“Yes.”

  “You go from one to the other?”

  “Yes.”

  “You keep a check on who is working and who is not working?”

  “I try to.”

  “At the time of the holdup you had known Inez Kaylor for about two months?”

  “Yes.”

  “You had seen her every night during that period?”

  “I don’t think she worked every night.”

  “Nearly every night?”

  “Yes.”

  “Up to that time, however, you had never seen the defendant before?”

  “No.”

  “Never in your life?”

  “No.”

  “Yet from that one fleeting glimpse which you had of the defendant, a glimpse…”

  “It wasn’t a fleeting glimpse. I was looking right into his face.”

  “The holdup was done very quickly?”

  She was unable to keep the venom out of her voice as she said triumphantly, “Very quickly. It was done with the skill of long experience, Mr. Mason.”

  “The comment of the witness will be stricken,” Judge Egan said in a bored monotone. “The witness will refrain from making any comments. The jury will disregard the statement of the witness, that is, that much of the statement as relates to the skill of long experience.”

  Mason’s jaw tightened. The damage done by the remark of the witness had only been intensified by the judge’s admonition to the jury. Anything Mason could do would only add to the injury.

  “You only saw him for a relatively short period of time?” Mason asked, his voice casual.”

  “It depends on what you mean by a relatively short period of time.”

  “Not as much as a minute?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Perhaps only thirty seconds?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “You had known Miss Kaylor for two months. You got in the car with her and rode all the way to The Villa Lavina Number Two.”

  “A distance of not more than half a mile.”

  “That took you how long?”

  “A few minutes.”

  “Four times as long as it took for the defendant to stage the holdup?”

  “Possibly.”

  “Five times as long?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Six times as long?”

  “I really don’t know, Mr. Mason.”

  “Yet you now want this jury to believe that from that one glimpse you recognized the defendant as the man who staged the holdup, but that you are not sure that it was Inez Kaylor who gave you the ride to The Villa Lavina?”

  Suddenly Mason saw a look of triumph in her eyes. She said, “I didn’t say I wasn’t sure it was Inez who gave me the ride. I said I was quite certain it was she. I mean by that I am quite certain.”

  Mason turned to look over his shoulder.

  Paul Drake was standing alone in the doorway. He caught Mason’s eye and slowly shook his head.

  Mason matched the witness’ affability. He turned to Paul Drake. “Never mind having Inez Kaylor step into the courtroom. If Mrs. Lavina is positive I’ll take her word for it.”

  “Thank you,” Mrs. Lavina said sweetly and her eyes held an expression of mocking triumph.

  Mason glanced hurriedly at the clock.

  There was no time now to try and figure how he had been double-crossed. The exigencies of the situation required that he be debonair, suave, poised for the next thirteen minutes, thirteen minutes during which he must match wits with a clever woman who knew that he was now powerless to disprove anything she might say. She held all the trumps and knew that she held them.

  “You saw the defendant a second time,” Mason said. “Yes, Mr. Mason.”

  “Where was that?”

  “In a line—up at police headquarters.”

  “And you picked the defendant from the line-up?” Mason said.

  “Unhesitatingly.”

  “And you are absolutely positive that you hadn’t seen him from the time of the holdup until you saw him at police headquarters?”

  “That is right.”

  Mason paused for a moment, studying the witness. “Who was with you at the time of the identification at police headquarters, Mrs. Lavina?

  “Mr. Archer.”

  “You were both there together?”

  “Naturally.”

  “Why do you say naturally?”

  “Because we were both held up together and I assume the police wanted us both to make an identification.”

  “Then why not have you make an identification one at a time if they wanted to be absolutely certain?”

  “You’ll have to ask the police about that, Mr. Mason.”

  “Did the police advance any reason for having you there together?”

  “Yes.”

  “What was it?”

  “That, of course, is hearsay,” Judge Egan interrupted.

  “No objection, no objection, Your Honor,” Harry Fritch said, smiling. “Let him go right ahead.”

  “It’s cluttering up the record,” Judge Egan said irritably. “The Court won’t permit hearsay. And” he added, “the Court doesn’t want any stalling for time or any fishing expeditions in cross-examination. Now go ahead, Mr. Mason.”

  “Who identified him first-you or Mr. Archer?” Mason asked.

  “It was a simultaneous identification.”

  “As soon as you saw him, you pointed him out as being the man?”

  “Definitely, positively and absolutely, Mr. Mason.”

  “And Mr. Archer did the same, there in your presence?

  “Yes, Mr. Mason.”

  “How did you designate him?”

  “By pointing.”

  “And what did Mr. Archer do?”

  “He pointed.”

  “And you extended your fingers simultaneously?”

  “At almost exactly the same split second, Mr. Mason.”

  “And you hadn’t seen the defendant from the time of the holdup until the time of that identification?”

  “No, sir.”

  Mason frowned. “Had you seen his photograph?” he asked.

  She hesitated.

