“I recognized him,” Leeds said.
Mason smiled. “Would you,” he asked suavely, “have recognized him if he had been broke?”
A ripple of laughter swept the courtroom, swelled in one or two instances into a guffaw of mirth. Judge Knox, fighting to keep a smile from his lips, said, “The court will come to order. We’ll have no more laughter. The question is adroitly framed, conveying as it does, an entire argument by inference. However, the spectators will cease from giving any expressions of amusement or interrupting the order of proceedings. Answer the question, Mr. Leeds.”
Freeman Leeds said, “Of course, I’d have recognized him.”
“And if he’d appeared at your back door with a roll of blankets over his shoulder, ragged, unkempt, and asking for a meal, do you think you would have forthwith recognized him as your long-lost brother?”
“Yes.”
“Where did the meeting take place, Mr. Leeds?”
“Alden Leeds drove up to my house.”
“In a taxicab?”
“Yes.”