Chapter 16 Chapter fifteen

After taking his seat, Judge Churchill straightened his robe, looked down at the people in the courtroom and said, "The California government has opened a case against Catherine Ellis. The charge is intent to kill with a deadly weapon. Are both parties ready?" District Attorney Hamilton Berger stood up and said, "Your court, our side is ready. But let me make one thing first, and it should be clear to the court that murder means premeditated or other serious crimes. unlawfully taking the life of another person, causing the victim to die within a year and a day after the fact. I briefly describe the law here to illustrate our position, which is to prosecute the accused, and thus have this But in the course of this case, if Sophia Elwood dies from the trauma of the defendant, we will drop the complaint and charge him with murder for a grand jury trial. So we must make sure that the defendant safety during the interrogation."

"Why not wait until Elwood's condition is confirmed before prosecuting?" the judge asked. "The reason is that we want to secure certain pieces of evidence. So hopefully the accused can be held in custody without habeas corpus," Berger said. "Well," said the judge. "Is the defendant also ready?" "The accused is ready," Mason said. "Okay, please begin," said the judge. "In court," Berger said. "As I said before, we want to secure certain pieces of evidence in this case, so we will call some witnesses for detailed questioning. For the rest of the case, we would like to follow the law. We only need to prove the fact that the crime was committed and that the accused was indeed related to the accused. The facts of the crime are relevant.”

"This court is not new," said the judge. "I understand your position, District Attorney. Present your case." "Summon Stewart, Bashley," Berg said. Bai Shili stepped forward, raised his right hand to swear, and then went to the witness stand. "Is your name Stuart Basley?" Berger asked. "yes." "Have you known Sophia Elwood for a while?" "Yes." "Did you see her on the fourth of this month?" "I've seen it." "Where did you see it?" "The first time was when I was a guest at her house. She invited me to dinner."

"Then what happened?" "The situation was a bit chaotic at the time. Mrs. Elwood said she had been robbed of $100. There was a fuss for a while, and the defendant was suspected of stealing." "What did you do then?" "I have a friend who is a private detective from Magic Jotun Company, named Liweiling Jotun. I suggested to Mrs. Elwood to call Jotun." "Did you call him afterward?" "Yes, of course, with Mrs. Elwood's consent." "What happened next?" "Mr. Jordan asked the defendant if he could take her fingerprints for comparison."

"Has the accused consented?" "Not only did she refuse, but she also called Perry Mason. When Mason came, he instructed the defendant to..." "Dispute," Mason said. "The objection is valid." Berg had to change the angle. "Did you go back to Elwood's house after she was taken to the hospital?" "Yes, I'm sure..." "Dissent," Mason interrupted. "A witness cannot testify against his speculations." "The objection is established." Berger said, "Well, you went back to the Elwood's for some unknown reason. What happened when you went back?"

"I discreetly used only a small pen-shaped flashlight, and kept the light low to the floor. I walked carefully and silently up the second floor. I felt..." "In court, we're not interested in how the witnesses feel," Mason said. "Please state the facts," said the judge. Bai Shili continued: "I walked quietly to the second floor. I heard the sound of someone moving." "How do you do it?" "I stood still quietly." "Did you hear anything other than the sound of someone moving?" "There is a very peculiar swishing sound."

"Is it a whispered voice?" "I don't think so. It's a very strange swishing sound." "Did you not know at the time that the defendant's lawyer, Perry Mason, and his staff, Paul Derek, were in the defendant's former room?" "have no idea." "Then what happened?" "I accidentally bumped it hard, and I... I was taken aback, nervous and frightened, and I ran, and then... I mean, I hit the stairs coming up the back stairs, turned around and ran towards Running up the stairs in front, Mason suddenly ran out and attacked me."

"Is he alone?" "No, that Detective Derek teamed up with him. When they had me completely subdued, Derek ran off to call the police." "Defense questioning," Berg said to Mason. "When you got to Elwood's," Mason said, reinforcing his question, as he stood up and walked toward the witness stand. "Are you carrying a weapon?" "I had a .38 with me." "Do you have a gun license?" "No." "You know it's illegal, why did you bring it?" "Because I thought I would be in danger." "What danger?"

