of the meeting, did she not?"

"I couldn't say."

Kirkpatrick turned to the jury.

"Has the jury any questions they wish to ask?"

I seized my opportunity.

"I would like to say a few words with the permission of the jury."

Receiving a nod of consent, I related to them as briefly as possible my
conviction of my sister's innocence, her cry of danger to her husband,
and the coincidence of the black limousine on the road at about the
same time as the tragedy. I also told of the enmity of Zalnitch for
Jim and of his presence with the others in the black limousine. The
foreman of the jury leaned forward.

"Will you repeat the words that your sister uttered?"

"She cried, 'Look out, Jim! It's going to hit us!'"

"Your sister was delirious at the time, was she not?"

"Yes," I answered. "But from the tone of her voice I feel perfectly
sure she referred to something that occurred on the night of the
tragedy."

"You think she referred to the black limousine when she said, 'It's
going to hit us'?" the foreman continued.

"Yes."

"Yet the coroner's verdict was that your brother-in-law was killed by a
bullet, fired, apparently, from behind and above."

I felt the weakness of my ground.

"The bullet might have been fired from the automobile and ricochetted
from some part of Mr. Felderson's machine."

I saw the incredible smile that played on the face of the prosecutor.

"That will do, Mr. Thompson," Kirkpatrick announced, and I passed out
of the stuffy room into the corridor. Wicks had returned and was
standing with Mary. They looked at me with wide and anxious eyes.

Mary saw the droop in my shoulders and caught my arm.

"What happened, Warren?" she asked.

"Nothing yet," I responded.

"Are they going to----?"

"I don't know, I don't know."

Tears welled up in Mary's eyes. "Oh, Warren, that man was terrible!"

"What man?" I asked.

"The man who asked me all the questions," Mary sobbed. "There wasn't
anything he didn't ask me."

"Did he ask you about the conversation between Helen and Jim?"

"He asked me everything, I tell you!" Mary exclaimed angrily. "He
twisted and turned everything I said into something horrible."

Discouraged, I led the way to the car. I drove out into the country,
thinking the fresh air might quiet Mary's nerves. Twice I tried to
start a conversation about some trivial thing, to take her mind off her
unpleasant experience of the afternoon, but with no success. It