Mason said, “you said something to me. What was it?”
“Oh, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said. “I object. This is not part of the case. Whatever the witness’s personal feelings toward Perry Mason may have been, they certainly can’t affect the prosecution. I will confess that I have been and am very exasperated over the manner in which this entire hocus-pocus was handled.”
“Your feelings don’t enter into it,” Judge Decker said. “You’re not on the stand. The defense has every right to prove any bias on the part of the witness.”
“What did you say?” Mason asked.
Garvin shouted, “I said I’ll kill you for this and, by God, I will!”
“That’s a threat?” Mason asked.
“That’s a promise,” Garvin shouted. “I’ll...”
“You will spend twenty-four hours in jail for contempt of Court,” Judge Decker snapped. “The courtroom is no place for threats such as you have just made. This witness has been repeatedly warned. I can realize that the witness is under an emotional strain, but the witness will spend twenty-four hours in jail for contempt of this Court. Mr. Bailiff, will you please take the witness into custody.”
The bailiff stepped forward, touched Garvin on the arm.
Garvin straightened, and for a moment it looked as though he would completely lose control of himself. Then with poor grace, he followed the bailiff from the courtroom.
“Call Eva Elliott,” Hamilton Burger said.
Eva Elliott was obviously prepared to take full advantage of the dramatic aspects of the occasion. She had the appearance of a woman who had spent hours at a beauty salon as she walked with slow, deliberate grace to the witness stand.
“What is your occupation?” Hamilton Burger asked.
“I am a model and an actress.”
“What was your occupation on October seventh of this year?”
“I was employed as a secretary by Homer Garvin, Sr.”
“How long had you been so employed?”
“Nearly a year.”
“Referring to the seventh of October, I will ask you if anything unusual happened in your office on that day?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What?”
“Now just a minute,” Judge Decker said. “There seems to be no objection by defense counsel, but it would seem that there should be some connection here. Anything which happened on the seventh of October outside of the presence of this defendant would have no bearing upon the case unless there is some evidence indicating that the defendant consented, acquiesced, or in some way profited therefrom or that it is part of the res gestae.”
Hamilton Burger said, “We want to show exactly what Mr. Garvin did on that day. We want to show that he knew of certain things and was in a position to communicate them to the defendant.”
Judge Decker looked at Perry Mason. “Is there any objection from the defense?”
“No objection,” Mason said smiling.
“Very well. Go ahead and answer the question,” Judge Decker said, but his eyes, sharply accusing, regarded Perry Mason’s bland countenance.
“Well, what happened?” Hamilton Burger asked.
“Mr. Garvin telephoned me from Las Vegas. He told me to wait at the office until he arrived.”
“What time did he arrive at the office?”
“Around eight forty-five, almost an hour prior to the time he said he would arrive. He was highly nervous and he refused to talk with me until after he vanished into his bathroom and took a shower.”
“Now just a moment,” Judge Decker said. “Mr. Garvin was called as a witness by the prosecution. Are you now attempting to impeach your own witness, Mr. Prosecutor?”
“The witness was a hostile witness,” Hamilton Burger said. “He is quite definitely affiliated with the defendant, as was disclosed by his testimony.”
“Nevertheless he was a witness called by the prosecution.”
“There is no objection on the part of the defense,” Mason said.
“Well, there should be,” Judge Decker snapped.
Mason merely inclined his head out of deference to the Court, and continued to sit there saying nothing.