“Do you mean to say that you want to call me as a witness to what occurred in that place?” Marquad asked.
Mason said, “If you give me the information I want, that’ll probably be all that’s necessary. If you don’t give me the information I want, I’m going to subpoena you, put you on the witness stand, prove that you were there, and ask you what you saw.”
“You can’t do that,” Marquad said.
Mason pulled a folded paper from his pocket and said, “The hell I can’t. I’ll subpoena you right now.”
Marquad made as though to push the paper back. “No, no, Mr. Mason,” he said. “Please, please. Can’t you understand? This place is open to the public.”
“All right,” Mason said, “did you see him there?”
Marquad shifted his eyes and said, “There was a little commotion at the club. I don’t remember exactly what time it was. I was having a mild stimulant at the bar. A gentleman who answers this description had been in the inner office. There was the sound of rather loud conversation. After a moment, the bartender picked up something from behind the bar and stepped through the door into the office, but there was no trouble when the gentleman came out.”
“Could you hear what was said?”
“No. I could hear the tone in the voices, however.”
“Was the meeting friendly or hostile?”