The Case of the Queenly Contestant

“Inside. We also found latent fingerprints of the defendant where she had pressed her hands against the glass of the front window.

“I have here a set of photographs all properly identified by markings upon the backs of the pictures, showing the various localities in which we found the fingerprints in question and some enlargements of the fingerprints themselves.”

“Did you at any time, at any place, find a diary which apparently had been kept by the decedent?”

“We did; yes, sir.”

“Where did you find that?”

“We found it in the post office at the General Delivery window on the morning of the sixth.”

“Did you identify it at that time?”

“No, sir; we simply asked for mail that was addressed to the defendant, Ellen Adair. When we found that there was such mail, we secured a search warrant; then we made arrangements with the federal post office authorities and eventually got an envelope open which contained a diary in the handwriting of the decedent.”

“What was the address on that envelope?”

“Ellen Adair, General Delivery.”

“Do you know whose handwriting that was in?”

“I cannot qualify as an expert on handwriting,” Lieutenant Tragg said, “but I have had some experience. The handwriting generally appears to be that of the defendant. I believe it has been submitted to a handwriting expert who will testify later on.”

“You made photographs of the location of the body?”

“We did. Here they are.”

“We ask that all these photographs be introduced in evidence,” Dillon said, “and that the clerk be instructed to give them appropriate exhibit numbers.”

“So ordered,” Judge Elwell said.

“Did you find a revolver in the possession of the defendant?”

“There was a thirty-eight-caliber revolver found in the glove compartment of the defendant’s automobile.”

“Was that revolver loaded?”

“There were five full cartridges and one empty cartridge chamber in the cylinder.”

“No exploded cartridge in that one chamber?”

“No, it was empty. The shell case had been removed.”

“You personally made tests with that gun?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What was your opinion as to when it had been last fired?”

“It had been fired within three days of the time we picked it up.”

“How did you determine that?”

“Chemical analysis of the residue of cartridge primer, residue of gas, condition of the barrel, and the smell of exploded smokeless powder.”

“I think you may inquire on cross-examination,” Dillon said.

Mason said, “There was no bullet found in the body?”

“No, sir.”

“And no bullet found in the room?”

“No, sir.”

“But the bullet had gone entirely through the body of the decedent?”

Lieutenant Tragg, who had evidently been anticipating this series of questions and was fully prepared for them, smiled affably. “Yes, sir. This was one of those cases of which, unfortunately, there are too many — where there is no recovery of the fatal bullet.”

“What do you mean by that?” Mason asked. “What do you mean there are altogether too many such cases?”

Tragg went on glibly with his explanation. “The average cartridge case,” he said, “contains powder which, upon ignition, is used as a propellant. The amount of powder is such that in the average weapon with a barrel of three to five inches the explosive energy is almost all expended in forcing a bullet through the body of a human being, so that quite frequently we find cases where the bullet has gone entirely through the body but has been stopped by the elasticity of the skin when it starts to emerge from the inner tissues and the bullet is trapped just beneath the skin of the decedent.

“At other times there is just enough propellant to push the bullet through the outer skin and then the bullet does not leave the immediate proximity but is trapped within the clothing of the decedent. It either falls out unnoticed in the vehicle which takes the decedent to the morgue or it is spilled out someplace else in the course of transit. Perhaps it may fall unnoticed to the floor of the autopsy room.”

“You say it can be trapped in the clothes,” Mason said.

“Yes, sir.”

“However, in this case,” Mason said, “the decedent was wearing no clothes which could conceivably have trapped a bullet. Is that right?”

“Generally speaking, that is correct,” Tragg said, “but, of course, numerous other things could have happened to the bullet.”

“What, for instance?”

“The bullet could have just emerged from the skin of the upper left chest of the decedent, fallen to the floor, and been kicked around by some of the first people who were on the scene.”

“Officers?” Mason asked.

Tragg said grimly, “I said the first people who were on the scene.”

“And where would the bullet have been kicked to?”

“It could have been kicked under a bureau or under the bed or it could have been picked up.”

“Why would anyone have picked up a fatal bullet?” Mason asked.

Tragg smiled and said affably, “So that it couldn’t be fitted to the fatal gun.”

“That, of course, is surmise on your part,” Mason said.