The Case of the Singing Skirt (17 page)

"She had also told me she was going to have a fingerprint expert dust the cabin of the yacht to find the defendant's fingerprints. Since I felt sure there were no fingerprints of the defendant there, I felt it would be best to let my wife follow up this lead, and in that way she might convince herself her suspicions were groundless."

"Then what happened?"

"She drove off."

"And at that time she was headed for your yacht?"

"Yes."

"You never saw her alive after that?"

"No."

"Cross-examine," Burger said.

"Later on, on Wednesday, you went to my office?" Mason asked.

"Yes."

"And told me about the altercation on the yacht?"

"Yes."

"And about this subsequent meeting with your wife?"

"Yes."

"That's all," Mason said. "I have no further questions."

"Just a minute," Hamilton Burger said. "I have some questions on redirect."

Hamilton Burger arose and faced the witness. "Did you have occasion to look for your yacht, the Cap's Eyes later on, on Wednesday?"

"Yes."

"At what time?"

"Around noon."

"Was it at its accustomed mooring at the club?"

"No, sir, it had gone."

"When did you next see it again?"

"When the police brought it back."

"When did you next see your wife again?"

"In the morgue."

"Now, I show you a gun which was found near the hand of your wife when her body was discovered on the yacht. I note that this gun is identical in appearance with the gun which has been introduced in evidence as People's Exhibit B, number 133347. Now, I don't like to keep referring to these weapons in the record by number, so I am simply going to refer to this as the Ellis gun because it was found in the cabin of your yacht and I believe you can identify that as to ownership."

Ellis said, "I can, yes, sir. That gun was given to me by George Anclitas."

"And what did you do with it? Did you carry it?"

"No, sir, I did not. I kept it aboard the yacht for personal protection."

"Your wife knew it was there?"

"Yes."

"Where was it customarily kept?"

"In a drawer in the cabin."

"Do you know if your wife had this gun on Tuesday? Was that the gun you referred to when you testified your wife pulled a gun?"

"Yes, sir."

Hamilton Burger said, "We ask that this gun be marked for identification as People's Exhibit E, Your Honor. We will not offer to introduce it in evidence at this time, because that offer should properly come after positive identification is made as to this being the gun that was found in the cabin of the yacht, the Cap's Eyes."

"Very well," Judge Keyser said, "the gun will be marked for identification only."

"I don't think I have any further questions at this time," Hamilton Burger said, "but I notice it is nearing the hour of adjournment. My next witness, George Anclitas, is here under subpoena. He is a businessman, proprietor of an establishment in Rowena, which has several businesses combined under one management, a motel, a trout pooi, a swimming pool, a night club and a parlor where legalized games are played. It is a great hardship for Mr. Anclitas to be here, and I ask permission of the Court to withdraw this witness and put Mr. Anclitas on the stand at this time.

"The testimony of Mr. Anclitas will be brief, and in this way we can finish with him this afternoon so he won't have to return tomorrow."

Judge Keyser looked inquiringly at Perry Mason. "Does the defense wish to object?" he asked.

"No objection," Mason said. "It is quite all right as far as I am concerned."

"Call George Anclitas."

The deputy opened the door of the witness room. George Anclitas emerged.

Helman Ellis, leaving the witness stand, walked in front of Ellen Robb, smiled reassuringly and returned to the witness room.

George Anclitas, his head held high, stalked to the witness stand with the stiff-backed gait of a marching soldier, turned with almost military precision, held up his hand, took the oath and seated himself.

"Your name is George Anclitas? You are one of the owners of The Big Barn in Rowena?" Hamilton Burger asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Do you know the defendant?"

"Yes, sir."

"Was she in your employ?"

"Yes, sir."

"For how long?"

"Some four or five months."

"And what were her duties?"

"She sang songs, sold cigars and cigarettes when necessary and did various odd jobs."

"When did the employment terminate?"

"She left on the evening of the ninth."

"Why did she leave?"

"I fired her."

"Why?"

Judge Keyser said, "Of course, this is preliminary but unless it's connected up I don't see its relevancy, particularly in view of the fact that the answer might tend to be an appraisal of the character of the defendant through hostile eyes."

"I think it's pertinent. I think it will be connected up, Your Honor," Hamilton Burger said.

"No objection from the defense," Mason said. "Let him go right ahead."

"Answer the question," Hamilton Burger said.

"She was bringing too much notoriety to the place. She was having an affair with Helman Ellis, and Mrs. Ellis got on to it-"

"Now, just a minute, just a minute," Judge Keyser said. "This witness is obviously testifying to hearsay now."

