The Case of the Grinning Gorilla

“No, sir. He did not, other than to state that he felt he had been guilty of misjudging Josephine Kempton, and that in view of the dramatic disclosures indicating her innocence he wanted to make some atonement to her.”

“Was there any conversation between you as to the nature of this atonement?”

“Just that he wanted to make it.”

“Aside from that did he tell you what was in the will?”

“No, sir. He did not. He simply told us that he wanted us to notice that he had executed this will; that it was all in his handwriting; that he wanted me to put it in a safe place with his other papers.

“He placed the will in an envelope, sealed it, and asked Mr. Fallon and me to write our names on the outside.”

“Which you did?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Both of you did that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then what happened?”

“Wednesday we started out on a round of... well, it was not out of the usual, it was a round of collection.”

“Just what do you mean by that?”

“Cashier’s checks had been issued to Mr. Addicks. Other checks had been issued to me, and some to Nathan Fallon. We took those checks to outlying communities where we had banking connections and had the checks reduced to cash.”

“How much money did you have when you returned Wednesday evening?”

“I didn’t return that evening. I was with friends in Santa Barbara. I was advised of Mr. Addicks’ death at about seven o’clock Thursday morning. I drove immediately to Stonehenge and got in touch with the authorities, and then with Mr. Addicks’ attorneys, Hardwick, Carson and Redding.”

“And you had collected some money on some of those checks?”

“I had something over eighty-five thousand dollars.”

“In cash?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you turned that money in to Mr. Hardwick?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I think you may cross-examine,” Hamilton Burger said, and then, by way of explanation to the Court, “I am calling these witnesses, Your Honor, simply so the Court can have the complete background.”

“Very well,” Judge Mundy said.

Mason smiled at Hershey and said, “Am I to understand, Mr. Hershey, that your trip for the purpose of raising funds was not at all unusual?”

“That’s correct.”

“Mr. Addicks, during his lifetime, frequently sent you out on such trips?”

“He did. Yes, sir.”

“What became of the cash?”

“I think that in nearly every transaction Mr. Addicks had, that is, every major transaction, the consideration which was mentioned in the documents was probably incorrect.”

“In what way was it incorrect?”

“I think the consideration was larger.”

“And then what happened?”

“Well, I believe that there was a cash rebate made to Mr. Addicks, but I am not certain.”

“We’re willing to stipulate,” Hamilton Burger said, “that Mr. Addicks was carrying on a rather complicated business which, as it turned out, was highly irregular.”

“Can you explain what you mean a little more clearly?” Mason asked the witness.

“Well, if Mr. Addicks was buying some oil properties for a hundred thousand dollars, he would recite in the agreement that the consideration was fifty thousand dollars to be paid at a later date, and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash, or a total price of three hundred thousand dollars.”

“But the three hundred thousand dollars wouldn’t be paid?”

“Well, now, of course, I’m talking about a purely hypothetical case.”

“I understand. Go ahead.”

“It would have been customary in such a deal to have paid perhaps fifty thousand dollars in cash, and that, with the fifty thousand dollars to be paid at a later date, would make the hundred thousand dollars.”

“But the agreement would show a three hundred thousand dollar consideration? Is that right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What was the purpose of that?”

“I don’t know, sir, except that in making trades he was able to produce agreements showing larger considerations than had been paid.”

“But what about the income tax of the other party to the contract?”

“I think, sir, that their books only showed one hundred thousand, although the written agreements would show a different figure. However, very infrequently was there any trouble due to the discrepancy.”

“In other words, to put it in plain language, Benjamin Addicks was trying to beat the income tax?”

Hershey hesitated, then said, “I think not, Mr. Mason. I, myself, thought so at first. Later, I came to the conclusion that there was another explanation.”

“What was it?”

“I think Mr. Addicks had at one time been married. I think that wife was living and not divorced. I think that under the law of this state all of the tremendous property interests Mr. Addicks was acquiring could have been declared community property if this woman who was his wife had been so minded.

“So Mr. Addicks fixed things so his books showed only a relatively small profit. In that way he could have questioned the amount of community property as compared with his separate property.”

“That’s all,” Mason said.

“My next witness is Nathan Fallon,” Burger said.

Nathan Fallon testified similarly to the testimony given by Hershey, except that it was apparent Fallon had only a feeling of deep resentment toward his deceased employer.