The Innocent Woman

Pearson said. “After you had written down the serial numbers, what did you do with the twenty dollar bills?”
    “I gave them back to Mr. Fletcher.”
    “And what did he do with them?”
    “He put them in the petty cash box, and put the petty cash box in the petty cash drawer.”
    “In your presence?”
    “In my presence.”
    “Was anyone else present at the time?”
    “Yes, sir. Mr. Lowery.”
    “Mr. Lowery was present when you gave the money back to Mr. Fletcher?”
    “Yes, he was.”
    “Mr. Lowery was present when Mr. Fletcher put the money in the petty cash box.”
    “Yes, he was.”
    “And the money Mr. Fletcher put in the petty cash box—was that the same money you gave back to him?”
    “Yes, it was.”
    “The same twenty dollar bills?”
    “That is correct.”
    “Mr. Fletcher didn’t put some of those twenty dollar bills aside and substitute some twenty dollar bills of his own?”
    “No, he did not.”
    “You’re certain on that?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “How can you be so sure?”
    “I’m a trained observer. That’s my job.”
    “You saw Mr. Fletcher put the twenty dollar bills that you had given him in the petty cash drawer?”
    “Yes, I did.”
    Pearson smiled. “Thank you very much, Mr. Macklin. And was that the only time you were in the office of F. L. Jewelry?”
    “No. I was there the next Monday.”
    “Can you tell us what happened on that occasion?”
    “Certainly. I met Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Lowery on the street in front of their office building at eight-thirty that morning.”
    “And what happened then?”
    “They went up and unlocked the office.”
    “Who unlocked the office?”
    “Mr. Fletcher.”
    “What happened then?”
    “We went in and Mr. Fletcher took the petty cash box out of the petty cash drawer. He opened it and examined the contents. I’m not allowed to tell you what he said, am I?”
    “No. Only what you personally observed or did. So, never mind what Mr. Fletcher told you. But after he counted the money in the petty cash drawer, what did you do then?”
    “We waited in the office till Miss Dearborn arrived.”
    “And when was that?”
    “Approximately nine o’clock.”
    “And what happened when Miss Dearborn arrived?”
    “I identified myself as a private detective and—”
    “One moment. Am I to assume you had never seen her before?”
    “That’s right.”
    “I’m sorry. Please continue.”
    “Well, like I say, I identified myself as a private detective and I asked her to empty her purse.”
    “Did she do so?”
    “Not at first.”
    “Why was that?”
    “As to why, I couldn’t tell you. The fact is, she didn’t want to open her purse. She wanted to know what was going on. Mr. Fletcher explained the situation to her—again, I understand I’m not allowed to say what he said. But he talked to her, and afterwards she agreed to let me look in her purse. I examined the money in her wallet and found she had four twenty dollar bills. I compared them to the serial numbers in my notebook.”
    “With what result?”
    “Two of the serial numbers matched.”
    “How can you be so sure?”
    “Because I have the bills right here.” Macklin reached in his jacket pocket again, took out an envelope. He pulled two bills from the envelope. “I have one bill, serial number K30914335A and another bill, serial number B80632833D.”
    “Your Honor, I ask that these bills be marked for identification as Peoples’ Exhibits Two-A and Two-B.”
    “So ordered.”
    When the bills had been marked for identification, Pearson smiled and said, “These are the bills that you took from the wallet of the defendant on the morning of Monday, May 3rd?”
    “Yes, they are.”
    “And they match two of the serial numbers that you had written down in your notebook in the office on April 30th, the notebook that has been marked for identification as People’s Exhibit One?”
    “Yes, they do.”
    Pearson smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Macklin. That’s all.”
    Steve Winslow got to his feet. “Mr. Macklin, you testified to being a trained observer, is that right?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “I think you also testified that you saw Mr. Fletcher put the twenty dollar bills in the petty cash box, is that right?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “He gave you the twenty dollar bills?”
    “Yes, he did.”
    “You wrote the serial numbers down and gave them back to him?”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “He took those twenty dollar bills and put them in the petty cash