The Sporting House Killing G. Powell (best free novels .TXT) 📖

“Sergeant Quinn,” Blair said from his chair, “why didn’t you go tipping over all those stones Mr. Calloway mentioned?”

“Wasn’t necessary,” Quinn said. “We didn’t speak with the members of the Philo Literary Club, either.”

The jurors chuckled, and so did Catfish. Harley didn’t.

Quinn continued. “We had the customer the victim was with at the time, according to the madam, and he was in the room with her when they heard the gunshot. We found him lying next to her and the murder weapon. A clear-cut case to me.”

“To me too,” Blair said with a nod.

A juror nodded too.

Chapter 27

Miss Peach, seated at her post just inside the bar rail behind the defense table, fanned herself while waiting for the next witness. Her blouse clung to her body. After the noon break, Judge Goodrich had permitted the gentlemen to shed their coats. Neither Captain Blair nor Mr. Calloway had taken advantage of the judge’s kindness, and sweat stained their suits. Why had Mr. Calloway worn a black suit on a hot July day?

A noise at the rear of the courtroom caught her attention. A pigeon had flown onto the windowsill of one of the north windows, where it perched to view the proceedings. Probably bored with what he saw, the plump visitor entertained himself by throatily cooing, a charming distraction from the heat. She drew the bird’s silhouette at the top of her notepad, then another and another until there was a flock.

Captain Blair called as his second witness Dr. Hardy C. Black, a medical man with the bearing of intelligence.

“Do you have any official positions?”

“I’m the city physician.”

“Where’s your office?”

“In the Provident Building, room 93.”

Captain Blair rocked back in his chair, and it squeaked loudly. The pigeon launched into flight down the central aisle of the spectator gallery, flapping loudly over the defense table. Miss Peach flinched until it glided to a noisy landing in a window to the judge’s left. The bailiff shooed him off, but not before it stained the windowsill in protest. A feather floated toward the bench and finally settled on the floor.

Captain Blair seemed unbothered. “Do you have any official duties regarding bawdy houses?”

“I do. By city ordinance, bawdy houses are licensed, and one of the licensing requirements is that all the girls must have a physical examination by the city physician twice a month. I perform those examinations. My job is to make sure the girls are healthy. That also protects their customers, of course. It’s a salutary by-product of legalized prostitution.”

Blair rose from his chair and stood beside the prosecution table near the jury. “Did you ever have occasion to go to Miss Jessie Rose’s bawdy house?”

“Many times.”

“Did you know a working girl there by the name of Georgia Virginia Gamble?”

“I did. I performed many physical examinations on her. The last one was April fourth of this year.”

Blair took a document to the court reporter for marking and then handed it to the witness. “Is State’s Exhibit Two your certificate concerning that examination?”

“Yes, sir. As you can see, I signed it.”

“Is it part of your office records?”

“It is.”

“I offer State’s Two.”

“No objection,” Catfish said, half rising to his feet.

“Admitted,” the judge said.

“Read it for the benefit of the jury, please,” Blair said.

Dr. Black adjusted his spectacles. “‘Waco, Texas, April 4, 1894. City physician’s certificate of examination. This is to certify that I have carefully examined Miss Georgia Virginia Gamble and find her in a sound and healthy condition, and not infected with any contagious or infectious diseases. This certificate expires June 4, 1894. Fee paid, two dollars. H. C. Black, M. D., City Health Physician of Waco.’”

“Do your records show who paid that fee?”

“The madam of the house, Miss Jessie Rose.”

Blair returned to his table, glancing at the jury. Miss Peach looked too. They still seemed awake and alert, but that might not last if the good doctor’s testimony took a tedious turn through medical school on such a hot summer afternoon following lunch. The judge was already nodding off.

“I’d like to take a minute or two and have you talk about Miss Georgia, since the jury won’t see her in court today.”

“All right.”

“How old was she on the date of her death?”

“I believe she was twenty-three.”

“Do you remember her?”

He smiled. “I do. She was a delightful girl for one in her line of work. She had a sweet disposition. I enjoyed our visits immensely. I asked her once about her name, and she laughed. She said her mother was from Georgia and her father, whom she’d never known, was from Virginia. I believe she grew up in Georgia or Mississippi, maybe. I got the impression that Gamble was not her real surname.”

“To your knowledge, did she have any family here?”

“I don’t know of any. I think she came from elsewhere not long ago.”

“Do you know where?”

“Fort Worth, maybe, but I’m not sure.” Dr. Black turned toward the jury to explain. “These working girls move frequently from one town’s bawdy district to another. It’s illegal everywhere in Texas but Waco, of course, so they change names frequently.”

“Do you know how long she’d been in the horizontal trade?”

“No, sir.”

Judge Goodrich’s eyes had shut and his head dipped. Miss Peach hid a smile.

Captain Blair eased next to the jury and lowered his voice while the witness narrated Miss Georgia’s medical history. Then he glanced at the judge and said loudly, “All right, then.”

“Overruled!” the judge erupted, even though no objection had been made.

The jurors smiled discreetly.

“Let’s move along, Captain Blair,” the judge said.

“Yes, Your Honor,” Blair said without breaking stride. “Dr. Black, let’s turn now to Monday, April sixteenth of this year. Did you have occasion to go to Miss Jessie’s bawdy house?”

The witness first examined his notes. “I did. I received a telephone call from the house. Detective Palmer was there investigating a murder. He asked me to come examine the body.”

“Describe what you found when you arrived.”

Dr. Black recited facts now familiar to everyone in court, though he went into pathological detail concerning