“Because it had been recently discharged, because there was no other place where the bullet could have gone, and because the gun was a .38 caliber.”
“I see. You know the fatal bullet was a .38 caliber because the gun was found beneath the body, and you know this weapon was the weapon used because it’s a .38 caliber. Is that right?”
“It makes it sound absurd when you express it that way.”
“Then express your deductions in some way so they won’t sound absurd.”
“There was the size of the wound.”
“Don’t you know a bullet always makes a smaller entrance wound than the caliber of the bullet?”
“How can it make an entrance wound that is smaller than its diameter?”
“Due to the elasticity of the skin.”
“Well, this was a .38 caliber. I’m certain of it.”
“But that part of your testimony about the gun being the fatal gun is pine deduction?”
“It’s a matter of expert opinion.”
“An expert opinion based on pure deduction, Doctor?”
“Well—yes, if you want to put it that way.”
“That’s all,” Mason said.
A surveyor was sworn and maps of the premises were introduced. Then a police officer who testified that he was called to the scene of the crime because of a telephone call from a neighbor who had in turn been alarmed by the screams of one of the servants who had been to a movie and returned to find George Alder lying dead on the floor of the study. The officer described the premises as he had found them, stated that from the time he entered the premises he remained on duty, that he instructed others to telephone the sheriff and notify the coroner. The witness waited on the premises until the coroner arrived. He was present when photographs were taken and he identified a long series of photographs showing the body of the dead man-and the condition of the premises at that time.
“Cross-examine,” Gloster said, quite casually.
“Now, the dog was shut up in an adjoining room?” Mason asked.
“It wasn’t an adjoining room, it was sort of a—well, a closet with a ventilator in it and a window up near the top. The window was so high that the dog couldn’t reach it”
“Who let the dog out?”
“Well, after reinforcements came, we—we all sort of let him out together.”
“And what happened?”
The officer said, “We tried to open the door a crack and then as he pushed his head out, slip a rope around his neck.”
“Were you able to do so?”
The officer grinned. “That dog was just like a bullet. We opened that door and the dog came out of there like a shot, jerked the rope out of the hands of the man who was trying to hold him, and went out of there like greased lightning.”
“Where did he go?”
“The last I saw of him, he was crossing the room and tearing down the side stairs, the rope whipping behind him.”
“You ran out after him?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And where was he?”
The witness grinned. “He was gone.”
That sally brought laughter from the courtroom.
“Do you know in which direction the dog went?”
“Well, not from my personal knowledge, no, sir.”
“He wasn’t visible in the yard?”
“No, sir.”
“You do know that he was not in the back yard?”
“He ran around the side of the house, apparently, and tried to get out to the street through the gate. I don’t know this, I can’t swear to it, because by the time I got around to the front of the house the servant who had run out of the front door had the rope and was holding him.”
“Did the dog make any attempt to bite?”
“The dog let this servant hold the rope.”
“That was the same servant who had discovered the body?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And where is that dog now?”
“Oh, Your Honor,” Gloster said, “that’s certainly not proper cross-examination. It’s far outside of the issues.”
“Well, if the witness knows, he may tell,” the judge ruled. “I don’t see that it’s particularly important one way or the other, but I want to give counsel the greatest latitude in cross-examination.”
“But, Your Honor, the question of where the dog is at the present time is certainly carrying an inquiry far afield,” Gloster said courteously. “I think that it is significant that the decedent locked the dog up in this closet so that the visitor whom he was expecting would not be annoyed by the dog. We expect to prove that that was somewhat a routine procedure. Whenever anyone was admitted to the house—any stranger, that is, the dog was either shut up or kept on leash. But where the dog is now, that’s certainly going far outside the issues.”
Mason said with a smile, “Well, if it’s entirely immaterial why not let me know where the dog is?”
“Because there’s no use cluttering up the record with a lot of extraneous matters.”
“Well, just for my own information, tell me where the dog is.”
Gloster shook his head.
Judge Garey began to show signs of quick interest. “I think the defense is entitled to know,” he ruled.
“Your Honor,” Gloster said desperately, “I want to keep the evidence within the issues and I want to keep the issues narrowed down to the question of who killed George S. Alder. If we get to bringing dogs into the case, and where the dogs are, and what the dogs are eating, and how the dogs feel, and whether the dogs are mourning, and … “
“He hasn’t asked anything about the dog’s diet He’s asking where the dog is,” Judge Garey said, “and I think he’s entitled to know. Answer the question, Mr. Witness.”
“I don’t know,” the officer said. “He was, I believe, taken out to some boarding kennel. That’s the last I heard of it”
“Do you know the name of the kennel, Mr. Gloster?” Judge Garey asked, his voice ominous.
“No, Your Honor, I believe the sheriff had charge of the dog.”
“Well, find out and let me know,” Judge Garey said. “I think we’re entitled to know where the dog is. Any further cross-examination, Mr. Mason?”
“This closet that the dog was in,” Mason said. “Did you say the closet had been specially built for the dog?”
“No, sir, I didn’t. I think it had just been a closet that had had a ventilator put in it. You could see the dog had been kept in there at intervals—there was a bed, a pan of water, and the inside of the door was just scratched all to pieces where ihe dog had tried to get out when the minder was committed. He had torn a nail loose in his clawing.”
“You noticed the torn claw?” Mason asked.
“Not the torn claw, but you could see that it had been torn because there were three distinct, although faint streaks of blood on the inside of the door where his paw had scratched along the wood, and a couple of bloody smudges on the closet floor. If you ask me, it was a crime to leave a dog in a room with a paneled door like that. A smooth piece of wood could have been fastened to the inside of the door and then the dog wouldn’t have torn his nails on the panels.”
“But had he scratched on the door before?” Mason asked.
“Well, to be fair to the owner, the scratches were all fresh. I presume that… I’m sorry, I forgot I can’t testify to an opinion.”
“Go right ahead,” Mason told him. Tm not objecting. You seem to have a more expert opinion than the experts.”
The witness grinned. “Well, the scratches on the inside of the door were all fresh. I called the attention of the others to that after we’d opened the door and the dog had dashed out. Evidently he’d been well disciplined and accustomed to remaining in the closet but when he heard the shot fired and—well, I presume there’d been a quarrel and—well, anyway, that dog wanted out so bad he’d torn a nail on that rough paneling on the inside of the door. I’m a dog lover and it makes me sore when I see an animal abused.”