"Have you any way of telling whether that was the same eye as the one which you have now identified and which you are holding in your hand?"

"Yes, sir."

"You have a way of making such identification?"

"Yes, sir."

"What is it?"

"At the time I discovered this eye, I was wearing a diamond ring. I knew from my experience as a detective the importance of identifying…"

"Never mind what you knew from your experience as a detective," Burger said. "That may go out by stipulation and consent. Just tell what you did."

"I took my diamond ring and cut a cross on the inner surface of the eye.

"Is that cross readily visible?"

"No, sir, not unless you look at it in just the right light. I didn't cut it deeply enough to be conspicuous."

"Can you tell whether that cross now appears upon the eye which you hold in your hand?"

"Yes, sir, it does."

"We ask," Burger said, "that the eye be received in evidence as the People's Exhibit A."

"No objection," Mason said.

"It will be so received," Judge Winters announced.

"Then that is the same eye which you saw some twentyfive hours before the murder?" Burger went on.

"Yes, sir."

"Where did you find it?"

Overton took a deep breath, then said in a voice which filled the courtroom, "In Mrs. Basset's bedroom."

"How did you happen to find it there? Under what circumstances?"

"I heard a noise in Mrs. Basset's bedroom."

"What kind of a noise?"

"The noise of conversation."

"You mean you heard voices?"

"Yes, sir, and motions."

"And what did you do?"

"I knocked on the door."

"What happened?"

"There was the sound of hurried motion."

"Was the conversation that you heard," Burger asked, "distinguishable?"

"You mean as to words?" the witness asked.

"Yes."

"No, sir, it was not. I could hear the rumble of a man's voice and the sound of a woman's voice, but I couldn't hear the words."

"What happened after you knocked on the door?"

"There was this period of excited motion. Then I heard a window open and close. Then I heard Mrs. Basset's voice saying, 'Who is it? »

"And what did you say?"

"I said, 'Open the door, please. This is James, the chauffeur. »

"Then what happened?"

"There was an appreciable interval. Then she said, 'You'll have to wait until I get dressed. »

"Then what happened?"

"Then I waited for perhaps a minute."

"And then what?"

"Then she unlocked the door and opened it."

"What did you do or say?"

"I said, 'I beg your pardon, Madam, but Mr. Basset thought there was a burglar in the house. He wanted me to make certain that the windows were all fastened. "

"What did she say?"

"Nothing."

"Did you say anything further?"

"Yes, sir, I told her that I was sorry if I had disturbed her, that I didn't think she had retired."

"What did she say then, if anything?"

"She said that she hadn't retired, that she had been taking a bath."

"Then what did you do?"

"I crossed the room to the window."

"'Was the window open or closed?"

"Open."

"It is on the second story?"

"Yes, sir, but there is a roof some six feet below the window and a trellis leading to the roof."

"Did you see any signs on the window sill of an unusual character?"

"I saw this glass eye."

"Where was it?"

"On the floor."

"Had Mrs. Basset seen it?"

"Objected to as calling for a conclusion of the witness," Mason said. Then, as he saw Judge Winters hesitating, said, "Oh, well, I'll withdraw the objection. Let's hear his story."

"No, sir," Overton said, "she hadn't seen it."

"What did you do?"

"I stooped and picked it up."

"Did she see what you had picked up?"

"No, sir, she had her back turned to me at the moment."

"And what did you do then?"

"I slipped the eye in my pocket."

"Then what?"

"Then I left the room and, as soon as I had left the room, she closed and locked the door behind me. Then I scratched the cross on the inside of the eye with the diamond on my ring, and went at once to Mr. Basset."

"Then what happened?"

"Mr. Basset tried to identify the eye. He asked me to get in touch with some reputable manufacturer of artificial eyes, and see if there was any way in which the eye could be identified."

"Did you do so?"

"I did so."

"We will," said Burger, "let the identification of the eye speak for itself. In other words, we will not ask this witness to qualify as an expert. We will place upon the stand the expert whom he consulted and let him identify the eye."

He turned to Perry Mason and said, "You may crossexamine."

"You are certain that it was a man's voice that you heard?" Mason asked, "referring to the time that you heard the conversation through the keyhole of Mrs. Basset's room?"

"I didn't say it was through the keyhole," the witness snapped.

Mason's smile was urbane.

"But it was through the keyhole, was it not, Mr. Secret Service Man?"

A titter ran through the courtroom. Judge Winters pounded with his gavel.

"Go on," Mason said, "answer the question. Was it or was it not through the keyhole?"

"I heard it through the keyhole, yes," Overton said.

"Exactly," Mason remarked. "Now, what did you see through the keyhole?"

"I couldn't see anything. That is, nothing that was, of any value."

"Could you see Mrs. Basset moving around in the room?"

"I saw someone."

"Do you think it was Mrs. Basset?"

"I'm not certain."

"But you didn't see any man."

"No, sir."

Perry Mason elevated his arm and stretched a long, accusing forefinger at the witness.

"Now," he said, "when Mr. Basset was killed, his murderer escaped in the Basset automobile, did he not?"

"No, sir."

"You're certain about that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why are you so certain?"

"Because, shortly after the body was discovered I heard that a witness had said the murderer had escaped, in the Basset automobile. So I went at once to the garage to ascertain if the car was missing."

"Was it missing?"

"No."

"Did you feel the radiator to see if it was warm, or look at the temperature indicator."

"No, I didn't do that. But the car was there just as I had left it, in the place that it should have occupied."

Mason smiled, waved his hand, and said. "That is all."

"Just a minute," Burger said. "One question on redirect examination. You have testified that you couldn't see the man who was in that room."

"That's right."

"Could you hear him?"

"I could hear his voice, yes."

"You're certain that it wasn't a radio that you heard?"

"Yes."

"Was it Richard Basset that you heard?"

"No, sir."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know Richard Basset's voice. And, while I couldn't distinguish words, I could distinguish the tone of the voice."

"Did you," asked Burger, "notice any peculiarity about the man's speech?"

"Yes, sir."

"What was it?"

"He talked in a quick, excited manner, talking very, very rapidly. That is, the words came out so fast that they all seemed to run together."

"That is all," Burger said.

"Just one question," Mason interpolated. "You couldn't hear the words?"

"No, sir."

"Then how did you know the words all ran together?"

"Just from the way the man was talking."

"But you couldn't tell when he had finished one word and started on another? In other words, you couldn't distinguish the words?"

"I think I could."

"You think you could?"

"Well, I'm not certain."

"We'll let it go at that," Mason said, smiling.

Burger waved Overton from the stand.

"Call Dalton C. Bates," he said.

A tall, quickstepping individual came nervously forward, held up his right hand, was sworn, and took the stand.