Q.¯Was any name or place mentioned by either Mr. or Mrs. Haight in connection with the defendant’s gambling?
A.¯Jim Haight said he’d been losing a lot at the Hot Spot, that scandalous place on Route 16¯
Judge Martin: Your Honor, I move that this witness’s entire testimony be stricken out. I have no objection to give-and-take in this trial. Mr. Bradford has been extremely patient with me, and it is an admittedly difficult case, being so vaguely circumstantial¯
Mr. Bradford: May 1 ask Counsel to restrict his remarks to his objection and stop trying to influence the jury by characterizing the case?
Judge Newbold: The Prosecutor is right, Counsel. Now what is your objection to this witness’s testimony?
Judge Martin: No attempt has been made by the People to fix the times and circumstances under which witness allegedly overheard conversations between defendant and wife. Admittedly witness was not present in the same room or even in the same house. How, then, did she “overhear”? How can she be sure the two people were the defendant and his wife? Did she see them? Didn’t she see them? I hold¯Miss DuPre: But I heard all this with my own ears! Judge Newbold: Miss DuPre! Yes, Mr. Bradford? Mr. Bradford: The People have put Miss DuPre on the stand in an effort to spare defendant’s wife the pain of testifying to the quarrels¯Judge Martin: That’s not my point.
Judge Newbold: No, it is not. Nevertheless, Counsel, I suggest you cover your point in cross-examination. Objection denied. Proceed, Mr. Bradford.
Mr. Bradford proceeds, eliciting further testimony as to quarrels between Jim and Nora. On cross-examination, Judge Martin reduces Miss DuPre to indignant tears. He brings out her physical position relative to the conversationalists¯crouched by her bedroom window in darkness listening to the voices floating warmly across the driveway between her house and the Haight house¯confuses her in the matter of dates and times involved, so that she clearly contradicts herself several times.
The spectators enjoy themselves.
* * *
Under oath, J. P. Simpson, proprietor of Simpson’s Pawnshop in the Square, Wrightsville, testifies that in November and December last, James Haight pledged various items of jewelry at Simpson’s Pawnshop.
Q.¯What kind of jewelry, Mr. Simpson?
A.¯First one was a man’s gold watch¯he took it off his chain to pawn it. Nice merchandise. Fair price¯
Q.¯Is this the watch?
A.¯Yes, sir. I remember givin’ him a fair price¯
Q.¯Placed in evidence.
Clerk: People’s exhibit thirty-one.
Q.¯Will you read the inscription on the watch, Mr. Simpson?
A.-The what? Oh. ”To-Jim-from-Nora.”
Q.¯What else did the defendant pawn, Mr. Simpson?
A.¯Gold and platinum rings, a cameo brooch, and so on. All good merchandise. Very good loan merchandise.
Q.¯Do you recognize these items of jewelry I now show you, Mr. Simpson?
A.¯Yes, sir. They’re the ones he pawned with me. Gave him mighty fair prices¯
Q.¯Never mind what you gave him. These last items are all women’s jewelry, are they not?
A.-That’s right.
Q.¯Read the various inscriptions. Aloud.
A.-Wait till I fix my specs. ”N.W.”¯”N.W.”¯”N.W.H.”¯”N.W.”
Nora’s jewelry is placed in evidence.
Q.¯One last question, Mr. Simpson. Did the defendant ever redeem any of the objects he pawned with you?
A.¯No, sir. He just kept bringing me new stuff, one at a time, an’ I kept givin’ him fair prices for ‘em.
Judge Martin waives cross-examination.
* * *
Donald Mackenzie, President of the Wrightsville Personal Finance Corporation, being duly sworn, testifies that James Haight had borrowed considerable sums from the PFC during the last two months of the preceding year.
Q.¯On what collateral, Mr. Mackenzie?
A.¯None.
Q.¯Isn’t this unusual for your firm, Mr. Mackenzie? To lend money without collateral?
A.¯Well, the PFC has a very liberal loan policy, but of course we usually ask for collateral. Just business, you understand. Only, since Mr. Haight was Vice-President of the Wrightsville National Bank and the son-in-law of John Fowler Wright, the company made an exception in his case and advanced the loans on signature only.
Q.¯Has the defendant made any payments against his indebtedness, Mr. Mackenzie?
A.-Well, no.
Q.¯Has your company made any effort to collect the moneys due, Mr. Mackenzie?
A.¯Well, yes. Not that we were worried, but¯Well, it was five thousand dollars, and after asking Mr. Haight several times to make his stipulated payments and getting no satisfaction, we¯I finally went to the bank to see Mr. Wright, Mr. Haight’s father-in-law, and explained the situation, and Mr. Wright said he hadn’t known about his son-in-law’s loan, but of course he’d make it good himself, and I wasn’t to say anything about it¯to keep it confidential. I would have, too, only this trial and all¯
Judge Martin: Objection. Incompetent, irrelevant¯
Q.¯Never mind that, Mr. Mackenzie. Did John F. Wright repay your company the loan in full?
A.¯Principal and interest. Yes, sir.
Q.¯Has the defendant borrowed any money since January the first of this year?
A.¯No, sir.
Q.¯Have you had any conversations with the defendant since January the first of this year?
A.¯Yes. Mr. Haight came in to see me in the middle of January and started to explain why he hadn’t paid anything on his loan¯said he’d made some bad investments¯asked for more time and said he’d surely pay back his debt. I said to him that his father-in-law’d already done that.
Q.¯What did the defendant say to that?
A.¯He didn’t say a word. He just walked out of my office.
Judge Martin cross-examines.
Q.¯Mr. Mackenzie, didn’t it strike you as strange that the Vice-President of a banking institution like the Wrightsville National Bank, and the son-in-law of the President of that bank, should come to you for a loan?
A.¯Well, I guess it did. Only I figured it was a confidential matter, you see¯
Q.¯In a confidential matter, without explanations or collateral, on a mere signature, you still advanced the sum of five thousand dollars?
A.¯Well, I knew old John F. would make good if¯
Mr. Bradford: Your Honor¯
Judge Martin: That’s all, Mr. Mackenzie.
* * *
Not all the evidence against Jim Haight came out in the courtroom.
Some of it came out in Vic Carlatti’s, some in the Hollis Hotel Tonso-rial Parlor, some in Dr. Emil Poffenberger’s dental office in the Upham Block, some in Gus Olesen’s Roadside Tavern, and at least one colorful fact was elicited from the bibulous Mr. Anderson by a New York reporter, the scene of the interview being the pedestal of the Low Village World War Memorial, on which Mr. Anderson happened to be stretched out at the time.
Emmeline DuPre heard the Luigi Marino story through Tessie Lupin. Miss DuPre was having her permanent done in the Lower Main Beauty Shop where Tessie worked, and Tessie had just had lunch with her husband, Joe, who was one of Luigi Marino’s barbers. Joe had told Tessie, and Tessie had told Emmy DuPre, and Emmy DuPre . . .