“And did you search this warehouse?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “What did you find?”

  “We found the defendant hiding behind one of the piles of cartons. He was carrying a revolver in his hip pocket.”

  “Did he state what he was doing there?”

  “He stated that he had been trapped by the fire apparatus, that he had heard the sirens and mistaken them for the police and had secreted himself and been unable to get out of the building before we found him.”

  “Did he make any further statement as to what he was doing there?”

  “No, sir. At about that time Mr Perry Mason, his attorney, advised him to answer all statements with the words, ‘No comment.’”

  “Did he make any further statements after that?”

  “Only the words, ‘No comment.’”

  “Did you establish the ownership of the revolver?”

  “Yes, sir. The revolver was purchased by the defendant himself. I have here a certified copy of the purchase sheet from the firearms register.”

  “May I have it, please?”

  Lt Tragg handed the sheet to Hamilton Burger.

  “We ask that this be introduced in evidence,” Hamilton Burger said.

  “No objection,” Mason said, “provided it is established that this is the weapon which fired the fatal bullet.”

  “We expect to establish that,” Hamilton Burger said.

  “I want it established before any evidence about the weapon is received,” Mason said. “We are entitled to have the case presented in proper order. If this weapon did not fire the fatal shot, then any evidence concerning it is incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial.”

  “If that is the position taken by defence counsel,” Hamilton Burger said, “I would like to withdraw this witness temporarily from the stand and ask Alexander Redfield, the county firearms expert, to take the stand.”

  “No objection,” Mason said. “In fact that is, I believe, the proper procedure.”

  Alexander Redfield took the stand, listed his professional qualifications, and then turned to Hamilton Burger expectantly.

  “I show you a Smith and Wesson revolver which has previously been marked for identification,” Hamilton Burger said, “and ask you if you have fired test bullets from that revolver.”

  “I have.”

  “I ask you whether you were present at an autopsy when the fatal bullet was recovered from the body of Collister Gideon.”

  “I was.”

  “What happened to that bullet?”

  “I took charge of it.”

  “Where is it now?”

  “I have it.”

  “Will you give it to me, please?”

  Redfield handed over the bullet.

  “You are prepared to state this is the bullet which was removed from the body of Collister Gideon in your presence?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I ask that it be introduced in evidence,” Hamilton Burger said.

  Mason said, “May I see it, please?”

  He walked over, and stood for some time studying the bullet, then he said, “No objection, Your Honour. It may be received in evidence.”

  “Now, then,” Hamilton Burger said, “I will ask you, Mr Redfield, if in your opinion as an expert on firearms, this fatal bullet was fired from this weapon which I now hold in my hand, this Smith and Wesson revolver.”

  Redfield shifted his position slightly. “I have carefully examined the fatal bullet and compared it with the test bullets fired from this weapon. I have found many points of similarity.”

  “Predicating your answer upon your experience in the field and your knowledge of the science of ballistics, would you say that this fatal bullet was fired from this gun marked for identification, People’s Exhibit B?”

  “I would say that in all human probability, considering all the factors, the fatal bullet had been fired from that gun.”

  “Have you been able to find any indications in your microscopic examination of the fatal bullet which indicate it had not been fired from the gun, People’s Exhibit B?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Cross-examine,” Burger said, triumphantly.

  Mason walked up to face Redfield, who again shifted his position slightly.

  “Mr Redfield,” Mason said, “I have the highest regard for your qualifications and your integrity.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “I have had you as a witness in many cases, and I have had the opportunity to cross-examine you on occasion.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “But I have never heard you make quite those answers,” Mason said. “You state that you have not been able to find any indication that the fatal bullet was not fired from the gun, People’s Exhibit B. You state that you found several marks of similarity and you state that in all human probability in your opinion considering all the factors, the bullet was fired from that gun.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Now, those are very peculiar answers. Somewhat different from the answers you ordinarily make. Have you carefully rehearsed those answers?”

  “Well …” Redfield said, and hesitated.

  “Go ahead,” Mason said, “you’re under oath.”

  “In all my cases,” Redfield said, “since I am in the employ of the police department, I find it necessary to discuss what my testimony is going to be. That is, I make a report and then I’m usually questioned on that report.”

  “I understand,” Mason said. “My question in this case was whether or not your answers had been very carefully rehearsed.”

  “Well, I discussed the matter with the district attorney and told him what I could swear to and what I couldn’t swear to.”

  “I’m asking you,” Mason said, “if those answers were very carefully rehearsed.”

  “Well, I told the district attorney what my answers would be.”

  “And he suggested certain changes which you could, in good faith, make?”

  “Not changes.”

  “Changes in the wording?”

  “In the wording, yes.”

  “And wasn’t the final suggestion made by the district attorney that he would ask you if, considering all the circumstances, you consider that in all human probability, the fatal bullet had been fired from that gun?”

