“The Court will reserve a ruling,” Judge Hartley said. “It seems to me that these questions are largely preliminary.”
“What did you do after the boat was rented?” Hamilton Burger asked the witness.
“Well,” Gilly said, “I was curious. I wanted to see—”
“Never mind your thoughts or emotions,” Hamilton Burger said. “What did you do?”
“I walked back to where my car was parked, got in the car and drove out to a place I knew on the waterfront where I could get out on the dock and watch what was going on.”
“What do you mean by your words, ‘what was going on’?”
“Watch the boat I had rented.”
“And what did you see?”
“I saw the cruise ship coming slowly into the harbor.”
“And what else did you see?”
“I saw Munroe Baxter jump overboard.”
“You know it was Munroe Baxter?”
“Well, I—Of course, I knew it from what happened.”
“But did you recognize him?”
“Well … it looked like Baxter, but at that distance and in that light I couldn’t swear to it.”
“Don’t swear to it then,” Hamilton Burger snapped. “You saw a man jump overboard?”
“Yes.”
“Did that man look like anyone you knew?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Munroe Baxter.”
“That is, as I understand your testimony, he looked like Munroe Baxter, but you can’t definitely swear that it was Munroe Baxter. Is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then what happened?”
“I saw people running around on the deck of the cruise ship. I heard voices evidently hailing a launch, and a launch came and cruised around the ship.”
“What else happened?”
“I kept my binoculars trained on the boat I rented.”
“What did you see?”
“There were two men in the boat.”
“Two men?” Hamilton Burger asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Where did the other man come from, do you know?”
“No, sir. I don’t. But I am assuming that he was picked up on one of the docks while I was getting my car.”
“That may go out,” Hamilton Burger said. “You don’t know of your own knowledge where this man came from?”
“No, sir.”
“You know only that by the time you reached the point of vantage from which you could see the boat, there were two men in the boat?”
“Yes, sir.”
“All right, then what happened?”
“The boat sat there for some time. The second man appeared to be fishing. He was holding a heavy bamboo rod and a line over the side of the boat.”
“And then what happened?”
“After quite a while I saw the fishing pole suddenly jerk, as though something very heavy had taken hold of the line.”
“And then what?”
“Then I could see a black body partially submerged in the water, apparently hanging onto the fish line.”
“And then what did you see?”
“One of the men leaned over the side of the boat. He appeared to be talking—”
“Never mind what he appeared to be doing. What did he do?”
“He leaned over the side of the boat.”
“Then what?”
“Then he reached down to the dark object in the water.”
“Then what?”
“Then I saw him raise his right arm and lower it rapidly several times. There was a knife in his hand. He was plunging the knife down into the dark thing in the water.”
“Then what?”
“Then both men fumbled around with the thing that was in the water; then one of the men lifted a heavy weight of some kind over the side of the boat and tied it to the thing that was in the water.”
“Then what?”
“Then they started the motor in the boat, slowly towing the weighted object in the water. I ran back to my automobile, got into it and drove back to my boat pier.”
“And what happened then?”
“Then after a couple of hours the man who had rented the boat brought it back.”
“Was anyone with him at the time?”
“No, sir, he was alone.”
“What did you do?”
“I asked him if he had picked anyone up and he—”
“I object to any conversation which was not in the presence of the defendant,” Mason said.
“Just a moment,” Hamilton Burger said. “I will withdraw the question until I connect it up. Now, Mr. Gilly, did you recognize the other man who was in the boat with this stranger?”
“Not at the time. I had never seen him before.”
“Did you see him subsequently?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Who was that man?”
“The defendant.”
“You are referring now to Duane Jefferson, the defendant who is seated here in the courtroom?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are you positive of your indentification?”
“Just a moment,” Mason said. “That’s objected to as an attempt on the part of counsel to cross-examine his own witness.”
“Overruled,” Judge Hartley said. “Answer the question.”
“Yes, sir, I am positive.”
“You were watching through binoculars?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What is the power of those binoculars?”
“Seven by fifty.”
“Are they a good pair of binoculars?”
“Yes, sir.”
“With coated lenses?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You could see the boat clearly enough to distinguish the features of the people who were in the boat?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now then, after the boat was returned to you, did you notice any stains on the boat?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What were those stains?”
“Bloodstains that—”
“No, no,” Hamilton Burger said. “Just describe the stains. You don’t know whether they were blood.”
“I know they looked like blood.”
“Just describe the stains, please,” Hamilton Burger insisted, striving to appear virtuous and impartial.
“They were reddish stains, dark reddish stains.”
“Where were they?”
