Mason shrugged his shoulders and settled down in his chair.

"This conversation," the witness said, "took place about three days before Mr. Basset's death."

"Who was present?"

"Just Mrs. Basset, Richard Basset and myself."

"Where did the conversation take place?"

"In the hallway at the head of the stairs near the entrance to her bedroom."

"What was said?"

"She asked me if I was familiar with Mr. Basset's business affairs, and I told her I was. She asked me precisely how much life insurance Mr. Basset was carrying. I told her that I would prefer she take that up with Mr. Basset. She told me not to be foolish, that the insurance was carried for her protection, and she said, as nearly as I can remember, 'Colemar, you know that I'm the beneficiary in the insurance.

"I didn't say anything, and after a moment she said, 'I am, am I not? And then I said, 'Of course, Mrs. Basset, since you put it that way, there's no reason why I should contradict you. But I would prefer you talked over the nature, extent and type of the insurance with Mr. Basset.

"She said she thought Mr. Basset was carrying too much insurance, and that she was going to ask him to drop some of the policies."

"Did she say precisely which policies?"

"No, sir."

"Then the effect of her conversation was to reassure her mind upon the fact that Basset was carrying…"

"Objected to as argumentative and calling for a conclusion of the witness," Perry Mason said. "This man is now testifying as to the motive of the defendant's question. The words speak for themselves."

"Sustained," Judge Winters said.

"Now, then," Burger went on, his face showing dogged determination, "are you acquainted with Mr. Peter Brunold, one of the defendants in this case?"

"I am, yes, sir."

"When did you first become acquainted with him?"

"About a week or ten days ago."

"How did it happen?"

"He was just leaving the door of the house as I drove up. He said that he had been looking for Mr. Basset but Mr. Basset was out, and he asked me if I knew when Mr. Basset would be back."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him Mr. Basset would not be back until late."

"And Brunold was coming out of the house at that time?"

"Yes, sir."

"Where had you been?"

"Attending to some errands for Mr Basset."

"You were driving Mr. Basset's car?"

"Yes, sir, that's right—the big sedan."

"That was the first time you saw Mr. Brunold?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did you see him again at a later date?"

"Yes, sir."

"When?"

"The night of the murder."

"And when did you see him then?"

"I saw him running away from the house."

"You mean the Basset house?"

"Yes, sir."

"Let's not have any misunderstanding about that. When you say the house, you mean the house where Mr. Basset had his office, and where he resided?"

"That's right. Yes, sir."

"And you say Mr. Brunold was running away from that house?"

"That's right."

"At what time was this?"

"Just as I was returning from the show I mentioned."

"How were you returning?"

"I was walking."

"Did you speak to Mr. Brunold?"

"No, sir, I didn't. Mr. Brunold didn't see me. He ran on past me on the other side of the street."

"Could you see him plainly?"

"Not all of the time, but when he passed under a street light, I was able to get a good look at his features. I saw him then and recognized him."

"Then what happened?"

"Then I approached the house and saw that something unusual was taking place. I saw figures running back and forth past the windows. They were moving rapidly."

"What did you see, if anything?"

"I saw Mrs. Basset and her son, Richard Basset."

"What were they doing?"

"They were bending over someone in the reception room. Then Mrs. Basset ran and called Edith Brite. I saw Edith Brite come running from the other part of the house and enter the reception room."

"What did you do?"

"I went to the reception room and asked what was the matter and if there was anything I could do. I could see someone was lying on the couch. I thought it might be Mr. Basset. I asked if he'd been hurt. Mrs. Basset came and stood in front of me and pushed me out of the door. She told me to go to my room and stay there."

"What did you do?"

"Followed instructions and went to my room."

Burger said to Mason, "Crossexamine."

Mason, arising from his chair at the counsel table, said, "Later on you went to the study and identified Hartley Basset's body, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"At that time, did you hear it said that the young woman who had been lying on the couch when you first entered the house on your return from the picture show would know the man she had seen leaving the study if she saw him again?"

"Yes, sir, I heard there was such a witness."

"She was in a darkened room, but the light was streaming over her shoulder so that, while her own features were in the shadow, the light illuminated the features of this man after she had torn the mask from his face."

"I heard that was the case, yes."

"What's the object of this?" Burger asked. "Are you trying to get a lot of hearsay evidence into the record? We object to anything Hazel Fenwick may have said."

"It is," Mason pointed out, "part of the res gestae. I have a right to test this witness's recollection upon what happened immediately after he entered the house."

"But," Burger pointed out, "only for the purpose of testing his recollection, and not for the purpose of establishing what happened."

"That's all I'm asking him so far."

"Very well," Burger said. "With the understanding that your examination is limited for that purpose, I will make no objection."

Mason turned to Colemar.

"Now," he said, "if a man were wearing a mask, it would be because he wished to conceal the distinctive portions of his face, wouldn't it?"

"That question, Counselor," said Judge Winters, "is argumentative."

"I am not going to object," Burger said. "I am going to give Counsel a free hand."

"Thank you," Perry Mason said. "The questions are preliminary. I merely wanted to point out one or two things to the witness in order to prepare a preliminary foundation for some of the questions I intend to ask later."

"Go ahead, Counselor," Judge Winters said, "in view of the fact that the prosecution is making no objection."

"Did it impress you as improbable," Mason asked, "that a man, using a mask to cover the distinctive portions of his countenance, would exhibit an empty eye socket through that mask, thereby disclosing the most distinctive portion of his features, to wit, the fact that one eye was missing?"

"I'm sure I don't know, sir," Colemar said.

"I'm merely asking you," Mason said, "if that portion of Miss Fenwick's story did not impress you at the time as being unreasonable."

"I don't think so. No, sir."

"Now, obviously," Perry Mason went on, "the fatal shot was fired from a gun which was concealed under a blanket and a quilt, thereby muffling the sound, isn't that correct?"

"That was what I gathered from my inspection of the premises, sir."

"It is perfectly obvious," Mason said, "that a masked man could not have entered Mr. Basset's study carrying a blanket and a quilt folded over his arm, and got close enough to his victim to have fired a shot, without having alarmed Mr. Basset. Isn't that true?"

"I would suppose so."

"Yet, from the position in which Mr. Basset's body was found, it appeared that he had been sitting at his desk and had simply slumped forward when the shot was fired. He had made no struggle, had not pulled the gun which was in a shoulder holster. Isn't that correct?"

"Your Honor," Burger interrupted, "these questions are plainly argumentative and speculative. This witness is not an expert and…"