Beware the Curves

“He said his lawyer had given him a rough time.”
    “And what did he say after that?”
    “He said that he’d broken down and told his lawyer about packin’ a rod when he went out to call on Endicott that night. He said he’d tossed the rod out of the window into the shrubbery—into the hedge running along there.”
    “What else did he say?” Irvine asked.
    “Well, he said he thought he’d made a mistake telling his lawyer about that. He said it seemed to sort of take the starch out of his lawyer.”
    The eyes of the jurors swiveled to Barney Quinn. Quinn had the presence of mind to throw back his head and laugh silently.
    “What else?” Irvine asked.
    “Well, he said that Mrs. Endicott had told him about some secretary who got sacked telling her all about how Endicott had sent him—”
    “Now, by him you are referring to Ansel?“
    “That’s right. Ansel said this secretary had told Mrs. Endicott all about how Endicott had deliberately sent him up the Amazon so he could be put out of the way, and knowing that he was going to get killed.”
    “Did he say anything else?”
    “That was about all. He was going over it two or three times with me. He asked me if I thought he’d made a mistake telling his lawyer about the gun.“
    “Cross-examine,” Irvine said to Quinn.
    “He told you he’d thrown a gun out of the window?” Quinn asked, smiling disdainfully.
    “That’s right.”
    “He said that was his gun?”
    “Yes, sir, that’s what he said.”
    “That he had taken it with him when he went to call on Endicott?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Did he say why he’d thrown it out of the window?“
    “Well, he said he got a little sick to his stomach.“
    “What made him sick to his stomach? Did he say?“
    “The thought of the girl he loved being married to a guy like Endicott.”
    “Now then,” Quinn said, pointing his finger at the witness, “did he say he had fired the gun?”
    “No, sir.”
    “Did he say that he hadn’t fired the gun?”
    “That’s what he told me, that he hadn’t fired it.“
    “Now then, did he tell you anything about when Mrs.
    Endicott had told him about the secretary talking to her F’
    “No, sir, he didn’t.”
    “But you got the impression that it was long after the death of Endicott that he was told about that, isn’t that correct?”
    “I object,” Irvine said. “His impression is not important. The question calls for a conclusion.”
    “Sustained,” Judge Lawton said.
    “Didn’t he tell you that he hadn’t seen Mrs. Endicott until after Endicott met his death?”
    “Yes, sir, he did.”
    “So she couldn’t have told him anything prior to that time?”
    “Objected to as argumentative,” Irvine said. “Sustained,” Judge Lawton said.
    “But he did tell you definitely that, from the time he left for the jungles, he didn’t see Mrs. Endicott until after Endicott’s death?”
    “Well, yes, he said that.”
    “Now you’re a dope peddler, aren’t you?” Quinn said. “Objected to,” Irvine said. “That is not a proper ground of impeachment. The witness can only be impeached by showing that he has been convicted of a felony.”
    “This question may, however, be preliminary. It may go to the question of bias,” Judge Lawton said.
    “Then the other question should be asked first,” Irvine said.
    “Very well, I’ll sustain the objection at this time.“
    “You are in jail as a prisoner?” Quinn said.
    “Yes, sir.”
    “And how long have you been in jail?”
    “A little over four months.”
    “And how long do you still have to serve?”
    “About ten days, figuring good time.“
    “And why were you sent to jail?”
    “I had marijuana cigarettes in my possession.”
    “Were you smoking them?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Were you peddling them?”
    “Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial, and not proper cross-examination,” Irvine said. “Sustained,” Judge Lawton ruled.
    “Didn’t you have a conversation with the officers, the substance of which was that while the officers could charge you with peddling marijuana cigarettes, if you would give your testimony in this case, they would not press that charge against you?”
    “Well... no.”
    “Didn’t you have a conversation with some of the officers to the effect that if you would move into the cell with the defendant John Dittmar Ansel, and try to inveigle him into conversation so that you could get some admission from him that could be used as