“These numbers are in your handwriting — every number?”
“Yes, sir. More than that, you will notice that at the bottom of each page I have signed my initials.”
“That’s all,” Mason said.
“I now offer once more to introduce this list in evidence,” Flasher said.
“So ordered,” Judge Haswell ruled.
“My next witness is Charles J. Oswald, the sheriff,” the district attorney announced.
The sheriff, a long, lanky man with a quiet manner, took the stand. “You’re acquainted with Harvey L. Corbin, the defendant in this case?” the district attorney asked.
“I am.”
“Are you acquainted with his wife?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, on the morning of the fifteenth of this month, the morning of the robbery at the Jebson Commercial Company, did you have any conversation with Mrs. Corbin?”
“I did. Yes, sir.”
“Did you ask her about her husband’s activities the night before?”
“Just a moment,” Mason said. “I object to this on the ground that any conversation the sheriff had with Mrs. Corbin is not admissible against the defendant, Corbin; furthermore, that in this state a wife cannot testify against her husband. Therefore, any statement she might make would be an indirect violation of that rule. Furthermore, I object on the ground that the question calls for hearsay.”
Judge Haswell looked ponderously thoughtful, then said, “It seems to me Mr. Mason is correct.”
“I’ll put it this way, Mr. Sheriff,” the district attorney said. “Did you, on the morning of the fifteenth, take any money from Mrs. Corbin?”
“Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial,” Mason said.
“Your Honor,” Flasher said irritably, “that’s the very gist of our case. We propose to show that two of the stolen twenty-dollar bills were in the possession of Mrs. Corbin.”
Mason said, “Unless the prosecution can prove the bills were given Mrs. Corbin by her husband, the evidence is inadmissible.”
“That’s just the point,” Flasher said. “Those bills were given to her by the defendant.”
“How do you know?” Mason asked.
“She told the sheriff so.”
“That’s hearsay,” Mason snapped.
Judge Haswell fidgeted on the bench. “It seems to me we’re getting into a peculiar situation here. You can’t call the wife as a witness, and I don’t think her statement to the sheriff is admissible.”
“Well,” Flasher said desperately, “in this state, Your Honor, we have a community-property law. Mrs. Corbin had this money. Since she is the wife of the defendant, it was community property. Therefore, it’s partially his property.”
“Well now, there,” Judge Haswell said, “I think I can agree with you. You introduce the twenty-dollar bills. I’ll overrule the objection made by the defense.”
“Produce the twenty-dollar bills, Sheriff,” Flasher said triumphantly.
The bills were produced and received in evidence.
“Cross-examine,” Flasher said curtly.
“No questions of this witness,” Mason said, “but I have a few questions to ask Mr. Bernal on cross-examination. You took him off the stand to lay the foundation for introducing the bank list, and I didn’t have an opportunity to cross-examine him.”
“I beg your pardon,” Flasher said. “Resume the stand, Mr. Bernal.”
His tone, now that he had the twenty-dollar bills safely introduced in evidence, was excessively polite.
Mason said, “This list which has been introduced in evidence is on the stationery of the Ivanhoe National Bank?”
“That’s right. Yes, sir.”
“It consists of several pages, and at the end there is the signature of the assistant cashier?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And each page is initialed by the assistant cashier?”
“Yes, sir.”
“This was the scheme which you thought of in order to safeguard the company against a payroll robbery?”
“Not to safeguard the company against a payroll robbery, Mr. Mason, but to assist us in recovering the money in the event there was a holdup.”
“This was your plan to answer Mr. Nesbitt’s objections that the vault was an outmoded model?”
“A part of my plan, yes. I may say that Mr. Nesbitt’s objections had never been voiced until I took office. I felt he was trying to embarrass me by making my administration show less net returns than expected.” Bernal tightened his lips and added, “Mr. Nesbitt had, I believe, been expecting to be appointed manager. He was disappointed. I believe he still expects to be manager.”
In the spectators’ section of the courtroom, Ralph Nesbitt glared at Bernal.
“You had a conversation with the defendant on the night of the fourteenth?” Mason asked Bernal.
“I did. Yes, sir.”
“You told him that for reasons which you deemed sufficient you were discharging him immediately and wanted him to leave the premises at once?”
“Yes, sir. I did.”
“And you paid him his wages in cash?”
“Mr. Nesbitt paid him in my presence, with money he took from the petty-cash drawer of the vault.”
“Now, as part of the wages due him, wasn’t Corbin given these two twenty-dollar bills which have been introduced in evidence?”
Bernal shook his head. “I had thought of that,” he said, “but it would have been impossible. Those bills weren’t available to us at that time. The payroll is received from the bank in a sealed package. Those two twenty-dollar bills were in that package.”
“And the list of the numbers of the twenty-dollar bills?”
“That’s in a sealed envelope. The money is placed in the vault. I lock the list of numbers in my desk.”
“Are you prepared to swear that neither you nor Mr. Nesbitt had access to these two twenty-dollar bills on the night of the fourteenth?”
“That is correct.”
“That’s all,” Mason said. “No further cross-examination.”
“I now call Ralph Nesbitt to the stand,” District Attorney Flasher said. “I want to fix the time of these events definitely, Your Honor.”
“Very well,” Judge Haswell said. “Mr. Nesbitt, come forward.”
Ralph Nesbitt, after answering the usual preliminary questions, sat down in the witness chair.
“Were you present at a conversation which took place between the defendant, Harvey L. Corbin, and Frank Bernal on the fourteenth of this month?” the district attorney asked.
“I was. Yes, sir.”
“What time did that conversation take place?”
“About eight o’clock in the evening.”
“And, without going into the details of that conversation, I will ask you if the general effect of it was that the defendant was discharged and ordered to leave the company’s property?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And he was paid the money that was due him?”
“In cash. Yes, sir. I took the cash from the safe myself.”
“Where was the payroll then?”
“In the sealed package in a compartment in the safe. As cashier, I had the only key to that compartment. Earlier in the afternoon I had gone to Ivanhoe City and received the sealed package of money and the envelope containing the list of numbers. I personally locked the package of money in the vault.”
“And the list of numbers?”
“Mr. Bernal locked that in his desk.”
“Cross-examine,” Flasher said.
“No questions,” Mason said.