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beneficial and partly not.
Stires testified that he recalled Cowperwood's saying that he had purchased the certificates,
that he was entitled to the money, that Stener was unduly frightened, and that no harm would
come to him, Albert. He identified certain memoranda in the city treasurer's books, which were
produced, as being accurate, and others in Cowperwood's books, which were also produced, as
being corroborative. His testimony as to Stener's astonishment on discovering that his chief
clerk had given Cowperwood a check was against the latter; but Cowperwood hoped to
overcome the effect of this by his own testimony later.
Up to now both Steger and Cowperwood felt that they were doing fairly well, and that they need
not be surprised if they won their case.
Chapter XLII
The trial moved on. One witness for the prosecution after another followed until the State had
built up an arraignment that satisfied Shannon that he had established Cowperwood's guilt,
whereupon he announced that he rested. Steger at once arose and began a long argument for
the dismissal of the case on the ground that there was no evidence to show this, that and the
other, but Judge Payderson would have none of it. He knew how important the matter was in
the local political world.
"I don't think you had better go into all that now, Mr. Steger," he said, wearily, after allowing him
to proceed a reasonable distance. "I am familiar with the custom of the city, and the indictment
as here made does not concern the custom of the city. Your argument is with the jury, not with
me. I couldn't enter into that now. You may renew your motion at the close of the defendants'
case. Motion denied."
District-Attorney Shannon, who had been listening attentively, sat down. Steger, seeing there
was no chance to soften the judge's mind by any subtlety of argument, returned to
Cowperwood, who smiled at the result.
"We'll just have to take our chances with the jury," he announced.
"I was sure of it," replied Cowperwood.
Steger then approached the jury, and, having outlined the case briefly from his angle of
observation, continued by telling them what he was sure the evidence would show from his
point of view.
"As a matter of fact, gentlemen, there is no essential difference in the evidence which the
prosecution can present and that which we, the defense, can present. We are not going to
dispute that Mr. Cowperwood received a check from Mr. Stener for sixty thousand dollars, or
that he failed to put the certificate of city loan which that sum of money represented, and to
which he was entitled in payment as agent, in the sinking-fund, as the prosecution now claims
he should have done; but we are going to claim and prove also beyond the shadow of a
reasonable doubt that he had a right, as the agent of the city, doing business with the city
through its treasury department for four years, to withhold, under an agreement which he had
with the city treasurer, all payments of money and all deposits of certificates in the sinking-fund
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