“Foundation for what?” Judge Romley asked.
Scudder said dramatically, “The witness whom I expect to place on the stand, your Honor, is Miss Della Street, the secretary to Perry Mason. She has refused to make any statement whatever as to what her testimony will be. It is, therefore, necessary for me to treat her as a hostile witness, and in order to do this, I wish to lay a foundation for the questions which it will be necessary to ask...”
“Put on your witness,” Judge Romley interrupted.
“Miss Adele Adams,” Scudder said.
A trim-figured young woman walked forward, held up a gloved hand, was sworn, and took the witness stand.
“Your name is Adele Adams? You are a telephone operator. and on the evening of the sixth you were employed as telephone operator and were, at that time, in the discharge of your duties, sailing on the ship of which Captain Joe Hanson is the captain, and on which there were traveling as passengers one Carl Newberry and wife?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I will call your attention to the defendant and ask you if you have ever seen her before.”
“Yes, sir, she was on the ship as Mrs. Newberry.”
“Now, directing your attention to the evening of the sixth, at approximately the hour of nine o’clock in evening, did anything unusual happen at that time?”