The Case of the Singing Skirt

'And you are completely satisfied that the bullets were fired from this gun which has been introduced in evidence as Exhibit B?'

'Yes… Now, wait a minute. I don't think I made detailed tests of the damaged bullet. I did make detailed tests of the undamaged bullet and I made this photograph of it so there could be no question that it came from the gun, Exhibit B.'

'You assumed that both bullets were fired from the same gun,' Mason said.

'That's right.'

'But you didn't check it?'

'I didn't check the damaged bullet to the same extent that I did the other.'

'You checked it?'

'Well, now, just a moment, Mr. Mason. If you want to be painstakingly accurate about this, I am not in a position to swear that I did check both individual bullets. I know that I checked the undamaged bullet and I checked the damaged bullet to the extent that I determined they were both of the same caliber and weight and had been fired from a Smith and Wesson revolver. That can be told from the angle and pitch of the grooves. But as far as actual striations are concerned, I think I checked only the bullet which has been identified as Exhibit C-2.'

'Look here,' Judge Keyser said, 'let's be realistic about this thing, Mr. Mason. Does this point make any actual difference in the case?'

'It does not, Your Honor,' Fraser fairly shouted. 'It is simply another one of defense counsel's very adroit moves which he is noted for.'

'May I be heard, Your Honor?' Mason asked in a quiet voice.

Judge Keyser nodded. 'You may be heard. My question was addressed to you.'

'I think it is a very important point, if the Court please,' Mason said. 'I think I will be in a position to prove that if a bullet from this gun was fired into the body of Nadine Ellis, the bullet must have been fired after Nadine Ellis was dead.

'The defendant in this case is being tried for murder. Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. If a bullet was fired from this gun into the body of Nadine Ellis after she was dead, the defendant certainly isn't guilty of murder. That is, the evidence relied upon to prove her guilty of murder would prove only that she had discharged a bullet into a dead body.'

'That's sheer bosh and nonsense,' Fraser exclaimed heatedly. 'As far as this hearing is concerned, all we need to do is to prove that Nadine Ellis was murdered, that the bullets in her body came from a gun found in the possession of the defendant.'

'One of the bullets,' Mason said.

'That's only a matter of expediency,' Fraser said. 'I will admit that the prosecution would have liked it better if the ballistics expert, Alexander Redfield, had taken the time and the trouble to have identified both bullets. But since one bullet was slightly damaged and apparently they both were fired from the same gun, he contented himself with making a positive, definite identification of only one of the bullets.

'Now, since it is only incumbent upon us to show that a crime has been committed and that there is reasonable ground to believe that the defendant committed the crime, we are quite content to introduce this gun in evidence, to introduce this bullet and rest our case.'

'Now, just a minute,' Judge Keyser said. 'Ordinarily the Court is aware of the fact that the defense doesn't put on testimony in the preliminary hearing, and if the defense does, the Court usually disregards it unless it overwhelmingly establishes the innocence of the defendant. Courts usually feel that conflicts in evidence are to be tried in the Superior Court before a jury and that where the prosecution has made a primafacie case, the Court doesn't need to look any further. However, here we have a situation where a young woman, if bound over, would probably be held in jail for some time before the case came up for trial. Her reputation would be blackened, the experience would leave a psychic scar. This Court has no intention of submitting this young woman to such an ordeal simply because of technicalities.

'If Mr. Mason assures this Court that he believes he can establish the fact that this bullet could only have been fired from this gun after death had taken place, the Court certainly feels that Mr. Redfield should identify that other bullet as having come from the same gun.'

'We have no objection to that,' Fraser said, 'except that it simply results in a delay and newspaper notoriety, both of which are greatly desired by defense counsel.'

'That will do,' Judge Keyser said. 'There is no occasion for personalities and, after all, if you want to be technical about it, the fault, if any, rests with the prosecution. The defense is entitled to have the scientific evidence fairly examined and fairly presented. Mr. Redfield, how long will it take you to classify that somewhat damaged bullet and show that it either came from this gun, Exhibit B, or that it did not come from that weapon?'

Redfield hesitated and said, 'I am working on an emergency matter at the moment. I interrupted my work there to come to court. I can promise to have the information by late this afternoon, but I am not certain that I could have it earlier.'

Judge Keyser said, 'I will adjourn this matter until three-thirty this afternoon. Try and have the information by that time, Mr. Redfield. If you can't possibly have it, we will continue the case until tomorrow morning. However, I would like to dispose of the case today and I think that the information concerning this bullet is of prime importance- I take it that the prosecution has evidence that this gun, Exhibit B, was found in the possession of the defendant and there can be no question of that?'

'That is right,' Fraser said.