"I think perhaps these are conclusions of the witness, based upon his own personal observations, however," Hamilton Burger said.

"I think it's hearsay," Judge Keyser said. "Let me ask the witness a couple of questions. How do you know the defendant was having an affair with Helman Ellis?"

"Because I caught them."

"You caught them?"

"Well, they were embracing."

"How do you know that Mrs. Ellis knew about it?"

"Because she made a scene with the defendant, Ellen Robb."

"Were you there?"

"I was there."

Judge Keyser glanced down at Perry Mason, a puzzled frown creasing his forehead. "Very well," he said, "go ahead."

"Now then, did you give Helman Ellis a gun?"

"I did."

"What kind of a gun?"

"A Smith and Wesson,.38-caliber, two-and-a-half-inch barrel."

"I will show you a gun marked for identification as People's Exhibit E and ask you if that is the gun."

Anclitas looked at the gun, said, "That's the one."

"How long ago did you give him this gun?"

"About six weeks ago."

"Cross-examine," Hamilton Burger said.

Mason said, "Before embarking upon this cross-examination, Your Honor, I would like to ask whether test bullets from this gun marked Exhibit E were compared with the fatal bullet number one taken from the body of the decedent."

Judge Keyser nodded his head. "That seems a logical question. Were they so compared, Mr. District Attorney?"

"Certainly not," Hamilton Burger sn apped.

"Why not?" Judge Keyser asked.

"Why should they be? This gun, Exhibit E, was fired at the assailant. A bullet from this gun was found embedded in the woodwork of the cabin near the door. It had only been fired once."

"Nevertheless," Judge Keyser said, "in view of the fact that it is now apparent that there is one bullet which can't be accounted for-at least we can't account for the gun which fired it-it would seem that there should be a ballistics test made of this weapon. I should think that would have been done as a matter of routine."

"At the time," Hamilton Burger said, "we were under the impression both of the fatal bullets had been fired from the gun which was in the possession of the defendant, the gun Exhibit B."

"I cane readily understand that," Judge Keyser said, "but it certainly seems to me there should be a comparison of the other bullet, the slightly damaged bullet, with test bullets fired from this gun."

"Yes, Your Honor."

"It is now becoming apparent that we can't close this case today. I would suggest that the ballistics expert make such an examination before court convenes tomorrow morning."

"Yes, Your Honor," Hamilton Burger said.

"Now go ahead with your cross-examination, Mr. Mason."

Mason said, "There was an altercation with the defendant prior to her discharge?"

"I don't know what you mean, an altercation," Anclitas said. "She attacked me."

"In what way?"

"Striking and clawing."

"And you hit her?"

"I defended myself."

"You hit her?"

"I tell you, I defended myself."

"You hit her?"

"What was I supposed to do, stand there and let my face get clawed? I tried to keep her off."

"You hit her?"

"All right, I hit her!" Anclitas shouted.

"Thank you," Mason said. "I believe you hit her in the eye."

"I don't know where I hit her. I popped her one."

"You saw her with a black eye?"

"I saw her with a black eye."

"And you have been sued for seventy-five hundred dollars actual and punitive damages because of this assault you made on the defendant?"

"I object, Your Honor," Hamilton Burger said. "That's not proper cross-examination. It's incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial."

Judge Keyser, plainly interested, leaned forward to study George Anclitas. "The objection is overruled," he said. "It goes to show the bias of the witness."

"Answer the question," Mason said.

"All right, so I'm getting sued. Any lawyer can file a suit. She hasn't collected anything and she isn't going to."

"You propose to see to it that she doesn't collect?"

"That's exactly right. You just slapped a nuisance value suit on me, hoping I'd compromise. I've got news for you, Mr. Mason. You ain't going to get a dime."

"And as a result you don't like me?" Mason asked.

"Since you asked me the question and since I'm under oath," Anclitas said, "I don't like any part of you. I don't like the ground you walk on."

"Now then," Mason said, "you took one look at this gun and said that was the gun you had given Helman Ellis."

"That's right."

"You didn't look at the number?"

"I didn't need to. I know the gun."

"What do you know about it?"

"Look," Anclitas said, "my partner bought four guns, Mr. Mason. He bought them all at once. He bought them from the Rowena Hunting and Fishing Store. He brought them to the place of business and gave them to me."

"Do you know the numbers?"

"Why should I know the numbers?" Anclitas asked in disgust. "I should go around carrying gun numbers in my head!"

"The guns were all alike?" Mason asked.

"All alike. It was a special order."

"Your partner went in and picked them up?"

"I placed the order, and then after the manager of the store told me the guns were in, I sent Slim Marcus down to pick them up."