Chapter 19 Chapter Nineteen

Judge Lonnie Sackton took his seat and announced: "This is a case of a Californian against Horace Warren. This is the first inquest in this murder case. Is the inquest ready?" "Defendant is ready," Mason said. Hamilton Berger stood up and said: "If the judge allows, then at the same time as the prosecution is announced, my attorney, Alfa Randolph, will assist me in this case. I know that the opening statement will be made in the preliminary investigation court , is a very unusual event; at the same time, I also know that my attendance is also a very unusual exception, because this is a very unusual case. Because of the many strange incidents surrounding this trial, I therefore We must first make an introduction to the court, so that the court can understand the purpose of the evidence we presented and how the evidence is related to the whole case. We will present indirect evidence to allow the court to draw its own conclusions. On the evening of the 3rd of this month, In the robbery of the North Pacific Supermarket in this city, a deliberate murder was seen by two witnesses. Mr. Perry Mason, attorney for the defendant in the case, hired a painter to paint a portrait of the deceased in the case. The incident occurred before the witnesses were interviewed. The circumstantial evidence clearly shows that Mr. Mason intended to use tactics to exert pressure on the deceased Christ Keaton, who had recently been released from federal prison after serving a heavy sentence. It is understandable to be alarmed to learn that a man of Mason's caliber is attempting to frame him for attempted murder."

"Wait a minute," Judge Thackton interrupted. "That's a serious charge. You mean Mr. Mason intended to frame the victim for murder?" "That's exactly what I'm going to say, Your Honor." "Are you also saying that he interfered with the testimony of witnesses?" "That's my allegation, and I'm going to substantiate it with an act of motive." "This is the most serious charge," Judge Thackton said. "The evidence will support this allegation," Berger asserted. Judge Thackton's mouth revealed a grim line. "Very good," he said. "Go ahead with your statement."

"We'll prove it," Berg continued. "The deceased Christ Keaton was killed by a .38 caliber revolver which belonged to the defendant, who was found concealed at the scene at the time of the crime. On the strength of the evidence, I request that the defendant be referred to to the Supreme Court." "Very well," said Judge Thackton. "Will the defendant make a statement?" Mason stood up and said: "The defendant's statement is that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty. Likewise, I am innocent until proven guilty. The defendant wants the court to consider any allegations against witnesses. Suggestion, there may not be any illegal intention to influence eyewitnesses to make false testimonies."

"I don't think you need to worry about that. This court understands the basic principles of criminal law, Mr. Mason. The plaintiff can go on." "If the court allows, because of the extraordinary nature of this case, I will call Mr. Coyney as the first witness in my trial because I will first present the basis of motive in this case," Berger said. "What I understand is that Mr. Coyne's testimony will bring out the motive, won't it?" "Yes, in court." "In what way?" "I will present how the defendant, through his attorney, Paley Mason, attempted to frame Christ Keaton, the deceased in this case, with willful murder."

"That evidence is of great interest to this court," Judge Thackton said. "Mr. Zhu Koni, please take your seat before the court and take the oath." Kony stepped onto the witness stand, raised his right hand to swear, and reported his name, address, and occupation. "Do you have a store in this town?" "Yes, a small shop. I'm in the electrical repair business and I sell a few electrical items as well." "Do you remember what happened on the third of this month?" "I remember." "Where were you that day?" "Well, the actual time was a few minutes past midnight, so it was early morning on the 4th," Coyne said. "I finished a midnight movie and I was walking home."

"Are you familiar with the North Pacific Supermarket at 1026 Thackton Street?" "Yes, I am familiar with it." "Did you ever go to that supermarket when you got home?" "Yes, I passed there." "Did anything unusual happen while you were passing there?" "yes." "What's up?" "The front door of the supermarket opened suddenly and a man ran out of there and almost ran into me." "What happened next?" "The guy had a pistol and pointed it at me and told me to put my hands up." "How do you do it?"

"I raised my hands?" "Did the man say anything else?" "I'm guessing it was a robbery, and..." "Never mind your speculations. My question is: Did the man say anything else?" "yes." "What did he say?" "He said: 'Don't put your hands down'." "What did he do next?" "He started to move backwards, and he moved very quickly. When he retreated to the two-thirds of the width of the opposite street, he immediately turned around and quickly fled into the alley." "What do you do next?"