'Well, I'm going to adjourn court until three-thirty this afternoon,' Judge Keyser said. 'The witness will return at that time, and counsel will be present with the defendant. The defendant is remanded to custody.'

Ellen Robb dug her fingers deep into Mason's coat sleeve. 'Mr. Mason, how in the world- They're crazy. I didn't shoot Nadine Ellis. I never fired that gun at all. I-'

'Just sit tight,' Mason said, warning her with a glance. 'Don't make any statement. Newspaper reporters may try to get you to say something. The police may question you again about that gun. Sit tight, keep quiet. And whatever you do, don't lie to me.'

'I'm not lying to you.'

'You have been,' Mason said.

She shook her head. 'If that gun fired a bullet into the body of Nadine Ellis, somebody did it before the gun came into my possession and then put it in my suitcase.'

Mason studied her face searchingly. She returned his gaze with level-lidded frankness. 'I cross my heart and hope to die,' she said.

'That,' Mason told her, 'may not be an empty expression. If you're lying to me, the situation may be a lot more serious than you think.'

Mason nodded to the policewoman to take Ellen Robb into her custody, and left the courtroom with Della Street.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

In the small private dining room of the restaurant where Perry Mason, Della Street and Paul Drake so frequently lunched during the noon recess, the trio seated themselves at the table.

'I don't see what makes this seem such a devastating surprise to you,' Paul Drake said to Mason. 'I told you quite a while ago this client of yours was no lily-white angel. I take it, she's been lying to you.'

'It's more serious than that, Paul,' Mason said.

'How do you mean?'

'I'll let you in on a secret,' Mason said. 'If that gun committed the murder, I personally am mixed in it.'

'Mixed in what?'

'Mixed in the murder.'

'You are!' Drake exclaimed incredulously.

'Call it an accessory after the fact or suppressing evidence or anything you want, Paul. I just don't believe that gun could possibly have been used in the killing.'

'Nevertheless, it was,' Drake said. 'The evidence shows it.'

Mason, his face granite-hard with concentration, paid no attention to Drake's words and might not have heard him.

Drake turned to Della Street and said, 'I don't get it. I've seen him skate on some awfully thin legal ice, but I've never seen him like this before.'

Della Street shook her head warningly, indicating that Drake was not to pursue the subject.

Drake said, 'What became of the gun that you gave me to test, Perry? That was registered in the name of George Anclitas.'

'Just don't ask questions,' Mason said. 'Just eat your lunch.'

The waiter brought in their orders, and Mason ate in thoughtful silence.

'Well,' Drake said, as he pushed back his plate, 'thanks for the lunch, Perry. I have had more cheerful meals.'

Mason merely grunted in acknowledgment of Drake's remark.

'I'll get the chores done,' Drake said, and left the dining room.

Della Street glanced solicitously at Perry Mason, started to say something, then checked herself.

As though reading her mind, Mason said, 'I know you're wondering what's worrying me. The thing that worries me is whether the district attorney's office has baited an elaborate trap for me and I'm walking into it, or whether they have considered the case so dead open-and-shut they don't need to worry.'

Della Street shook her head. 'Hamilton Burger has his faults, but he's not entirely dumb. He would never consider a case, in which you were representing a defendant, a dead open-and-shut case.'

'But,' Mason said, 'he sent this Donovan Fraser in to try the case unaided. Fraser is a young eager beaver, a relatively new trial deputy. He's anxious to win his spurs and prove himself, and he's probably a little more belligerent than he will be after he has had five more years of courtroom practice under his belt.

'Now, why did Hamilton Burger pick that particular trial deputy to oppose me? He has some veterans in the office who are remarkably good lawyers.'

'Isn't Fraser a good lawyer?'

'I think he is. The point is, he's relatively inexperienced, and in this business there are some things you can learn only as the result of experience.'

'That's the only reason you think he may be laying a trap for you?' Della Street asked.

'No, that's only one of the reasons,' Mason said. 'The thing that bothers me is that in preparing this case they have apparently taken so much for granted-and I don't think they'd do that.'

'In what way?'

'For instance,' Mason said, 'this gun that they took from Ellen Robb is, as far as the case is concerned up to this point, simply a gun. Apparently they didn't make any effort to trace the registration of the gun. Now, I just can't understand that.'

'Well, after all, they found it in her possession and they found that the test bullet matched the bullet found in Nadine Ellis' body.

'If you were district attorney, you'd call in any trial deputy who happened to be unattached and say, 'Here's a case you can't lose. Regardless of the fact that Perry Mason is on the other side, you can't possibly conceive of any set of facts that would keep a judge from binding the defendant over to the Superior Court on this sort of showing.'