JК
The Case of the Caretakers Cat :: Гарднер Эрл Стенли
Страница: 137 из 146"
"I am not responsible for what Winifred Laxter testified to; I am testifying under oath."
"But the cat shows that it knows Winifred Laxter."
"I am not responsible," she told Truslow icily, "for the cat's circle of acquaintances."
There was a laugh from the spectators. Judge Pennymaker smiled, even as he called the courtroom to order.
"But you admit that Perry Mason brought a cat to your apartment."
"I admit nothing of the sort. The question is not pertinent unless it has to do with the murder, and it can have nothing to do with the murder unless the cat which you claim was brought to my apartment was the caretaker's cat, and I have no knowledge whatever on that. I think you will have to ask these questions of Mr. Mason."
Truslow smiled ruefully and said to the court, "Perhaps the legal knowledge this young woman has acquired is responsible for some of Counselor Mason's success."
"She seems to have a very excellent grasp of the legal points involved," Judge Pennymaker observed.
Mason smiled.
"I am going to call Perry Mason to the stand," Truslow said. "I am aware that the procedure is unusual, but I am also aware that it is unusual for Counsel to take so active a part in the cases involving his clients as Perry Mason apparently takes. I am not asking for any confidential communication which came to him from one of his clients; I am going to ask him only what he did in connection with sheltering a criminal."
"Very well," Judge Pennymaker ordered; "Perry Mason will take the stand."
Mason stepped to the witness stand, took the oath and sat down. Judge Pennymaker looked at him with some sympathy, then said to Truslow, "After all, Counselor, while your comment as to Counselor Mason's methods of representing a client may have some justification, the fact remains that Counselor Mason is an attorney at law. He is not restricted to the representation of any one client. If it should appear, as I think it will appear, that he also represented Winifred Laxter, the Court will hold as a privileged communication anything which Winifred Laxter may have said to him. As you have so aptly pointed out, Counselor Mason's methods are perhaps somewhat unusual, but you must admit that his history shows a long line of successes which have been achieved, not through a defense of the guilty, but through strikingly original methods of demonstrating the innocence of his clients."
"I'm not talking about the past," Truslow said grimly, "I'm talking about the present.
"I am not responsible for what Winifred Laxter testified to; I am testifying under oath."
"But the cat shows that it knows Winifred Laxter."
"I am not responsible," she told Truslow icily, "for the cat's circle of acquaintances."
There was a laugh from the spectators. Judge Pennymaker smiled, even as he called the courtroom to order.
"But you admit that Perry Mason brought a cat to your apartment."
"I admit nothing of the sort. The question is not pertinent unless it has to do with the murder, and it can have nothing to do with the murder unless the cat which you claim was brought to my apartment was the caretaker's cat, and I have no knowledge whatever on that. I think you will have to ask these questions of Mr. Mason."
Truslow smiled ruefully and said to the court, "Perhaps the legal knowledge this young woman has acquired is responsible for some of Counselor Mason's success."
"She seems to have a very excellent grasp of the legal points involved," Judge Pennymaker observed.
Mason smiled.
"I am going to call Perry Mason to the stand," Truslow said. "I am aware that the procedure is unusual, but I am also aware that it is unusual for Counsel to take so active a part in the cases involving his clients as Perry Mason apparently takes. I am not asking for any confidential communication which came to him from one of his clients; I am going to ask him only what he did in connection with sheltering a criminal."
"Very well," Judge Pennymaker ordered; "Perry Mason will take the stand."
Mason stepped to the witness stand, took the oath and sat down. Judge Pennymaker looked at him with some sympathy, then said to Truslow, "After all, Counselor, while your comment as to Counselor Mason's methods of representing a client may have some justification, the fact remains that Counselor Mason is an attorney at law. He is not restricted to the representation of any one client. If it should appear, as I think it will appear, that he also represented Winifred Laxter, the Court will hold as a privileged communication anything which Winifred Laxter may have said to him. As you have so aptly pointed out, Counselor Mason's methods are perhaps somewhat unusual, but you must admit that his history shows a long line of successes which have been achieved, not through a defense of the guilty, but through strikingly original methods of demonstrating the innocence of his clients."
"I'm not talking about the past," Truslow said grimly, "I'm talking about the present.