"I tried to push the door of the supermarket, but it was locked with a spring lock inside. I felt something was wrong, so I started looking for a phone, hoping to find a phone to call the police as soon as possible." "Are you familiar with that neighborhood?" "yes." "Do you know where the nearest phone is?" "Well, I'm not sure if it's the closest one I know of, but I know there's a booth at a service station three blocks away, so I ran in that direction." "How fast are you running?" The eyewitness laughed and said, "At first I ran as fast as I could, but I slowed down after a while. I used to do short-distance running, but I found that my body was not as good as before. After running for about two blocks, I Then I slowed down and walked quickly, and then I heard the siren of the police car, and then I saw the police car approaching with red lights flashing, I ran to the middle of the street, waved the car to stop."

"Okay, for now we're going to skip that part of the story," Berger said. "Talk about what happened next." "You mean about the portrait?" "yes." "A man named Farley Furton came to me and he showed me a pencil sketch and asked me if that was the man I was witnessing... Well, wait a minute, before that we There was a conversation. First he asked me to give an overview of the witness, he said he was a private detective, and showed me the ID. Then he showed the sketch and asked if it was me The people who witnessed it, and whether my description of the suspect fits the portrait well."

"What did you say to him?" "I saw the portrait and told him it wasn't a suspect." "What happened next?" "He became very insistent, and he told me that there was no doubt that it was the suspect, and that the night porter had told him that the portrait was very similar." "What next?" "I told him I didn't think so, but I started worrying and thinking about it, and to be honest, it bothered me, I've been robbed before, and I don't want to..." "Never mind that, never mind your thoughts or past background," Berg interrupted. "Just tell me what you did."

