The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece (15 page)

District Attorney Burger moved up in front of the bar which separated the twelve curious jurors from the portion of the courtroom reserved for Counsel. Back of the bar, the crowded courtroom was tense with hushed expectancy. Burger said, "Gentlemen, I am not going to indulge in oratory. I shall at this time tell you briefly what the Prosecution expects to prove. On the thirteenth of this month the defendant, Peter Kent, was living in his residence in Hollywood. There were in that residence, besides the servants, Edna Hammer, a niece; P. L. Rease, a half-brother; John J. Duncan, an attorney from Chicago; Frank B. Maddox, a business associate of the defendant; Helen Warrington, the defendant's secretary. We expect to show that on the morning of the fourteenth the defendant entered the bedroom of P. L. Rease and stabbed him to death. We expect to show that P. L. Rease, without the knowledge of the defendant, had exchanged bedrooms with Frank B. Maddox, that between Maddox and the defendant was bad blood; that the defendant labored under the impression, either founded or unfounded, that Maddox was swindling him and trying to hold him up in a business deal.

"As nearly as can be ascertained, the decedent met his death from a stabbing wound inflicted by a carving knife at approximately three o'clock in the morning. Death was instantaneous. We expect to show that at the hour of three o'clock in the morning Peter Kent, the defendant, having this same carving knife in his hand, was moving stealthily, in bare feet, across the patio which separated the wing containing his bedroom from that containing the bedroom of Frank B. Maddox, which was then occupied by the decedent, P. L. Rease. We expect to show that the fatal weapon was subsequently found under the pillow of the bed occupied that night by the defendant; that the blade of the knife shows unmistakably that it was the weapon used to kill P. L. Rease. We expect to show that subsequent to his arrest, the defendant voluntarily admitted that he was an habitual sleepwalker; that he had every reason to believe that while walking in his sleep he had homicidal tendencies.

"The Court will instruct you gentlemen that once the killing by the defendant has been established, the burden of proving circumstances that mitigate, justify or excuse it shifts to the defendant. So far as the Prosecution is concerned, it will show the death of Rease; that the death was due to a stabbing wound inflicted with a carving knife; that the carving knife was in the possession of the defendant at approximately the time of the murder; that the defendant was actually seen leaving the wing of the house containing the bedroom of the decedent at approximately the time of the murder. We expect to show that the defendant thought Maddox occupied the bed in which Rease was sleeping, that the defendant had every motive for murdering Maddox. As you gentlemen have been made aware by questions asked you by the Defense when you were selected as jurors, the Defense will reply, at least in part, upon a theory of sleepwalking. We expect to show that upon a prior occasion, approximately one year before the commission of the crime, the defendant secured a carving knife and…"

Perry Mason slowly raised himself from his seat and said, "Your Honor, I object to the district attorney incorporating in his statement anything which took place a year before the commission of the crime; object to his seeking to anticipate our defense, and move that the jurors be instructed to disregard his statements."

"The evidence is perfectly proper," Burger retorted, "in that it shows that at a prior time the defendant had knowledge of his homicidal tendencies while walking in his sleep; that he made no effort to curb those tendencies when he realized he was once more walking in his sleep. I am predicating this part of my argument on the theory which the Defense itself has outlined."

Judge Markham rapped with his gavel and said, "It is not incumbent upon the Prosecution to anticipate the Defense. Whether evidence in rebuttal can include incidents taking place prior to the crime and separated from it by a period of twelve months is something which will be determined when the question arises. In the meantime, the objection of the Defense is well taken, the Court will order that that portion of the opening speech be withdrawn from the jury, and the jurors are specifically instructed to disregard it. The jurors are also instructed that the opening statement made by the district attorney merely outlines what he expects to prove and is made for the purpose of clarifying the issues in the minds of the jurors. The statements made by the district attorney are not to be considered as evidence. Go on, Mr. District Attorney."

"We expect to show," Hamilton Burger resumed, "by the defendant's own niece, that prior to the commission of the crime, in fact two days before, she had found the same weapon with which the murder was subsequently committed under the pillow of the defendant's bed. Upon this evidence, Gentlemen, and upon such other evidence as may be introduced in rebuttal, the Prosecution will ask at your hands a conviction of first degree murder."

Hamilton Burger sat down. Judge Markham asked Perry Mason, "Do you desire to make an opening statement, Counselor?"

"I will withhold my statement until just before I start to put on my case," Mason said.

"Very well, the Prosecution will call its first witness."

"I shall prove the Corpus Delicti by calling Frank B. Maddox," Burger said.

Maddox came forward and was sworn. "Your name is Frank B. Maddox and you reside in Chicago?"

"Yes."

"You were present in the house of the defendant during the night of the thirteenth of this month and the morning of the fourteenth?"

"I was."

"Do you know if P. L. Rease was related to the defendant?"

"He was the defendant's half-brother."

"How long had you been in the defendant's house prior to the thirteenth?"

"I arrived on the tenth."

"On the morning of the fourteenth did you have occasion to see Mr. P. L. Rease?"

"I did."

"Where was he?"

"In his bedroom."

"Was he alive or dead?"

