the defendant’s guilt.
As Kinley read the transcript, he realized that Warfield had followed that method very carefully, calling Mrs. Dinker first.
According to her testimony, Martha Dinker had last seen her daughter at approximately twelve noon on Friday, July 2, 1954, when Ellie had headed up the mountain to visit a friend, Helen Slater.
WARFIELD : Now that was Friday, wasn’t it, Mrs. Dinker?
DINKER: Yes, sir.
WARFIELD : Now Ellie, she was in summer school, wasn’t she, Mrs. Dinker?
DINKER: Yes, sir, they was going to hold her back if she didn’t go.
WARFIELD : But she didn’t go to summer school that Friday, did she?
DINKER: No, sir.
WARFIELD : And although I’m sure we all remember about this, for the record could you tell us why Ellie wasn’t in school that day?
DINKER: They wasn’t having no school.
WARFIELD : And why was that?
DINKER : That was because it had been let out for Founder’s Day.
WARFIELD : Which was scheduled for the following Saturday, isn’t that right?
DINKER: Yes, sir, and they was going to dedicate the new courthouse, and they was cleaning the grounds around that, and decorating the town and all, and they wanted the kids to help, so they’d let out summer school.
WARFIELD : So she wasn’t playing hooky, was she, Mrs. Dinker?
And so, as Mrs. Dinker related under Warfield’s questioning, Ellie had decided to walk up the mountain to see a school friend, Helen Slater. The plan was to have lunch with her, then for the two of them to walk back down the mountain to help decorate the courthouse for the Fourth of July fireworks.
WARFIELD : Did you actually see Ellie head up the mountain?
DINKER: Yes, sir. I seen her go.
WARFIELD : Do you remember what she was wearing?
DINKER: A green dress and a pair of black shoes.
WARFIELD : What was the dress made of?
DINKER: Cotton.
WARFIELD : Was it dark green or light green?
DINKER : Dark green. And it had a little white lacy collar that I made for her.
WARFIELD : Mrs. Dinker, did you ever see your daughter again?
DINKER: No, sir.
WARFIELD : Mrs. Dinker, do you see this pair of shoes I have in my hand?
DINKER : (whimpering) Yes, sir.
WARFIELD : Whose shoes are these, Mrs. Dinker?
DINKER : Those are Ellie’s shoes.
WARFIELD : How do you know that?
DINKER : By them shiny little buckles.
WARFIELD : Mrs. Dinker, did you ever see Ellie’s green dress again?
DINKER : (crying) No, sir.
WARFIELD : Mrs. Dinker, do you see this dress I’m holding up to show the jury right now?
Martha Dinker had, indeed, seen that dress, and she went on to identify it positively as having been the one her daughter had worn the day of her death.
By eight that same Friday evening, Mrs. Dinker had begun to worry about Ellie, but since, as she put it, “kids is kids,” she had waited until ten before acting on her concerns. She’d had no phone, she told Warfield, and so she’d walked the mile or so from her home to the Sheriff’s Office. There she’d talked to Sheriff Maddox, who’d advised her to return home, after assuring her that he would alert all police patrols to be on the lookout for her daughter.
Maddox followed Mrs. Dinker to the stand. All during the night following Ellie’s disappearance, he told the jury, the members of his department had kept an eye out for the missing girl. None of them had spotted Ellie by morning, however, and Maddox had begun to suspect that something very bad might have happened.
WARFIELD: S O , in light of the fact that Ellie Dinker had not been located during the night, what did you do the next day, Sheriff Maddox?
MADDOX : I went up to Mrs. Dinker’s house. I thought maybe the little girl had showed up. I figured since Mrs. Dinker didn’t have no phone, maybe she wouldn’t have been able to let me know if Ellie had come home.
WARFIELD : And what did Mrs. Dinker tell you when you arrived at her house?
