Case of the Footloose Doll (15 page)

Mason, regarding his plate in frowning concentration, hardly touched his food. “They’ve got everything mixed up now,” he said at length.

“You mean the ice pick?” Drake asked.

Mason nodded. “Their anxiety to force an identification of the defendant as the one who purchased the murder weapon means they got the wrong person, and if they did that they must have the wrong icepick.”

“After all,” Della Street said, “there is a certain superficial resemblance between Mildred Crest and me.”

Mason nodded. “This is just another one of those cases of mistaken personal identification.

“In the mind of the average man, circumstantial evidence most frequently results in a miscarriage of justice. Actually, circumstantial evidence is the best evidence we have. It is only our interpretation of circumstantial evidence which makes for miscarriages of justice. The most deadly, dangerous evidence, the one which has resulted so many, many times in miscarriages of justice, is personal identification evidence.”

“But how do you know they have the wrong ice pick?” Drake asked.

Mason said, “I planted one ice pick in Harrod’s apartment at a time when I was satisfied he was trying to lay a foundation for blackmail. I hoped Harrod might become confused. Of course, at the time I had no idea he was fatally wounded.”

“And now you think it was Nellie who became confused?” Drake asked.

“Not Nellie,” Mason said. “The police were the ones who walked into the trap.”

“What happened?”

“They found that some woman, whom they may or may not know was Katherine Baylor, had bought three ice picks; that thereafter some other woman had been in and bought three more, and that this second purchase could be differentiated from the first because there was a different price tag.”

“So what happened?” Della Street asked.

“They talked to the girl who was running the place. She remembered the two transactions. Naturally, it occurred to the police that if they could prove that Mildred Crest was the one who bought the second batch of ice picks, and that those ice picks could be distinguished by the new price mark, they would have a perfect case against Mildred.”

“And so they forced an identification?” Paul Drake asked.

“They probably forced the identification to this extent—they arranged for Irma Kames to have an opportunity to see Mildred Crest when Mildred didn’t know she was under observation. They didn’t have a line-up. They simply gave the witness an opportunity for a surreptitious survey.

“And, of course, they used all their power of suggestion in telling Irma Kames that they knew they had the girl in custody who had bought the ice picks; that it was simply a question of having her make the identification.”

“So she made the identification?” Della Street asked.

Mason nodded.

“Just watch the expression on the face of that witness when she sees me!” Della said gleefully.

“Just how are you going to spring your trap?” Drake asked Mason.

“There,” Mason said, “is the question. This is a case of mistaken identification. It’s like any one of a thousand other cases. Only in this case we know the answer. We know the real purchaser and the police don’t. When I confront this witness with Della Street, and the witness recognizes Della as the one who made the subsequent purchase of ice picks, there’ll be a lot of commotion in court.”

“But suppose she doesn’t remember it was Della?” Drake asked.

“Then,” Mason said thoughtfully, “my client might be in one hell of a jam, Paul. Of course, Della can always get on the stand and swear that she was the one who bought the ice picks, but in view of the fact she is working with me, her testimony would be taken with a grain of salt . . . Judge Bolton will believe her, I think.”

“The judge would,” Drake said, “but how about a jury later on?”

“There, of course, is the rub,” Mason admitted. “Judge Bolton knows me well enough to know that, if I put Della Street on the stand, it will be because I am absolutely convinced of the truth of her testimony. He doesn’t know Della Street personally, but he knows she has been with me for a long while and is a trusted, confidential employee. He’ll believe her.

“However, when Irma Karnes sees Della Street, it’s almost certain that she will then realize she has made a mistake and will change her testimony.”

“So what do you do?” Drake asked.

“So,” Mason said, “I cross-examine this woman. I tie her up and get her so far out on a limb that when she is forced to back up she goes all to pieces.”

“Then what happens?” Drake asked.

“Then,” Mason said, “even if Judge Bolton binds the defendant over, I have a record on this witness so that when I get her in front of a jury later on, I’ll mix her up like scrambled eggs. She’ll be giving her entire testimony on the defensive.”

