The Case of the Fenced-In Woman (20 page)

"I was sitting there at the time, yes."

"And how long had you been sitting there?"

"For some time. I don't know how long."

"All the morning?"

"A good part of the morning."

"And had you been watching the apartment the night before?"

"Well, I'd kept an eye on things."

"Why?" Mason asked.

"Because I just wondered what was going on. I guess a body is entitled to a little human curiosity. Vivian Carson had left her apartment a few days before, carrying some suitcases, and she hadn't been back. I just wondered where she had gone and what she had been doing."

"So you kept an eye on her apartment so you could find out."

"Yes."

"Now," Mason said, "you can't tell the make of the car that these people parked in the garage, can you? That is, the make and model."

"No, I can't. It was a green car. That's all I know."

"You don't know very much about the different makes of cars?"

"No, I don't."

"Do you drive a car?"

"No."

"You don't own a car?"

"No."

"Have you ever owned a car?"

"I haven't owned a car for some time. I use the bus to do my shopping."

"And you didn't by any chance jot down the license number on this car?"

"No."

"Did you notice whether it was an out – of – state license?"

"I wasn't looking at the car, I was looking at the woman and the man."

"You had taken it on yourself to become a self – appointed censor of Vivian Carson's comings and goings?"

"Well, I'm a decent woman. That's a decent neighborhood and I want to keep it that way. I'd certainly read enough about her in the papers to want to keep my eyes open and see what was happening."

"Did you know whether what you had read in the papers was true or false?"

"I didn't say whether it was true or false. I'd read about her in the papers. You wanted to know why I was keeping an eye on her and I've told you."

"Thank you," Mason said. "I think that covers the situation very nicely, Mrs. Henley-or is it Miss Henley?"

"It's Miss Henley!" she snapped. "I said 'Miss' when I gave my name to the court officer."

Mason smiled courteously but significantly and glanced at the jurors.

"Thank you very much, Miss Henley," he said. "I have no further questions."

"That's all," Judge Fisk said. "Call your next witness, Mr. Prosecutor."

With the manner of a man announcing a dramatic surprise which is destined to have far – reaching repercussions, Ormsby said, "At this time, Your Honor, I wish to call Nadine Palmer to the stand."

Nadine Palmer came forward and was sworn. She was wearing a teak – brown suit, a modish hat, and carried a brown leather purse. Her long legs, beautifully tan under gossamer nylons, were accented by highly polished brown shoes.

Her alert eyes were watchful as she settled herself in the witness box and looked quickly from Ormsby to Mason and back to Ormsby, then over at the jury, then once more back to the prosecutor.

"Your name is Nadine Palmer, you reside at 1721 Crockley Avenue?"

"That is right."

"Are you acquainted with either of the defendants?"

"I am not personally acquainted with either of them, no."

"Did you know Loring Carson in his lifetime?"

"I had seen him. I don't remember having talked with him, and when I say I am not personally acquainted with Mrs. Carson I do not mean to imply that I do not know her by sight. I have attended several meetings where she has been present and I know her when I see her."

"Directing your attention to the fifteenth of March of this year, I will ask you where you were on the morning of that day."

"I drove to a place known as Vista Point."

"Now, can you tell us where Vista Point is in relation to the house built by Loring Carson and sold to Morley Eden?"

"It's about a quarter of a mile-well, perhaps not that far- from the house. The site is so situated that you can look down on the back of the house-the patio, the swimming pool and the property below the swimming pool."

"It is considerably higher than the house in question?"

"Yes. I don't know just how many feet, but you can look down on the house. You can see the roof."

"Can you see the road leading up to the house?"

"No, you can't see that. You can only see the patio, the swimming pool and the rooms on that side of the house. The house itself obscures the view of the driveway on the other side and it's impossible to see the road leading to the house because that comes up a slight grade and the house shuts off the view."

"I see," Ormsby said. "Now, I have here a map showing Vista Point, and I will ask you if you will first orient yourself with this map and then point out to the jury just where you were on the fifteenth of March of this year."

After a moment the witness placed a finger on the map. "I was here," she said.

"What time was it?"

"It was about-well, I guess I got there about ten – fifteen or a little after."

"And did you wait there?"

"I waited."

"Did you have any visual aid with you?"

"I had a pair of binoculars."

"And what were you doing with those binoculars?"

"I was watching the rear of the Carson house."

"By the Carson house you mean the house that was built by Loring Carson and sold to Morley Eden?"

"Yes."

