Chapter 8 Chapter VIII Between the Lawyer and the Prosecutor

The court finally opened the trial.The presiding judge announced the opening of the court with a majestic voice. Prosecutor Borg nodded confidently, and the journalists opened their notebooks and picked up their pens.Many reporters came to interview because they heard that the famous lawyer Mason was convinced that the two defendants were innocent.Secretary Tina was also in the packed gallery.The first witness to be called was the driver, James. Prosecutor Borg asked: "When did you start working for Mr. Bashard?" "Eighteen months ago." "What was your occupation before this?"

"Private detective." Mason was taken aback, and turned his head to look at Burnett and Mrs. Bashad in the dock.Burnett was expressionless; Mrs. Bashard was pale, and it seemed she didn't know that the driver, James, was a private detective. "So, during your employment, were you asked to do anything other than drive?" As soon as the Borg prosecutor's office finished speaking, Mason said in an extremely contemptuous tone, "That is to say, the witness James was hired to spy on Mrs. Bashad, and he pretended to tell his employer about everything. Bashad has informed you."

Hearing these words, Prosecutor Borg blushed and protested. The presiding judge knocked on the table with wood: "Lawyer Mason, please don't speak without authorization during the prosecutor's interrogation. In addition, the court does not allow speeches that tease witnesses!" "Sorry, Prosecutor, I apologize." Mason bowed his head in apology, but a smile of success appeared on his face. Prosecutor Borg regained his composure and questioned Driver James again. "The day Mr. Bashad was killed, did you see his body? Who was there?" "Inspector Holcomb from the Homicide Unit and scouts."

"What did the dead man have?" "Has a glass eye." "At that time, did a detective mark the fake eye in front of you for future identification?" "Yes. Marked the back of the artificial eye with black ink or silver nitrate." Prosecutor Borg took out a false eye from the table and handed it to James. "Is it this false eye? Please look carefully." "Yes, this one." "Have you ever seen this false eye before?" "Yes, I found it in Madame Bashard's room the night before the murder." Therefore, Mason protested loudly: "I have objections to the testimony just now. I can't be sure that the prosthetic eye that the witness James found in Mrs. Bashard's room the night before the incident must be the one that the prosecutor is showing now. I The reason for saying this is that the detectives marked the false eye after the killing the next night."

Prosecutor Borg snickered, "Lawyer Mason, please listen to what Witness James has to say before making any objections." James then went on to say, "Well, when I found this artificial eye in Mrs. Bashard's room, I had a diamond ring on my hand, so I cut a small cross with diamonds on the back of the artificial eye. " "Why did you make a mark?" "Based on my experience as a private detective, if this false eye becomes some kind of evidence in the future, it is necessary to mark it in advance to distinguish it." "Are there cross marks on the fake eye I just handed you?"

"Yes, there is." As soon as James finished answering, Prosecutor Borg took the fake eye and handed it to the presiding judge. "Presiding Judge, I present this false eye as Exhibit A. Attorney Mason, do you still have any objections?" "no disagreement." Mason let it go, so Prosecutor Borg continued to ask: "Then witness James, under what circumstances did you find this false eye in Mrs. Bashard's house the night before?" "That night, as I was passing the lady's house, I heard a man and a woman whispering. I knocked on the door because Mr. Bashad ordered me to investigate the lady's behaviour. Then I heard people running in a hurry in the room, The sound of the window closing. Madam asked me to wait for a while before turning the lock and opening the door."

"and after?" "I said, 'Ma'am. Your husband said there seemed to be a thief in the house. Let me see if the doors and windows are closed.' I checked the window and found shoe heels on the sill and it was new. A fake eye It fell on the floor. I secretly picked it up and put it in my pocket when my wife was not paying attention." "What's next?" "As soon as I came out of Madame's room, I made a mark on the back of the false eye with a diamond from a ring, and handed it to Mr. Bashad." "What did Mr. Bashad say after seeing him?"

"He wanted to know who the owner was. So I went to a prosthetic eye specialist to investigate." "Okay. For the future, please ask experts to testify. Lawyer Mason, please ask if you have any questions." this time.Mason replaced Prosecutor Borg and began questioning James Tucker. "Did you peep through the keyhole when you heard whispers in front of Madame Bashard's room? Did you see the figure of the man, Mr. Spy?" Hearing Mason's sarcasm, the auditorium burst into laughter. "The keyhole is very small, so I didn't see anything." Driver James murmured with flushed cheeks.

