She managed to smile, tilted her chin up a bit. “All right, let’s go.”
Chapter twelve
Andy Templet, the coroner, having acquired some reputation as a practical philosopher, refused to be stampeded by the flattering preparations which the press had made for reporting the inquest. He stood calmly and at ease while press photographers snapped pictures of his kindly, twinkling eyes and the whimsical smile about his mouth. Having called the inquest to order and selected his jury, he made a brief speech in which there was no attempt at grandiose eloquence.
“Now, folks,” he said, “we’ve got to determine the cause of death in this case. In other words, we’ve got to find out how this man died. And if somebody killed him, and we know who that someone was, we can say so. If we don’t know, we hadn’t better try to fix the responsibility. We aren’t here to try anyone for anything. We’re just trying to determine how Fremont C. Sabin met his death, up in his mountain cabin.
“Now, the coroner has charge of inquests. Most of the time he lets the district attorney ask questions, when the district attorney wants to, but that doesn’t mean the district attorney runs the inquest. It simply means the district attorney is here to help us, and, in a case of this kind, he’s here to try and uncover facts which will help him convict the murderer. The sheriff is also an interested party, and the sheriff has a lawyer here, Mr. Perry Mason. Mr. Mason is representing the heirs — that is, one of the heirs. Mr. Mason wants to find out how the murder was committed. Mr. Mason is also representing Helen Monteith.
“I want everybody to understand that we ain’t going to have any monkeyshines, and we ain’t going to have any oratory, or long-winded objections. We’re going to move right along with this thing, and if I get my order of proof all cockeyed, that’s my responsibility. I don’t want anybody to point out anything except facts. I don’t want anybody to try and get the witnesses rattled.
“Now, I’m going to start out asking questions. When I get done I’ll let the district attorney ask questions, and I’ll let Perry Mason ask questions, and the jurors can ask questions. But let’s get down to brass tacks and keep moving. Do you all understand?”
“I understand,” Perry Mason said.
The district attorney said, “Of course, the coroner’s idea of what is a technicality may differ from mine, in which event...”
“... In which event,” the coroner interrupted, “what I think is going to be what counts. I’m just a plain, common, ordinary citizen. I’ve tried to get a coroner’s jury of plain, common, ordinary citizens. The object back of this proof is to give the coroner’s jury a chance to figure what happened. We haven’t got a jury of lawyers. We’ve got a jury of citizens. I think I know what they want... Anyway, I know what I want.”