The Just And The Unjust Page 31

  Harry said, still dissociating himself from Howell's wrong attitude, 'Don't you think you'd better read it?'

  Howell took the sheets held up to him, his hand shaking, and made a pretence, moving his eyes over the first page or two. 'Well,' said Harry, 'you heard it read here in court this morning?'

  'Yes.'

  'And that was the statement you signed?'

  'I signed it. They made me. They kept me there, the Federals —'

  'Just a moment! How long were you in their custody?'

  'Until, I think, the seventh.'

  'The day after you signed this paper?'

  'I think so. My mind was a blank —'

  Harry frowned, for the phrase, as Howell offered it, would not be acceptable to anyone in his right senses. That was something he had read somewhere; and so he naturally spoke it like a liar. Harry cut in, 'Do you recall the time of day or night when you signed?'

  'I guess I do!' Howell said. 'It was around one o'clock in the morning.'

  'One o'clock in the morning. Now, Mr. Kinsolving expressed the opinion that you signed at one o'clock that morning of the fourth day because of the constant kindness shown you by him and his associates—'

  Beside Abner, Bunting said, 'Your Honour, I think before Mr. Wurts goes on, he should ask the witness directly about the truth or falsity of his statement. I submit —'

  'I am happy to ask him,' Harry said. 'You are familiar with the statement that was read here this morning by Mr. Coates?'

  'I am, yes.'

  'Are the facts contained in that statement true or untrue?'

  'Not all the facts is true.'

  'You mean that part of it is true, and part of it is false.'

  'Part is truth; and part of it is just to keep them off my ear.' Howell turned an appealing glance to the jury. He twisted his mean little mouth to a sort of smile, as though asking them to appreciate this wry joke. They looked at him coldly; and Abner found himself uncomfortable; not, certainly, sympathetic; but exercised by the shame that the heart feels to see any human being caught in a weak and sickly trick, and that the head resents as a clumsy insult to all human intelligence.

  Bunting said, 'I'm sorry to interrupt again; but I think the witness should be asked which parts are true and which parts are false.'

  'If you please, Mr. Bunting!' said Harry. 'We will get to that. Now, Howell, what did they do to you when they brought you up there?'

  'Well, they put shackles on me.'

  'You mean, on your wrists?'

  'No, on my legs; and then they put handcuffs on me, and then they got to working around. Bust me on the chin; twist my ears; twist my arms. Then they took my overcoat off and then they got to working on me with hoses they had.' He spoke jerkily, expelling the phrases with bitter little grunts. It had the ring of truth to Abner. The pain and panic Howell must have felt burned those moments into his mind. He spoke what he knew. Harry, seeing that he had at least evoked something genuine, said gently, 'Yes. What then?'

  'They put me on the table after they took my coat off, put me on the table, like the table you got there.' Howell brought his knuckle up and scraped it with his teeth. For nerves in as bad shape as his, the memory was agitating; but Abner could see that the jury was not responding. They saw his suffering; but it disgusted them. They were moved; but with revulsion, less as though he were a wounded man than as though he were a wounded snake.

  'That is the table Mr. Kinsolving described this morning?' Harry said.

  'Yes. That is right.'

  'Go ahead and tell us.'

  'So they taken the handcuffs off, taken my other coat off, and put my handcuffs on me; and put me on the table. I am lying on my stomach and one is holding the handcuffs up this way —' He raised his wrists over his head. 'They got my hands out this way.'

  'Just a moment,' Harry said kindly, 'that won't mean anything in the record. Your arms were stretched over your head?'

  'Yes,' Howell said. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. 'They are holding me there, so I cannot move.'

  'And your coat was off?'

  'My coat was off. The only thing I have on is a vest and shirt. Then they beat me over the kidneys with the hoses.' Harry Wurts said, 'What do you mean by hoses?'

  'It's a little piece of hose, see? About a foot long; about like a garden hose.'

  'Who are "they"?'

  'Why, two of the men. That wasn't all. After they —'

  'Just a minute!' Harry said. 'Take your time. You say they were beating you this way. How long did they beat you?'