"I went to the office of Paul Derek, the private eye who hired Farley Forton, and asked him if I could see the portrait again. He called Mr. Mason and asked him..." "Wait a minute," Berg interrupted. "Mr. Mason you are talking about, is this Mr. Perry Mason, the lawyer representing the defendant in this case?" "That's him, yes." "What happened?" "After he called Mason, Mason asked us to move to his office, and when we got there, Mason spoke to me in person." "What was the point of Mason's conversation with you?" "The way the protest questioning is done is designed to jump to conclusions from witnesses," Mason said. "Established." Judge Saxton said. "Well, so what did Mason tell you?" "I can't remember all of what he said, but I do remember that he showed the sketch and I told him that the suspect I was witnessing was older, taller and stockier. He told me that in a tense situation, witnesses There is often a tendency to portray witnesses as older, larger, taller and more intimidating than the actual offender." "In other words, he was trying to get you to identify the portrait?" "Wait a minute, court," Mason said. "I protest this way of asking questions that induces, insinuates, and draws conclusions from witnesses." "Established," said Judge Thackton. "Mr. Prosecutor, please refrain from asking leading questions about a matter of this magnitude." "I think it's pretty obvious what's going on," Berger said. "I'm just trying to make a summary of the whole situation." "Just use the questions and answers to derive the evidence," Judge Thackton said. "There's no need to conclude the whole situation." "Did Mr. Mason ever ask you to identify the portrait?" Berger said. "Well, I can't remember if he actually used those words to me. But I know what he's trying to do to me, as long as..." "When I answered the question, I made use of other opinions. I didn't respond to the question." Mason interrupted. "Agree, the protest is established." The judge said. "Did Mr. Mason ask you to identify this portrait?" "I want to have, I'm pretty sure that's what he's trying to get me to do." "Answering by using the question is not responding to the question, and the witness jumped to conclusions." Mason protested. "The protest was established." "Well," Berger said. "Now go back to your inner judgment. After you talked with Mason, did you have any doubts about your judgment on identifying the witnesses?" "yes." "How?" "I thought I had a good idea of ​​what the suspects looked like, but after looking at the portraits several times and hearing what they told me, I became undecided." "Did you ever confide in Mason to let him know that your judgment was clouding?" "I told him that there was something wrong with the mouth in the portrait, but the eyes gradually looked the same, like the eyes of someone I had seen elsewhere." "How did Mason respond to your statement?" "He seemed quite satisfied." "Never mind how he seems," Berger said. "My question is, what did he say?" "He told me that it was important to identify the right suspect and that I did my best to recall." Berg looked at Mason and said, "Mr. Mason, can we speculate that the sketch is a portrait of Christ Geeton?" "We can't speculate like that," Mason said. "If you want to prove your point, please." "If necessary, I will call upon the artist to testify that his sketches were based on the photographs of Christ Keaton and that he was following instructions." "How do you prove that his portrait and the sketch shown to the witnesses appear to be from the same image?" "Oh," Berger seemed annoyed. "If you're going to make a last-ditch effort on this, go ahead and do it. I actually have a photocopy of the artist's sketch in my office." "That's not the same one that we're showing witnesses here," Mason said. Judge Thackton said: "Well, as far as the importance of the matter is concerned, I can understand that the defendant's lawyers want to protect his interests. Why don't we take the witness for a while and ask the artist to do another sketch first, and then we will go to the court for the first time." Bring it to court this afternoon?" "I'll do it," Berger said. "But I wish to continue to question this witness." He turned to Coney and said, "Afterwards, have you seen the photo of Krister Gitton?" "yes." "Does the sketch presented to you by Mr. Mason's detective, Mr. Farley Fulton, resemble Gidon's?" "Wait a minute," Mason said. "Let's get things out of order. Your questions are still eliciting conclusions from the witness. And again, you can't go any further unless you can get the witness to explain how he got the idea that the photograph was of Christ Geeton. Ask your question just now. If his understanding is only from hearsay, you can't make that kind of association with the photo." Berger made a gesture of resignation. "Forget it," he said. "Okay, if the court allows, I ask this witness to temporarily withdraw and continue in the afternoon. Now let's pass to Officer Trager." "Wait a minute," Judge Thackton said. "This court would like to ask this witness a few questions." Coyne stared at Judge Thackton. "Have you been questioned by the police about the events you witnessed from the night of the 3rd to the early morning of the 4th this month?" "yes." "When the papers came out that morning, I suppose you had learned the nature of the case from them?" "Yes, in court." "Have you read the newspaper?" "yes." "In other words," Judge Thackton said. "Did you not sleep much that night?" "I didn't go to bed until 3:30 in the morning." "Then the detective showed you this portrait?" "yes." "What did he say when he showed you the portrait?" "I think he said it was a composite image drawn by a police portrait specialist." Thackton's expression was gloomy. "I think," he said. "We'll call this witness again in the afternoon. Now you can pass another witness." "Officer Trager, please," Berg said. Sergeant Trager went to the court to take an oath, reporting his name, address, occupation, and his position as a homicide officer. "On the fourth