When he had finished, Judge Lankershim said, “Under the law, the Court is called upon to examine the jurors for prejudice. It has never been the policy of this Court, however, to restrict the questions of counsel. Therefore, the Court has always permitted counsel to interrogate the jurors in the usual manner. But, under the circumstances of this case, the Court feels that it is incumbent upon it to see that no member of the jury is prejudiced for or against either side.”
Whereupon, the judge asked a few searching, but impartial questions, and said to Hamilton Burger, “The defendant has waived both challenges for cause and peremptory challenges. Do you have any challenges?”
Burger shook his head.
Mason turned to smile at the jury. Gradually it dawned on the courtroom that the ultimate effect of the entire procedure had been to accomplish what Mason had proposed in the first instance, namely, that the first twelve persons called should sit as jurors.
The jury smiled back at Mason.
Hamilton Burger made a brief statement to the jury, outlining simply what he expected to prove, followed that up by saying, “I will call as my first witness Helen Kendal.”
Helen Kendal, obviously conscious of the eyes of the spectators in the crowded courtroom, came forward and was sworn. She gave her name and address to the clerk, looked at Hamilton Burger expectantly for questions.
“You have occasion to remember the thirteenth of this month?”
“I do.”
“I will call your attention to the evening of that day and ask if anything unusual happened.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What?”
“In the first place, my kitten was seized with spasms, and I rushed it to a veterinary, who said it was...”
Burger held up his hand. “Never mind what the veterinary said. That’s hearsay. Just state what you know of your own knowledge.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, at about the time the kitten became ill, did anything else unusual happen?”
“Yes. I received a telephone call — from my uncle.”
“What?”
“I received a telephone call.”
“From whom?”
“From my uncle.”
“You have two uncles?”
“Yes, sir. This call came from Uncle Franklin.”
“And by the words Uncle Franklin, you refer to Franklin B. Shore?”
“Yes, sir.”
“When had you last seen Franklin B. Shore?”
“Some ten years ago, shortly prior to his disappearance.”
“Your uncle, Franklin Shore, had disappeared mysteriously some ten years earlier?”
“Yes, sir.”
Hamilton Burger said to the Court, “I am asking leading questions on some of these points which are not disputed, but which I want to get before the jury.”
“No objection,” Mason said.
“What did your uncle say to you over the telephone?”
“Objected to,” Mason said, “as hearsay. Incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial.”
“If the Court please,” Burger announced, “I am not seeking to adduce any facts which will bind the defendant as to this conversation, but only as to show the condition which existed there that night, and as to that only to the extent that it will be considered a part of the res gestae, explaining the moves of the various parties on that night.”
“I will overrule the objection,” Judge Lankershim said, “but will later limit the purposes for which the answer may be considered by the jury.”
“What did your uncle say?”
“He asked me if I knew who was speaking. I told him that I didn’t. He then told me his name and went on to prove his identity.”
“That’s a conclusion,” Hamilton Burger said hastily. “That may go out. What did he say?”
“Well, he called my attention to certain things that only my uncle would have known about.”
“What I am after particularly,” Hamilton Burger said, “is what he told you to do.”
“He told me to go to Mr. Perry Mason, the attorney, and then to go to the Castle Gate Hotel and ask for a Mr. Henry Leech, who, he said, would take us to him. He told me that I wasn’t to take anyone else into my confidence; that, particularly, I wasn’t to let my Aunt Matilda know anything about it.”
“Your Aunt Matilda is the wife of Franklin Shore?”
“Yes.”
“And later on that evening, in company with Mr. Mason, did you make any effort to get in touch with Mr. Leech?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“We went to the Castle Gate Hotel. We were advised that Mr. Leech wasn’t there. A note was delivered telling us where we could...”
“Just a moment,” Hamilton Burger said. “I’ll produce that note and ask you if this is the note.”
“Yes.”
Burger said, “I’ll ask that it be received in evidence as People’s Exhibit A, and I will then read it to the jury.”
The document was duly stamped, and Burger read it to the jury.
“Now,” he asked Helen Kendal, “what did you do with reference to that. In other words, what was your next step after you received that document?”
“We went to the place mentioned.”
“There was a map with it?”
“Yes.”
“I will show you this map and ask if this is the one.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I ask that this be received in evidence as People’s Exhibit B.”
“No objection,” Mason said.
“So ordered,” Judge Lankershim announced.
“And you went to the place indicated on that map?” Burger asked the witness.
“Yes.”
“What did you find there?”
“It was up in the hills back of Hollywood. There was a reservoir. A car was parked near the reservoir. A man was sitting in the car, sort of slumped over the wheel. He was dead. He... he had been killed.”
“That man was a stranger to you?”
“Yes.”
“Who was with you at that time?”
“My uncle, Gerald Shore, Mr. Perry Mason and Miss Street.”
“By Miss Street you mean Miss Della Street, the defendant in this action?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And what happened next? What was done immediately after that?”
“We three remained near our car while Mr. Mason went to telephone the police.”
“Then what happened?”
“The police came and asked questions and then my Uncle Gerald drove us home. After that, we went to a hospital to call on Aunt Matilda, and then Uncle Gerald drove me home again.”
“By home, you mean to the Shore residence?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then what happened?”
“They let me out at the residence. The others went to...”
“Never mind stating where they went, because you don’t know — only what they told you. But the others left, did they?”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“A friend came to call on me.”
“What was his name?”
“Jerry Templar.”
“He was a man with whom you had been quite friendly?”
“In a way, yes.”
“And who was in the house at that time?”
“Komo, the servant, was sleeping in the basement. Mrs. Parker, a cook and housekeeper, was in her room over the garage. Mr. Templar and myself were in the living room.”
“What happened?”
“We heard a peculiar sound coming from my Aunt Matilda’s bedroom, a sound as though something had been tipped over. Then we heard the chatter of her caged lovebirds. Then, after a moment, we heard a peculiar noise which sounded like my aunt walking.”