  Howell said, 'Well, to my knowledge, it seemed like eight hours; but I guess it was around an hour and a half or something around there. Every bit of clothes on me was wringing wet. I couldn't sit down, couldn't stand up. I was weak —'

  Harry cut him off. 'As a result of this treatment was your back lacerated?'

  'Oh, yes. Then they —'

  'What other effects did this treatment have on you?'

  'Oh, well, it put my kidneys on the bum. My kidneys is on the bum yet.'

  'That is the reason that you have to be withdrawn at frequent intervals?'

  'That is the reason.'

  'As a result of this treatment did you pass blood?'

  'Yes. When I first got it, for twenty-four hours I urinated blood.'

  'Did those officers there who had charge of you see that?'

  'Yes. They seen it. I asked for a doctor. They said, "You don't need any doctor.'' They said, "We will doctor you.'' '

  Harry Wurts nodded. He took a turn down past the jury, looking at the floor, his face morose, making to them the simple appeal of his troubled mind. Leaving Howell aside, and no matter whether Howell repelled them or not, or whether he told the exact truth or not, the suspicion and possibility (and anyone could see it was more than that) put the jury's back up. The law was aspersed. They could joke about the law, and speak of it disrespectfully; and say that there was no justice, or that the rich could get away with murder, or that political influence was what counted; but, in fact, they never believed it. It could not be true because they had the final say. When they swore that they would well and truly try and true deliverance make between the Commonwealth and the prisoners at the bar, they meant it. Their minds shared Harry's trouble. They did not like any of this.

  Harry said, 'You saw Lieutenant Dunglison on the stand here this morning and heard him testify that when you were turned over to him you had not been injured. You saw Mr. Kinsolving on the stand. Was he in the room at the time this treatment was given to you?'

  Howell screwed his eyes up, looking in the gloom of the court along the row of chairs below the rail until he found Mr. Kinsolving sitting there with Lieutenant Dunglison. 'The lieutenant may have been there outside, I don't know. He was there right away when they called him. That big fellow, huh! He said he didn't do nothing to me! He only twisted my arm pretty near off and my ears.'

  'That is Mr. Kinsolving?'

  'Yes. Kinsolving.'

  The jury looked, too; and Kinsolving, undisturbed, let the trace of a faint contemptuous smile appear at the corners of his strong mouth. Unselfconscious, he gave his head a slight pitying shake.

  Harry said, 'Now, this treatment you describe, this show of kindness; just when did it occur, how soon after you were taken into custody?'

  'Well, I will tell you the truth,' Howell said. 'I don't know if it was day or night. I am in a room with glass all around, and on the outside is a big office. I didn't see no daylight, and they had electric lights on all the time, and I don't know if it was day time or night time. I would say I had been there a day or two. They would leave me sleep a few minutes, so I suppose it was night when that was.'

  'And the rest of the time they beat you?'

  'No,' said Howell. 'They only beat me once with the hose. They only need to beat you once.'

  'Yes?'

  'Then a man come in, you know, and my back was so sore —' Howell bent forward and touched himself gingerly. My back here.
And they come in and press down on it; and then I was getting alcohol baths three times a day to take the marks off.'

  'Who was giving you alcohol baths?'

  'I don't know their names. The chief inspector, I guess it is, come in and says to me, "How did you get that, Stanley?" I said, "Fell down the stairs." He said, "What do you mean, fell down the stairs?" If I had opened my mouth I would have just got it over again; so he said to me, "You look like you have hives." I said, "Yes. I guess I have got them".'

  'You mean that you would have been beaten over again if you had not agreed?'

  'He just asked to see what I was going to say. If I had said anything — well, you know, I would have got it again.'

  'How often were you asked to make a statement?'

  'I was asked all the time. One would stay in twenty minutes, and another would come in, and another one, and another one. I don't know how many?'

  'And what did you answer?'

  'I would answer I don't know nothing.'

  'Then they would go out?'

  'Yes. Then they said, "I will put that laugh on the back of your face".'

  'Who said that?'

  'A couple of them. I don't know them by name.'