MADDOX : She was real upset. She’d already walked all the way up the mountain to the Slater girl’s place, and the Slater girl
As Kinley read the transcript, he realized that Warfield had followed that method very carefully, calling Mrs. Dinker first.
According to her testimony, Martha Dinker had last seen her daughter at approximately twelve noon on Friday, July 2, 1954, when Ellie had headed up the mountain to visit a friend, Helen Slater.
WARFIELD : Now that was Friday, wasn’t it, Mrs. Dinker?
DINKER: Yes, sir.
WARFIELD : Now Ellie, she was in summer school, wasn’t she, Mrs. Dinker?
DINKER: Yes, sir, they was going to hold her back if she didn’t go.
WARFIELD : But she didn’t go to summer school that Friday, did she?
DINKER: No, sir.
WARFIELD : And although I’m sure we all remember about this, for the record could you tell us why Ellie wasn’t in school that day?
DINKER: They wasn’t having no school.
WARFIELD : And why was that?
DINKER : That was because it had been let out for Founder’s Day.
WARFIELD : Which was scheduled for the following Saturday, isn’t that right?
DINKER: Yes, sir, and they was going to dedicate the new courthouse, and they was cleaning the grounds around that, and decorating the town and all, and they wanted the kids to help, so they’d let out summer school.
WARFIELD : So she wasn’t playing hooky, was she, Mrs. Dinker?
And so, as Mrs. Dinker related under Warfield’s questioning, Ellie had decided to walk up the mountain to see a school friend, Helen Slater. The plan was to have lunch with her, then for the two of them to walk back down the mountain to help decorate the courthouse for the Fourth of July fireworks.
WARFIELD : Did you actually see Ellie head up the mountain?
DINKER: Yes, sir. I seen her go.
WARFIELD : Do you remember what she was wearing?
DINKER: A green dress and a pair of black shoes.
WARFIELD : What was the dress made of?
DINKER: Cotton.
WARFIELD : Was it dark green or light green?
DINKER : Dark green. And it had a little white lacy collar that I made for her.
WARFIELD : Mrs. Dinker, did you ever see your daughter again?
DINKER: No, sir.
WARFIELD : Mrs. Dinker, do you see this pair of shoes I have in my hand?
DINKER : (whimpering) Yes, sir.
WARFIELD : Whose shoes are these, Mrs. Dinker?
DINKER : Those are Ellie’s shoes.
WARFIELD : How do you know that?
DINKER : By them shiny little buckles.
WARFIELD : Mrs. Dinker, did you ever see Ellie’s green dress again?
DINKER : (crying) No, sir.
WARFIELD : Mrs. Dinker, do you see this dress I’m holding up to show the jury right now?
Martha Dinker had, indeed, seen that dress, and she went on to identify it positively as having been the one her daughter had worn the day of her death.
By eight that same Friday evening, Mrs. Dinker had begun to worry about Ellie, but since, as she put it, “kids is kids,” she had waited until ten before acting on her concerns. She’d had no phone, she told Warfield, and so she’d walked the mile or so from her home to the Sheriff’s Office. There she’d talked to Sheriff Maddox, who’d advised her to return home, after assuring her that he would alert all police patrols to be on the lookout for her daughter.
Maddox followed Mrs. Dinker to the stand. All during the night following Ellie’s disappearance, he told the jury, the members of his department had kept an eye out for the missing girl. None of them had spotted Ellie by morning, however, and Maddox had begun to suspect that something very bad might have happened.
WARFIELD: S O , in light of the fact that Ellie Dinker had not been located during the night, what did you do the next day, Sheriff Maddox?
MADDOX : I went up to Mrs. Dinker’s house. I thought maybe the little girl had showed up. I figured since Mrs. Dinker didn’t have no phone, maybe she wouldn’t have been able to let me know if Ellie had come home.
WARFIELD : And what did Mrs. Dinker tell you when you arrived at her house?
MADDOX : She was real upset. She’d already walked all the way up the mountain to the Slater girl’s place, and the Slater girl
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