"Then it's possible that the sound you heard came from the radio." "No, it is indeed the voice of a real man." "But you didn't see the man, did you?" "Well, yes, but..." "Then when Mr. Bashad was killed, did the murderer escape in his car?" "no." "Why can you assert so clearly?" "After the body was found, Mrs. Bashad said that the prisoner fled in her husband's car. I went to the garage immediately. Both cars were in the same place where I put them. So the lady must have lied." Mason stared at driver James and said, "This is the end of the inquiry."

After whispering, the audience fell silent.The next witness called was Dr Bates, a prosthetic eye expert who described techniques for making delicate prosthetic eyes indistinguishable from the naked eye.Prosecutor Borg handed Dr. Bates the prosthetic eye as Exhibit A, which was the prosthetic eye held in the hands of the slain Bashad.After examining it carefully, Dr. Bates said: "It has been made by first-class artisans and has been used for a long time. Besides, the wearer has a very acidic constitution." "Why do you even know that?" "The edges of this prosthetic eye were discolored and worn away. As soon as the acidic bodily fluids seeped into the glass, it discolored, became brittle and shortened its lifespan."

"Then, Doctor, please examine the other prosthetic eye by the way. This is the prosthetic eye of another victim, Harry Macullum." Prosecutor Borg removed the prosthetic eye from a new envelope and handed it to Dr. Bates. "This is a cheap finished product that can be sold anywhere. The only difference is that a small blood vessel was burned on the white eyeball afterwards, and it was rebuilt into a bloodshot artificial eye. In addition, the edge of the eyeball has not changed color at all, and it is a new one that has not been used. goods." "Presiding Judge, this prosthetic eye is recorded as Exhibit B. Attorney Mason, if you have any objections, please ask." Under the urging of Prosecutor Borg, Mason stood up and asked Dr. Bates in a nonchalant tone: "What occasion is the bloodshot false eye prepared for, Doctor?" "People who wear prosthetic eyes really hate it when people know they have them. They have daytime ones. Nighttime ones. Sleep deprivation and drunkenness. All kinds of prosthetic eyes." "If the prosthetic eye is inlaid properly, it can't be distinguished, so how to install the prosthetic eye into the eye socket?" "Using the action of a vacuum. Keeping no air between the prosthetic eye and the eye socket." "Isn't it difficult to take off the fake eye?" "No, it's not difficult. Push down on the lower eyelid so that the air gets in behind the prosthetic eye and the prosthetic eye falls off." "The person who wears the false eye should do it himself? Is it to pull the lower eyelid as far as possible? Doctor?" "Well, you can't take it off if you don't pull it down as much as you can." "So, when a person wearing a false eye kills a person, when he bends over to look at the dead body, the false eye will not fall off by itself, doctor?" Shouts of astonishment came from the gallery, and everyone understood what Mason's question was to clarify. "It won't fall off so easily," answered Dr. Bates crisply. "Then doctor, assuming the murderer didn't have an eyeball in one eye when he left the murder scene, then the murderer must have taken it off on purpose, right?" "Yes. Especially the delicate false eye like physical evidence A. If you don't remove it yourself, it will never fall off." Prosecutor Borg on the other side heard this, and at this moment, became restless, because the situation was turned sharply by Mason, and he was reconsidering the next combat step. Prosecutor Borg hastily uploaded new witnesses.The witness was named Salby, the owner of the optical shop. "Mr. Sarby, do you sell bloodshot eyes in your shop?" "Not for sale, my store mainly sells popular bargains." "Have any customers bought recently?" "Well, there's one, here. It's him." Salby pointed to Burnett sitting in the dock.All eyes were on him, but he folded his arms and remained expressionless.Madame Bashard, sitting next to him, was pale with terror.Prosecutor Borg leaned toward Burnett and continued to question the Sarby witness. "What day did the defendant Burnett go to buy the false eye?" "9 o'clock in the morning on the 14th of this month. He said that he lost his congested artificial eye. I explained the reason. He said: 'I went to visit my former lover last night, but was discovered by the servants, and I jumped out of the window and put it in my suit. The false eye in the pocket is missing'." "Your words are reasonable. It seems that the defendant Burnett knew in advance that the murder would happen, and in order to avoid suspicion, he planned to prepare a replacement eye." Mason stood up and walked over to Prosecutor Borg unceremoniously. "Lend me the second false eye, which is the physical evidence B." Prosecutor Borg handed it slowly to Mason, who walked over to the Salby witness. "Please take a close look at this artificial eye. Is this something your shop sells?" "No, it's not. My store doesn't sell special prosthetic eyes with blood on them." Hearing this answer, Mason laughed secretly.He had asked Drake to buy the prosthetic eye as Exhibit B, and Prosecutor Borg did not investigate and concluded that Burnett had bought it.