"No, I don't know if he had a copy." Arthur paused. "But if he didn't have one, then he must have seen the play."
"When it was performed in New York, do you mean?"
"I don't know when. The similarities are too astonishing for someone who did not have prior knowledge—"
"We are here to decide whether there are similarities, Mr. Constantine, astonishing or otherwise. In the meantime, do you believe that James Driscoll saw your play during its brief twelve-day run at the Fulton Theatre in October of 1947?"
"I don't know."
"But you testified that he must have seen it."
"Yes."
"Well, when do you think he saw it?"
Arthur glanced at Brackman, and Brackman nodded. "There was also a series of previews," Arthur said.
"Are these the previews you testified to during the direct examination yesterday?"
"Yes."
"Did you personally distribute the tickets to those previews?"
"I did not."
"Who was responsible for the distribution?"
"Our press agent."
"How do you know they were distributed?"
"I was told."
"Then all you know about the distribution is what you were told."
"Well, we were concerned with getting a representative college audience."
"Yes, but all you actually know about the distribution is what you were told, is that true?"
"Yes. But I know the tickets were sent out to various colleges and universities."
"Do you know which colleges and universities?"
"Yes."
"Of your own knowledge?"
"No. The names of the schools were given to me."
"By whom?"
"We had a meeting and decided we wanted this play to be seen by representative college kids, and we decided to distribute a limited amount of free tickets."
"Who gave you the names of the colleges to which the tickets were actually sent, Mr. Constantine?"
"I don't remember exactly who. It could have been anybody involved with the show, though it was most likely the man who was handling our press for us, I'm not sure."
"All you know is that somebody said something about having sent these tickets out."
"That's right."
"Which schools, to your recollection, were these mysterious tickets sent to?"
"Objection," Brackman said.
"Sustained."
"Which schools received these tickets, Mr. Constantine? Would you name them, please?"
"I named them yesterday."
"Please do it again, would you?"
"They were sent to City College, Hunter, Brooklyn College, L.I.U., Pratt Institute, and Fordham, I believe."
"You believe?"
"I believe they were sent to Fordham. I'm not sure about Fordham."
"But you are sure about Pratt Institute?"
"Yes, I am."
"Are you aware, Mr. Constantine, that in 1947 Pratt Institute was a highly specialized school teaching art, engineering, library, and home economics?"
"Architecture, I thought," Arthur said.
"Yes, as part of its art program. Were you aware of that?"
"I thought it was primarily an architectural school."
"In any case, more than half the students there at the time were taking courses like Industrial Design, or Illustration, or Food and Clothing. Would you agree that it was a highly specialized school?"
"Yes."
"And yet, in your search for 'a representative college audience'—I believe that was your exact language — you included Pratt among these other schools?"
"Yes."
"Did you know that James Driscoll was a student at Pratt Institute in 1947?"
"I didn't know that."
"You've never heard that before, Mr. Constantine?"
"I knew he was a student at Pratt Institute, but not that he was there in 1947."
"In other words, when you testified that free tickets were sent to Pratt Institute in 1947 — a highly specialized school, even though you were looking for a representative college audience — when you so testified, you were not aware that James Driscoll had been a student there at the time?"
"I was aware that Mr. Driscoll went to Pratt Institute, but I had no knowledge as to the date, I just told you that. If you want to know whether I think Mr. Driscoll could have seen my play in performance, yes, I think he could have seen it."
"That was not my question."
"It seemed to be your question."
"It was not. I'll rephrase it so that it will be perfectly clear to you. Do you not feel, Mr. Constantine, that your having sent free tickets to Pratt Institute at the very time James Driscoll was a student there is a remarkable coincidence?"
"I do not. To the best of my knowledge, we sent the tickets to Pratt. If Driscoll happened to be a student there at the time, that's a plain fact, and there's nothing coincidental about it."
"Thank you." Willow sighed and walked toward the defense table. He leafed through a batch of papers his assistant handed to him, his back to Arthur all the while. Apprehensively, Arthur waited for Willow to turn toward him again. Brackman caught his eye and nodded encouragingly.
"Mr. Constantine," Willow said, walking slowly toward him, "you have testified that you served in the United States Army during World War II."
"I did."
"Were you an officer?"
"I was a second lieutenant."
"Like the character in your play?"
"In that he was a second lieutenant also, yes."
"Were you in command of a platoon?"
"I was."
"How many men were in the platoon?"
"Forty-one."
"As in your play?"
"As in any Army platoon during World War II."
"What was the composition of this platoon?"
"What do you mean?"
"What sort of men were in it?"
"I still don't understand you."
"Where were they from, what was their education, their racial or religious background, and so on?"
"I don't remember. There were all types of men in the platoon. And there were replacements from time to time. I can't remember all the background details of each man."
"Was there a man from New York City in your platoon? Besides yourself, I mean."
"I think so."
"Was there a Southerner?"
"There might have been."
"And possibly someone from the Middle West? Or California?"
"Possibly."
"Men of high school or college education perhaps?"
"Perhaps."
"Was there a Catholic?"
"Yes."
"And a Protestant, and a Jew?"
"There could have been. I don't remember."
"Was there a Negro?"
"No."
"The Army was not integrated at that time, was it?"
"No."
"Was there an Italian in your platoon?"
"Yes."
"Was this the only platoon you ever commanded, Mr. Constantine?"
"I commanded several other platoons later on. And when I made captain, I was given command of a company. This was shortly before I was discharged."
"Would you say that the composition of these other platoons you commanded was roughly the same as that of the first one? In terms of background?"
"Roughly, yes."
"There were New Yorkers possibly, or Southerners, or men from California or the Middle West. There were Catholics and Protestants and Jews. There were men of Irish descent or Italian descent. There was, if you will, a cross-section of America."
"I would say so."
"Do you suppose this was true of any platoon in the United States Army during World War II?"
"I would suppose so."
"Do you suppose it was also true of any platoon in the United States Army during the Korean conflict?"