“On the side of the boat, just below the gunwale, and over on the inside of the boat where there had been a spattering or spurting.”
“When did you first notice those stains?”
“Just after the boat had been returned to me.”
“Were they fresh at that time?”
“Objected to as calling for a conclusion of the witness and no proper foundation laid,” Mason said.
“The objection is sustained,” Judge Hartley ruled.
“Well, how did they appear to you?”.
“Same objection.”
“Same ruling.”
“Look here,” Hamilton Burger said, “you have been engaged in the fishing business and in fishing for recreation for some time?”
“Yes, sir.”
“During that time you have had occasion to see a lot of blood on boats?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And have you been able to judge the relative freshness of the stains by the color of that blood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s fish blood the witness is being asked about?” Mason interposed.
“Well … yes,” Hamilton Burger conceded.
“And may I ask the prosecutor if it is his contention that these stains on the boat the witness has described were fish blood?”
“Those were stains of human blood!” Hamilton Burger snapped.
“I submit,” Mason said, “that a witness cannot be qualified as an expert on human bloodstains by showing that he has had experie
nce with fish blood.”
“The principle is the same,” Hamilton Burger said. “The blood assumes the same different shades of color in drying.”
“Do I understand the district attorney is now testifying as an expert?” Mason asked.
Judge Hartley smiled. “I think the Court will have to agree with defense counsel, Mr. District Attorney. There must first be a showing as to whether there is a similarity in the appearance of fish blood and human blood if you are now trying to qualify this witness as an expert.”
“Oh, well,” Hamilton Burger said, “I’ll get at it in another way by another witness. You are positive as to your identification of this defendant, Mr. Gilly?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And he was in the boat at the time you saw this thing—whatever it was—stabbed with a knife?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Were these stains you have mentioned on the boat when you rented it?”
“No.”
“They were there when the boat was returned?”
“Yes.”
“Where is this boat now?” Hamilton Burger asked.
“In the possession of the police.”
“When was it taken by the police?”
“About ten days later.”
“You mean the sixteenth of June?”
“I believe it was the fifteenth.”
“Did you find anything else in the boat, Mr. Gilly?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What?”
“A sheath knife with the name ‘Duane’ engraved on the hilt on one side and the initials ‘M.J.’ on the other side.”
“Where is that knife?”
“The police took it.”
“When?”
“At the time they took the boat.”
“Would you know that knife if you saw it again?”
“Yes.”
Hamilton Burger unwrapped some tissue paper, produced a keen-bladed hunting knife, took it to the witness. “Have you ever seen this knife before?”
“Yes. That’s the knife I found in the boat.”
“Is it now in the same condition it was then?”
“No, sir. It was blood—I mean, it was stained with something red then, more than it is now.”
“Yes, yes, some of those stains were removed at the crime laboratory for analysis,” Hamilton Burger said suavely. “You may cross-examine the witness, Mr. Mason. And I now ask the clerk to mark this knife for indentification.”
Mason smiled at Gilly. “Ever been convicted of a felony, Mr. Gilly?” Mason asked, his voice radiating good feeling.
Hamilton Burger jumped to his feet, apparently preparing to make an objection, then slowly settled back in his chair.
Gilly shifted his watery eyes from Mason’s face to the floor.
“Yes, sir.”
“How many times?” Mason asked.
“Twice.”
“For what?”
“Once for larceny.”
“And what was it for the second time?” Mason asked.
“Perjury,” Gilly said.
Mason’s smile was affable. “How far were you from the boat when you were watching it through your binoculars?”
“About … oh, a couple of good city blocks.”
“How was the light?”
“It was just after daylight.”
“There was fog?”
“Not fog. A sort of mist.”
“A cold mist?”
“Yes. It was chilly.”
“What did you use to wipe off the lenses of the binoculars—or did you wipe them?”
“I don’t think I wiped them.”
“And you saw one of these men fishing?”
“Yes, sir. The defendant held the fishing rod.”
“And apparently he caught something?”
“A big body caught hold of the line.”
“Have you seen people catch big fish before?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And someimes when they have caught sharks you have seen them cut the sharks loose from the line or stab them to death before taking them off the hook?”
“This wasn’t a shark.”
“I’m asking you a question,” Mason said. “Have you seen that?”
“Yes.”
“Now, did this thing that was on the fishing line ever come entirely out of the water?”
“No, sir.”
“Enough out of the water so you could see what it was?”
“It was almost all underwater all the time.”
“You had never seen this man who rented the boat from you before he showed up to rent the boat?”
“No, sir.”
“And you never saw him again?”