"I have no idea." "Are you ready to shoot whoever you come across?" "I'm prepared to defend my life." "Do you think your life is in danger?" "yes." "Why do you think so?" "Because of Sophia Elwood's former prisoner." "Do you know why Sophia Elwood was attacked?" "I know." "Do you think it was all caused by the theft of a hundred dollars?" "Frankly, no." "Wait, wait," Berg said. "It's unreasonable to ask like this. I didn't raise an objection, but the defense lawyer is asking for the opinions of the witnesses. Just now Mr. Mason himself made it very clear that what we want to know is not the witness's speculation, but the facts. Please state the facts directly."

"Okay," Mason said. "Mr. Basley, were you there when Sophia Elwood claimed a hundred dollars had been stolen from her hatbox?" "exist." "Have you ever suggested that the accused may have been suspected of stealing?" "No. I just asked some deeper questions." "What is a deep question?" "I asked Mrs. Elwood who had been in her house, who had access to her room, and who knew how many empty hat-boxes there were in her room." "Lots of empty hatboxes?" Mason asked. "yes." "several?"

"How would I know? She said she put the money in an empty hat box." "But you just said there were many." "I guess that's what I said." "Did you know there were lots of hatboxes?" "I don't know, I don't know, she meant a hatbox..." "But you clearly said there were many." "Even if I said a lot." "So when you're asking those deep questions, you mention a lot of hat boxes, don't you?" "Okay, I admit I said a lot." "Didn't Mrs. Elwood correct you that there was only one?" "No. It was a chaotic situation, and all she could think of was..." "Stop it," Mason interrupted. "We don't want to know your speculations, and we certainly don't want to know your speculations about Mrs. Elwood's thinking. What I want to know is what questions you used to sway Mrs. Elwood's thinking and make her think that the defendant stole the money." "I have no intention of influencing her." "You may not use words, but use actions to influence. You only ask who has entered that room, but you don't mention your own suspicions at all." "Of course I didn't steal it!" "Why of course not?" "I have a good reputation in business, and I'm a friend of their family, so of course I'm not suspected...at least I don't think I'm suspected." "But have you ever thought that the defendant is a close relative, so there should be no suspicion?" "I'm just asking some questions." "Is that what you call a deep question?" "It's all right if you say so." "Did you have a pistol with you the last time you were at the Elwood's house?" "yes." "Why do you want to bring it?" "For self-defense if necessary." "Did you know it's illegal?" "Okay, I know." "You trespassed on Elwood's house, didn't you?" "I didn't break in... I just tampered with the lock." "In law, that's trespassing." "Forget it," Bai Shili said angrily. "You talk to my friend the District Attorney. I've mentioned it all to him, and he knows it." "In other words, you are exempted from criminal responsibility because you testified in court, right?" "We're not haggling. The district attorney thinks my intentions are absolutely innocent." "Have you got a hundred-dollar bill yourself?" "Is this illegal?" "When did you start owning this hundred-dollar bill?" "I have no idea." "Think about it." "I can't remember." "That shows you have a bad memory," Mason said. "Because I can legally prove that you went to the bank to withdraw one hundred yuan..." "Okay, okay, I have a one hundred yuan card. It's my money. If I want, of course I can go to the bank to withdraw it at any time." "Okay, let me ask you again, did you bring this hundred dollars to Elwood's house and try to put it in the defendant's room, so that once the police, under your instigation, search the defendant carefully If you're in your room, you'll find a hundred dollars under the mattress or something, and that'll prove the defendant's guilt, won't it?" "of course not." "Facts speak louder than words," Mason said. "That day you tiptoed into the defendant's room to put a hundred yuan, and you accidentally kicked over the cold drink dispenser and made a loud bang. At this time, you found that there were still people in the room. You wanted to escape in delusion, but you bumped into the defendant. Paul Derek and me." "You're talking nonsense, I didn't knock down the cooler," Bai Shili said. "You and Derek must have kicked it down. I heard the bang and I jumped up and started running for the stairs." "Are you still denying that you put a hundred dollars in the defendant's room?" "I deny it." "There are no other questions." Mason finished speaking disdainfully, then turned and returned to his seat. Bai Shili is also preparing to leave the witness stand. At this moment Judge Churchill tapped his pencil on the table and said: "Mr. Basley, wait a moment, I would like to ask some questions. Do you know that the defendant is accused of stealing a hundred dollars from a hat box?" "yes." "And then you went to the bank to get a hundred-dollar bill, and then you went to Elwood's house in the middle of the night and unlocked it yourself, didn't you?" "You're right to say that." "And you want this court to believe that your intentions are entirely innocent?" "Yes, court. Not at all." "I don't believe it," Judge Churchill said. "I don't think you're telling the truth. I think you're carrying that hundred dollars for something