"And what was the nature of that matter?" "I was asked to come here by Mr. Harold Thursby, the District Attorney, to perform some scientific tests on the ... er ... device ... the device known as People's Exhibit A." "Did you perform these tests?" "I did." "At the request of District Attorney Thursby, is that right?" "That is correct." "May I ask why Mr. Thursby did not call you as a witness for the prosecution?" Thursby, as I had expected, was on his feet. "Objection! The question calls for a conclusion of the witness!" "Sustained," said Judge Lapworth. "Dr. Pettigrew," I said, "what were your findings in reference to Exhibit A?" He shrugged. "The thing is a plastic box with a dial set in one side, a plastic lens in one end, and a couple of strips of silver along two other sides. Inside, there are a lot of markings in black ink on white paint." He gestured toward the exhibit table. "Just what you've seen; that's all there is to it." "What sort of tests did you perform to determine this, Dr. Pettigrew?" I asked. He took a long time answering that one. He had X-rayed the thing thoroughly, tested it with apparatus I'd never heard of, taken scrapings from all over it for microchemical analysis, and even tried it himself on a roulette wheel. He hadn't been able to make it work. "And what is your conclusion from these findings?" I asked. Again he shrugged. "The thing is just a box, that's all. It has no special properties." "Would you say that it could be responsible for the phenomena we have just seen? By that, I mean the peculiar action of the roulette wheel, demonstrated here by the prosecution." "Definitely not," he stated flatly. "The box could not possibly have any effect on either the wheel or the ball." "I see. Thank you, doctor; that's all. Cross-examine." Thursby walked over to the witness stand with a belligerent scowl on his face. "Dr. Pettigrew, you say that the box couldn't possibly have had any effect on the wheel. And yet, we have demonstrated that there _is_ an effect. Don't you believe the testimony of your own senses?" "Certainly I do!" snapped Pettigrew. "Then how do you account for the behavior of the roulette wheel as you have just seen it demonstrated in this court?" I suppressed a grin. Thursby was so mad that he was having trouble expressing himself clearly. "In several ways!" Pettigrew said sharply. "In the first place, that wheel could be rigged." Thursby purpled. "Now, just a minute! I--" I started to object, but Judge Lapworth beat me to it. "Are you objecting to the answer, Mr. District Attorney?" "The witness is insinuating that I falsified evidence!" "I am not!" said Pettigrew, visibly angry. "You asked me how I could account for its behavior, and I told you one way! There are others!" "The wheel will be examined," said Judge Lapworth darkly. "Tell us the other ways, Dr. Pettigrew."