The Paper Dragon (43 page)

"I went home to finish the book."

"What procedure did you follow?"

"Well, first I outlined the next four or five chapters in greater detail. And then I began writing them."

"Was this your standard working procedure?"

"Yes. I would outline several chapters at a time and then begin work on those chapters — the actual writing of them. When I'd finished those, or was close to finishing them, I would outline the next several chapters, and so on."

"Until you completed the novel?"

"Yes."

"You used your general outline as the basis…"

"Yes…"

"… and then outlined in closer detail as you went along?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I did."

"Now here are some pages, Mr. Driscoll, with the words 'Chapter 7,' on the first page, and on the last page here, we have 'Chapter 15.' Are these pages part of your actual working outline?"

"Yes, sir, they are."

"The detailed outline?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now page 5 is torn, do you see that?"

"I see it."

"Only part of the page is here in the outline."

"That's right."

"Is this exactly how you found this page in your files?"

"It is."

"Do you know why a portion of the page is torn off?"

"I have no idea. The page following it is marked 5A so I imagine I didn't like what I had outlined and simply tore it off and put in another page called 5A. Yes, I probably tore off the bottom of this page, and then replaced it with a '5A.' "

"I offer the outline in evidence," Willow said.

"Have we seen this before, Mr. Willow?" Brackman asked.

"No, sir, you have not."

"I'm not objecting, but I would like to know why this was not previously shown to us."

"Because we only received it just before the trial began."

"Nevertheless, withholding it was in violation of the court order directing—"

"Your Honor, we have assiduously respected the court order, and have turned over to the plaintiff any papers received from Mr. Driscoll. He did not locate these until just before the trial began, and I did not have the opportunity to turn them over. May I say, however—"

"I think you might have
found
the opportunity, Mr. Willow," Brackman said.

"May I say that my friend has fallen prey to his own gambit. Had he chosen to serve Mr. Driscoll as a party to this case, he could have examined him before trial. He chose not to, in the hope—"

"I don't think we need go into Mr. Brackman's tactics," McIntyre said. "Are you objecting to this going into evidence?"

"No, your Honor," Brackman said. "Nor did I dream of offending Mr. Willow."

"You haven't offended me," Willow said.

"This action has been going on for a long time now," Brackman said, "and I don't think we've once raised our voices to each other, either outside the courtroom or since this trial began. I only meant to say that I wish you'd have let me see these papers before now. Perhaps you'll allow me to study them at greater length later."

"Of course."

"Mark it 'Defendants' Exhibit K in evidence,' " the clerk said.

"Now, if you will look at this outline, Mr. Driscoll, you will see certain notations on it, such as '60,000 words, 10/12' and immediately following that, '58,500, 10/12.' On the second page here, in ink, '63,000 words, 10/19' and following it in pencil, '62,300 10/20' and it goes on in this manner throughout. Did you write these notations?"

"I did."

"What do they mean?"

"The numbers in ink, '60,000 words,' for example, '10/12' represent a goal and a target date. I hoped to have completed 60,000 words of the book by October 12th, that was probably a Friday. The penciled indication on the right shows the actual number of words I had written by that date — 58,500 words."

"You fell short of the target that week."

"Yes. But that's what these notes indicate throughout."

"The number of words you hoped to have written by a certain date?"

"Yes, sir. There was a deadline, you see. The contract called for delivery of the book by January, I think it was, and I tried to adhere to a schedule that would enable me to meet that deadline."

"And you felt it necessary to indicate what you
had
accomplished in addition to what you'd hoped to accomplish."

"Yes, as a guide to completion. I had to know that I would finish it one day, you see."

"What do you mean?"

"A book takes a long time to write."

"Yes?"

"Well, I can only speak for myself."

"Yes, go on."

"I'm not a professional, this was my only book. I can only tell you what I experienced when I was writing it."

"Which was what, Mr. Driscoll?"

"I thought it would never end."

"And is that why you kept your record?"

