The Innocent Woman

morning you found a chit signed by him in the amount of hundred dollars dated April 30th? Is that right?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “There was also a chit signed by you dated April 30th for a hundred dollars?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Were those the only two chits in the box?”
    “Yes, they were.”
    “Just two chits, accounting for a total of two hundred dollars?”
    “That’s right.”
    “If there was seven hundred and seventy-five dollars to begin with, those two chits would reduce the amount to five hundred and seventy-five. You claim there was a hundred dollars missing. Is it your testimony that the amount of money left in the box was four hundred and seventy-five?”
    “That’s right.”
    “So,” Steve said. “We come to the final accounting. Seven hundred and seventy-five dollars was in the petty cash drawer on Friday afternoon. Four hundred and seventy-five dollars was in the petty cash drawer on Monday morning. A total of three hundred dollars was removed. Of that, two hundred is accounted for in chits and one hundred is not. Is that right?”
    “That’s right.”
    “By your own testimony, you went to that petty cash box, took out a hundred dollars and left a chit. Is that right?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “But we’ve only your own word for that, isn’t that right? I mean, aside from your own testimony, there’s nothing to prove you didn’t go to that cash box and take out t wo hundred dollars, and leave a chit saying you took out only one. Is that right?”
    By now Marvin Lowery’s composure was gone. He glowered at Steve Winslow.
    “I’d like an answer to that,” Steve said.
    “Witness will answer.”
    “Is that right?” Steve said.
    “Is what right?” Lowery said. Then added irritably, “No, don’t read the question again. Yes, I have no way to prove I didn’t take out more money than that. I know I didn’t and you know I didn’t, and I think the jury knows I didn’t. But I can’t prove it, no.”
    “Similarly, you don’t know whether Frank Fletcher took out two hundred dollars and left a chit saying he’d only taken one?”
    “Objection.”
    “Sustained.”
    “Do you know of your own knowledge how much money Frank Fletcher took from the petty cash box?”
    “No, I do not.”
    “You do know he left a chit in the box saying he took a hundred dollars?”
    “Objected to as already asked and answered.”
    “Overruled.”
    “Yes. He left a chit.”
    “The money you took out—tell me, did you spend it all?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “The hundred dollars you took out—for business expenses— did you have a hundred dollars’ worth of business expenses over the weekend?”
    “No, I did not.”
    “Did you have any?”
    “Yes, of course. I took a customer out to lunch. A business lunch. A valued customer. Absolutely legitimate and above board.”
    “You didn’t use a credit card?”
    “No, I did not. I wouldn’t have been appropriate at this diner. For one thing, the amount wasn’t that much. I used petty cash. For lunch and for cab fare.”
    “If it wasn’t that much, I assume you didn’t spend the whole hundred dollars?”
    “No, I didn’t.”
    “You had money left over?”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “And Mr. Fletcher—if he didn’t spend the hundred dollars he took out of petty cash, he’d have had money left over too, wouldn’t he?”
    “Objection.”
    “Sustained.”
    “So,” Steve said. “That brings us to Monday morning. You, in the company of Mr. Macklin and Mr. Fletcher, counted the money in the petty cash drawer. You found two chits indicating you and Mr. Fletcher had taken a hundred dollars each. You found another hundred dollars missing. The defendant arrived for work, Mr. Macklin inspected her twenty dollar bills to see if she had any that matched the serial numbers on his list. Is that right?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “Tell me, did Mr. Macklin inspect any of your twenty dollar bills to see if you had any that matched the serial numbers on the list?”
    “No, he did not.”
    “But if you had taken money out of the petty cash drawer and hadn’t spent it all, presumably you had some of those bills in your possession.”
    “Objection. Argumentative.”
    “Sustained.”
    “Did Mr. Macklin compare any of Mr. Fletcher’s bills to the serial numbers on the list?”
    “No, he did not?”
    “He didn’t? Even though there was a chit stating Mr. Fletcher had taken money from the petty cash