"Yes, sir."
"Now the individualcharacteristics, the striations are much more difficult to trace on this fatalbullet than is ordinarily the case?"
"That is right."
"Now, when you state that whenyou consider all the circumstances you consider that in all human probabilitythe fatal bullet was fired from that revolver, Peoples Exhibit B, you aretaking into consideration certain circumstances which are not entirely withinthe province of a ballistics expert."
"Well, that depends on what youmean."
"You are taking intoconsideration certain non-technical factors?"
"Well, I suppose so, yes."
"You are taking intoconsideration the fact that the gun was found in the possession of a man whowas hiding near the scene of the murder?"
"Yes, sir, I am."
"In other words, if this gun,People's Exhibit B, had come to you cold – that is, if it had been picked up ina pawn shop somewhere and the district attorney had said to you, 'Can youpositively swear as a matter of ballistics evidence that this fatal bullet wasfired from this gun?' – what would your answer be?"
Redfield hesitated, fidgeted, lookedat the district attorney, said, "Well, under those circumstances, I wouldhave to state that while it was apparent the bullet had been fired from a gunof the same make, I couldn't swear positively, basing my testimony solely onthe science of ballistics, that the fatal bullet had been fired from thisgun."
"And," Mason said,"now if you leave out certain circumstances which influence your opinionsimply as a layman and predicate your testimony entirely on what you have foundas an expert, you are again forced to admit that you can't tell positively thatthis fatal bullet was fired from this gun."
"That is right, yes, sir."
"That's all," Mason said.
"Now, as I understand it, ifthe Court please, Lieutenant Tragg was on the stand and I am to have anopportunity to cross-examine him."
"If the district attorney isfinished."
"I have no furtherquestions," Burger said.
"I have, however, about concludedmy case. I am now going to ask the Court for an order directed to Mr PerryMason ordering him to appear in person this afternoon to show cause why heshouldn't be found guilty of contempt in tampering with the evidence ofwitnesses."
Judge Saxton said, "It isapproaching the hour of the noon adjournment. If Mr Mason's examination isbrief, I think he can probably finish his cross-examination before noon. Ibelieve that I will at that time make an order ordering Mr Mason to appear incourt at two-thirty this afternoon and show cause, if any he has, why heshouldn't be cited for contempt.
"The Court takes a very graveview of this attempt to influence the witnesses, but, on the other hand, theCourt points out to the district attorney that the action may not be incontempt but may be a criminal action, and, of course, a disciplinary actionbefore the Bar Association."
"Yes, Your Honour, I am awareof that," Hamilton Burger said. "But I think, since this witness wasone who was actually called before this Court, and since it now appears that hehas been influenced, his testimony tampered with, and the witness deceived, theCourt has power to issue a citation for contempt."
"Well argue the matter attwo-thirty" Judge Saxton said.
"The witness wasn'tdeceived," Mason said. "He was interrogated."
"Interrogated in such a mannerthat his mind was made up for him," Hamilton Burger snapped.
"Well go into that attwo-thirty," Judge Saxton said.
"Lieutenant Tragg, will youreturn to the stand, please, for cross-examination by Mr Mason?"
Lt Tragg returned to the witnessstand, seating himself comfortably in the manner of a veteran witness who hasfaced cross-examination many times in his life, is telling the truth and hasnothing to fear.
Mason said, "Lieutenant Tragg,when your men arrived at this storeroom at the corner of Clovina andHendersell, you found a body?"
"That is right."
"And you went through yourusual procedure in connection with that body. You took photographs of theposition of the body. You marked the outline in chalk on the floor. Yousearched the place?"
"Yes, sir."
"And you found the defendant?"
"Yes, sir. Hiding behind a pileof boxes."
"You say he was hiding. Youmean that he was concealed?"
"Well, he was hiding. He wasshrinking into the shadows."
"Into the shadows,Lieutenant?"
"That's what I said."
"Then the place was not welllighted?"
"The place was definitely notwell lit. The utilities were only partially in service. The water in thestoreroom was still on, but the electricity had been disconnected."
"That is rather a long,rambling building?"
"That is an old brickbuilding."
"What about theillumination?"
"When the electricity is on,the front room, the storeroom where the body was found, can be wellilluminated. The warehouse part was not so well illuminated. However, with theelectricity off the whole place was gloomy and poorly lit. One had to waituntil one's eyes accustomed themselves to semi-darkness before being able tosee things at all clearly in the warehouse."
"And that's where the defendantwas found?"
"That's where he was hiding,yes, sir."
"Now, where was the gun?"
"The gun was in the defendant'spocket."
"It had been fired?"
"It had been recentlyfired."
"Your test determinedthat?"
"Yes."
"The gun was fullyloaded?"
"Except for the one dischargedcartridge."
"Did you go to the trouble ofhaving the electricity turned on?" Mason asked.
Tragg smiled, "No, sir, wedidn't have the electricity turned on. That would have required a deposit and acertain amount of delay."
"Yet you say that you searchedthe place?"
"We searched it."
"How well did you searchit?"
"We found what we wanted."
"Which was what?"
"The murderer and the murderweapon."
"You assumed that the defendantwas the murderer because he was hiding?"
"And because he had the murderweapon in his possession."
"Yet you have just heard thetestimony of the ballistics expert in which he assumes that the weapon was themurder weapon in part because it was in the possession of the man you havebranded as the murderer."
"That is a logicaldeduction," Lt Tragg said. "However, there were other identifyingmarks indicating the revolver, People's Exhibit B, was the murder weapon."
"Did you take any lights intothe warehouse?"
"No, sir."
"You just looked through it,found the defendant and took him into custody?"
"Yes, sir."
"For all you know someone elsecould have been hiding in that warehouse?"
"No, sir, we searched it wellenough to know no one else was hiding."
"There were numerous largecardboard cartons in there, I believe you said?"
"Yes, sir."
"Some of them were big enoughto hold a man?"
"Oh, I presume so, yes."
"You didn't move them. Youdidn't look inside them?"
"No, we didn't. We made asearch for the purpose of finding anyone who might be in there. We found themurderer. That terminated our search."
"Then," Mason said,"you haven't really searched the place. I am going to put up the money forconnecting the electric light service and I suggest that this case be continueduntil a search can be made."
"What do you expect to findnow?" Judge Saxton asked.
"I don't know," Masonsaid. "I think the place should be searched."
"Well, if you want to do it andare willing to put up the money as a deposit for electric current, the Court iscertainly going to give you that privilege. It is approaching the hour of noonadjournment. The Court will adjourn until two-thirty this afternoon, at whichtime, Mr Mason, you will be asked to appear in order to show cause why youshould not be found guilty of contempt of court."
"Very well, Your Honour,"Mason said. "I will ask the cooperation of the police department ingetting immediate service in hooking up the meter on that establishment."
"But this is allfoolishness," Hamilton Burger protested. "There is nothing there now.There never was anything there that – "