“Sustained.”
Brett said, “According to your testimony, Mr. Thomson, you parked your expensive car in front of The Green Lantern. It was in clear view of at least a dozen homes and shops on Route One. Correct?”
“I wouldn’t swear to the exact number, but if you say a dozen I’ll take your word for it.”
“Did you go to any of those shops or houses to ask if anyone had seen who drove your car away?”
“No, I didn’t. I’ve told you, I was running late.”
“That jokester acted with a lot of confidence, wouldn’t you say? Acted just as if he owned the car. Knew how to start it, shift gears and so forth. Isn’t that how it must have appeared to the people in those shops and homes?”
“Maybe, ma’am. I wouldn’t know.”
“Do you have a jokester friend who physically resembles you, Mr. Thomson?”
“Well, I’ve got lots of friends, ma’am. Maybe some of them do look a bit like me.”
“Then any witnesses to the taking of your car might have thought it was you yourself climbing so confidently behind the wheel, and driving off so expertly? Isn’t that a possibility?”
“Objection, Your Honor. That insinuation is unsupported by any evidence.”
“Sustained.”
“Mr. Thomson, when you discovered your car was gone, did you suspect which friend of yours had borrowed it?”
“I told you, ma’am, I didn’t know who’d taken it and I didn’t waste time worrying about it. I half expected to find it waiting for me at home.”
“What was the other half of your expectation?”
“That was only a manner of speaking.”
“Did you half expect your car to turn up where it did turn up that night? At Vinegar Hill, or the Taggart Place?”
“Objection, Your Honor. I ask the court to admonish People’s counsel for that inference.”
“The question will be stricken. The jury will ignore it.”
Brett inclined her head, a gesture of submission in marked contrast with the apparent confidence in her expression. “Mr. Thomson, I find your lack of interest in the whereabouts of your expensive automobile difficult to understand. Weren’t you worried that your jokester friend might have, say, been involved in an accident?”
“I wasn’t worried, no. That suggests a careless attitude, you may assume. But people worry because they don’t know how to think. That’s what they drilled into us at Rockland. My car was gone. That was a fact I couldn’t change. So I didn’t waste time worrying about it.”
“Let’s go back over what you’ve told me. You left The Green Lantern, found your Porsche gone. Being late for your dinner engagement, you walked to the Bellflower diner, called Miguel Santos and told him to drive over to Muhlenburg and pick you up. Is that it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“But, Mr. Thomson, the Bellflower is more than a mile from The Green Lantern. Why didn’t you go back into the Lantern and call Mr. Santos from that phone?”
“I don’t think you’ll understand my answer to that but I’ll try... I’d had my fill of that place. I’d gone out of my way to keep an appointment there, Charlie’d stood me up for one of his sort’s typical reasons. He could have sent that shotgun over with a friend, or hired some Puerto Rican to stand in at the mushroom shack. But Charlie took the short-range view, make a buck today, let tomorrow take care of itself. It never occurred to him that I’d adjusted my schedule to suit him.” Thomson’s mouth tightened with exasperation. “It may not seem logical, ma’am, but I didn’t feel like asking favors from The Green Lantern crowd.”
“Even though not using their phone would make you that much later for dinner with your mother?”
“She would understand, I was sure.”
Changing direction, Brett said, “Isn’t it true, Mr. Thomson, that you told no one in Muhlenburg — no one at The Green Lantern or the Bellflower, no one in the homes and shops in the area — that your thirty-five-thousand-dollar car had been stolen?”
“You say stolen, ma’am, even though I’ve testified I didn’t think it was. But, no, I didn’t tell anybody my car had been borrowed.”
“What time did you call Miguel Santos?”
“About six o’clock, I think.”
“What time did he arrive in Muhlenburg?”
“About six-thirty.”
“Where did you wait for Mr. Santos?”
“On the sidewalk in front of the Bellflower.”
“It was beginning to rain, then, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You waited in the rain for half an hour?”
“I didn’t want Miguel to miss me.”
“To your knowledge, Mr. Thomson, did anyone see you standing there in the rain?”
“Maybe somebody did. I wouldn’t know.”
“Did you speak to anyone?”
“I don’t remember. Maybe I nodded to someone, I don’t know.”
“You weren’t tempted to get out of the rain and wait inside the diner?”
“Objection, Your Honor.”
“Sustained.”
“Mr. Thomson, did you speak to anyone in the diner when you made your telephone call? Did you ask the cashier for change?”
“I had no reason to.”
“No reason to speak to anyone?”
“I was in a hurry, ma’am. I was in no mood for small talk.”
Brett pushed her wooden bracelets higher on her wrists and glanced thoughtfully at the big wall clock behind Flood’s bench. “Mr. Thomson, your mother testified that you returned home from Muhlenburg shortly after seven o’clock. You showered and changed then. When you returned to her suite, she testified, you were not wearing your wristwatch. Is that also your recollection?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Miss Cluny from The Green Lantern testified that you were wearing rings and a chain necklace in addition to your wristwatch. You removed them too before showering?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“When you joined your mother, how did you know what time it was?”
“There are two clocks in her room. One is electric, the other is solar-powered—”
“You assumed both clocks were correct?”
“Why would I doubt it?”
“In your own words, you were running late. Then you walked that unnecessary mile to the Bellflower to make your phone call. Isn’t it possible it was later than seven-fifteen?”
“No. I’m sure of the time.”
“But how did you know your mother’s clocks were accurate?”
“Objections, Your Honor.”
“On what grounds, Mr. Davic?”
“People’s counsel is implying that someone might have tampered with those clocks.”
“People’s counsel has implied nothing of the sort,” Brett said. “You’re not listening to my questions, Mr. Davic, or you’re twisting them around for reasons of your own. The defendant was not wearing his wristwatch. It was logical to verify his knowledge of the time.”
Unexpectedly Earl said, “Your Honor, may I clear this up?”
“By all means, young man.”
“I checked my wristwatch after I showered. It was about seven-fifteen then. So it couldn’t have been more than a minute or so later when I joined my mother. Her clocks had to be right. That should put an end to the idea that my mother jumped out of bed and ran around her room turning back those clocks.”
“Your Honor,” Brett said, “I understand the defendant’s concern for his mother’s testimony. That does him credit. But for the record I have never questioned her testimony. Nor have I referred to anyone resetting clocks, manipulating the time. Those suggestions come directly from the defendant and his attorney. The thought is theirs, not mine.”