“Exactly,” Judge Hoyt said. “And the Court feels that under the circumstances, it certainly would have been in order to have checked it to find out what trip it was.”
Hamilton Burger started to say something, then apparently thought better of it.
Mason said, “If this witness had been telling the truth, if he could have made an absolute identification of the defendant, nothing that might have happened subsequently on the evening of the third could have confused him. If he permitted himself to become confused, it was because he wasn’t as positive of his identification as the authorities tried to make him think he was when he picked the defendant out of the lineup the next morning.”
“That, unfortunately, is now an inescapable conclusion,” Judge Hoyt said. “Regardless of how it happened, Mr. Prosecutor, you must admit that the testimony of this witness has become hopelessly impaired. You would hardly be in a position to use this witness in front of a jury to make an absolute identification.”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it,” Hamilton Burger said angrily. “Right now, I’m interested in finding out how it happened that this trap was set. Your Honor must realize that if the defendant hadn’t had a guilty conscience, she wouldn’t have manipulated things so that there would have been this unforeseen development.”
“I’m not too certain,” Judge Hoyt said. “How do we know that this witness didn’t confuse the faces of two people who got in his cab on the third of the month?”
“Well, of course,” Hamilton Burger said angrily, “if that’s going to be the Court’s attitude—”
“The Court’s attitude is determined from the testimony, Mr. Prosecutor,” the judge interrupted coldly.
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Now, proceed.”
Hamilton Burger appeared undecided.
“Of course,” Judge Hoyt said, “in a preliminary examination you only need to show that a crime has been committed and that there is reasonable cause to believe the defendant has committed that crime. However, in the present state of the proof, the evidence is entirely circumstantial and the evidence which is before the Court is hopelessly contradictory.”
Hamilton Burger said, “I can dismiss this proceeding without prejudice and I can then file another complaint.”
“Or you can go before the grand jury and ask for an indictment and avoid a preliminary examination altogether,” Judge Hoyt suggested.
“Of course,” Hamilton Burger said, “that is exactly what counsel was trying to bring about. The more opportunities he has to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses, the more opportunities he has for finding some minor inconsistency which can be distorted and magnified into something that is out of all proportion to its significance.”
“Is there any proof that the defendant was riding in the automobile with the decedent when it was driven up to that house?” Judge Hoyt asked. “Were there any latent fingerprints of the defendant in the automobile?”
Hamilton Burger said shamefacedly, “Frankly, Your Honor, we didn’t look. We felt that the positive identification of this cab driver, putting the defendant at the scene of the crime, was all we needed, particularly when we learned the weapon in the case had been sold to her husband. It wasn’t until we started checking that we realized the signature on the firearms registration was that of another person, who had evidently been sent to pick up the gun for Mr. Harlan.”
“Well, what do you want to do with this case?” Judge Hoyt asked.
“I’d like to have the defendant bound over,” Hamilton Burger said tentatively.
Judge Hoyt shook his head. “Not unless you have some additional evidence.”
“Well, I don’t want the Court to turn the defendant loose,” Burger said.
Judge Hoyt showed his exasperation. “I have been endeavoring to give you every consideration, Mr. Prosecutor. I appreciate your position, and the Court feels that there may have been some very ingenious device used here at least to confuse the identification. However, the fact remains that the identification is confused. Now, if you want to dismiss the case before the Court rules on it, go ahead and dismiss it.”
“I move to dismiss this case,” Hamilton Burger said.
“Very well, the case is dismissed; the defendant is discharged from custody.”
“I’m going to ask the Court to order the defendant to remain in custody until I can get other proceedings.”
Judge Hoyt shook his head. “You can have the defendant arrested on a warrant, if you wish. Or you can have her arrested on suspicion of murder while you are waiting for the grand jury to act. As far as the Court is concerned, once the proceedings are dismissed the defendant is discharged from custody.”
“Very well, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said.
“Court’s adjourned,” Judge Hoyt snapped.
As soon as the judge had arisen from the bench, the prosecutor marched out of the courtroom, his face livid with anger.
Perry Mason grinned at Sybil Harlan. “Well,” he said, “that’s the first round.”
“What do I do now?” she asked.
“Wait here,” Mason said. “You’re going to be rearrested.”
“And I sit here and wait for that?”
“Sure.”
“What about that taxi driver?”
Mason said, “By the time Hamilton Burger gets him in front of a jury, he’ll have changed his story all around. But we’ll have this transcript on which we can impeach him, and that will keep his testimony somewhat in line. After he’s thought it over, he’ll state that, giving the matter second thought, he feels that you probably were one of the two women who got in the taxicab later on in the evening and that you also were the one whom he took to the Union Station.”
“What will you do if he says that?”
Mason grinned. “I’ll ask him how it happened that when the matter was fresh in his mind he was so positive that you hadn’t again entered the cab. I’ll give him a bad time. Who signed for the gun that your husband bought?”
“I think it was his secretary.”
“Well,” Mason said, “they’ll find out who signed his name. They’ll serve a subpoena on her, put her on the stand, and have her identify her signature. They’ll ask her what she did with the gun she received, and she’ll be forced to say that she gave it to your husband.”
“Then what?”
“By that time,” Mason said, “we’ll have tried to find out something else to do. In the meantime, I’m going to—”
Enright Harlan pushed open the gate that separated the space reserved for lawyers and came striding toward them.
Sybil Harlan gave him one brief glance and then, as she saw the expression on his face, stiffened as though bracing herself against the physical impact of a blow.
“I’ve just heard something, Sybil,” he said.
“Well?”
“Mrs. Doxey, the daughter of George Lutts, told Roxy Claffin that you were the one who furnished Perry Mason with the money to buy a stock interest in the Sylvan Glade Development Company, so you could throw a monkey wrench in the machinery.”
“Now, just a minute,” Mason said. “Take it easy.”
Harlan didn’t even look at the lawyer but stood looking straight at his wife. “Is it true, Sybil?”
“Hold on a minute,” Mason said. “We have a bunch of newspaper reporters back there. This is a hell of a time to start a family row.”
“Will you deny it?” Enright Harlan asked.
Sybil met his eyes. “Do we have to discuss it now, Enny?”
“Yes.”
“No, I won’t deny it. It’s true. She was trying to steal something very dear to me, and I decided I’d give her something to think of.”