of this month, you went to that abandoned store on the corner of Covina Street and Hendersay Street in this city for some reason?" "yes." "What made you go there?" "Someone called the police about the fire incident, but there was no fire, but the fire department found a body in the building and called the police. So I went there." "What did you find?" "I found the body of a man who was later identified as Christ Keaton. Apparently he had been shot dead in a corner of the shop that had been used as a secret hideout. Scene There were boxes of canned food, cooking utensils, a small solid fuel stove, pans and utensils, etc., as well as towels, soap and other household items." "Is there water in the building?" "Yes, there is a water supply in the building, connected to a large sink and toilet." "Is there anything else you can tell us about the condition of the building?" "Behind the shop, which is part of the same estate, is a rather large warehouse." "Is there any merchandise stored in it?" "No, there are no goods stacked on site, but there are a lot of cartons, some of which are very large. They have not been transported away, but are stacked in the warehouse." "Have you searched that warehouse?" "yes." "What did you find?" "We found the defendant hiding behind one of the boxes. He had a revolver in his pocket." "Did he say what he was doing there?" "He said he was trapped in the building because of the fire alarm. When he heard the siren, he mistook it for a police car and hid so that he couldn't get out of the building until we found him. .” "Does he have any further explanations about what he did at the scene?" "No, at that time he was advised by his lawyer, Mr. Paley Mason, to answer all questions with 'no comment.'" "Have you investigated the ownership of the revolver?" "Yes, the defendant bought the gun and I have obtained a proof of purchase from the dealer." "Can I see it?" Officer Trager handed the certificate to Berg. "I request that this document be exhibited in court," Berger said. "Unless," Mason said. "You can only be listed as an exhibit if you can prove that the weapon is connected to the pistol that fired the fatal bullet." "I look forward to proving it," Berger said. "That connection has to be established before the weapons evidence is admissible," Mason said. "We must use appropriate procedures to conduct evidence collection in this case. If the weapon is not related to the tool used to kill, then any evidence related to this weapon will be inappropriate, irrelevant and unspecific." "If the defendant's lawyers take that position," Berger said. "Then I shall retire this witness for the time being, and call in Alexander Radford, the county gunnery expert." "No comment," Mason said. "In fact, I believe that's the proper procedure to proceed." Alexander Redford took his seat on the witness stand, and after explaining his professional background, he looked at Berg. "Here is a Smith & Wesson revolver that was previously listed as pending," Berger said. "Have you ever done a ballistic test on this revolver?" "I've done the test." "Were you at the autopsy when the fatal bullet was removed from Christ Geeton?" "yes." "What about that bullet?" "I'm in charge of taking it over." "Where is the bullet now?" "Here I am." "Would you please leave it to me?" Redford hands the bullet to Berg. "Are you present in this court, are you going to say that this bullet is the one that was taken from Christ Keaton?" "yes." "I ask the court to list this bullet as an exhibit," Berger said. Mason said, "Can I have a look?" He went up and stood there carefully observing the bullet for a long time, and then said: "No objection, my lord, let it be listed as evidence." "Now," said Berger, "Mr. Radford, I would like you to judge, with the opinion of an expert gunner, whether this fatal bullet was fired from the Smith & Wesson revolver which I now possess. " Radford adjusted his posture slightly and said: "I have carefully examined this bullet and compared it with the ballistic test bullet of this gun. I found many similarities in it." "Based on your experience in the field of expertise and your knowledge of ballistics, can you say that the fatal bullet was fired from this test pistol, which is the pistol numbered as Exhibit B by the prosecution? " "Deduced from various artificial possibilities and considering various factual conditions, I believe that this bullet was fired by this gun." "When you examined the bullet with a microscope, did you find any indication that it was not fired from the No. B evidence pistol?" "No." "Cross-examination," Berger said triumphantly. Mason stepped forward and looked directly at Radford, who moved his sitting position slightly again. "Mr. Redford," Mason said. "I have the utmost respect for your professional credentials and integrity as a person." "Thank you." "In many cases in the past, your presence as a witness has given me the opportunity to cross-examine you." "yes." "I've never heard you respond like that before," Mason said. "You said that you did not find any signs that the bullet was not fired by Exhibit B. You said that you found many similar lines, and judging by various artificial possibilities and various facts, you think the bullet It was fired from this pistol." "yes." "Those answers are very special, and they are a little different from your usual way of answering. Have you carefully rehearsed your answers beforehand?" "Hmm..." Radford replied hesitantly. "Go ahead," Mason said. "You must keep your oath." "In all cases," Redford said. "Because I am employed by the police, I think it is necessary to discuss the testimony I will give in advance. That is, I will make an internal report first, and then when I attend the court, I will be questioned according to the content of the report." "I understand," Mason said. "The question I just asked was, were your answers carefully rehearsed in advance?" "Well, I discussed it with the D.A. and told him what I can and can't say." "My question is," Mason said. "Was your answer