The Case of the Grinning Gorilla

“It was a cashier’s check for twenty-five thousand dollars that was payable to Benjamin Addicks, and it had on the back of the check an endorsement ‘Pay to the order of Josephine Kempton,’ and beneath that was a signature purporting to be that of Benjamin Addicks.”

“Did you make some identifying mark upon that check?”

“I did. Yes, sir.”

“What did you do?”

“I put my initials in pencil on the upper left-hand corner on the back of the check.”

“Would you know that cashier’s check if you saw it again?”

“I would. Yes, sir.”

“I show you a check and ask you if this is it.”

“That is it.”

“I ask that it be introduced in evidence,” Burger said.

“No objections,” Mason said promptly, forestalling any attempt on Etna’s part to interpose a technical objection.

Burger then called a handwriting expert who stated that the signature of Benjamin Addicks on the back of the check was a palpable forgery, that an attempt had been made to follow the general characteristics of Addicks’ signature, but it was quite apparent that the signature was a forgery.

“Cross-examine,” Burger said.

Mason said, “That cashier’s check was given you by the district attorney?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And the district attorney also gave you certain samples of Addicks’ handwriting, certain exemplars that were concededly in his handwriting?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What else did the district attorney give you?”

“What do you mean?”

“He gave you some samples of the defendant’s handwriting, didn’t he?”

“Well, yes.”

“And he told you that he wanted you to see if you could detect characteristics in the signature, which you have pronounced a forgery, which would show that it had been made by the defendant?”

“Well, not in exactly those words, but he did give me some samples of the defendant’s handwriting.”

“And did he tell you for what purpose those were given to you?”

“I believe he did generally.”

“And what was that purpose?”

“About what you have stated, Mr. Mason.”

“Now then,” Mason said, “you had to report to the district attorney that the defendant did not make that forgery, that she was not the one who had forged the signature of Benjamin Addicks, didn’t you?”

“Well, no, sir. I told the district attorney that there wasn’t enough evidence to tell; that I could be positive that it was not a signature of Benjamin Addicks, but that I felt certain it was a tracery.”

“What do you mean by a tracery?”

“Someone had held a genuine signature of Benjamin Addicks against a source of strong light, perhaps a ground glass illuminated with a powerful electric bulb, or perhaps just a common, ordinary window, then the cashier’s check had been placed over that signature so that the signature of Benjamin Addicks came through from the other side, and the forger had traced that signature.”

“How could you tell it was a tracery?”

“It’s a very easy distinction to make, Mr. Mason. A person signing his name uses firm, fast strokes. The lines are quick, so that any small tremor is spread over quite a length of line.

“In tracing a signature the hand moves slowly. The microscope shows the spacing of the tremors. That is true in this case.”

“But you couldn’t tell who had done this tracery?”

“No, sir.”

“You had no way of connecting the forgery with the defendant?”

“I think the next witness will do that,” and the handwriting expert smiled dryly.

Hamilton Burger threw back his head and laughed. Evidently he had left this trap for Mason to walk into, and now he was in rare good humor.

“No further questions,” Mason said.

Hamilton Burger, knowing now that he was springing a surprise on the defense, exuded self-assurance.

“Mr. Howard Denny, will you take the stand, please,” he purred.

Howard Denny came forward and was sworn.

“What’s your occupation?”

“I am a fingerprint expert, and a deputy sheriff.”

“A full-time deputy sheriff?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now then, I am going to call your attention to this cashier’s check which has been introduced as a People’s exhibit, and ask you if you ever saw this particular check before.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Where and when?”

“A representative of the police force called my attention to this about four-thirty in the morning.”

“What morning?”

“Last Thursday, the night that Mr. Addicks was murdered — now wait a minute, actually he was murdered on Wednesday night. This was early Thursday morning.”

“And when the police officer called your attention to this cashier’s check, did he ask you to do something in connection with it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What?”

“To test a latent fingerprint that was on the check.”

“Can you show us where that latent fingerprint is?”

“Yes, sir. It is very faintly outlined, but it is a fingerprint. I ascertained that it was the print of the middle finger of the right hand of the defendant, Josephine Kempton.”

“That is not an ordinary latent print such as you customarily develop by powders?”

“No, sir. That print is outlined on the check in a substance that I would say is blood.”

“Now then, what did you do with reference to this check?”