“The secretary, Mabel Norge.”
“Now just a moment,” Mason said. “I can’t sit here without registering some protest at this method of proving title.”
“I’m not proving title,” Halder said angrily. “I’m simply trying to confront you with some of the proof that we have.”
“But you distinctly asked him about who owned the property,” Mason said, “and he told you that the only way he knew was from a statement made by Mabel Norge. Now I submit that Mabel Norge isn’t an expert on real estate titles and therefore any statement she made to him was simply hearsay and—”
“All right, all right,” Halder said. “This isn’t a court of law. We’re not trying title to the property.”
“But you raised the question of title.”
“I’m merely describing the house.”
“Then why not describe it with reference to the number of the location on Crestview Drive?”
“All right,” Halder said. “Let’s go at it this way, Boom. You were called out to a place on Crestview Drive. Where is it?”
“As you go out on Crestview Drive and come to the end of the street it’s the last place on the right—a big, rambling house surrounded by fruit and shade trees.”
“You make a difference in your own mind between a fruit tree and a shade tree?” Mason asked.
“I do,” Boom said.
“Well, now actually, Mr. Boom, a fruit tree can well give shade. You take these fig trees, I suppose one would call them fruit trees, and—”
“Now just a moment,” Halder interpolated, his voice edged with anger. “I’m conducting the inquiry, Mr. Mason. I’m interrogating Mr. Boom at the moment, and I’m going to ask you to keep quiet.”
“Regardless of any inaccuracies in Mr. Boom’s statement?”
“Regardless of anything,” Halder said. ‘I ‘m going to ask you to keep quiet.”
“Very well,” Mason said. “I trust that everyone here understands that I have been asked to keep quiet regardless of any inaccuracies in Mr. Boom’s statements. I’m sorry, Counselor. I won’t interrupt again. Go right ahead.”
“You went out to this house?” Halder asked.
“I did.”
“At whose request?”
“Mabel Norge.”
“Who’s she?”
“I understand she’s the secretary for Ed Davenport. I’ve seen her around Paradise some.”
“Did you know Davenport in his lifetime?”
“Yes, I’ve talked with him a few times.”
“And you went out to this house at the request of Mabel Norge?”
“That’s right. She was calling for the police.”
“And what did you find?”
“I found the door unlocked, the lights on, and Mr. Mason and Miss Street making themselves very much at home.”
“What else?”
“I was instructed by Mabel Norge to find a letter that had been written by Mr. Davenport and left with her with the instructions that it was to be opened in the event of his death.”
“And what did you do?”
“I found that letter—that is, I found a lockbox which contained envelope which was sealed. On the envelope there was a statement in Mr. Davenport’s handwriting that it was to be delivered to the officers in the event of his death.”
“And what did you do with that?”
“I took it into my custody.”
“You have that envelope here?”
“You have it.”
“Well, you gave it to me, didn’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“And I have it here in my desk. You’d know that envelope if you saw it?”
“Certainly.”
“How would you know it?”
“Because I wrote my name on it.”
“And the date?”
“And the date.”
“And then what did you do with it?”
“I gave it to you.”
“We had some discussion about what should be done with the letter, didn’t we?”
“That’s right.”
“And I put it in the safe?”
“I believe so. You told me you put it in the safe.”
“And then this morning we got together again?”
“That’s right.”
“And decided we’d better see what was in the letter?”
“That’s right.”
“And we cut it open?”
“Yes.”
“And there was nothing in it except several sheets of blank paper?”
“That’s right.”
“So then we started examining the envelope and decided it looked as though it might have been tampered with?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So we called in a man who is an expert in such matters and he told us that the gum arabic, or whatever it was that had originally been placed on the flap of the envelope with which to seal it, had been pretty well removed by being moistened and that the envelope had been steamed open and then sealed with mucilage and that this had probably been done within the last twenty-four hours?”
“That’s right.”
“All right,” Halder said, turning to Mason, “what have you to say about that?”
“I’d say that you asked the questions very rapidly,” Mason said, “and that Boom answered them without the least hesitancy.”
“No, no, that’s not what I mean. I mean what have you to say about the accuracy of his statements?”
“Oh, good heavens,” Mason said. “You’ve taken me entirely by surprise. You specifically told me that I wasn’t to say anything when his statements were inaccurate.”
“I meant I didn’t want you to interrupt.”
“That wasn’t the way you expressed it, I’m sure. You told me particularly to keep quiet.”
“Well, I’m asking you to talk now.”
“In what way?”
“I’m asking you to comment on Boom’s statements.”
“I’m quite certain they’re not correct,” Mason said. “Now wait a minute, Mr. Boom, don’t get angry. I think that you feel they’re correct, but I don’t think that they are correct.”
“In what respect are they wrong?” Halder asked.
“Oh, in many respects. For instance, I believe you said Davenport had written on the envelope in his handwriting that in the event of his death it was to be turned over to the officers.”
“That’s right.”
Mason turned to Boom. “You’d seen Davenport in his lifetime?”
“That’s right.”
“You didn’t know he was dead?”
“I don’t know he’s dead even now. I’ve been told he’s dead.”
“Now,” Mason said, smiling, “you’re answering the questions the way I think you should, Mr. Boom. You’re confining your statements to your own knowledge. Now you stated that that was Mr. Davenport’s handwriting on the envelope. You don’t know whether that was Davenport’s handwriting, do you?”
“Mabel Norge told me it was.”
“I know, I know,” Mason said. “That’s hearsay. You don’t know that it was in Davenport’s handwriting.”
“Certainly not.”
“Now just a moment,” Halder said. “I didn’t bring Boom in here to be cross-examined.”
Mason became angry for the first time. “What are you trying to do to me?” he asked “Are you trying to jockey me into a position where I can be misquoted?”
Halder jumped up from the chair. “What are you insinuating?” he demanded.
Mason said, “I’m not insinuating. I’m asking. First you tell me not to say anything if Boom’s statements are incorrect. Then you challenge me to point out where they’re incorrect. I start asking Boom questions in order to show by Boom’s own statements where his answers are incorrect and you jump up and charge that I have no right to cross-examine Boom.”