  'And did the punishment which was inflicted on you, which you have described here, have any influence in making you willing to give a statement?'

  'I would have told them anything,' Howell said. 'I couldn't stand no more of that.'

  'Then the part of the statement in which you say that you are making it of your own free will and accord is not true.'

  'Not true.'

  'Not true. Now, I call your attention to another statement you made, about obtaining the ransom money: "I went to get it with Basso, but I didn't like the look, and so Bob gets it from a car." Is that correct in all particulars?'

  'It says what I did. It don't say why I did it. I have to go with him because Bailey give me orders; but I — to tell you the truth, I never wanted to be mixed up in this job; so when we are out, I said, "I will not do this. I don't like the look".'

  'And what did you do?'

  'I stayed at a drug store, like, until he is through.'

  'You told him that you were not taking any part in it. You withdrew before the money was obtained?'

  Judge Vredenburgh said, 'Mr. Wurts, if I understand what you are driving at, I must remind you that the only time when one of the persons conspiring to commit a crime may repent and withdraw and so avoid liability is before the commission of the act constituting the crime. No person can purge himself of an offence once committed by an act subsequent — at least, not unless he marries the girl.' He smiled.

  'I simply wished to show, sir, that under the influence of pain and duress the defendant allowed it to appear that he had taken a larger part in the business than in fact he did take.'

  'Proceed.'

  'Now, when you returned with Basso and this money that he had obtained, was there a conversation in reference to taking Frederick Zolltcoffer home?'

  'That is where I thought he was going.'

  'I say,' said Harry, less patiently, 'there was a conversation in reference to that?'

  'Not just then there wasn't.'

  Harry weighed this perverse display of scrupulosity — Abner could see Harry asking himself what the hell this half-wit Howell thought he was doing —and threw it out contemptuously. 'Well, when was the conversation?'

  'I went upstairs,' Howell said, sulky again, 'and some time later, Bob Basso come up and told me Bailey wanted to do away with him.' His air was aggrieved; but fundamentally he was still in good spirits, the next thing to vivacious. Howell rose to the occasion of showing off. He resented Harry's refusal to let him do it his own way, but even his resentment helped to keep his mind busy and excited. He had forgotten the fear of death and the anguish of suspense in the strong conceit of I, I, I.

  Harry said, 'You were upstairs guarding Zollicoffer?'

  'Yes. I was playing pinochle with him. Bob gives me a sign to stop the game; so I go out, and he says about doing away with him. I said, "Positively no. I do not go in for that," and me and Bob went on talking, saying we did not want to go in for that; so I go downstairs, and I —'

  'Now, just a minute! You went downstairs. Where was Basso?'

  'He stayed with Zolly. He says, "You punk," he was speaking in fun, "you want to take me on?'' He means the pinochle game, where I had laid the cards down — ''

  Abner had been over the bungalow and seen this bare upstairs room. He could set the grim little scene, the gross prisoner, dishevelled by his capitivity, marked by his use of drugs; the cards; the slow game to kill time; Basso's pleasantry while Frederick Zollicoffer's life entered its last half hour. Howell said, 'So I went down and I began to reason with Bailey; and he said, "Oh, all right, all right, all right. Go ahead upstairs; everything will be all right".'

  'Who said that?'

  'Bailey. So I went upstairs again and told Bob; and Bob went down again to make sure; so when he came up, everything is supposed to be O.K.'

  'What do you mean, everything was supposed to be O.K.?'

  'That he was going to be let go home.'

  'You mean that Bailey had satisfied you that no harm was to come to Frederick Zollicoffer?'

  'I was satisfied. I said, "Should I get the car?'' and Bailey says, "Yes." He told us, "You needn't carry no guns; we will let him go." So I get the car out. Bailey said, "You haven't got no guns, have you? We do not want any accidents." I said, "No, I have not." I said, "You told me before".' Howell gave the jury a bold look, as though he did not believe that he could be failing to impress them with his essential innocence. 'Bailey said, "Are you sure!'' I said, "Yes, I am sure." 'He said, "All right." So we go and put him in the car.'

