The Innocent Woman

bald assurance such is the case,” Judge Wylie said. “Surely you must realize that.”
    “Yes, of course, Your Honor. I’m just pointing out this is a hostile witness and I have to use leading questions. Moreover, he’s committed perjury, so I have to impeach him. Which I cannot do if you sustain the defense attorney’s objection that I am cross-examining my own witness.”
    “So far I’ve heard no such objection.”
    “Well, I haven’t started cross-examining him yet,” Dirkson said.
    “Then what are we arguing about?” When Dirkson had no comeback, Judge Wylie said, “Let’s proceed,” and resumed his position on the bench.
    Dirkson returned to the prosecution table, took a drink of water, composed himself, and once again approached the witness stand. “Now then, Mr. Cunningham,” Dirkson said. “You claim in the entire time you were having dinner with the defendant, she never once evidenced any animosity toward the decedent, Frank Fletcher?”
    “She said she was glad she won the suit.”
    “Aside from that?”
    “I don’t believe she did.”
    “You don’t believe she did?”
    “No, I don’t.”
    “You mean she might have, and you just don’t remember?”
    “No, I remember that she didn’t.”
    “Then why do you say that you believe she didn’t.”
    Cunningham smiled. “Because that’s what I believe.”
    There was a ripple of amusement from the spectators.
    Dirkson frowned, took it. “You say she never evinced any animosity toward Frank Fletcher during that particular conversation?”
    “That’s right.”
    “What about any other conversation?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “I’m referring to conversations you may have had with the defendant after she was arrested. Tell me, did you visit her in jail?”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “On more than one occasion?”
    “That’s right.”
    “How many occasions?”
    “I’ve seen her every day.”
    “Every day since she was arrested?”
    “That’s right.”
    “And on any of those occasions did she discuss the decedent, Frank Fletcher?”
    “Of course.”
    “You mean she did?”
    “Of course she did. She was arrested on the charge of murdering him. How could we possibly have a conversation without referring to that fact?”
    “Aside from that. Did the defendant ever mention Frank Fletcher, how she felt about him, how she was glad he was dead, anything of that sort?”
    “No, she did not.”
    “Did she ever admit to you that she killed him?”
    Cunningham smiled. “She didn’t kill him.”
    “I’m asking you if she ever said that she did.”
    “No, of course not?”
    “Did she tell you what she did that night?”
    Cunningham frowned. “What do you mean?”
    “After dinner. After you left the restaurant. Did she tell you what she did?”
    “She went home.”
    “Right. That was because you had to work. You were going to go to a movie, but then you had to work so you left her and she went home. Is that right?”
    “That’s right,” Cunningham said. “We left the restaurant a little after eight o’clock.”
    “Move to strike as unresponsive to the question,” Dirkson said, angrily.
    “Granted. It will go out,” Judge Wylie said. He turned to the witness. “Mr. Cunningham, let me make sure you understand the situation. You are a witness friendly to the defense. I understand your desire to help the defendant, but please obey the rules of evidence by answering only those questions that you are asked.”
    “Yes, Your Honor.”
    “Now,” Dirkson said, “the question is, after dinner you went off to work and the defendant went home?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Now then,” Dirkson said. “Referring to the conversation that you subsequently had with the defendant, what did she tell you she did after she went home?”
    “I think she said she watched TV.”
    “Did she tell you she got a message on the answering machine from the decedent, Frank Fletcher?”
    Cunningham glared at the district attorney defiantly for a moment, then lowered his eyes. “Yes, she mentioned that.”
    “And what did she say she did about it?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Nothing?” Dirkson said. “Are you telling me she got this message from Frank Fletcher, then sat around all evening and did nothing about it?”
    “I didn’t say she did nothing about it,” Cunningham said. “As a matter of fact, she went down there.”
    “And when did she do that?”
    “As far as I know, it was around ten o’clock.”
    “Is that right?”