“No, sir.”
“Do you know this knife wasn’t in the boat when you rented it?”
“Yes.”
“When did you first see it?”
“The afternoon of the sixth of June.”
“Where?”
“In my boat.”
“You had not noticed it before?”
“No.”
“Yet you had looked in the boat?”
“Yes.”
“And from the time the boat was returned to you until you found the knife, that boat was where anyone could have approached and dropped this knife into it, or tossed it to the bottom of the boat?”
“Well, I guess so. Anyone could have if he’d been snooping around down there.”
“And how much rental did this mysterious man give you for the boat?”
“That’s objected to as incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial and not proper cross-examination,” Hamilton Burger said.
“Well,” Mason said, smiling, “I’ll get at it in another way. Do you have an established rental rate for that boat, Mr. Gilly?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How much is it?”
“A dollar to a dollar and a half an hour.”
“Now then, did this stranger pay you the regular rental rate for the boat?”
“We made a special deal.”
“You got more than your regular rental rate?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How much more?”
“Objected to as not proper cross-examination, calling for facts not in evidence, and incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial,” Hamilton Burger said.
“Overruled,” Judge Hartley said.
“How much rental?” Mason asked.
“I can’t recall offhand. I think it was fifty dollars,” Gilly said, his eyes refusing to meet those of Mason.
“Was that the figure that you asked, or the figure that the man offered?”
“The figure that I asked.”
“Are you sure it was fifty dollars?”
“I can’t remember too well. He gave me a bonus. I can’t recall how much it was.”
“Was it more than fifty dollars?”
“It could have been. I didn’t count it. I just took the bills he gave me and put them in the locked box where I keep my money.”
“You keep your money in the form of cash?”
“Some of it.”
“Did you ever count this bonus?”
“I can’t remember doing so.”
“It could have been more than fifty dollars.”
“I guess so. I don’t know.”
“Could it have been as much as a thousand dollars?”
“Oh, that’s absurd!” Hamilton Burger protested to the Court.
“Overruled,” Judge Hartley snapped.
“Was it?” Mason asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Did you enter it on your books?”
“I don’t keep books.”
“You don’t know then how much cash is in this locked box where you keep your money?”
“Not to the penny.”
“To the dollar?”
“No.”
“To the hundred dollars?”
“No.”
“Have you more than five hundre
d dollars in that box right now?”
“I don’t know.”
“More than five thousand dollars?”
“I can’t tell.”
“You may have?”
“Yes.”
“Now, when were you convicted of perjury,” Mason asked, “was that your first offense or second?”
“The second.”
Mason smiled. “That’s all, Mr. Gilly.”
Judge Hartley glanced at the clock. “It appears that it is now time for the noon adjournment. Court will recess until two o’clock. During this time the jurors will not form or express any opinion as to the merits of the case, but will wait until the case is finally submitted before doing so. Nor will the jurors discuss the case among themselves or permit it to be discussed in their presence. The defendant is remanded to custody. Court will recess until two o’clock.”
Paul Drake and Della Street, who had been occupying seats which had been reserved for them in the front of the courtroom, came toward Perry Mason.
Mason caught Paul Drake’s eye, motioned them back. He turned to his client. “By the way,” Mason said, “where were you on the night of the fifth and the morning of the sixth of June?”
“In my apartment, in bed and asleep.”
“Can you prove it?” Mason asked.
Jefferson said scornfully, “Don’t be absurd! I am unmarried, Mr. Mason. I sleep alone. There was no occasion for me to try and show where I was at that time, and there is none now. No one is going to pay any attention to the word of a perjurer and a crook who never saw me in his life before. Who is this scum of the waterfront? This whole thing is preposterous!”
“I’d be inclined to think so, too,” Mason told him, “if it wasn’t for that air of quiet confidence on the part of the district attorney. Therefore, it becomes very important for me to know exactly where you were on the night of the fifth and the morning of the sixth.”
“Well,” Jefferson said, “on the night of the fifth … that is, on the evening of the fifth I—I see no reason to go into that. On the sixth … from midnight on the fifth until eight-thirty on the morning of the sixth I was in my apartment. By nine o’clock on the morning of the sixth I was in my office, and I can prove where I was from a little after seven on the morning of the sixth.”
“By whom?”
“By my associate, Walter Irving. He joined me for breakfast at seven in my apartment, and after that we went to the office.”
“What about that knife?” Mason asked.
“It’s mine. It was stolen from a suitcase in my apartment.”
“Where did you get it?”
“It was a gift.”
The Case of the Terrified Typist Page 11
