The Case of the Curious Bride (19 page)

"When?" asked John Lucas.

"At one forty-five in the morning."

"What was she doing?"

"She was driving a Chevrolet coupe."

"Was there anything peculiar that you noticed about that coupe?"

"Yes, sir."

"What?"

"The right rear tire was flat."

"What did she do, if anything?"

"She drove the car into the service station and asked me to change the tire."

"What did you do?"

"I jacked up the car, unscrewed the lugs, took off the tire, unscrewed the spare tire lugs and put it back on the right rear. Then, when I let the car off the jack, I saw that the spare tire was nearly flat. I listened and heard air escaping from a small leak in the spare tire."

"Then what did you do?"

"I jacked the car back up, took off the spare tire and put in a new tube."

"Did you have any conversation with the defendant about the time?"

"Yes."

"What was it?"

"I asked her if she wanted me to repair the tube and she said that she was late for an appointment and that she couldn't wait. She told me to put in a new tube and repair the old one, that she'd call for it later."

"You gave her a ticket to serve as a claim check?"

"Yes, sir."

John Lucas produced a bit of numbered pasteboard. "Is this it?" he asked.

"That is it."

"What time did the defendant leave your service station?"

"At exactly ten minutes past two o'clock in the morning."

"Did you check the time in any manner?"

"I did, yes, sir. The time was checked in a book that I keep for entering repair work that is to be done by the day shift."

"And the defendant told you that she had an appointment to keep?"

"Yes."

"Did she say what time the appointment was for?"

"Two o'clock in the morning."

"Did she say where?"

"No."

John Lucas turned to Perry Mason with a sarcastic gesture. "Have you any questions of this witness?" he asked.

Perry Mason looked up at the witness, did not so much as move his body, but filled the courtroom with the booming resonance of his voice as he said, "The defendant drove into your station at one forty-five?"

"Yes."

"Exactly one forty-five?"

"Almost on the minute. It might have been a few seconds one way or another. I looked at the clock when she drove in."

"She left at two ten?"

"On the dot."

"During the interval between one forty-five and two ten she was in your service station?"

"Yes."

"Watching you work?"

"Yes."

"Was she ever out of your sight?"

"No, she was there all the time."

"Is there any chance you're mistaken in your identification?"

"None whatever."

"You're positive?"

"Absolutely."

"That's all," said Perry Mason.

John Lucas called Ben Crandall to the stand. "Your name?"

"Benjamin Crandall."

"Where do you reside, Mr. Crandall?"

"At the Bellaire Apartments, 308 Norwalk Avenue, in this city."

"You resided there on June 16th last?"

"Yes."

"Were you in your apartment from midnight until two thirty on that date?"

"Yes."

"Are you familiar with the apartment known as Apartment B in the Colemont Apartments at 316 Norwalk Avenue?"

"Yes."

"I'll show you a diagram purporting to show the Colemont Apartments and also the Bellaire Apartments, and will ask you to designate your apartment on this diagram and also the position of Apartment B in the Colemont Apartments, with reference to your apartment." Lucas glanced up at Judge Markham. "I will state, your Honor, that I will subsequently connect up this map as far as its accuracy is concerned."

"No objections to the map or the questions," said Perry Mason.

"Proceed," said Judge Markham.

The witness pointed out the location of the two apartments. John Lucas produced a scale from his pocket. "There is, therefore," he said, making an elaborate show of extreme accuracy in applying the scale to the map, "a distance of less than twenty feet between your apartment and Apartment B in the Colemont Apartments, measuring in an air line."

Perry Mason shifted slightly in his chair. His deep voice rumbled across the courtroom. "That, your Honor," he said, "is acting, first, upon the assumption that the map is correct, and, secondly, upon the assumption that there is no difference in elevation between the two apartments. In other words, this map shows only a projected distance. It measures an air line between two apartments, so far as lateral distance alone is concerned; but does not take into account any slope or elevation between the windows of the two apartments."

Judge Markham looked across at John Lucas. "You have some side elevation map or sketch, Counselor?" Judge Markham asked.

Lucas bit his lip. "I'm afraid, your Honor," he said, "that I do not have such a map."

"The objection is sustained," said Judge Markham.

"Can you tell us how far it is, of your own knowledge?" asked John Lucas of the witness.

"Not in just so many feet or so many inches," said the witness.

There was a moment of silence. "It is about twenty feet?" asked John Lucas, plainly nettled.

"Objected to as leading and suggestive," said Perry Mason.

"Sustained," Judge Markham snapped.

John Lucas paused for a thoughtful moment. "Your Honor," he said, "I will withdraw that question. I will ask at this time that the jury be taken to view the premises so that they may see for themselves."

"There will be no objection on the part of the defense," said Perry Mason.

"Very well," said Judge Markham, "you may examine this witness as to any other matters and at three thirty o'clock the jurors will be taken to view the premises."

John Lucas smiled triumphantly. "Mr. Crandall," he said, "could you hear anything which took place in Apartment B in the Colemont Apartments early in the morning of the sixteenth day of June of the present year?"

"Yes."

"What did you hear?"

"I heard a telephone ring."

