“Do you know a man by the name of Fulton — Frankline Fulton?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you see him either on the fourteenth or fifteenth?”
“It was the fifteenth.”
“And where did you see him, and under what circumstances?”
“I monitor the lockers at the terminal,” she said. “Whenever one of them is unopened for twenty-four hours we check the contents, and in accordance with a notice given the public to that effect, the contents are removed to the office and the locker is placed back in operation.”
“And how is that done?”
“Every time a coin is inserted in the locker so as to activate it,” the witness said, “it registers on the master counter at the top of the locker. Every night before I go off work, I go through the lockers and make a list of the numbers that are shown on the master register at the top. I then compare each of these numbers with the numbers which were on the master register during the preceding twenty-four hours. Whenever I find one that is the same, I take my key and remove the entire lock.”
“You don’t simply open the locker?”
“Not in that sense of the word. We take off the lock which is on there, the lock with the master register — everything. We then take whatever is in the locker out of the locker itself, put it in dead storage in the office, and put the locker back in service with a new lock and register.”
“Now, on the fifteenth, did you have occasion to do that with one of these lockers?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What locker was that?”
“This locker with the number you mentioned — twenty-three W.”
“And when you took the master lock off and opened it, what did you find?”
“We found a gun.”
“Now, who was with you at the time?”
“No one at that time, but I called the police, and Frankline Fulton came right out. I believe he is a sergeant.”
“He’s a member of the metropolitan police?”
“That’s my understanding, yes.”
“And at his suggestion, did you make any mark on this gun so that you would know it again?”
“Yes. We both put identifying marks on it.”
“I now hand you a Hi-Standard Sentinel twenty-two caliber revolver which has previously been introduced in evidence in this case as People’s Exhibit G. I ask you to look at that gun carefully and tell me if you have ever seen it before.”
The witness took the gun, turned it over in her hands, and said, “Yes. That’s the gun we found in the locker.”
“And that was the locker near which you had seen the defendant on the evening of the thirteenth?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Cross-examine,” Dexter said.
“You didn’t see the defendant open that locker, did you?” Mason asked.
“No.”
“Did the police dust that locker for fingerprints?”
“Yes.”
“Was anything said to you about them?”
“Only that they found several they couldn’t identify.”
Mason smiled. “Thank you, that’s all.”
“Call Agnes H. Newton,” Dexter said.
Agnes Newton had evidently spent the morning at a beauty parlor. She had selected her clothes with the hope that she would be photographed on the witness stand, and she came forward with the manner of an opera star making her entrance on the stage.
“Hold up your right hand and be sworn,” the clerk said. “Then give me your name and address.”
The woman complied.
“Miss Newton or Mrs. Newton?”
“Mrs.,” she said. “I am a widow.”
“Very well, just take the stand.”
Dexter said, “You live in the same apartment house as that in which the defendant lives?”
“I do.”
“Directing your attention to the thirteenth of this month, did you see the defendant at any time during the evening?”
“I did.”
“And where did you see the defendant?”
“She was just going out of the door of her apartment — and I saw her all the way to the stairs.
“Now, I’d better explain that,” the witness went on glibly. “You see, she lives on the third floor and she usually uses the elevator when she goes and comes. This time she didn’t use the elevator. She was in such a hurry that—”
“Just a minute,” Dexter interrupted. “It may be better if we cover this by question and answer, Mrs. Newton. Now, can you give us the time that you saw the defendant?”
“Yes, sir, I can, exactly.”
“When was it?”
“Two minutes before eight o’clock in the evening.”
“And what was she doing when you saw her?”
“She was leaving her apartment. She walked rapidly from the apartment to the stair door.”
“Did she have anything in her hand?”
“She was carrying her canary.”
“You may cross-examine,” Dexter said.
Mason started his cross-examination with the caution that a veteran lawyer uses when it becomes apparent the prosecution has dumped a witness in his lap knowing the defense attorney will have to cross-examine and that every answer the witness makes to questions on cross-examination is going to damn the defendant still more.
Mason said, “How long have you lived in this apartment house, Mrs. Newton?”
“Four years.”
“Do you know how long the defendant has lived there?”
“About eighteen months.”
“Are you inclined to be neighborly?” Mason asked smiling.
“Well, I mind my own business but I’m friendly, yes.”
“Now, do you work?” Mason asked. “Are you home all the time?”
“I don’t work, and I’m not home all the time,” she said. “I come and I go as I please. I have an income and I don’t have to work.”
“That’s very fortunate,” Mason said. “When did you first get acquainted with the defendant?”
“I saw her very shortly after she moved into the apartment.”
“That wasn’t my question,” Mason said. “I wanted to know when you first got acquainted with the defendant. When did you first talk with her?”
“Well, I don’t know. I’ve said good morning and things like that. I guess I did that very shortly after she moved into the apartment.”
“I understand. But let me put it this way. When did you first start visiting with the defendant, talking with her?”
“Well, I don’t know as I ever did talk with her much. She was a body who always kept pretty much to herself, and from what I’d heard around the apartment house—”
“Now, never mind what you’ve heard,” Mason said, “and please try not to volunteer information, Mrs. Newton. This hearing is being conducted according to strict rules of law and I want to ask you questions and have you answer just those questions and not volunteer any other information. Otherwise it might be necessary for me to ask the Court to strike out the parts of your answer that are not responsive.”
“Just don’t volunteer any information,” Judge Madison said. “Just listen to the question, then answer it. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
Mason said, “May I have the indulgence of the Court for just a moment, please?”
Mason turned to Maxine. “What about her?” he whispered. “Do you know her?”
“She’s a gabby busybody,” Maxine said. “She likes to visit with everybody in the apartment house and find out all about their affairs and then go blabber-mouth everything she finds out. She’s lying. She lives on my floor, but I didn’t go out at eight o’clock, and I didn’t have any canary with me. I don’t know what happened to my canary. I—”
“Never mind the details,” Mason said. “I just wanted to get the picture. There’s something funny here. Either the prosecutor wants me to lead with my chin and ask some question that will enable her to give a devastating answer, or there’s a weak point in her testimony and he was trying to cover it up with a very terse direct examination.”