"Yes. I had started the book in October of 1961, and I… I wasn't even sure I'd
ever
start it, you see, but finally I did and it went very slowly. It took me eight months to finish those ninety-eight pages and the outline, and it was very difficult all the way, writing does not come easily to me. It began going a bit more smoothly after Mitchell-Campbell contracted for the book. I suppose Chester's enthusiasm for it, and his… his faith that I could complete it, this was an enormous shot in the arm. I found I was working much more quickly, that I could count on from three to five thousand words a week, that was a lot for me. But at the same time, I had to know that I wasn't writing into a void, that one day the thing would be
finished
. I could take the last page out of the typewriter and it would be done. That's why I kept a timetable. So that I'd know I was getting there."

"And, of course, eventually you
did
get there. You completed your book."

"Yes. Eventually."

"Before that time, before the book was actually finished, did you acquire an agent?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Hollis Marks. He's still my agent."

"Here are some letters to Mr. Hollis, dated November 5th and November 9th…"

"Mr.
Marks
."

"Mr. Marks, excuse me, and addressed 'Dear Hollis.' "

"Yes."

"November 15th, November 20th, November 23rd, December 3rd, December 7th, December 11th, December 12th, December 14th, December 20th, and December 28th. Did you send these letters to Mr. Marks?"

"I did."

"Reporting on your progress on
The Paper Dragon
?"

"That's right."

"If your Honor please, we can call Mr. Marks as a witness, but I know what he will tell the Court concerning these letters."

"What would that be, Mr. Willow?"

"That they were taken from his files and written by Mr. Driscoll on the dates indicated. I offer all of them in evidence as one exhibit."

"For what purpose are these being offered?" Brackman asked.

"Again, to show the creative process. Your Honor, if a book is being pirated, the thief would hardly send progress reports to his—"

"No objection," Brackman said.

"Defendants' Exhibit L received in evidence," the clerk said.

"Mr. Driscoll, when you were writing your book, did you contact anyone for information you needed?"

"Yes, sir."

"Whom did you contact?"

"Colonel Lewis Hamilton."

"He was your commanding officer…"

"The company commander, yes…" „

"… in Korea?"

"Yes, sir. He was a captain at the time."

"What was your initial contact with him?"

"I wrote a letter to him, explaining that I was working on a book, and asking for his help. I suggested that we meet one afternoon for lunch or after working hours — he was working in this area at the time, at the Army Recruiting Office on Whitehall. He called me when he received my letter, and we met later that week, on a Friday I believe it was. At the beginning of November."

"Where is Colonel Hamilton today?"

"He was called back to active duty in Vietnam. I'm sorry to say he's dead."

"I show you this, and ask you to describe it to the Court."

"It's a carbon copy of the letter I wrote to Colonel Hamilton."

"I offer it in evidence."

"Your Honor," Brackman said, rising, "as I understand it, Colonel Hamilton is dead. Now Mr. Driscoll states that this is a copy of a letter he sent to the colonel, but I know of no way of ascertaining that. I cannot question a dead man."

"Your Honor…"

"I object to it as irrelevant, and I submit that it would be impossible for me to ascertain whether it is authentic."

"Is this letter necessary to your case?" McIntyre asked.

"To my mind, your Honor, anything that clearly shows the step-by-step development of Mr. Driscoll's novel is not only necessary but essential to the case. This letter shows beyond doubt that in addition to personal experience, Mr. Driscoll sought the advice of an expert on matters that were beyond his ken. If he were copying…"

"Yes, but won't Mr. Driscoll be testifying anyway about his meeting with the colonel?"

"Yes, your Honor, but his testimony will be more persuasive when supported by this letter."

"Is this letter being offered for the truth of what it contains, or simply to establish a working procedure for Mr. Driscoll?"