  “Well, yes, he did suggest that, I believe.”

  “This fatal bullet,” Mason said, “is pretty badly flattened?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You can see the marks of what are known as the class characteristics on it?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Those class characteristics relate to calibre, pitch of the lands and number of the lands?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “In other words, any bullet fired from a Smith and Wesson revolver made during the year when this gun was made would have those same class characteristics?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Now the individual characteristics, the striations are much more difficult to trace on this fatal bullet than is ordinarily the case?”

  “That is right.”

  “Now, when you state that when you consider all the circumstances you consider that in all human probability the fatal bullet was fired from that revolver, People’s Exhibit B, you are taking into consideration certain circumstances which are not entirely within the province of a ballistics expert.”

  “Well, that depends on what you mean.”

  “You are taking into consideration certain non-technical factors?”

  “Well, I suppose so, yes.”

  “You are taking into consideration the fact that the gun was found in the possession of a man who was hiding near the scene of the murder?”

  “Yes, sir, I am.”

  “In other words, if this gun, People’s Exhibit B, had come to you cold – that is, if it had been picked up in a pawn shop somewhere and the district attorney had said to you, ‘Can you positively swear as a matter of ballistics evidence that this fatal bullet was fired from this gun?’ – what would your answer be?”

  Redfield hesitated, fidgeted, looked at the district attorney, said, “Well, under those circumstances, I would have to state that while it was apparent the bullet had been fired from a gun of the same make, I couldn’t swear positively, basing my testimony solely on the science of ballistics, that the fatal bullet had been fired from this gun.”

  “And,” Mason said, “now if you leave out certain circumstances which influence your opinion simply as a layman and predicate your testimony entirely on what you have found as an expert, you are again forced to admit that you can’t tell positively that this fatal bullet was fired from this gun.”

  “That is right, yes, sir.”

  “That’s all,” Mason said.

  “Now, as I understand it, if the Court please, Lieutenant Tragg was on the stand and I am to have an opportunity to cross-examine him.”

  “If the district attorney is finished.”

  “I have no further questions,” Burger said.

  “I have, however, about concluded my case. I am now going to ask the Court for an order directed to Mr Perry Mason ordering him to appear in person this afternoon to show cause why he shouldn’t be found guilty of contempt in tampering with the evidence of witnesses.”

  Judge Saxton said, “It is approaching the hour of the noon adjournment. If Mr Mason’s examination is brief, I think he can probably finish his cross-examination before noon. I believe that I will at that time make an order ordering Mr Mason to appear in court at two-thirty this afternoon and show cause, if any he has, why he shouldn’t be cited for contempt.

  “The Court takes a very grave view of this attempt to influence the witnesses, but, on the other hand, the Court points out to the district attorney that the action may not be in contempt but may be a criminal action, and, of course, a disciplinary action before the Bar Association.”

  “Yes, Your Honour, I am aware of that,” Hamilton Burger said. “But I think, since this witness was one who was actually called before this Court, and since it now appears that he has been influenced, his testimony tampered with, and the witness deceived, the Court has power to issue a citation for contempt.”

  “We’ll argue the matter at two-thirty,” Judge Saxton said.

  “The witness wasn’t deceived,” Mason said. “He was interrogated.”

  “Interrogated in such a manner that his mind was made up for him,” Hamilton Burger snapped.

  “We’ll go into that at two-thirty,” Judge Saxton said.

  “Lieutenant Tragg, will you return to the stand, please, for cross-examination by Mr Mason?”

  Lt Tragg returned to the witness stand, seating himself comfortably in the manner of a veteran witness who has faced cross-examination many times in his life, is telling the truth and has nothing to fear.

  Mason said, “Lieutenant Tragg, when your men arrived at this storeroom at the corner of Clovina and Hendersell, you found a body?”

  “That is right.”

  “And you went through your usual procedure in connection with that body. You took photographs of the position of the body. You marked the outline in chalk on the floor. You searched the place?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And you found the defendant?”

  “Yes, sir. Hiding behind a pile of boxes.”

  “You say he was hiding. You mean that he was concealed?”

  “Well, he was hiding. He was shrinking into the shadows.”

  “Into the shadows, Lieutenant?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Then the place was not well lighted?”

  “The place was definitely not well lit. The utilities were only partially in service. The water in the storeroom was still on, but the electricity had been disconnected.”

  “That is rather a long, rambling building?”

  “That is an old brick building.”

  “What about the illumination?”

  “When the electricity is on, the front room, the storeroom where the body was found, can be well illuminated. The warehouse part was not so well illuminated. However, with the electricity off the whole place was gloomy and poorly lit. One had to wait until one’s eyes accustomed themselves to semi-darkness before being able to see things at all clearly in the warehouse.”

  “And that’s where the defendant was found?”

