"‘Of course she might have been with someone else in the interim,” Frank replied, “but the chances are pretty slim and next to impossible to prove.”
“But she must have,” the Professor insisted. “We take every precaution against pregnancy.”
“And yet she is pregnant. Well, I’ll have detectives try to check her movements between her two visits to the Observatory.”
A few days later Frank told the Professor the results of that investigation. “Negative. She went straight home after the first interview and didn’t leave the house until she went to the Observatory for the second time.”
“I can’t understand it.” The Professor shook his head. “Our birth control methods have never failed us before. If I Weren’t a scientist, I’d say her conception was immaculate.”
“Somehow I don’t think the Vatican would back you up on that even if you weren’t a scientist,” Frank told him.
That was the way things still stood the day Mrs. Slocum’s attorney called Lila Slocum to testify before Judge O’Neill. After the obvious facts about Lila had been gotten on the record, her attorney got down to cases. “Did you go to the Venus Bio-Erotic Observatory on the morning of March the ninth of this year?” he asked his client.
“March the ninth? Oh, yes. That was my second visit.” Lila was a bit too chipper to be an object of sympathy. A pretty girl with a naturally bubbly personality, albeit not too intelligent, she seemed to get pleasure out of being in the spotlight and her attitude towards the proceedings was one more of amusement than anything else. “My second visit,” she repeated. “That was the day I got kno—- I mean, pregnant.”
“Objection!” Frank was on his feet.
“Sustained. Witness is cautioned to answer the question and not offer conclusions,” Judge O’Neill directed.
“Tell us in your own words what happened to you on your second visit to the Venus Observatory.” Lila’s lawyer came in quickly and smoothly with the next question.
“Well, first they asked me my name and checked it against some list the girl had there. She said I should go to this room; I don’t remember the number. When I got there, they gave me an internal-—you know? After that I stayed on the table and this doctor came in with a long needle. He said the needle was nylon and it wouldn’t hurt and I shouldn’t be nervous because it was in the cervix; Then he gave me the shot—-inside, you know? Then they said I should go. By the time I got downstairs again, I was wondering because this sure wasn’t what I’d expected. So I asked the girl at the desk and she said oh, there’d been some mistake, and I should go over to this next building …"
Lila’s voice prattled on, but Frank lost the gist of what she was saying because Professor Woocheck was tugging at his arm. “What is it?” Frank turned away from the witness to consult with his client.
“I don’t understand it,” the Professor said. “That bit about the examination is standard, but we never give our subjects injections. Not in the cervix, or anywhere else.”
“Someone must have. Why would she make a thing like that up?” Frank turned his attention back to Lila’s testimony.
“. . . some more questions and then they ask me to wait while they run the info through some gadget they have,” Lila was testifying. “After a while they came back and said they’d matched me up and I could go to this room to rehearse like. So I do and . . .”
The testimony went on for a long time. By the time Lila’s attorney had concluded the examination and was ready to turn her over to Frank for cross-examination, it was past noon. Judge O’Neill called a recess for lunch.
Immediately, the Professor grabbed Frank and began speaking with great urgency. The result of what he said was that the two of them took a cab to the Venus Observatory. Only they didn’t go into the Observatory. They went into the building next door.
It was late when they returned to the Judge’s chambers with two new witnesses in tow. Judge O’Neill waved away Frank’s apologies, obviously anxious to get started. “Who are these people?” He indicated the couple with Frank.
“They’re witnesses, Your Honor," Frank explained. “I’d like to call them right away and then come back to plaintiff for cross-examination if necessary. But it may not be necessary.”
“I object.” The other lawyer was on his feet. “This is highly irregular.”
“It is, Your Honor,” Frank agreed before the Judge could sustain the objection. “But their testimony will clear this whole matter up. I believe it will resolve this whole matter quickly and thereby save the time of the Court and the taxpayers’ money.”
“Very well.” Judge O’Neill granted Frank’s request. “Call your first witness, Counselor.”
Frank summoned the witness, elicited her name and address and place of employment and then phrased his question. “Have you ever seen this young lady before?” He pointed to Lila Slocum.
“Yes sir. On the morning of March ninth of this year. I have reason to remember the young lady and the date very clearly.”
“Will you tell the Court your reason?”
“Because of an incident she was involved in on the morning I mentioned. The young lady’s name is Lila Slocum. She came to my desk that morning and told me her name.”
“That would be the reception desk,” Frank interjected.
“That’s right. That’s where I work. Anyway, she came there and gave me her name and I checked it against this list I have for appointments. The name was there, so I sent her to the examining room where she was supposed to go.”
“And did you see her again after that?”
“Yes. She stopped at my desk again awhile later and she seemed very confused. It turned out she was looking for the Venus Observatory. They’re right next door to us, and that’s what I told her. The reason I remember so clearly is that right after she left another woman came up to my desk and said she was Lila Slocum and she was sorry she was late, but she’d been held up in traffic and could she still keep her appointment.”
“Was that when you realized a mistake had been made?” Frank asked.
“Objection! The Slocum attorney was on his feet. “Calls for a conclusion on the part of the witness. As a matter of fact, Your Honor, I don’t see the relevance of this entire line of questioning.”
“Objection sustained,” Judge O’Neill decided. “And plaintiff’s counsel does have a point there,” he added to Frank. “I must admit that the relevance escapes me so far.”
“I promise Your Honor that it will be firmly established,” Frank said.
“Very well then. Continue your questioning. But understand that if you can’t tie things together, Counselor, I’ll have all this testimony stricken from the record.”
“I understand, Your Honor.” Frank turned back to the witness. “Did the appearance of a second Lila Slocum bring certain facts to your attention?” he asked. ,
“Yes.”
“What were those facts?”
“I realized that I had made a mistake by sending the first Lila Slocum upstairs. I had inadvertently sent her to keep the appointment made for the second Lila Slocum.”
“Did this realization prornpt you to take any action?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I was sure that they would have discovered the mistake upstairs before treating the woman. And the fact that she’d stopped—the first one, I mean-—to ask directions to the Venus Observatory made me think they must have told her she was in the wrong place.”
“So the Lila Slocum in this courtroom was never informed of the error.”
“Not by me she wasn’t.”
“Thank you. No further questions.” Frank turned to the Slocum attorney. “Your witness.”
“No questions, but since the relevance of this testimony hasn’t yet been established, I reserve the right to recall the witness for cross-examination at a later time.”