"What!" Judge Saxton said,unable to conceal his surprise.
"Yes, Your Honour. I am sorry,but enough striations are visible on the base of the fatal bullet so that it ispossible to make a match. It isn't easy, but there is enough of a match so thatI am now satisfied that the fatal bullet was fired from this gun, Defendant'sExhibit la."
"Now, then," Mason said,"are you also prepared to make a statement in regard to the bullet whichwas found in the beam over the door?"
"Yes, sir."
"What gun was that firedfrom?"
"That was fired from the gun,People's Exhibit B."
"So," Mason said,"with only one shot fired from that gun, People's Exhibit Number B, we nowhave that bullet accounted for as having been fired into a beam. Therefore thatgun couldn't possibly have been used in the commission of the crime, is thatright?"
"Scientifically, and in myopinion as an expert, that is correct," Redfield said.
Judge Saxton threw his hands apartin a gesture which a man makes when he is tossing something away.
"Now, then," Mason said,"I have one more request to make. Your office keeps a record of fatalbullets and unsolved crimes?"
"Yes, it does."
"I am referring now to theattempted murder of the watchman at the Pacific Northern Supermarket,"Mason said. "You have the bullet that was recovered from his body?"
"Yes."
"I asked you to bring it withyou. Will you make a comparison test on the microscope and tell me whether youcan match that bullet with the test bullet which was fired from Defendant'sExhibit Number la?"
"Since you asked me to bringthat bullet into court, I knew what you had in mind," Redfield said,somewhat wearily, "and I have made such a test."
"With what result?"
"The bullet that wounded thewatchman was also fired from this gun which has been marked for identificationas Defendant's Exhibit Number la."
Mason turned to Judge Saxton."There you are, Your Honour. I had deduced from the evidence that thedefendant had committed a hold-up at the Pacific Northern Supermarket. I had a sketchmade of the decedent and approached the eyewitnesses with such a sketch. Thenthe district attorney of this county, using the weight of his high office, ledthe witnesses to believe that I had unduly influenced them, thereby ruiningtheir testimony so that it can't be used in an attempted murder case. Isuggest, if the Court please, that in addition to asking that the districtattorney be cited for contempt in influencing the testimony of LieutenantTragg, he also be cited for contempt in influencing the testimony of twowitnesses who saw the holdup man at the scene of the crime at the PacificNorthern Supermarket, and by the use of his influence, his skepticism and thepower of suggestion so changed their identification that it would now beuseless to attempt to prove the crime committed by the decedent."
Judge Saxton looked at HamiltonBurger's utterly astounded countenance, at Redfield, at Lt Tragg and said,suddenly, "It appears that as far as the case against this defendant isconcerned, there is none. All that can be brought to bear against him is thathe was hiding at the scene of the crime. That certainly is not enough towarrant this Court in binding the defendant over. The Court, therefore, isgoing to dismiss the case against the defendant, and as far as all these otherincidental matters of contempt are concerned, the Court is going to strike themoff the calendar and give the matter consideration and announce whether therewill be a hearing at some later date. "Court's adjourned."
Chapter 22
As Hamilton Burger stalked angrilyfrom the courtroom, Lt Tragg came over and gave Mason the benefit of hiswhimsical smile.
"Well, Perry," he said,"we all of us make mistakes. Every once in a while I deviate from goodold-fashioned police procedure because I think I have everything I need andevery once in a while I find I'm on the wrong side of the fence.
"I certainly should have hadthe lights turned on and searched that place. Now then, how did you deduce whathappened?"
Mason said, "I began to feelthat Gideon had an accomplice. I think that accomplice was someone whom he metin prison. There wasn't an opportunity for him to have an accomplice otherwise.It must have been someone who was in prison and who was released withinprobably the first year after Gideon was incarcerated."
"But why would they have anassociation which would endure all that time, and -"
Mason said, "Here's Paul Drakecoming now. I think he has the answer."
Paul Drake, hurrying into thecourtroom, looked at the sprinkling of startled spectators talking in knots, atthe empty bench where Judge Saxton should have been sitting, then hurried over toMason and Lt Tragg. "What happened?" he asked. "Whathappened?"
Della Street said, "The judgedismissed the case."
"Dismissed it?" Drakeechoed.
"That's right," Masonsaid. "Quite a few things happened this noon. What did you find out aboutthe money, Paul?"
"You were dead right. A depositof forty-seven thousand dollars was made by mail. Just plain mail. The moneywas in an envelope with postage on it and nothing else. Naturally it aroused alot of curiosity.
"There have been nowithdrawals, but at regular intervals since, small sums of money have beendeposited to the account, so that it kept the account listed on the bank'srecords as a live account."
"And the name of the man whodeposited the account?" Mason asked.
"Collister Damon," Drakesaid. "And, of course, I only need remind you that Gideon's full name wasCollister Damon Gideon.
"He undoubtedly had anaccomplice who was released from prison shortly after he was incarcerated. Thatperson couldn't draw out the money, because he couldn't establish his identityas Collister Damon, but anyone can make deposits to an account and oncedeposits are made the account continues to be a live account."
A plain-clothes man hurried into thecourtroom and motioned to Tragg.
Tragg said, "Excuse me,"went to talk with him, came back and said, "Well, Perry, I guess we've gotthe clues we need. Somebody had been touching an object that was greasy andwhen he jumped into that corrugated packing box he left fingerprints, enough sothat they can be identified. Now then, we'll go over the records of prisonerswho were released from the federal penitentiary where Gideon was confined andsee what we can find there."
"Good enough," Mason said.
"Perhaps you can tell me whathappened between Gideon and the accomplice?" Tragg said.
"Sure," Mason said,"it's only surmise but I think you'll find it'll work out once you get theaccomplice.
"They had a nice hideout herein this deserted store. I think you'll find the fingerprints of this accompliceon some of the cooking utensils and empty tin cans."
Tragg winced and said, "Let'snot rub it in, Perry."
"And," Mason went on,"they were getting by all right until things went wrong and Gideon shotthis night watchman. He lost his head completely. That put the accomplice inthe position of having a possible one-way ticket to the gas chamber. Whenevertwo or more persons commit a felony, and a murder is committed in connectionwith the felony, all of them are equally guilty of first-degree murder. For allthey knew, the watchman was going to die.
"All of a sudden Gideon becamehotter than a stove lid. He wanted out of town. He didn't dare, under thecircumstances, to try and draw that money out of the bank. He needed money andhe needed it bad. He put the bite on me. He put the bite on Warren."
"Can you tell me what he had onyou and what he had on Warren?" Tragg asked.
"No, I can't," Mason said,"and it would help a lot if you'd not try to find out. You don't need to,you know."
"Probably not," Traggsaid.
"Anyway, Warren let the gun outof his possession. Gideon had a fight with his accomplice and Gideon tried tokill him. Gideon missed. The accomplice didn't."