  “That’s where he was hiding, yes, sir.”

  “Now, where was the gun?”

  “The gun was in the defendant’s pocket.”

  “It had been fired?”

  “It had been recently fired.”

  “Your test determined that?”

  “Yes.”

  “The gun was fully loaded?”

  “Except for the one discharged cartridge.”

  “Did you go to the trouble of having the electricity turned on?” Mason asked.

  Tragg smiled, “No, sir, we didn’t have the electricity turned on. That would have required a deposit and a certain amount of delay.”

  “Yet you say that you searched the place?”

  “We searched it.”

  “How well did you search it?”

  “We found what we wanted.”

  “Which was what?”

  “The murderer and the murder weapon.”

  “You assumed that the defendant was the murderer because he was hiding?”

  “And because he had the murder weapon in his possession.”

  “Yet you have just heard the testimony of the ballistics expert in which he assumes that the weapon was the murder weapon in part because it was in the possession of the man you have branded as the murderer.”

  “That is a logical deduction,” Lt Tragg said. “However, there were other identifying marks indicating the revolver, People’s Exhibit B, was the murder weapon.”

  “Did you take any lights into the warehouse?”

  “No, sir.”

  “You just looked through it, found the defendant and took him into custody?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “For all you know someone else could have been hiding in that warehouse?”

  “No, sir, we searched it well enough to know no one else was hiding.”

  “There were numerous large cardboard cartons in there, I believe you said?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Some of them were big enough to hold a man?”

  “Oh, I presume so, yes.”

  “You didn’t move them. You didn’t look inside them?”

  “No, we didn’t. We made a search for the purpose of finding anyone who might be in there. We found the murderer. That terminated our search.”

  “Then,” Mason said, “you haven’t really searched the place. I am going to put up the money for connecting the electric light service and I suggest that this case be continued until a search can be made.”

  “What do you expect to find now?” Judge Saxton asked.

  “I don’t know,” Mason said. “I think the place should be searched.”

  “Well, if you want to do it and are willing to put up the money as a deposit for electric current, the Court is certainly going to give you that privilege. It is approaching the hour of noon adjournment. The Court will adjourn until two-thirty this afternoon, at which time, Mr Mason, you will be asked to appear in order to show cause why you should not be found guilty of contempt of court.”

  “Very well, Your Honour,” Mason said. “I will ask the co-operation of the police department in getting immediate service in hooking up the meter on that establishment.”

  “But this is all foolishness,” Hamilton Burger protested. “There is nothing there now. There never was anything there that–”

  “How do you know?” Judge Saxton interrupted.

  “I know because I know what the human probabilities are.”

  “This Court is not dealing with human probabilities,” Judge Saxton said. “This Court is dealing with the constitutional rights of a defendant charged with crime.

  “There is, of course, a tendency when one is searching for something which he expects to find, to discontinue the search when he finds what he has expected. Apparently, that was done in this case. I am not censuring the police. I am simply stating that if the defendant wants the place searched at this time, the Court is not only willing to co-operate in that, but the Court would like to have such a search made.

  “The Court instructs the prosecution to co-operate in every way with the defence attorney in getting electricity turned on there. As I understand it, there will be ample illumination if the electricity is turned on.”

  Hamilton Burger glanced at Tragg.

  “Oh, yes, Your Honour,” Tragg said. “There were long fluorescent light tubes in the warehouse and also in the storeroom.”

  “Very well,” Judge Saxton said, “Court will recess until two-thirty this afternoon, and if that isn’t sufficient time for the light to have been turned on and a search to be made, the Court will take a further adjournment until tomorrow morning. The present order is that Court is recessed until two-thirty.”

  Mason moved over to Paul Drake.

  “Paul, you’re going without lunch.”

  “I guess everybody’s going without lunch,” Drake said. “Our next meal may be in jail.”

  “Forget it,” Mason told him. “I want you, during the noon recess, to cover every main bank in town, not the branch banks, but the main banks, and see if ten years ago a deposit of forty-seven thousand dollars in cash was made by mail.”

  “They aren’t going to give that information,” Drake said, “even if they know. They–”

  “They’ll know,” Mason said. “You don’t get a forty-seven-thousand-dollar cash deposit by mail every day in the week. They may not want to give out the information as to details. Tell them simply we want to know whether such a deposit was received. Put enough men on it to cover the city in the shortest time possible. Get on the telephone, tell them who you are, tell them it’s in the interest of justice.”

  Drake said moodily, “I was watching Judge Saxton’s face when that stuff came out about tampering with the witnesses. That old boy is dead against you, Perry. He’s going to throw the book at you.”

  Mason grinned and said, “That doesn’t mean I can’t dodge.”

  “Well, you’d better do some pretty fast dodging because 1 think that old boy is a pretty good pitcher.”