  “Had you?” Mason asked, suddenly alert.

  “Well, yes.”

  “And when had you seen that, with reference to the identification in the line-up?”

  “The day before.”

  “Indeed! And who showed you the defendant’s photograph?”

  “Mr. Archer.”

  “And who was with Mr. Archer at the time?”

  “A police officer.”

  “So when you identified the defendant in the line-up you had previously been studying his photograph?”

  “I had seen his photograph, yes.”

  “Can you describe the circumstances under which you saw that photograph?”

  “I was at The Villa Lavina Number Three. Mr. Archer, accompanied by a police detective in plain clothes, whose name I don’t remember, came to me and said, ‘Martha, they’ve caught the man who held us up. They found my wallet and your purse. They didn’t recover any of the money, or the stickpin. Your purse had been cut and the lining ripped, but there’s no question about it being your purse.’”

  “Did the officer say anything?” Mason asked.

  “He said that there was no use asking us to inconvenience ourselves to go down and look at a line-up unless he felt pretty certain he had the tight man.”

  “And so he showed you a photograph of the man?”

  “Yes.”

  “And this was a photograph that had been taken by the police?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then Mr. Archer had seen the photograph before you saw it?”

  “Naturally. He must have.”

  “And you identified the photograph?”

  “I said that looked very much like the man, yes.”

  “So then an engagement was made for you to be at police headquarters the next morning?

  “At ten o’clock, yes.”

  “Were you positive of your identification when you saw the photograph?”

  “Fairly positive.”

  “Was Mr. Archer positive?”

  “Yes.”

  “How do you know?”

  “He told me so.”

  “And he was the one who showed you the photograph?”

  “Yes.”

  “So Mr. Archer handed you the photograph, said, ‘Martha, this is the man that held us up,’ or words to that effect.”

  “Well, he wasn’t that crude about it.”

  “He told you that this was the man who had held you up?”

  “Well, he said that he had identified him as the man who had held us up and he wanted me to take a look at him and see what I thought.”

  “So,” Mason said, “before you went to this line-up, you had carefully familiarized yourself with the features of this defendant by studying a photograph?”

  “I wouldn’t put it that way, Mr. Mason.”

  “I’m putting it that way,” Mason snapped. “Answer the question.”

  “I had looked at a photograph.”

  “You’d studied it, hadn’t you?”

  “I suppose so.”

  “And had become familiar with the man’s features from looking at the picture?”

  “Yes.”

  “So before you went to headquarters to identify the defendant, you had identified the defendant?

  “No.”

  “You identified his photograph, didn’t you?”

  “That’s not the defendant.”

  “But you did make that identification?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not a qualified identification, but an absolute identification?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “You were certain?”

  “I was certain.”

  “And you told the police you were certain?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then, if you were certain of your identification from the photograph, why was it necessary for you to go to police headquarters the next day to make a personal identification?”

  “Because … I believe they said that was required in court as a matter of evidence.”

  “In other words, the sole reason that you went to that line-up was to manufacture evidence that could be used in court?”

  “Oh, Your Honor, I object to the use of the word ‘manufacture,’” the deputy district attorney stated.

  “Sustained.”

  “The only purpose that you had in going to police headquarters the next day to make an identification of the defendant was to furnish evidence?”

  “Isn’t that the sole purpose of any identification, Mr. Mason?”

  Mason said angrily, “I am asking you, wasn’t the sole purpose of your trip to police headquarters to look at the defendant in a line-up?”

  “I … well, I suppose so, yes.”

  “And you already knew that one of the persons in that line-up was going to be the defendant?

  “Yes.”

  “And you had already identified that person from the picture?”

  “Yes.”

  “When Mr. Archer gave you the photograph of the defendant, he didn’t show you photographs of different people and ask you if you saw anyone in that collection of photographs whose face looked familiar?”

  “Certainly not. We were friends. He simply said, ‘Martha, the police have the man that stuck us up. They haven’t recovered the money, but they have the man. Here’s his picture.’”

  “First he told you that this was the man, and then he asked you if that was the man?”

  “He asked me.”

  “And the officer then asked you if you thought you could identify the defendant in a line-up?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what did you tell him?”

  “I told him certainly.”

  “Were you still holding the photograph when you told him that?”

  “No, I had given it back to him.”

  “Did you give it back to Mr. Archer or back to the officer?”

  “Back to the officer.”

  “And after he told you that he wanted you to go to headquarters and pick the defendant out of a line-up, did you look at the picture again?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I wanted to make certain.”

  “Make certain of what?”

  “That he was the man.”

  “Then you weren’t certain when you first saw the photograph?”

  “Yes, I was certain.”

  “But you have just said you looked at the photograph the second time so as to make certain.”

  “I mean in order to make certain that I could pick him out of the line-up.”

  “Then you were picking him out of the line-up not from your recollection of having seen him the night of the holdup but from your recollection of the photograph.”

  “Well, from both.”

