“Well, we can always hope,” Della Street said.
“The whole thing turns on that fatal bullet,” Mason said, “whether it was fired from Ellen Adair’s gun or whether it wasn’t.”
“What does Wight say about the gun?”
“What you’d expect him to say,” Mason said. “He borrowed the gun for target practice a week or ten days earlier. He fired the gun several times, then put it back in the glove compartment of Ellen Adair’s car, where he had told Ellen he’d leave it. Natural enough in one way when you consider his youth, his diversification of interests, girlfriends, studies, hot-rod automobiles, and liquor.”
Della said, “I shudder to think of what that young man would do with two million dollars in cash.”
Mason regarded her thoughtfully. “Look at it from his standpoint,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“Figure out what he’d do without two million dollars in cash.”
Chapter Sixteen
Judge Dean Elwell took his position on the bench, glanced at his court calendar, said, “The case of the People of the State of California versus Ellen Calvert, also known as Ellen Adair, defendant.”
“Ready for the defendant,” Perry Mason said.
Stanley Cleveland Dillon, the chief trial deputy of the district attorney’s office, stood up with impressive dignity.
“We are ready for the people,” he said. “And the people respectfully wish to point out that this is a preliminary hearing solely for the purpose of determining whether a crime has been committed and whether there are reasonable grounds to determine that the defendant has committed that crime.”
Judge Elwell said with some acerbity, “The Court understands the rule of law, Mr. Dillon.”
“I know the Court does,” Dillon said. “But I wanted to point out the position that the prosecution will take when it comes to combating the harassing, delaying tactics which are so much a part of the defense in some of these cases.”
“We won’t go into any personalities,” Judge Elwell ruled. “Call your first witness.”
Stanley Dillon, who prided himself upon having sent more defendants to their deaths than any other trial deputy in the State of California, was visibly annoyed at Judge Elwell’s treatment.
Of late, there had been some criticism that Dillon regarded defendants in criminal cases as so much game to be stalked. Then an irate defense attorney had remarked that if it had been legal Dillon would have disinterred the bodies, mounted the heads of the various defendants whom he had sent to the gas chamber, and had them arranged as trophies in his study.
Criticism of this sort bothered Dillon and caused him to explain that he was only doing his duty as a public servant. He claimed that he took no personal satisfaction whatever in securing verdicts of death in the criminal cases he had prosecuted. He was very conscious of public relations.
Now he was well aware of the crowded courtroom.
Not only had the case attracted much public attention because of newspaper publicity and the issues involved, but the two half brothers of Harmon Haslett, Bruce and Norman Jasper, were present in court, as were “Slick” Garland, the troubleshooter, and Jarmen Dayton, the detective.
Ellen Adair sat beside Mason, still maintaining that air of queenly dignity, divorcing herself as a person from the proceedings in which she was the accused.
“I am, if the Court pleases, going to make this as brief as possible,” Dillon said. “I will call Lieutenant Tragg as my first witness.”
Lieutenant Tragg came forward, took the oath, seated himself comfortably in the witness stand, and gave his name, address and occupation to the clerk.
“I am going to ask you, Lieutenant, very briefly to tell the Court what you found when you were called to a duplex dwelling at 163S Manlay Avenue on the fifth of the month. I will ask you to describe briefly what you found.”
“Very well,” Lieutenant Tragg said. “We found a house with a front door which was closed and locked with a spring lock. The back door, however, was unlocked and partially open. We found a typical duplex bungalow, and in the bedroom of the bungalow, where all windows were closed and locked, we found the body of the occupant of the duplex.”
“Her name, please.”
“Agnes Burlington.”
“What was the condition of the body, Lieutenant?”
“It was clothed in a garter girdle, a bra, stockings and shoes.”
“How was the body lying?”
“Somewhat on its left side, generally in a face-down position.”
“What was the condition of the body medically.”
“The medical examiner can tell you more about that,” Lieutenant Tragg said. “But, generally, rigor mortis appeared to have formed and disappeared. There was postmortem lividity.”
“What did the postmortem lividity indicate?”
“That the body had not been moved after death.”
“You took photographs?”
“We took many photographs, showing the position of the body and the surroundings.”
“Now, when you moved the body, what did you find?”
Lieutenant Tragg knew that he was dropping a bombshell in the lap of the defense. He couldn’t resist glancing at Perry Mason to see how the defense lawyer would take the information.
“We found a thirty-two-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver under the body.”
Mason jerked bolt upright in his chair. “May I ask the court reporter to read that last answer?” Mason asked.
“Very well,” Judge Elwell ruled.
The court reporter read the answer: “We found a two-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver under the body.”
“Was that revolver the fatal weapon?” Dillon asked.
“I object, if the Court pleases,” Mason said. “This calls for a conclusion of the witness, and no proper foundation has been laid for his examination as a ballistics expert; nor has there been any evidence that the decedent met her death by means of a gunshot wound. Therefore, the question assumes facts not in evidence.”
“Oh, if the Court please,” Dillon said, “this is simply an attempt to expedite matters. I suppose that I could ask Lieutenant Tragg as to the cause of death and he could state that it was a bullet wound, but defense counsel would probably object on the ground that I had not qualified him as an autopsy surgeon.”
“Go ahead; ask him,” Mason invited.
“What was the cause of death?” Dillon asked.
“A gunshot wound.”
Dillon said wearily, “At this time I’ll withdraw Lieutenant Tragg from the stand temporarily and put on the autopsy surgeon.”
“Just a minute,” Mason said. “I have a few questions I would like to ask of Lieutenant Tragg on cross-examination before he steps down.”
“You’ll have an opportunity to cross-examine him when I’m finished,” Dillon said irritably.
“But I would like to cross-examine him now as to certain phases of the testimony he has already given. If you are going to ask him to step down from the stand, I think that I have that right,” Mason said.
“All right, all right, all right,” Dillon said testily. “I have no objection.”
Mason said, “You found a gun under the body of the decedent, Lieutenant Tragg?”
“That’s right. Yes, sir.”
“And that gun was a thirty-two-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What about the cylinder?”
“The gun was fully loaded.”
“There were no empty cartridges in the cylinder?”
“No.”
“Had the gun been discharged recently?”
“According to the best tests we could make, the gun had not been discharged in some time.”
“And did you make any attempt to trace the registration of that gun?”