carefully rehearsed in advance?" "I have told the prosecutor how I will answer." "Did he suggest that you, based on your friendship, make some changes to your answer?" "Not a change." "Is it correcting the wording?" "Yes, it's a revised term." "Is the prosecutor's final suggestion that he will confront you with the question 'Given all the facts and every human possibility, was that fatal bullet fired from the evidence pistol?'" "Well, yes, I believe he made that suggestion." "This deadly bullet," Mason said. "It's very flat, isn't it?" "yes." "Can you determine the grade characteristics of the bullet from the marks on the bullet?" "yes." "Do those class characteristics include bullet diameter, firing angle, firing distance, etc.?" "yes." "In other words, as long as the guns are made in the same year, any cartridge fired from a Smith & Wesson revolver will have the same grade signature, right?" "yes." "Now let's talk about the characteristics of individual cases. Is the ballistic pattern of this bullet more difficult to identify than ordinary cases?" "correct." "Just now you claimed that you were convinced that the bullet was fired from Exhibit B after considering all the situations and possibilities. That means you have taken into account other factors outside the field of ballistics gone." "Well, it depends on what you're talking about." "Have you considered some non-technical factors?" "Well, I guess so." "You considered that the gun was recovered from a man hiding at the scene of a murder, did you?" "Yes, I have considered it." "In other words, if the Exhibit B pistol is presented to you lightly -- say it came from a pawn shop somewhere -- and the D.A. Was it shot from this gun?'—how would you answer?" Redford looked at the prosecutor hesitantly, and said: "In this case, I would say that the bullet was obviously fired by the same type of pistol, but based on ballistics tests alone, I would never swear that this is the case. A bullet was indeed fired from the pistol." "So, now," Mason said. "If you exclude some laymen's opinions which may affect your judgment, and base your conclusions solely on your own professional findings, then you must admit again that you cannot be sure that the bullet was fired by the pistol." "Yes, yes." "That's the end of my problem," Mason said. "If the court allows, as I know, Officer Trager has testified and I would like to have the opportunity to cross-examine him." "If the prosecutor's question is over, it should be fine." "I have no further questions," Berger said. "I will make a conclusion in this case. I ask the court to direct Paley Mason to appear in court in the afternoon to explain his crime of attempting to interfere with the testimony of witnesses in this case." Judge Thackton said: "It is now close to the noon recess time. If Mr. Mason's questioning is simple and to the point, it may be better to end the cross-examination before noon. At that time, I will instruct Mr. Mason to appear in court at 2:30 in the afternoon and Provide good cause as to why he should not have been summoned for contempt of court. This Court takes the intent to influence witnesses very seriously. But on the other hand, this Court has pointed out to the Prosecutor that that move may not involve contempt, It is a crime. Of course, if this is the case, I will refer the case to the Bar Association for disciplinary action." "Yes, my lord, I understand," Berger said. "However, I think that since the witnesses have testified in court and have shown that the witness's judgment has been affected, their testimony has been disturbed, and their testimony has been deceived, then the court has the right to issue a summons for contempt." "Let us revisit the matter at two-thirty," said Judge Thackton. "The witnesses were not deceived," Mason said. "He was just being questioned about the problem." "An interrogation is about asking a witness what's on their mind," says Berger. "We'll discuss it at two-thirty," said Judge Thackton. "Officer Trager, would you please go back to the witness stand and be cross-examined by Mr. Mason?" Sergeant Trager returned to the witness stand and sat down in a comfortable posture, showing the appearance of a veteran. He has faced countless cross-examinations in his life, so his style is solid and fearless. Mason said, "Officer Trager, when your men arrived at the store on Covina and Hendersey streets, did you find the body?" "yes." "You did a routine check on the relevant matters of the deceased at the scene. You took photos and recorded the place where the corpse was buried, and you also used chalk to mark the body frame on the floor. At the same time, you searched the scene, right?" "yes." "Meanwhile you found the accused." "Yes, he's hiding behind a stack of cardboard boxes." "You say he's hiding, does that mean he's hiding himself?" "He hides, hides in the shadows." "Into the shadows, Sergeant." "That's exactly what I said." "The place isn't well lit, is it?" "It's true that the place is not very bright, and the public facilities are only partially functional. The shops still have water, but the electricity has been cut off." "Is that a long, run-down building?" "It's an old brick building." "How's the lighting?" "If the power had been on, the front of the store where the body was found would have been well lit. The warehouse section was less well lit. However, due to the power outage, the whole place looked dark and poorly lit. To enter the warehouse, one must Let your eyes get used to the darkness of the room before you can see the furnishings clearly." "Is that where the defendant was found?" "Yes, that's where he hid." "Then where is the gun?" "The gun was in the defendant's pocket." "Has the gun been fired?" "It was used not so long ago." "Did you find out through testing?" "yes." "Is the gun fully loaded?" "Except for the bullet fired, it is fully loaded." "Did you try to get the power on at the scene of the accident?" Mason asked. Cui Ge laughed: "No, we didn't go to connect the electricity, because that