The Innocent Woman by Parnell Hall Read Free Book Online Page A

at approximately eight-thirty. Is that correct?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “The three of you went up and unlocked the office?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Who was it who actually unlocked the office at that time?”
    “Frank did. Mr. Fletcher.”
    “Mr. Fletcher has keys to the office?”
    “Yes, of course.”
    “As his partner, do you also have keys to the office?”
    “Of course I do.”
    “And I believe you testified that Miss Dearborn was in the habit of closing up the office at five-thirty. Is that right?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “Then am I to assume she also had keys to the office?”
    “Yes, of course.”
    “So over the weekend—from Friday, April 30th, till Monday, May 3rd—the defendant was in possession to keys to the office. She could have gone there at any time, unlocked the door and taken money from the petty cash drawer. Is that right?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “And the same is true of you and Mr. Fletcher?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “You had keys to the office. And Frank Fletcher had keys to the office. Over the weekend, either one of you could have gone to the office and removed money from the petty cash drawer. Is that right?”
    A.D.A. Pearson was about to object, when he saw the smile on Marvin Lowery’s face. He shut up. Lowery was a good witness. The jurors liked him. Let him take care of himself.
    “Sure,” Lowery said. “Frank could have done that. Or I could have done that. We have the keys to the office, so there was nothing to stop us from going there and taking money from the petty cash drawer.” He chuckled. “The only thing we couldn’t have done would have been put those bills in Miss Dearborn’s wallet. We had the keys to our place, but we didn’t have the keys to hers , you see.”
    “I see,” Steve said. He nodded gravely. “That’s a very good point, Mr. Lowery. If you or Mr. Fletcher had taken any money from the petty cash drawer over the weekend, there was no way it could have wound up in Miss Dearborn’s purse. So those twenty dollar bills must have got there some other way. Is that right?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “We know they got there, because you were present when Mr. Macklin discovered them in Miss Dearborn’s wallet. Is that right?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “And that was when Miss Dearborn arrived at the office at approximately nine o’clock on the morning of Monday, May 3rd?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Prior to that, you, Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Macklin had gone up to the office, examined the cash in the petty cash drawer and discovered a hundred dollars was missing?”
    “That’s right.”
    “I believe you stated that you were not testifying to hearsay, that you personally counted the money and determined the hundred dollars was gone. Is that right?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “Mr. Fletcher put five hundred dollars in the petty cash box? You personally saw him do it?”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “You personally counted the money and determined a hundred dollars was missing?”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “Am I to assume that on Monday morning when you counted the money, there was four hundred dollars in the petty cash box?”
    For the first time Lowery frowned. “No, that’s not right.”
    “Oh? And why is that?”
    “To begin with, that five hundred dollars wasn’t the only money in the petty cash box.”
    “I see,” Steve said. “You mean there was already money in the petty cash box when Mr. Fletcher put the five hundred dollars in?”
    “That’s right.”
    “He didn’t remove that money and replace it with the five hundred dollars. He added the five hundred dollars to it. Is that right?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “I see. And how much money was there in the petty cash box before Frank Fletcher put the five hundred dollars in?”
    Again, Pearson thought to object, but, as Lowery looked totally unconcerned, he kept quiet.
    “There was two hundred and seventy-five dollars,” Lowery said.
    “You know that for a fact?”
    “Yes, I do.”
    “How do you