"He was dead, lying in bed flat on his back, with a light blanket drawn up under his chin. There was a cut in the blanket, where a knife had been thrust through the covering and into Mr. Rease's body. The blanket was soaked in blood, and Mr. Rease was dead."

"I shall recall this witness later on," Hamilton Burger said, "for further questions, but at the present time I am merely showing the Corpus Delicti and I shall ask permission to withdraw him temporarily."

"Very well," Judge Markham said.

"Do you wish to cross-examine?" Burger inquired.

"Yes," Mason said. "You say you were in the house during the evening of the thirteenth, Mr. Maddox?"

"Yes."

"And during the morning of the fourteenth?"

"Yes."

"When did you first leave the house on the morning of the fourteenth?"

"Is that material?" Burger asked, frowning.

"I think so."

"I don't. I object to it on the ground that it is immaterial, that it is not proper cross-examination."

Judge Markham hesitated a moment. "I will," Perry Mason said, "amend the question, to make it as follows: When did you first leave the house on the morning of the fourteenth prior to the time the body was discovered?"

"That question is plainly within the scope of cross-examination," Judge Markham ruled. "Answer it."

"I didn't leave the house at all," Maddox said.

Mason raised his eyebrows. "Didn't you leave the house about three o'clock in the morning?" he asked.

"No."

"You went to your room the evening of the thirteenth at what time?"

"Approximately nine-thirty I should judge."

"Did you go to bed immediately after going to your room?"

"No, my attorney, Mr. Duncan, went to my room with me. We were engaged in a long conference."

"What time did you arise on the morning of the fourteenth?" Mason asked.

"I was aroused by you and Dr. Kelton invading my room, trying to find out who had been killed…"

"Move to strike out that portion of the answer as a conclusion of the witness," Mason said.

"It will go out," Judge Markham ruled. "The jury will disregard it."

"What time was it?"

"Around eight o'clock, I think."

"And you wish the jury to understand, Mr. Maddox, that you were continuously in the house from the time you retired on the evening of the thirteenth to eight o'clock in the morning of the fourteenth?"

"Yes, sir."

"Didn't you go to the Pacific Greyhound Stage Depot at approximately three o'clock in the morning on the fourteenth and place a long distance call for Mrs. Doris Sully Kent in Santa Barbara?"

Maddox clamped his lips tightly together and shook his head. "You'll have to answer the question audibly," the court reporter announced.

"I most certainly did not," Maddox said, speaking distinctly.

"You didn't?" Mason asked, surprise in his voice.

"No, sir."

"Were you up at approximately three o'clock in the morning?"

"I wasn't even awake."

"Didn't you," Mason asked, "engage in a conference with Mr. Duncan, your attorney, some time around three o'clock in the morning of the fourteenth?"

"No, sir, absolutely not."

"At any time between midnight of the thirteenth and five o'clock in the morning of the fourteenth?"

"Absolutely not."

Mason said, "That's all."

Hamilton Burger called a draftsman who produced plans of the Kent residence. The plans were offered in evidence and received without objection. The coroner fixed the time of death as some time between two-thirty and three-thirty on the morning of the fourteenth. Detective Sergeant Holcomb took the witness stand and identified the carving knife, with its blade stained a sinister, rusty red, as the weapon which had been found under the pillow of Kent's bed. Perry Mason, who had not cross-examined the other witnesses, asked Sergeant Holcomb, "What happened to the pillowcase and the sheets on that bed?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Well, I was told that they had been put in the laundry by the housekeeper."

"She didn't save them?"

"No."

"Why didn't you produce them as evidence?"

"Because I didn't think I needed to."

"Isn't it a fact that there were no blood stains whatever on the pillow or on the sheet?"

"I don't think so. I think there were blood stains, but I can't remember."

Mason said sneeringly, "If there had been blood stains you'd have thought the articles of sufficient importance to impound them as evidence, wouldn't you?"

"Objected to as argumentative," Burger stormed.

"Merely for the purpose of refreshing the witness's recollection," Mason said. "He has testified that he doesn't know whether there were any blood stains."

"Let him answer the question," Judge Markham ruled.

"I don't know," Sergeant Holcomb admitted, and then added, "You should know, Mr. Mason. You were the one who discovered the carving knife."

Spectators in the courtroom tittered. Perry Mason said, "Yes, I know. Are you asking me to tell you, Sergeant?"

Judge Markham pounded his gavel. "That will do," he ordered. "The witness will be interrogated by proper questions. There will be no more exchanges between the witness and counsel."

"And," Mason charged, raising his voice, "since the sheet and pillowcase were free of blood stains and might, therefore, be evidence which would militate against the theory of the Prosecution, you saw to it that these articles found their way into the laundry while you were in exclusive charge of the premises, and before the Defense had a chance to preserve them, didn't you?"

With a roar, Burger was on his feet, objecting, "… argumentative, improper, no proper foundation laid, insulting, not proper cross-examination, incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial." Perry Mason merely smiled.

"The witness may answer," Judge Markham ruled. "As asked, the question goes to the bias or interest of the witness."

"No," Sergeant Holcomb said, "I didn't have anything to do with the sheets."

"But you did suggest to the housekeeper she had better clean up the room?"