  Mason glanced desperately at the clock. “Why did you ask to study the photograph the second time?”

  “Oh, Your Honor, I object to that as having been already asked and answered,” the deputy district attorney said.

  “Sustained,” Judge Egan snapped. “I suggest that Counsel has already exhausted this phase of the cross-examination and should move along to some other point.”

  Mason said, “Now I would like to ask you one or two more questions about just what happened at the time of the holdup, Mrs. Lavina. You were en route to The Villa Lavina Number Two?”

  “Yes.”

  “How were you dressed?”

  “I was wearing the same outfit that I am wearing now.”

  “And I take it,” Mason said casually, “that you must have had the same purse that you are now holding in your lap?”

  “Yes.”

  Suddenly she bit her lip. “No, I was mistaken. I had another purse at the time of the holdup. Naturally, the holdup man took my purse, Mr. Mason.”

  “You remember the circumstances of the holdup distinctly?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mr. Archer is a friend of long standing?”

  “I have known him for some time.”

  “He smokes?”

  “I believe so, yes.”

  “Was he smoking a cigarette at the time of the holdup?”

  Her eyes slithered away from Mason’s. She placed a gloved hand against her cheek and said, “Let me think … I am not certain.”

  “Isn’t it a fact,” Mason said, “that when Mr. Archer stopped the car for a traffic light he placed a cigarette in his mouth and was leaning forward to press the cigarette lighter in the dashboard when the holdup man approached the left-hand side of the automobile, and that is the reason you didn’t see him until he had jerked the door open?”

  There was a period of silence.

  Judge Egan glanced at the clock and stirred restlessly on the bench.

  “Answer the question,” Mason said.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I was, for the moment, thinking of something else.”

  “What were you thinking of?” Mason asked.

  She smiled. “I’m quite certain it wouldn’t be relevant.”

  “Then answer the question.”

  “I … I’m sorry but I am afraid I have forgotten the question. Something popped into my mind.”

  She smiled at the jury, and one or two of the fascinated male jurors returned her smile.

  The court reporter read the question in a monotone,

  “Isn’t it a fact that when Mr. Archer stopped the car for a traffic light he placed a cigarette in his mouth and was leaning forward to press the cigarette lighter in the dashboard when the holdup man approached the left-hand side of the automobile, and that is the reason you didn’t see him until he had jerked the door open?’

  “I … I’m not certain.”

  “Isn’t it a fact that it was just as Mr. Archer straightened back, holding the cigarette lighter in his right hand, that the defendant pushed the gun in his face, and that when Mr. Archer elevated his hands the cigarette lighter dropped from his hands and scorched a hole in the upholstery of the car?

  “You may look at this photograph of Mr. Archer’s car if you wish, Mrs. Lavina. You will notice the round hole in the upholstery of the front seat.”

  “I … come to think of it, Mr. Mason, I believe that is what happened.”

  “It certainly should have made an impression on your mind,” Mason said. “A cigarette lighter burning a hole in the upholstery of the car would make quite a bit of smoke.” “I suggest you ask Mr. Archer about that, Mr. Mason.” “Thank you for your suggestion, but I am asking you. “I don’t feel that I can really answer the question.”

  “Why not?”

  “Good heavens, Mr. Mason, I am not a block of wood or stone. I am a human being with emotions. You can’t expect a woman to sit through a holdup and recall every minute detail.”

  “You recall every minute detail of the defendant’s features?”

  “Not the minute details, no.”

  “The general features?”

  “In a way.”

  “What color are his eyes? No, no, don’t look-just tell the color of his eyes.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What color clothes was he wearing that night-the night of the holdup?”

  “The same he’s wearing now.”

  “What clothes was he wearing when you saw him in the line-up?”

  “The same-I’m sorry, I can’t be certain.”

  “As Mr. Archer approached the intersection where the holdup took place, what lane was he in? The one that was near the curb or the one that was over nearer the center of the road?”

  “The … the center of the road.”

  “Then,” Mason said, “if the defendant opened the door on the left-hand side he must have been standing in the …” “No,” she said, “pardon me. It was my mistake. I remember now. It was the lane on the right-hand side, the one nearest the curb.”

  “Exactly what time did this holdup take place?” Mason asked.

  “Why, on the 13th of September.”

  “No, I mean what time of night?”

  “It was … oh, along in the evening-”

  “Nine o’clock?”

  “I didn’t look at my watch, Mr. Mason.”

  “Ten o’clock?”

  “I tell you I didn’t look at my watch.”

  “Eleven o’clock?”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Mason, I … no, it was before eleven because the drugstore closes at eleven.”

  Judge Egan cleared his throat, said, “It has now reached the hour of five o’clock. Court will take a recess until Monday morning at ten o’clock. During the recess the jurors are admonished not to discuss the case among yourselves and not to permit anyone to discuss it in your presence, nor are you to form or express any opinion until the case has been finally submitted to you for your decision. Court’s adjourned.”