would require a deposit in advance, and it would take a long time to wait for the electricity to be connected." "You just said you searched the scene?" "We searched." "How carefully did you search?" "We found what we were looking for." "what is that?" "Murderers and murder weapons." "Do you believe that the defendant is the murderer because he hid at the scene?" "Moreover, he has the weapon used to commit the crime." "You just heard the testimony of a ballistics expert who assumed that the gun was the tool used in the crime, just because the owner of the gun was labeled a murderer by you." "It's a logical reasoning," Trager said. "What's more, there are other identifiable signs pointing out that the No. B evidence is a tool used to commit the crime." "Have you ever brought a flashlight into a warehouse?" "No." "You just took him into custody after seeing the scene and finding the defendant?" "yes." "As far as you know, is there anyone else who might be hiding in the warehouse as well?" "Impossible, our search is sufficient to make us certain that no one else is hiding at the scene." "I believe you said that there were many large cardboard boxes stacked on site, yes?" "yes." "Some cardboard boxes are big enough for a person, right?" "Oh, I think so." "Did you not move the carton or look inside the carton?" "No, we didn't do that. The purpose of our search was to find out whether anyone else was present at the scene. When we found the murderer, we terminated our search." "Well," Mason said. "It can be seen that you have not searched the scene thoroughly. I will pay a deposit to get the electricity connected, and suggest that after this search, continue the interrogation of this case." "What do you hope to find?" asked Judge Thackton. "I don't know," Mason said. "I think the scene should be searched thoroughly." "If you want to do this, and are willing to pay the electricity deposit, this court will give you the right to do so. It is now approaching noon recess, and this court will adjourn. Court will resume at 2.30pm, Mr. Mason , you will then be required to appear in court to show that you have not committed contempt of court grounds." "Very well, my lord," Mason said. "I will be requesting police support to quickly restore power to the store." "It's so stupid," Berger argued. "There is nothing to see at the scene now, and even in the past, there is not much to see..." "How do you know?" Judge Thackton interrupted. "Based on my knowledge of human possibility." "This court is not dealing with the human possibility," Judge Thackton said. "This Court is dealing with the constitutional rights of a defendant charged with murder. Of course, the average person, when he searches for what he expects, is inclined to stop the search once he has found it. Clearly, that is the case in this case .Here, I am not trying to challenge the police. What I am saying is that if the defendant wishes to search the scene again at this time, this court is not only very willing to cooperate, but also welcomes such a search operation. This court directs the prosecutor to do everything possible. Defendant's attorneys cooperated in restoring power to the murder scene. As far as I know, once the power is connected, the lighting situation will be greatly improved." Berg glanced at Sergeant Trager. "Oh, yes, court," Trager said. "There are long fluorescent lights in the warehouse and in the store." "Very well," said Judge Thackton. "This court will adjourn until 2:30 pm. If there is not enough time to restore power and complete the search, this court will continue to adjourn until tomorrow morning. Now this court has announced an adjournment until Court reconvenes at 2:30 p.m.." Mason approaches Paul Derek. "Paul, you may not be able to eat lunch." "I guess everyone doesn't have time for lunch," Derek said. "Our next meal may be in prison." "Don't say that," Mason said. "I want you to take advantage of the court break at noon to investigate the information of all the bank headquarters in the city to see if there was a cash transfer of 47,000 yuan by mail ten years ago." "There's no way they'd release that kind of information," Derek said. "Even if they knew, they..." "They'll know," Mason said. "No one gets $47,000 in the mail every day. They may not want to share the details, but tell them that all we need to know is whether they ever received it. Please, in the shortest possible Find enough manpower to check the banks in this city within a short period of time. Call immediately, tell them your identity, and say that this is done for the purpose of justice." Derek said melancholy: "When the interrogation mentioned misleading witnesses to testify, I once watched Judge Suckerton's expression, Paley, that old guy has a look of hatred, he will sternly Convict you." Mason smiled and said, "That doesn't mean I can't dodge." "Well, you'd better move fast because the old guy's a good pitcher." "We're not defeated yet," Mason said. "I don't know what you're trying to prove, but my impression is that we're too far behind and it's going to be hard to come back." Mason said, "Look, Paul, a guy who came out of a federal prison and was followed by the authorities, but he bought good clothes and smoked good cigars. Where did he get the money?" "Yeah, where's the money?" Derek asked. "He got money from you and bought a car." "Not bad," Mason said. "He did it to save face, but when he got a car, he planned to disappear from the area. He didn't hire a taxi or get another car. When we found him again, he Has taken shelter in a long-abandoned dilapidated shop with provisions, sleeping bags, and a suitcase for clothes. Come to think of it, where did Christ Keaton get those things?" "Maybe it's a store! He's rich." "He was being deliberately covered," Mason said. "Gidon's case is far more complex than we know." "Okay, okay," Derek said. "I'm going to go through the bank records. Do you want me to meet you at the store?" "No," Mason said. "I'm going to keep an eye on the police and do a thorough search."