Susan Fisher gasped with horrified dismay.
Did you have an opportunity to observe the make of the automobile?
Indeed I did.
Have you seen that automobile since?
Yes. I subsequently identified it at the We Rent M Car Company. It had a number 19 painted on it to designate it.
You may inquire, Flanders said with exaggerated courtesy, to Perry Mason.
Mason arose to face the witness. Did you get the license number of this automobile at the time you first saw it?
I thought I did.
You thought you did?
Yes, Im quite sure I did.
Did you write it down on anything?
No.
You trusted to memory?
Yes, and I forgot it. By the time I was told that what I had seen might be of great importance in a murder case, I found I couldnt recall the license number.
Did you see the number 19 on this car at the time it drove in the alley?
No.
It was dark at the time?
It was dark.
Were you standing near the car?
Within about twenty feet.
You kept on walking?
No, I stood still.
Why?
So I could see better.
Couldnt you have seen better if you had been nearer?
Perhaps.
Then why didnt you keep on walking?
I... Well, I just wanted to see what was going on, thats all.
You are inclined to be curious as to things that go on around you, Mrs. Jackson?
I am not!
Then this was a new departure for you?
I dont know what you mean by that.
Ordinarily you are not interested in things that go on around you?
Ordinarily I am interested in what I see.
And try to remember those things?
Sometimes.
You say that you identified the defendant in a line-up.
Yes.
Had you ever seen her before the line-up?
That time in the alley.
Never before that?
Well, I had a glimpse of her when she was being escorted into the show-up room.
Had you seen her picture prior to that time?
Yes. Police had shown me her picture and asked if that was the young woman I saw.
And you told them it was?
I told them I... Well, I told them I thought it was.
Did you first tell them that you couldnt be sure?
Well, of course. A body cant take a look at a picture and
Im asking you, Mason said, if you first told them you couldnt be sure.
Yes.
Did you first tell them you didnt think that was the girl?
Well, I may have.
But after you saw her in the line-up after the police had first let you get what you call a glimpse of her, you were positive?
Yes.
Did you see the number 19 painted on the car at the time you saw it in the alley?
No, that was later.
And how did you identify the car?
By its general appearance.
That car was one of a popular make of automobile?
Yes.
There are thousands and thousands of those cars of that same make and model, identical in appearance in every way, on the streets of Los Angeles?
Well, I dont know about thousands and thousands, but... well, anyway, Im satisfied now it was the same car.
Youre satisfied? Mason said.
Yes.
How many conversations have you had with the police?
Oh, several.
Oh, several.
And with the district attorneys office?
Several.
As many as ten with the police?
I guess so, first and last.
As many as ten with the district attorneys?
No, only about five with the district attorneys.
Now lets see, Mason said. As I understand it, you werent quite so positive at the time the police first interrogated you but with the passing of time you became more positive. Is that right?
Yes.
You werent positive the first time you were interrogated?
Well... No, I dont suppose I was. I told them I wasnt entirely sure. I had to keep thinking of it and a little more would come back to me each time Id think of it.
So with each conversation you had with the officers you became more positive?
Yes.
That was the object of their conversation with you?
I dont know what the object was.
But they had about ten conversations with you.
Yes.
And with each conversation you became more positive.
Yes.
So you werent quite as positive at the time of the ninth as you were at the time of the tenth, or as you are now.
Hamilton Burger arose. Your Honor, he said, that is browbeating the witness. Thats pettifogging. Thats not legitimate cross-examination. Thats not what she said at all.
That is exactly what she said, Mason retorted. She said she was more positive with each conversation and she had at least ten conversations. Therefore it follows that she wasnt as positive at the time of the ninth conversation as she was at the time of the tenth.
I think I will overrule the objection, Judge Elmer said, smiling.
Hamilton Burger slowly seated himself.
Now that the district attorneys objection has warned you of the trap, can you answer the question? Mason asked. Were you less positive at the time of the ninth conversation than you are now?
Well, that isnt the way I meant it.
Never mind what you meant, Mason said, Im asking you a question. Answer it yes or no.
No. I was positive at the time of the ninth conversation.
Then why did you have the tenth?
I dont know.
And why did you say you were more positive at the time of each succeeding conversation?
Well, I wasnt referring particularly to the time between the ninth and the tenth.
All right, well go back to the eighth time, Mason said. Were you more positive at the time of the tenth conversation than you were at the time of the eighth conversation?