“That,” Mason said, “involves another difference of opinion. However, the law at present says he doesn’t have to. If you have any objection, you’ll have to change the law.”
“He should have notified the authorities as soon as he discovered the body.”
“What makes you think he discovered the body?” Mason asked.
“You said he did.”
“ I wasn’t under oath,” Mason observed.
“But you were acting as his attorney.”
“That’s right. But you can’t convict a man of a crime because of a statement his attorney has made. As a matter of fact, Leeds had never told me that he discovered the body. I’d never asked him that question in those specific words. I merely commented on what I thought had happened, in order to assist the court in arriving at a decision.”
Judge Knox smiled. “It may interest you to know, counselor,” he said to Kittering, “that they caught Serle in the corridor. I don’t want to suggest to you how you should conduct your office, but if I were a deputy district attorney, I certainly would strike while the iron was hot, and try to get a confession from him.”
“I’ll do that,” Kittering said savagely. “But I object to these damnable tactics.”
Judge Knox frowned.