“How about waiting until you do get her in front of a jury?” Drake asked. “Wouldn’t it be better, since Judge Bolton will probably bind the defendant over anyway, to wait and pull this in front of a Jury?”

“It would be better in many ways,” Mason said, “but there’s one thing against it.”

“What?”

“The longer interval of time that elapses, the less likelihood there is that she’ll change her testimony. By the time the case comes to trial in the superior court, she might even be so firmly convinced of her identification that she’ll swear it was the defendant and that she had never seen Della Street in her life.

“No, I’m going to have to do it now in order to get the most good out of it. Even if she doesn’t back up, the prosecutor will know that I wouldn’t make a move of that sort unless it was true. They’ll start hammering away at her between now and the time Mildred Crest goes to trial in the superior court. Then, by the time Irma Karnes gets on the stand in front of a jury, her entire attitude will be that of a woman who is very much on the defensive.

“However, the big thing is that, because of this fluke of identification, they must have the wrong murder weapon. Once the case gets to that point there are infinite possibilities.”

Drake said, “I’m going to be holding onto my chair watching what happens this afternoon.”

“What do you want me to do?” Della Street asked.

“Keep out of sight,” Mason said. “Irma Karnes probably saw you this morning, but I don’t want her to see you any more until I call you to confront her. You can stay in one of the witness rooms and be available when I call you.

“When I do, that will show that you were the one who bought the new ice picks and then we’ve got the case on ice.”

“But what will they say about the ethics of putting that ice pick in Harrod’s apartment?”

“What can they say?” Mason asked. “We simply took an ice pick up to Harrod’s apartment so I could ask Harrod if the ice pick with which he had been stabbed was identical to the one we had. Inadvertently, that ice pick was left in Harrod’s apartment.”

“But I can’t swear to that,” Della Street said.

“Bless your soul!” Mason told her. “We don’t swear to anything except the truth. Your testimony is simply going to be that you bought three ice picks; that you took one of them up to Harrod’s apartment, and that you left it there; that you were acting under my instructions.”

“Will you then get on the stand?” Della Street asked apprehensively.

Mason shook his head. “I’ll say to the Court that it’s up to the prosecution to prove every step of its case. Everyone will know that I set a trap for Carl Harrod, and that the police walked into it. My justification will be that at the time I set the trap I thought I was dealing with a civil suit for damages. I had no idea of confusing the evidence in a murder case . . . The main point is that the prosecution’s entire case will turn out to be founded on incorrect evidence, an erroneous identification of the defendant, and the wrong ice pick as a murder weapon. That will leave the police and the deputy district attorney with very red faces.”

“Well,” Drake said, “it sounds all right the way you tell it, but somehow I have an idea that you’re going to be walking on a tightrope over a very deep precipice.”

Mason merely nodded.

“Well,” Drake said, “you’d better be getting on up there. Then we’ll see what’s going to happen.”

“On our way,” Mason told him, glancing at his wrist watch. “This is where I’m going to have to ask just exactly the right questions in just exactly the right way. It’s also a darned good lesson in the value of personal identification testimony. Here we have a case that’s brought right home to us. And the worst of it is, Della, that mistaken identification could just as well have involved you in a murder if the circumstances had been different.”

“How do you know it’s not going to involve her in a murder the way it is?” Drake asked quietly.

Mason thought that over, then said, “Come on, Della. Let’s go before Paul talks you into being guilty of killing Harrod.”

“I wish I could sit in court this afternoon,” Della Street ventured.

“Absolutely not,” Mason told her firmly.

“Not even if I sat in the back row?”

“No, you might spring the trap too soon. I’ve got to play this exactly right.”

“You can say that again,” Paul Drake announced lugubriously.

“And in the meantime, Paul,” Mason said, “I want to know where Fern Driscoll’s car is.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to search it for evidence. Call your office and start your bloodhounds baying.”