else." Judge Churchill looked sternly at the District Attorney and said, "Here is your witness, District Attorney. This Court will tell you that I do not believe his testimony." "How much his testimony is admissible, of course, must be judged by the court." Berger said. "In my opinion, it is not admissible. This court believes that the defendant's charge of theft was framed. I think this case is very likely to be framed." "But in court, we have other evidence. We can prove that the defendant sneaked back to the Elwood's house in the middle of the night, and the time is exactly when Sophia Elwood was attacked. And we can prove that the hat box that originally contained the money was on the defendant. fingerprints. The circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that defendant stole and assaulted plaintiff in an attempt to conceal the crime." "If she stole the money in the evening," Judge Churchill said. "Why did you go back and attack Elwood again?" "We have indeed not been able to determine the defendant's motive," Berger said. Judge Churchill leaned back in his chair with a cold expression, as if there was nothing more to say. Berg hesitated for a while, and seemed to be struggling in his heart whether he should defend Basley again, and finally decided to give up. "Mr. Bashley," he said. "I have no more questions." At this moment Basley suddenly said: "That's all! I'll tell the truth. I went to Elwood's house to help the defendant, not to harm her." Mason quickly turned to Bai Shili and said, "How are you going to help her?" "My $100 is not going to be in the defendant's room, it's going to be in Sophia's cupboard. We know the hatbox fell off the shelf and I'm going to advise the police to double check the cupboard and say it might be a rat. Or something knocked over the box and a hundred dollars flew into the back of the closet...say behind the clothes or in the shoes. I think the police had searched the defendant's room but probably hadn't checked the closet carefully. Once they were in the closet Seeing this one hundred yuan, they will definitely think that the original one hundred yuan flew out, so that the crime of theft will not be established, and the defendant's reputation will be preserved." Mason stared deeply at Bai Shili and said, "Why are you so eager to preserve the defendant's reputation that you are even willing to pay a hundred dollars yourself to intentionally fabricate this evidence?" Bai Shili said: "I have personal reasons. But I know that if the defendant's charges are cleared, but the 100 yuan is still not found, then I will be the most suspected one. In this way, it will affect some of my original The plan. That's the whole truth." Mason stared at him thoughtfully for a few seconds, and finally said curtly, "No problem." Judge Churchill said: "Wait a minute, I want to ask the witness why they didn't tell the truth earlier?" "Because I don't want to admit it, I'm going to put a hundred yuan in the cupboard." "Did you know you were sworn before you testified?" "Know." "But you hide the truth, you say you don't remember when you had the hundred dollars, you want us to think you happened to have the hundred dollars, and you hide your motives for coming to the Elwood's house." "Even if I did a lot of things I shouldn't have done," Bai Shili said. "But you can't say that I deliberately framed the defendant, I just wanted to help her out of trouble." "You didn't tell the district attorney those words." "of course not." Judge Churchill said: "This is a strange case and I disagree with many aspects. I don't want to prejudge, and I don't want to jump to assertion without hearing the evidence. But we clearly see a lady of class, in very suspicious circumstances. Charged with theft under the circumstances of the case. Well, the witnesses can step down. District Attorney, you can call the next witness. However, I want to warn you that the time for prosecution in this case may be too premature." "Mr. Mason didn't explain why he was at the Elwood house, at least not to my satisfaction," Berger said. "Since the suspicious situation was mentioned in the court..." Judge Churchill interrupted: "I don't want to know what Mr. Mason's motives are. The situation is that the witness for the prosecution admitted to concealing the facts, he made up a completely different story himself, and under the pressure of cross-examination, I have to admit that he sneaked into Elwood's house in the middle of the night to destroy the evidence in this case. Although we are opening an investigative court, this court should try its best to maintain justice. Of course, this is not a trial court, but the District Attorney Officer, this court was not established yesterday, we can all see that many backgrounds of this case are suspicious." "That being the case, I'm going to ask for an adjournment until tomorrow morning," Berg said. "At that time I can collect more evidence and decide whether to continue the case or drop it until Sophia Elwood's injury Confirmed, then indict the defendant and send it to a grand jury trial." "Is there any objection on the part of the accused?" asked Justice Churchill. "No," Mason said. "Okay, the court will resume at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. If the case is to continue, I suggest that you do more investigation work during the adjournment." Judge Churchill withdrew after speaking. Berg and Mason walked out of the courtroom without a word.