Q Then why didn’t you call the police or send for one of the men on duty in the apartment house?
AI needed Mr. Hoover’s help!
MR. VELIE: Your Honor, if the court please, it has come to my attention that Mrs. Templeton suffered a severe trauma yesterday brought about by the injury of her daughter in an accident. Mrs. Templeton is in a highly agitated and emotional state, and I feel she should be spared the burden of testifying at this time.
MR. MACK: Your Honor, this is patently a device by the prosecution to prevent this witness from testifying because the witness’ testimony will destroy the prosecution’s case.
MR. VELIE: I’m sure the defense joins the prosecution in wanting to get to the truth of this matter; therefore, it is important that the testimony being presented be given in the absence of disturbing emotional influences. I believe that a recess until tomorrow morning in order to give the witness an opportunity to calm herself so that she may answer questions with some degree of responsibility is in order. I believe it not only is the humanitarian thing to do but will best serve the ends of justice.
MR. MACK: It is because the defense wants the truth to come out that it believes this witness should be permitted to testify here and now, and I object to Mr. Velie’s statements concerning Mrs. Templeton’s condition and state of mind which imply that she is incapable of testifying honestly and truthfully at this time, and I request that his statements be stricken from the record and that the jury be instructed to disregard them.
THE COURT: I won’t strike the remarks from the record, but I will instruct the jury that arguments made by either side are not to be considered as evidence. Mrs. Templeton, are you able to continue?
MRS. TEMPLETON: Yes, I’m all right. I want to continue.
THE COURT: Proceed, Mr. Mack.
QBY MR. MACK: You said you needed Mr. Hoover’s help, Mrs. Templeton. What help did you need from Mr. Hoover?
A I needed him to help stop my daughter’s nightmare, to bring it to an end, as he did before.
Q And did you ask Mr. Hoover to help you?
A I didn’t have to. He came into the apartment and immediately began saying those things to her.
Q What things?
A You know, calling to her, telling her he was here now, and that everything was all right. He said, “Audrey Rose! It’s Daddy! Here, darling! I’m here!”
Q Did that help your daughter?
A Yes, almost at once. She seemed to recognize him, as she did on the previous night, and rushed into his arms, and then, as he was comforting her, she just fell asleep. Peacefully.
Q What happened after he calmed your daughter?
A He carried her upstairs, and he washed her wounds and then dressed them. And he put her to bed.
Q Was this done with your consent?
A Yes.
Q Did you have a discussion with Mr. Hoover at that time?
A Yes.
Q What did he say to you?
A He said that Ivy was in danger. That his daughter’s soul—that is, Audrey Rose’s soul—was crying out to him for help through Ivy’s nightmares. That Audrey Rose was very unhappy and was seeking to escape this earth life, and because of that, she would be pushing Ivy into dangerous moments.
Q Did he say anything else?
A He said that since her soul was crying out for help, he must take an active part in providing it with the help it needed, that we would have to form a bond between us, a bond so tight with all the love I had and all the love that he had that together we might mend and patch it and put the soul of Audrey Rose to rest again.
Q Did you believe what be was telling you?
A No. I just couldn’t comprehend this kind of thinking. It was foreign to my upbringing and religious training. I just couldn’t believe it.
Q Mrs. Templeton, is your belief as to what Mr. Hoover told you the same today as it was that night?
A No.
Q Tell us what way your belief has changed?
A (Answer unclear)
THE COURT: Will the witness please speak up?
A I said, I believe now in Mr. Hoover and what he is claiming.
MR. VELIE: Your Honor. I object.
THE COURT: Yes, Mr. Velie? What is your objection?
MR. VELIE: I’ve changed my mind. I withdraw the objection.
THE COURT: Continue.
Qby MR. MACK: Are mere any reasons, Mrs. Templeton, that you can describe that have caused you to change your opinion of Elliot Hoover?
A Yes, a number of events have happened recently to convince me that Mr. Hoover’s fears were justified.
Q What, specifically?
A Well, my husband and I made the decision to send Ivy to a boarding school out of the city for at least while the trial lasted. I thought she would be safe there, away from the influence of Mr. Hoover. I thought that Audrey Rose, if indeed she were the force that triggered the nightmares, would remain subdued away from Mr. Hoover’s close proximity. And indeed the nightmares did stop, but other things started happening. Subtle things.
Q For example?
A Well, she caught a cold. Most of the girls at the school had colds, but Ivy’s cold developed into a severe bronchial infection. She was up half the night—that was this past Saturday night—having terrible coughing spasms. And she had a fever. I didn’t have a thermometer, but I could feel her head all flushed and feverish. I don’t know how we managed to get through the night it was so terrible, and the next morning Bill suggested we take her back to the city to see Dr. Kaplan. But I was afraid to take her back to the city, because of Mr. Hoover’s being there, so we took her to United Hospital in Port Chester instead, since it was Sunday, and the few doctors we called in Westport were unable to see her. Well, when we got to the hospital, the fever was gone, and so was the bronchial infection. The cough had completely subsided, and the doctor who examined her found her perfectly normal, except for a slight redness in her throat.
Q And what greater significance did you place in this, other than your daughter had suffered a slight cold?
A Well, I saw the whole tiling as a ploy to get Ivy back to the city. The coughing spasms and fever were meant to frighten us into taking Ivy down to see Dr., Kaplan. And it almost worked.
Q You say, “a ploy to get Ivy back to the city,” Mrs. Templeton. Who was behind this ploy?
A Audrey Rose, of course.
MR. VELIE: Objection. The witness’ answer is unbelievable. Her reference to a mythical Audrey Rose is compelling proof that she is under such an emotional strain as to be incapable of giving competent testimony.
THE COURT: Objection sustained.
Qby MR. MACK: Did anything else happen?
A That same night, Sunday night, I remained in Westport with Ivy while Bill returned to the city. Well, that night I was awakened by a noise coming from Ivy’s room. When I went to investigate, I found Ivy in the bathroom, standing naked in front of the mirror, looking at herself and giggling and whispering, “Audrey Rose,” as if she were calling to her, as if Audrey Rose were hiding somewhere inside her body and Ivy were trying to reach her.
Q Did your daughter know about Audrey Rose at this time?