"May I ask what was your reason for being there?"

"It was a personal reason. I… I understood that a gentleman who resented some of the things that Loring Carson had done to my reputation was going to insist upon Carson making some sort of a retraction and if Carson was recalcitrant he intended to-well, I believe he said he intended to teach him a lesson."

"While you were there what did you see – did you see any signs of activity?"

"Yes."

"Will you describe them to the jury, please?"

"Well, when I first started watching there seemed to be no one home.. and…"

"That can be stricken out as a conclusion of the witness," Ormsby said. "Just state what you saw. Don't give your conclusions, Mrs. Palmer-just what you saw."

"Well, I parked my car, got out and looked through the binoculars from time to time. I would look away to rest my eyes and then look back, and if I saw something I thought would interest me I raised the binoculars."

"And what was the first thing that you saw, the first motion?"

"I saw Loring Carson."

"Now, where did you see him?"

"He was on the kitchen side of the house."

"Let's get this straight as far as the record is concerned," Ormsby said. "The house was divided by a barbed – wire fence. You saw that?"

"Oh, of course."

"On one side of the barbed – wire fence was the portion of the house which contained the kitchen. On the other side of the fence was the part which contained a portion of the living room and the bedrooms."

"That is, generally speaking, correct."

"Let's refer, then, to the kitchen side of the house and the bedroom side of the house, just to keep the record straight at this point," Ormsby said. "Now, where was Mr. Loring Carson when you first saw him?"

"On the kitchen side of the house."

"You're positive?"

"I'm positive."

"What did you do, with reference to watching him?"

"I focused the binoculars on him."

"Do you know the magnification of those binoculars?"

"Eight – power."

"Could you see him clearly?"

"Quite clearly."

"You recognized him?"

"Oh, yes."

"Could you see what he was doing?"

"He bent down over the swimming pool by the steps. I couldn't see what he was doing. I kept trying to focus the glasses so as to get the best adjustment possible."

"All right, what happened?"

"Mr. Carson got down on his knees by the portion of the swimming pool that was near the cement steps."

"Was he carrying anything?"

"He was carrying a leather briefcase."

"What did you see him do?"

"He got down on his knees and put his right forearm in the water of the swimming pool. I could see that he was pulling at something and then suddenly I saw a section of what apparently was solid tile open up, disclosing a receptacle underneath."

"And what did Mr. Carson do?"

"Carson took some papers from his briefcase, put them in this receptacle and closed the tile."

"Go on. What else did you see, if anything?"

She said, "Loring Carson went inside of the house and almost immediately, from the other side of the house-"

"Now, just a minute," Ormsby interrupted. "Let's keep this straight. What side of the house did Loring Carson go in, the kitchen side or the bedroom side?"

"The kitchen side."

"All right, now when you say the other side of the house, what do you mean?"

"The bedroom side of the house."

"And what happened on the bedroom side of the house?"

"A nude woman came running out of the house and went into the pool like a flash."

"You were looking through your binoculars?"

"Yes."

"Could you recognize this woman?"

"I am not able to say positively and beyond all question as to who it was, but I think-"

"Now, just a moment," Mason interrupted. "If the Court please, the witness has answered the question. She said that she couldn't identify the person. It makes no difference as to who she thinks the person might be if she can't swear who that person was."

"I submit that she was simply using a colloquialism," Ormsby said. "She means that she can identify the person to a reasonable certainty but she is trying to be fair and recognizes that there is room for the possibility of an error."

"I don't think it needs the prosecutor to interpret what the witness has stated," Mason said. "She is testifying in the English language and I think I understand the English language as well as the prosecutor."

Judge Fisk frowned thoughtfully, then said, "Let me question the witness. I would like to have Counsel refrain from interrupting me. Mrs. Palmer, you saw a person in the nude?"

"A woman. She was in the nude."

"She wasn't wearing a bathing suit?"

The witness shook her head vigorously. "She was in the nude."

"And what did she do?"

"She came streaking out of the bedroom side of the house and cut into that water so fast that it almost took my breath just watching her."

"She was running?"

"She was running and then she jumped into the water so clean she hardly made a splash and swam like a seal."

"You had the binoculars?"

"I had the binoculars but I couldn't keep her in the field of the binoculars. She was moving too fast-that is, she was within the field of the binoculars but not within the field of the center of my eyes, if you know what I mean. She was just moving-just as fast as she could go."

"Did you get a good look at this woman?"

"Only in a general way, just a blurred sort of a look."