The Case of the Singing Skirt

"I think it could have been done, because I know it was done."

"If the yacht had started from its regular mooring, wouldn't it have had to sail right through Catalina Island to arrive at the place where it was found?"

"Not necessarily."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I think it might have been difficult, although not impossible, for the yacht to have been sailing blind through all the ocean traffic without being noticed. It could have cleared the westerly end of the island, then, after the fuel was exhausted, drifted to the portion of the ocean where it was found."

"You think the yacht did that?"

"I feel certain it must have."

"Then you feel the murderer was not aboard after the yacht left its mooring?"

"Not unless he was an exceptional swimmer."

Judge Keyser frowned at the titter of the audience.

"What are the chances that the yacht could have made the trip without collision, without having wind and tidal currents get it off course so that it would have run into trouble?"

"That depends on what you mean by trouble. Once the course had been set so as to miss Catalina Island, there was very little to stop it."

"Except the normal small-boat traffic on the water?"

"Yes."

"That is a considerable factor?"

"That depends. It depends on when the yacht was started, it depends on conditions."

"There were no ru

"You mean that were lit?"

"Yes."

"No, the lights were not lit."

"Indicating that the yacht had made its journey during daylight hours?"

"Either that or it had violated the regulations in regard to navigation."

"And if the yacht had been detected violating those regulations, something would have been done about it?"

"Yes."

"Now, this yacht was found in a restricted area?"

"Yes."

"It is customary for the Navy to use radar in that area for the purpose of detecting small boats which may have entered the area?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Therefore, if the person who started that yacht on its way had wanted the yacht to vanish, to sail on into oblivion, that person would hardly have selected that particular area?"

"Not if the individual was familiar with the restricted areas."

"And this was a restricted area?"

"Yes, sir."

"And if the person had wanted the yacht to sail on into oblivion, the fuel tanks could have been filled, and the yacht would then have gone a very considerable distance beyond the point where it was picked up, before ru

"Yes, sir, depending of course on whether the murderer had to accept the condition of the fuel tanks as he found them. He or she may not have dared to attempt to refuel with the body aboard-or if the murder was committed at night, there would have been little opportunity to have replenished the fuel."

"Thank you," Mason said. "That's all."

Donovan Fraser said, "Call Dr. Andover Calvert."

"I'll stipulate Dr. Calvert's qualifications, subject to the right of cross-examination," Mason said cheerfully. "Just go right ahead and ask him your technical questions."

Fraser regarded Mason with some surprise but very quickly took advantage of the opportunity. "Very well," he said. "You'll stipulate that Dr. Calvert is an examining physician co

"Subject to the right of cross-examination," Mason said. "I'll stipulate to his general qualifications, subject to cross-examination."

"Very well. Be sworn, Dr. Calvert," Fraser instructed.

Dr. Calvert held up his right hand, was sworn, and took the witness stand.

"You boarded the yacht, the Cap's Eyes on Thursday, the eleventh?"

"I did."

"That was then on the high seas?"

"Yes, sir."

"What did you find?"

"The cabin door, which had been locked by a spring lock on the inside, had been forced open by some party before we arrived. I understand this was done by Navy perso

"Go on," Fraser said. "What did you find in the cabin?"

"In the cabin we found the body of a woman about twenty-eight years of age. The first stages of decomposition had set in, and I estimated the woman had been dead for somewhere between twenty-four and fortyeight hours. The woman was lying on her back on the floor of the cabin. There was an open handbag near her hand, and a cocked double-action Smith and Wesson revolver was lying near her right hand. One bullet had been discharged from this revolver and then the weapon had been cocked, apparently preparatory to firing a second shot."

"Did you find the one bullet which had been discharged?"

"We found a bullet embedded in the woodwork of the cabin near the door. I believe that it was checked out by ballistics and shown to have been fired from the weapon which was lying there on the floor of the yacht near the hand of the woman."

"You subsequently performed an autopsy on the body of this woman?"

"I did, yes, sir."

"And what did you find?"

"I found that she had been killed by gunfire. Two bullets had entered the chest cavity, slightly above and to one side of the heart. The two bullet holes were less than an inch and a half apart, and the courses of the bullets were, generally speaking, parallel."

"Had the bullets gone through the body or were they still embedded in the body?"

"One of them had been deflected and had embedded itself in bone. The other had just penetrated far enough to go through the body. It was found in the clothing of the decedent."

"These bullets were, in your opinion, the cause of death?"

"Yes."

"Cross-examine," Fraser said to Perry Mason.

Mason arose and walked toward the witness. His ma

"Yes."

"Which one inflicted the fatal wound, Doctor?"

"They both inflicted fatal wounds."

"Which one was the cause of death?"

"Either could have been the cause of death."

"Pardon me, Doctor. I'm not asking you about could have, I'm asking you about which did cause death."

"Both of them inflicted fatal wounds."

"Would you say both bullets caused death?"

"Yes."

"Would you say that a person could die twice?"

"That isn't what I mean."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that either bullet might have caused death and either bullet could have caused death."

"How far apart were the bullets?"

"Around an inch and a half at the point of entrance."

"And which one was fired first?"

"I have no way of knowing."

"Were the bullets instantly fatal?"

"That depends on what you mean by instantly."

"Well, what do you mean by it?"

"When I say instantly I mean instantaneously."

"Did either of these wounds inflict an instantaneously fatal wound?"

"Both of the bullets instantaneously inflicted a mortal wound."

"How long after the first wound before the victim died?"

"That I don't know. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes at most."

"You think perhaps it was as much as five minutes?"

"Perhaps."

"Ten minutes?"

"Perhaps."

"Fifteen minutes?"

"I consider it very unlikely. Actually I think death occurred within a matter of two or three minutes."

"And which bullet wound caused death?"

"Oh, Your Honor," Fraser said, getting to his feet, "I object to this type of cross-examination. The questions have already been asked and answered."

"They've been asked," Mason said, "but they haven't been answered."

"Furthermore, it's incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. It doesn't make any difference," Fraser went on.