“Okay,” Drake said. “We’ll get busy.”

Chapter 13

JUDGE BOLTON said, “Let the record show the defendant is in court; that counsel for both sides are in attendance. I believe the witness, Irma Karnes, was on the stand and the direct examination had been concluded. cross-examination on behalf of the defense was about to begin.

“Take the stand. Miss Karnes.” Irma Karnes walked to the stand with her long-legged stiff-backed gait and looked at Perry Mason, blinking her eyes behind the thick-lensed glasses.

Mason said affably and casually, “I take it you wear those glasses all the time, Miss Karnes?”

“No, sir,” she said.

“No?” Mason asked.

“No.”

“When can you dispense with them?”

“When I’m asleep.”

Laughter rippled through the courtroom. Irma Karnes held her face completely without expression so that it was impossible to tell whether she had deliberately set the stage for her remark or whether she was a literal-minded person who carefully took every statement at its face value.

“Do you,” Mason asked, “know who the first young woman was who purchased three of the ice picks?”

“I do now. I didn’t then.”

“You know now?”

“Yes.”

“Who was it?”

“Miss Katherine Baylor.”

“And when did you learn that it was Miss Katherine Baylor?” Calvert said, “Just a moment. Your Honor, I object on the ground that this is not proper cross-examination; that it is incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.”

Judge Bolton shook his head. “The witness mentioned the first purchase. In fact, the witness made it an important part of her testimony. Therefore, counsel is entitled to go into it. Answer the question.”

“It was . . . I don’t know, rather recently.”

“Who told you it was Katherine Baylor?”

“The police.”

“The police told you Katherine Baylor was the young woman who purchased those first three ice picks?”

“Yes.”

“Then the only knowledge that you have on this point is what the police told you?”

“No, sir. That’s not right.”

“Well, what is right?”

“They told me who it was, but they said they wanted me to take a look at her so I could be sure.”

“In other words, they gave you the information, and then told you they wanted you to look so you could make an identification?”

“Well, yes.”

“You knew you were expected to make the identification before you saw Miss Baylor?”

“Oh, Your Honor,” Calvert said, “this is consuming the time of the Court and making a mountain out of a molehill. If counsel is at all concerned about the matter, I’ll state that Katherine Baylor not only doesn’t deny purchasing those first three ice picks, but presently I’m going to put her on the witness stand and she’s going to testify to it.”

“The fact remains, if the Court please,” Mason said, “I am entitled to cross-examine this witness in my own way.”

Judge Bolton nodded. “I think I see the point counsel is leading up to. Go right ahead.”

“Isn’t that a fact?” Mason asked the witness. “You knew that you were expected to make an identification of Miss Baylor as soon as you saw her?”

“I don’t know what the police expected. I’m not a mind reader.” Mason said, “I’m not asking you what the police expected you to do. I’m asking you whether you knew what you were expected to do.”

“I can’t say.”

“They told you that you were going to see Miss Baylor?”

“Yes.”

“And they told you that she was the young woman who had made the first purchase of the three ice picks. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

“So when you saw her, you knew that the police expected you to make the identification.”

“Objected to as calling for a conclusion of the witness,” Calvert said.

“She can’t testify as to what the police expected.”

“The objection is sustained.” Judge Bolton ruled.

“Well, the police told you that they expected you to make the identification, didn’t they?”

“Not in so many words.”

“At least by their actions and they also intimated that, didn’t they?”

“Well, yes.”

“Now then,” Mason said, “when did you first know that it was Mildred Crest who made the second purchase of ice picks that night?”

“Just a short time after her arrest.”

“What do you mean by the expression, a short time?”

“I mean it was only a short time.”

“Two or three days?”

“Sooner.”

“And did the police follow the same procedure in that instance? Did they tell you that Mildred Crest was the person who had purchased the second lot of three ice picks?”

“It was my understanding that she had.”

“And did they tell you they expected you to make an identification?”

“Well, I knew that the police were certain she had made the purchase.