"I think it even goes beyond these matters, your Honor, to clearly indicate the kind of man Mr. Driscoll is. In his letter to the colonel, for example, he modestly, almost shyly, reintroduces himself…"

"Mr. Willow, it's my opinion that this letter is not the same as those from Mr. Driscoll to his agent, sent as part of a daily working routine. I will sustain your objection, Mr. Brackman. The letter will not be admitted."

"May I offer it for identification?" Willow asked.

"Of course."

"Mark it 'Defendants' Exhibit M for identification,' " the clerk said.

"You said earlier, Mr. Driscoll, that you met with Colonel Hamilton…"

"Yes."

"… sometime after you wrote to him. Where did you meet?"

"In a restaurant down here someplace. I don't remember the name of it."

"Can you tell us what happened at this meeting?"

"I asked Colonel Hamilton a great many questions, and he answered them for me."

"I show you these four sheets of paper, and ask you if they are the notes you took at the meeting you just described."

"They are the notes I jotted down during the meeting."

"I offer the notes in evidence."

"Well, I must object to that, Mr. Willow," Brackman said, rising again. "You're showing here a collection of answers the witness supposedly got from a dead man. There is no possible way of questioning the dead man as to whether he really did give those answers."

"Is this being offered to show the truth of what it contains?" McIntyre asked.

"No, your Honor."

"I will admit it if its limited purpose is to show the witness's working procedure on his novel."

"To show the evolution of the book, your Honor."

"I will admit it."

"Mark it 'Defendants' Exhibit N in evidence.' "

"Mr. Driscoll, I show you another sheet of paper that lists the steps in the disassembly of an M-1. Did you use this information in your book?"

"Yes, sir. I had the lieutenant ask the men to strip their rifles, as an exercise."

"I am referring now to the so-called 'female rifle' scene."

"Yes, sir, I'm familiar with that scene."

"Was it based upon information you received from the colonel?"

"Well… yes and no. I did receive the information from the colonel, but what actually happened was that I told him what I needed when I spoke to him on the phone, and he brought a book called
Military Science and Tactics
with him, in which he had marked the section on stripping the M-1. I copied the information directly from the book."

"Onto this sheet of paper?"

"Yes, sir."

"I offer it in evidence."

"I object," Brackman said.

"On what grounds, Mr. Brackman?"

"The witness has testified that his scene was based on information in a book and not on what is now before this Court. I do not see the relevance."

"He has testified," Willow said, "that his notes were taken from a book given to him by the colonel…"

"I did not hear him say the colonel
gave
him the book."

"Mr. Driscoll, could you…"

"He didn't actually
give
me the book. He brought it with him to the meeting, and I copied these notes from it."

"We have only the witness's word, your Honor, that the colonel brought the book with him. The alleged exchange involves a dead man who purportedly—"

"Section 4519 does not apply here," Willow said. "In no way can this be considered a transaction with a deceased…"

"I understand that," Brackman said, "and this is not my objection."

"Now just a minute, just a minute," McIntyre said. "It seems to me that the offer is being made only to show that Mr. Driscoll had in his possession material which could have formed the basis of the scene in his novel. Isn't that so, Mr. Willow?"

"Yes, your Honor."

"I will admit it. I think your objection is unfounded, Mr. Brackman."

"Mark it 'Defendants' Exhibit O in evidence.' "

"Mr. Driscoll, when you were writing your book, did you prepare a map upon which were written certain numbers and notes?"

"Your Honor, it pains me to have to object so continuously, especially when I know how interested we all are in having this trial proceed smoothly and rapidly," Brackman said v "But during the pretrial examinations, I can clearly remember Mr. Willow objecting at one point because the witness was my own and I was leading him."

"I'm sure you can also clearly remember, Mr. Brackman, that at the time I also stated I was not objecting to ninety per cent of your questions because we had agreed to be informal about the entire matter."

"That was the pretrial, Mr. Willow, and this is the trial, and I must object now to these leading questions."

"Mr. Driscoll, I show you a drawing of a map, and on this drawing there are certain numbers and notes. Who prepared this map?"