She shook her head and said, “No, I don’t know it is.”
Sampson said, “Now, look here, Mrs. Breel, this isn’t a game. This is a serious matter. You’re charged with the crime of first-degree murder, which is the most serious crime known to our law. The questions which I am asking, and the answers which you are giving, are being taken down in shorthand. They can be used against you at any time. Now then, Mrs. Breel, I am not going to take an unfair advantage of you. I am going to state to you frankly in the presence of your counsel that the circumstantial evidence against you looks very black. I am going to state further, however, that the evidence is largely circumstantial; that perhaps some of that evidence can be explained away. If you cooperate with the authorities, if you make every effort to assist us in uncovering the truth in this matter, it will go a long Way toward establishing your innocence. If you make a single false statement, and it can be proven that statement is false, it is going to crucify you so far as this charge is concerned. Mr. Perry Mason, your own lawyer, is present. He will tell you that I am telling you the truth. Now then, if you deny the ownership of this bag, and we can prove that it really is your bag, that statement will absolutely pillory you. Now, Mrs. Breel, I am asking you: Is that your bag? ”
“I don’t know,” she said calmly.
“Look at it,” Sampson said, “examine it. Take it in your hands. Look it over and then tell us whether it is your bag.”
“I tell you I don’t know.”
“Do you mean you can’t tell whether this is your bag or whether this is not your bag?”
“That’s right.”
“You were carrying a bag last night, weren’t you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you mean to say that you don’t know whether you were carrying a bag in your hand when you went to call on Mr. Austin Cullens?”