The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe

by Gardner Erle Stanley

Sergeant Holcomb said, “Yes.”

“Did you,” Mason asked, “take fingerprints of the defendant in this case?”

“Yes.”

“Did you compare the fingerprints of the defendant with the fingerprints on the copper coin?”

Sergeant Holcomb said, “She was wearing gloves. She wouldn’t have left any fingerprints.”

“I’m not asking that,” Mason said. “I’m asking if you compared the two fingerprints.”

“Yes.”

“Were they the same?”

“No.”

“Now then, if the Court please,” Mason said, “I would like to have Sergeant Holcomb produce photographs of the fingerprints which were developed on that penny, and give the witness, Drake, an opportunity to demonstrate that these were the fingerprints of Pete Chennery, a man with a known criminal record.”