The Baxter Trust

say you found this key in the decedent’s pocket?”
    “Yes.”
    “Was it on a key ring?”
    “It was not.”
    “In a key case?”
    “No.”
    “Were there other keys with it?”
    “There were not.”
    “Was the key attached to anything?”
    “No.”
    “You’re saying it was loose in his pocket?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Which pocket, by the way?”
    “His right-front pants pocket.”
    “What else was there in that pocket?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Nothing? Nothing at all?”
    “I don’t know how you can have a nothing without having a nothing at all.”
    This brought smiles from some of the spectators, but Steve paid no attention.
    “You’re saying the pocket was empty except for the key?”
    “That’s right.”
    “What about his other pockets?”
    “They were empty too.”
    Steve stopped and looked at the witness. “Wait a minute. I want to be sure I understand this. You’re saying there was nothing in any of his pockets except for the key?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Did you find anything belonging to the decedent in the defendant’s apartment?”
    “Objection, Your Honor,” Dirkson said. “That calls for a conclusion from the witness. How would he know what belonged to the decedent?”
    “I’ll rephrase the question, Your Honor. Sergeant Stams, according to your testimony, the decedent’s wallet was not on the body?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Did you find a wallet bearing identification of the decedent in the defendant’s apartment?”
    “No.”
    “The decedent had no keys, other than the one you have identified. No key to his own apartment?”
    “No.”
    “Did you find a key to the decedent’s apartment anywhere in the defendant’s apartment?”
    “No.”
    “Sergeant Stams, did you make a search of the decedent’s apartment?”
    “I did.”
    “Did you find his wallet?”
    “I did not.”
    “Did you find the key to his apartment?”
    “No.”
    “Yet neither of these objects was on the body of the decedent when you searched it?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Sergeant Stams, is it then your opinion that after Robert Greely was killed, the body was searched?”
    “Objection, Your Honor. Assuming facts not in evidence and calling for a conclusion on the part of the witness.”
    “He’s a police officer, Your Honor,” Steve said.
    “He’s not a clairvoyant, Your Honor,” Dirkson countered.
    “The objection is sustained,” Crandell ruled.
    Steve figured he’d thrown up enough of a smoke screen. “No further questions,” he said.
    Dirkson was pleased. There was plenty of time left, and Dirkson figured he’d need it. His next witness was not going to be easy.
    “Call Saul Callen,” he said.
    Saul Callen was a cantankerous old curmudgeon, quarrelsome and argumentative. He settled himself on the witness stand, and peered down at Dirkson through ancient-looking bifocals.
    “Your name?” Dirkson said.
    “You just called me by name,” the witness said.
    “For the record, give your name,” Dirkson said.
    “Saul Callen.”
    “Occupation?”
    “Locksmith.”
    “You have a store on Broadway and Ninety-fifth?”
    “I do.”
    “I hand you a key, marked People’s Exhibit number six, and ask you if you have ever seen it before.”
    “I don’t know.”
    “You haven’t even looked at it.”
    “That’s right.”
    “Would you look at it, please?”
    “All right. I’ve looked at it.”
    “And have you ever seen it before?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Have you seen a key like it?”
    “Like it? I’ve seen a million keys like it.”
    “Can you tell me anything about it?”
    “It’s fairly new. It’s been recently made.”
    “Do you recognize the blank?”
    “It’s a standard blank.”
    “Do you have blanks like it in your shop?”
    “Every locksmith has blanks like it.”
    “Then you might have made this key?”
    “Sure. And I might have been elected president, but I don’t recall it.”
    “Directing your attention to June sixth, did a gentleman come into your shop and ask you to make a key?”
    “If one hadn’t, I wouldn’t be in business.”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “Dozens of people come into my shop every day and ask me to make keys. If only one person came in a day, I couldn’t operate. Do you know what my rent is?”
    “Mr. Callen, I think you know what I’m getting at. Did the police ask you to go to the morgue to identify a dead body?”
    Callen snorted. “I’ll say they did. I lost half a day’s work.”
    “And did