  Harry said, 'Now, just tell us how you put him in the car.'

  'He was on the floor. His back was to the right hand door in the back of the car, with his face facing the left hand door, and his head was like by Bailey's knee. Bob is next to Bailey. So I am driving, and —'

  'Were you told to drive any particular place?'

  'We agreed so we would drive the other way, we would drive out in the country, so he could not tell where we had kept him at.'

  'Did you know where you were going? Did you know that you had entered this county.'

  'Not then, I never knew. They tell me we did. I never done it intentionally. I drove like at random.' It would have saved this court a lot of trouble, Abner reflected, if, in his driving like at random, Howell had just stayed over there. 'So I drove quite some time, taking different turns. So I hear Zolly, not very good, he had this blanket over him, say, "Come on. I want to get home." So Bailey says, "Do not worry. Here you go." So all of a sudden these shots went. I come near running the car off the road. I flinch.'

  'And why did you — er — flinch?' said Harry.

  'I thought I — who wouldn't? Say, when they tell you not to have guns, what do you think would enter your mind?'

  'The question,' said Harry, 'is not what would enter my mind, I wasn't there. What entered your mind?'

  'Well,' said Howell, spreading his hands for the jury. 'I thought maybe I was going to get it, too. I didn't know.'

  'And after you had finished flinching?'

  'I look around. Bailey was saying, "There is another monkey that will never kill any more".'

  'Did Bailey have his gun in his hand at the time?'

  'He had something in his hand. It is dark in the back. I couldn't say for positive it was a gun he had.'

  'And did Robert Basso have a gun in his hand?'

  'No. Bob didn't have no gun. I am sure of that. He got the same orders I got when we left. I know neither of us have guns. That was when it entered my mind. I thought: I and Bob are going next. Bailey says, "Turn around. Get off the road".'

  'And you did?'

  'Yes. And then I pulled off on some kind of a road up there, country road. You know, it was dark. There was no lights on that road; and Bailey says, "Stop".
'

  'And what did you do then?'

  'We took out the body, and laid him in this lot, this field, and put the irons, tried to put the irons on him. I said, '' Leave him here; what is the use of putting them around him?" I wanted to get out of there, I am telling you. I did not feel so good; so anyway, I said, "You are never going to lift him; put those weights in the car." Bailey said, "Yes, pile him back again".'

  Howell paused. Now that he was picturing to himself the grisly incidents of that night, some cold sense of what all this meant to him had probably begun to dilute the warmth of so much self-expression. He remembered now how he had felt when the thought 'entered his mind' that he was going next; and suddenly it must have come home to him that danger of death, which he was describing as though it were something past, faced him this very minute. Bailey with his gun and his contorted mind was never so implacable and dangerous, never so far beyond the reach of argument or the influence of pity, as Mr. Bunting and Mr. Coates, sitting silent at the table there regarding him. In their expressionless faces and disinterested eyes he could probably read a good enough equivalent of Bailey's epitaph on Frederick Zollicoffer: There is another monkey that will never kill any more; and this time, the monkey was Howell himself, already done for, by due process of law bleeding invisibly to death from wounds which he could not feel, but which would prove as fatal to him as the wounds of Bailey's bullets to Frederick Zollicoffer. Harry said, 'Go on.'

  Howell wet his lips. 'So we all put him back in the car,' he said mechanically. 'So Bailey ordered Basso in the front seat, so he should drive. So he said to me, "Come on back here." So I got in back and figured — well, he told me to get in back of the car, so I figured: well, what is he going to do?' He paused again uncertainly, the terror of that moment perhaps a little dim beside the quiet but real terror of this moment, the present. 'He said, "-Hold him here — "' Bunting said, 'Just keep your voice up, please. I can't hear you.'

  'Talk into the microphone there,' Harry said. 'Nobody can hear you.'

  Howell said, louder, 'So he said, "Hold him here a minute." I am holding him, I didn't like to hold that man. I am trying to hold him; and he said, "Come on and hold him; we will see if we can get the weights around him.' So then Basso drives out on the road, and we come down toward this bridge.'