"Then what did you hear?"

"I heard a conversation, some one talking into a telephone."

"Do you know who was talking?"

"No, I only know that there was the sound of a voice – a man's voice – that it was coming from Apartment B in the Colemont Apartments."

"What was said in the telephone conversation?"

"He mentioned the name of a woman – Rhoda, I'm pretty sure the name was. He pronounced the last name so that I couldn't get it, but it had a foreign sound, ending with 'ayne' or something like that – the way he pronounced it made it sound like a foreign name, but I'm not sure. He said that this woman was to call on him at two o'clock in the morning and give him some money."

"What did you hear after that?"

"I dozed off, and then I heard peculiar sounds."

"What sort of sounds?"

"The sounds of a struggle, a scraping and banging, the sound of a blow and then silence. After that I thought I heard whispers."

"Did you hear anything else at that time?" asked Lucas.

"Yes, sir."

"What was it?"

"The steady, persistent ringing of a doorbell."

"Was it repeated?"

"Yes, it was repeated."

"Can you tell me how many times?"

"No, it was repeated several times."

"When did that ringing take place, with reference to the sound of struggle?"

"During the time of the struggle, during the time the blow was being struck."

John Lucas turned to Perry Mason. "Cross-examine," he snapped.

Perry Mason straightened slightly in his chair. "Now, let's get this straight," he said. "You first heard the ringing of the telephone bell?"

"Yes."

"How did you know it was a telephone bell?"

"Because of the manner in which it rang."

"Just how was that?"

"It rang mechanically. You know how a telephone rings – a ring for a second or two, then two or three seconds of silence, then another ring."

"That woke you up?"

"I guess so. It was a warm night. The windows were open. I was sleeping very lightly. At first I thought the telephone was ringing in my apartment…"

"Never mind what you thought," Perry Mason said. "What did you do and what did you see and what did you hear? That's all we're interested in."

"I heard the ringing of a telephone bell," said the witness belligerently. "I got up and listened. Then I realized the telephone was ringing in the apartment house to the north – the Colemont Apartments. I then heard the sound of a voice talking over the telephone."

"Then later on," said Perry Mason, "you heard the struggle?"

"That is right."

"And during the struggle you heard the doorbell?"

"That is correct."

"Wasn't it the telephone bell that you heard?"

"No, sir, absolutely not."

"Why are you so certain that it was not?"

"Because it was not the sound of a telephone bell – it was an entirely different type of bell. In the first place, there was more of a whirring sound to it. In the second place, it rang at longer intervals than a telephone bell rings."

Perry Mason seemed much disappointed by the answer. "Could you swear," he said, "that you were absolutely certain it was not the telephone?"

"I am swearing it."

"You are swearing that it was not the telephone?"

"Yes."

"You are as positive that it was not the telephone as you are of any other testimony you have given in this case?"

"Absolutely."

"Do you know what time this was?" asked Perry Mason.

"It was somewhere in the vicinity of two o'clock in the morning. I don't know exactly. Subsequently, when I became more wide awake, I notified the police. It was then two twenty-seven A.M. There had been an interval of perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes – I don't know exactly how long – I had been dozing."

Perry Mason slowly got to his feet. "Don't you know," he said, "that it is a physical impossibility for one who is in Apartment 269 of the Bellaire Apartments to hear the doorbell ringing in Apartment B in the Colemont Apartments?"

"It isn't an impossibility. I heard it," said the witness truculently.

"You mean you heard a bell ringing. You don't know that it was the doorbell."

"I know it was the doorbell."

"How do you know it?"

"Because I recognized the sound of the ring. I know it was a doorbell."

"But you don't remember ever having heard the doorbell ringing in that apartment before?"

"No, this was a very hot night. It was a quiet, still night. There were no noises. The windows were all open."

"Answer the question," said Perry Mason. "You never heard the doorbell ring in that apartment before?"

"I can't remember."

"And you haven't listened to the doorbell since, in order to tell whether it was the doorbell that you heard or not?"

"No, I haven't. I didn't do it because I didn't have to do it. I know a doorbell when I hear one."

Perry Mason dropped back in his chair, smiled at the jury, a smile which was a scornful comment upon the testimony of the witness, but a smile, by the way, which brought no answering expression to the eyes of the jurors. "That," he said, "is all."

John Lucas took the witness for redirect examination. "Regardless of the measurements in feet and inches," he said, "you may state whether the distance is too great for you to have heard a doorbell."

Perry Mason was on his feet. "Objected to, your Honor," he said, "as not proper redirect examination, as argumentative, as assuming facts not in evidence, as leading and suggestive. This witness has stated that to the best of his knowledge he never has heard a doorbell in this apartment. Therefore, it is not proper for him to state whether a doorbell could or could not have been heard. This is the conclusion for the jury to draw. Never having heard a doorbell ring, it is obviously impossible for him to tell whether he could have heard a doorbell ring. It is only a surmise on his part."

Judge Markham nodded thoughtfully, and said, "The objection is sustained."

Lucas frowned, and then said after a moment. "You were able to hear the telephone bell when it rang?"

"Yes."

"Was that bell distinctly audible or faintly audible?"