Her testimony was harmless, being limited to the statement that she had found out that Babe was in the 127th Street house with Johnson from Big Ida; that she had told the Bearcat that Babe was there; that she had not mentioned to the Bearcat the fact that Babe was with Johnson.

Big Ida and Liza Jones then took their turns in the witness chair. Both of them had also been bribed to a lesser extent than Jenny, but they had found it profitable to suddenly forget any incriminating evidence.

Ida testified that she had seen Johnson and Babe enter the house—Johnson first and Babe sometime later. She admitted that she had felt jealous and waited all night for Babe to come out so that she could bust her up. Her testimony threw the courtroom into convulsions of laughter and the judge threatened to clear the courtroom of the general public.

Liza Jones testified that she had seen neither Johnson nor Babe enter the house and wouldn’t have known they were there, if Ida hadn’t told her. She admitted, however, that she heard a man and woman moving around in the flat above hers, which was the one Johnson was killed in. Both she and Ida denied they had heard any noise that sounded like shots being fired.

The prosecution saw it was getting nowhere, and was willing to rest its case on the Bearcat’s confession.

The defense produced two character witnesses for the Bearcat—Charlie Yates and Joe Malone, both of whom testified to the defendant’s squareness, his clean living, his willingness to work hard, and his great love for his wife.

The defense concluded by putting Babe and then the Bearcat on the stand.

Babe looked ravishingly beautiful dressed all in black with a pale make-up. She took the stand and told substantially the same story of events that she had told the Bearcat the night of the murder. Her testimony was unshaken.

Then the Bearcat followed her. He told the apparently straightforward story that Babe had cooked up for him. He, too, remained unshaken by cross-examination.

On Monday morning, beginning the second week of the trial, the prosecutor summed up the State’s case to the jury. He talked for about two hours. There was an adjournment for lunch, and then in the afternoon, J. Z. Hallon arose and on behalf of the defendant addressed the jury. The hard light that had flashed from his eyes when he had looked at Jenny now gave place to a soft, warm, human glow. He leaned toward the jury and his voice was caressing.

“Gentlemen of the jury, you have been asked by the state to convict the defendant of murder in the first degree. Consider what that means, gentlemen. It means you are asked to condemn to death by execution in the electric chair a man who has upheld the best traditions of the white race, the honor of its womanhood.