Runcifer said eagerly, “I’d like to ask this witness one or two questions.”
Scanlon hesitated a moment, then said, “I didn’t give him an opportunity to ask you any questions.”
“This is different,” Runcifer said.
“I’ll hear the question and see if I permit it,” Scanlon said.
“When you talked with Miss Tooms, wasn’t the subject discussed that she might leave the country for a financial consideration, and didn’t you discuss with her the amount of money necessary?”
“You might put it that way,” Mason said calmly. “She made the proposition. I turned it down.”
“Oh,” Runcifer said, his voice filled with sarcasm. “You went to her apartment. She told you that she had testimony which would be very damaging to your client, and offered to leave the country, and you were too ethical to even entertain such a proposition. Is that the idea you wish to convey?”
Scanlon said, “You don’t have to answer that question, Mr. Mason. Now then, Mr. Runcifer, we’re not going to have any more such bursts of sarcasm from Counsel. We’re here to try and find out whether there’s enough evidence to hold this accused for trial in Superior Court for the murder of Penn Wentworth. That’s all. You can air your grievances some other place than in my courtroom.”
Mason said, “Begging Your Honour’s pardon, I’d like to answer the question.”
“Go ahead,” the Justice said.
Mason crossed his long legs in front of him, smiled down at Runcifer, and said, “Your question assumes an erroneous fact, Mr. Runcifer. The testimony which Hazel Tooms was to have given, in place of being detrimental to my client, was really most advantageous. I regret that she isn’t here.”
“All right,” Runcifer said triumphantly. “Since you’ve opened the door as to the nature of her testimony, I’ll ask you this question. I assume the Justice will admit it. He’s let in everything else. Isn’t it a fact that she said she had gone to the Yacht Club to call on Wentworth, that Wentworth had advised her he was going to Ensenada that night and asked her to go along, that she went back to get some groceries and some clothes, and when she returned, the yacht was gone, that she waited for some time, and while she was waiting, she saw Frank Marley’s boat come into its landing, that she watched to see who had been piloting that boat, and that the only person who left it was Mae Farr, your client.”
“That,” Mason said calmly, “is substantially what she said.”
“And you consider that that is to the advantage of your client?” Runcifer asked.
Mason nodded gravely. “I do.”
There was a moments astonished silence, followed by a whispered conference on the part of the deputy district attorneys.
Scanlon said, “I guess that’s all, Mr. Mason. I think that’s all the examination I’ll permit anyway. You may leave the stand.”
Mason returned to his chair.
Runcifer got to his feet and said, almost pleadingly.
“Won’t the Justice permit me to ask Mr. Mason one more question?”
“I don’t think so,” Scanlon said. “You seem to have covered the situation pretty well. What was the question you wanted to ask?”
“I wanted to ask Mr. Mason just how he could possibly claim that that testimony was of any advantage to his client.”
Scanlon shook his head. “That would mean just a lot of argument,” he said.
Mason, from his chair, said, “I think perhaps if Your Honour permitted that question and I answered it, it might clear up a lot of misunderstandings right now.”
“Go ahead and answer it,” Scanlon said. “To be perfectly frank, I’m interested in the answer although I consider the question somewhat improper and an attempt to take advantage of a witness who apparently has been very fair and frank. Go ahead and answer it, Mr. Mason.”
Mason walked up to Scanlon’s bench where the photographs were spread out and said, “In answering that question, it’s going to be necessary to correlate certain facts at some length.”
“Go ahead and correlate them,” Scanlon invited. “That’s what we’re here for. Just make it terse and logical and keep within the facts, and we’ll listen. We don’t want to hear any impassioned arguments.”
“I’m not going to make any,” Mason said with a smile.
“Go ahead,” Scanlon invited, “and answer the question.”
Mason said, “I think the tag which was given to this case by learned counsel for the prosecution is perhaps the best description of the case. Your Honour will remember that he referred to it as ‘The Case of the Postponed Murder.’
“Quite obviously, Penn Wentworth was shot from a distance. There are no powder marks on his clothing or on his body. He was evidently shot from above, as Your Honour knows from talking to the autopsy surgeon. It is quite natural to suppose that he was shot through the skylight of his yacht by someone who was well above him, a distance, let us say, that was no less than six or eight feet and which stretches indefinitely into space as far as anyone could have accurately aimed a gun and fired a bullet. For instance, I believe that Mr. Eversel is an expert revolver shot and has acquired some reputation as an authority on firearms. I believe that’s correct, Mr. Eversel?”
Eversel hesitated and nodded curtly.
“Your Honour, if we’re still taking testimony, I suggest that witness Eversel be asked to return to the witness box,” Runcifer exploded.
“You let me worry about that, won’t you?” Scanlon said evenly.
Mason continued: “And you would back the statement I have just made from your knowledge of the case and your experience with firearms?”
Eversel made no move to answer.
Mason went on affably, “Well it’s of no moment. I merely mentioned it so that we can keep in mind the position of the person who fired the shot and the position of the man who was the target.
“Now let’s examine the possibilities. Let’s first consider Anders. He could hardly have committed the murder. The evidence shows that Wentworth’s yacht was only a couple of miles ahead of Marley’s cruiser when Eversel saw them. Wentworth had much the slower boat. However, making all due allowances for speed, it would seem quite apparent that Wentworth must have pulled out with his yacht very shortly after Mae Farr and Anders drove away, perhaps within half an hour. Anders says that he threw his gun away. Mae Farr also testifies to that. The evidence shows that the murder gun was found. It certainly wasn’t the gun Anders had or was carrying. Moreover, Anders went to the city and almost immediately started for North Mesa, and I understand that the police have been able to trace his movements so that they are convinced he didn’t return to the Yacht Club after his conversation with me.
“Miss Farr and I drove to the Yacht Club. We found the Pennwent gone. We returned and Miss Farr stayed with me until after I had passed the place where Anders threw the gun. She then doubled back and took Marley’s cruiser.”
“You’re admitting that?” Runcifer asked incredulously.
“Of course I’m admitting it,” Mason said. “Now let’s look at it from her view point. Suppose she had gone out and overtaken Wentworth’s yacht, as could well have happened. She couldn’t have put the Atina alongside the Pennwent without Wentworth’s knowing it was there. It’s a physical impossibility to do that without bumping and jarring. Moreover, she couldn’t have kept her boat at cruising speed, laid her alongside the Pennwent, left the wheel, and made fast to Wentworth’s yacht without help. She would have required that Wentworth either slow down or that someone help her, or both.
“However, suppose that Wentworth did slow down, suppose that Mae Farr boarded the Pennwent. Wentworth would have had to help her. They could have gone down to the cabin together. Wentworth had an automatic pilot on his yacht. There was no necessity for him to be at the wheel. But there is no likely combination of circumstances by which he could have been in the cabin and Miss Farr could have stood on the deck and shot him through the open skylight.