Beware the Curves

accordance with the sympathies of the Court and apparently with the sympathies of the jury. The Court is not entirely convinced that some of the testimony given in this case is entitled to be considered at its face value.
    “In view of the fact that the defendant has now been acquitted of murder in the first degree, and acquitted of murder in the second degree, and it appearing that the time limit has long since passed during which he could be prosecuted for manslaughter, the verdict of conviction by the jury is set aside, and the defendant is discharged from custody.”
    What happened in the courtroom was little short of pandemonium. Spectators cheered. Newspaper reporters climbed up on tables, chairs, anything they could get hold of to take pictures.
    I had characterized Elizabeth Endicott as being poker faced. For once, her emotions came through. Starry- eyed, she rushed toward John Ansel, threw her arms around him and kissed him with tears streaming down her face.
    And then before I knew it, she was kissing me, babbling her thanks between kisses.
    Judge Lawton gave up all effort to maintain order. He smilingly left the courtroom.
    Mrs. Endicott kissed Bertha. Then she kissed Barney Quinn.
    Bertha Cool moved over to my side.
    “You brainy sonofabitch,” she said.

POSTSCRIPT

    SO FAR as Bertha was concerned, the case ended two days after the verdict when the check for fifteen thousand dollars came from Mrs. Elizabeth Endicott.
    For me the case didn’t really end until some weeks later when I received an envelope in the mail.
    There was no return address on the envelope. It had been addressed in a neat feminine hand. It smelled of perfume. In the envelope was á newspaper clipping: “BANKER HELD ON CHARGES OF KIDNAPPING AND RAPE.”
    The clipping related how Cooper Franklin Hale, prominent Citrus Grove banker and head of the Hale Investment Company, had been arrested on the complaint of a Miss Stella Karis.
    Hale, it seemed, had been managing some investments for Miss Karis. There had been a difference of opinion between die pair. Miss Karis claimed Hale had been using her money and her credit to back his own investments.
    Hale had driven to the apartment of his client and suggested a ride to “talk things over.”
    Two hours later a motorist had picked Miss Karis up. She was covered with dirt and bruises, her clothes were ripped and torn until she was nearly nude.
    She said Hale had stopped the car at a lonely spot, attempted to patch up their financial difficulties in a romantic interlude. When she had refused, he had gone berserk. He had dragged her from the car and into the brush at the side of the road. There he had assaulted her.
    According to Miss Karis, she had finally managed to escape only after her resistance had been overcome by brutal force.
    Hale swore it was a frame-up. He said he hadn’t needed to use any force.
    I followed the case with interest. The jury believed Stella Karis, who made a terrific impression in court.
    At this writing, Hale is doing time in San Quentin on a sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of parole.