"Well, I- All right," Dillard blurted, "I overlooked a bit there. I didn't put down the time the manager came in."
"Or the time she went out?"
"She came in and went out all at the same time."
"Came and went in the same instant?" Mason asked, feigning incredulity.
"Well, you know what I mean. She went in and-she was only in there a second and then she came running out."
"There was a teiphone in the unit which you occupied?"
"Yes."
"And you mentioned that you had a boss there in Riverside?"
"A man who was above me in the organization for which I am working, yes."
"You are referring to Sidney Nye?"
"Yes."
"And you called Sidney Nye?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Right after the manager of the motel came running out. I figured there was something wrong."
"Let's see if I can understand the floor plan of the room which you occupied. There was a bed in that room?"
"Yes."
"A chair?"
"Yes."
"There was a window looking out on the parking place, and by sitting at that window you could look across and see the entrance to Unit to?"
"Yes."
"And there was a telephone?"
"Yes."
"Where was the telephone?"
"By the bed."
"Now, after you saw the manager come running out, you went to the telephone and called a report in to Sid Nye, didn't you?"
"Well, I didn't report but I gave him the signal something was wrong."
"And what did you say?"
"I got him on the phone and said, "Hey Rube."
"You had previously worked in a circus?"
"Yes."
"And "Hey Rube" is a rallying cry for the circus people to unite in a fight against the outsiders?"
"Something to that effect, yes."
"Did you have any trouble in getting Sid Nye?"
"No, he answered the phone as soon as it rang."
"I asked you," Mason said, "if you had any trouble in getting Sid Nye."
"Well, yes. The manager, of course, was busy notifying the police and-"
"You don't know what the manager was doing," Mason said. "You couldn't see her, could you?"
"No."
"Then you don't know what she was doing."
"Well, I surmised what she was doing because I had to sit at the phone for such a long time before anyone answered."
"You knew that the calls went through a switchboard there in the office?"
"Yes."
"And she had to connect you with an outside line?"
"I had to give her the number and she would call it."
"Now, while you were at the phone, you had your back to the window, didn't you?"
"I couldn't be in two places at the same time."
"Exactly," Mason said. "You had previously called Sid Nye, earlier in the evening, hadn't you?"
"No, I- Yes, wait a minute, I did. I told him I had been made."
"What did you mean by that?"
"I meant that the subject had become suspicious and had gone out and had looked at the registration certificate on my car."
"That was the last time you saw him?"
"Yes."
"And while he was doing that you telephoned Sid Nye?"
"No, I waited until after he'd turned his back and gone into the motel unit that he occupied."
"That was Unit Number 10?"
"Yes."
"And then you telephoned Sid Nye and told him you had been made?"
"Yes."
"Any other conversation?"
"That was about it."
"Didn't you tell him you were hungry?"
"Well, that's right. I asked him if I should go out to dinner."
"And what did he say?"
"No. He told me to sit tight. He-I think he was in your room at the time and was talking with you and relaying your instructions."
"And during that time you were at the telephone?"
"Of course I was at the phone."
"And had your back turned toward the window?"
"Yes."
"So," Mason said, "as far as your notes are concerned they are inaccurate and incomplete in that they don't show anything that happened after the defendant left the unit."
"There wasn't anything else that happened, except that the police came."
"And the manager of the motel?"
"And the manager of the motel."
"And, during the time you had your back turned while you were telephoning or trying to get a connection through the switchboard, any number of people could have come and gone."
"Well-Like I told you, Mr. Mason, I couldn't be in two places at the same time."
"So," Mason said, "as far as you know, Boring wasn't in Unit to at all during the time the defendant was there."
"How do you mean?"
"The decedent could have left that unit while you were telephoning Nye to tell him that you had been made, as you expressed it, and the decedent could have again entered the unit after the manager had entered the unit and then left in a hurry, and while you were telephoning Sid Nye to say Hey Rube."
"All right," Dillard said, "I kept the place under surveillance but I can't be everyplace at once. Naturally when I was at the telephone I couldn't be there at the window, and when I went to the bathroom I wasn't there."
"Oh," Mason said, "then you weren't at the window all of the time."
"No. I did a reasonable job of surveillance and that's all you can expect."
"So your notes are inaccurate in that they don't show every person who came to the unit and they don't show every person who left."
"Those notes are accurate."
"They show the persons that you saw entering and the persons you saw leaving," Mason said, "but you don't know how many other people could have gone in or gone out that you didn't see."
"I'd have seen them, all right."
"But you were in the bathroom on at least one occasion?"
"Yes."
"Perhaps two?"
"Perhaps."
"And you didn't put down the time the manager of the motel was in there?"
"No."
"Or the time she left?"
"No."
"That's all," Mason said.
"If the Court please," Leland said, "I intended to let that conclude my case but under the circumstances and in view of the highly technical point raised by counsel I will call the manager of the motel.
"Mrs. Carmen Brady, will you come forward and be sworn, please?"
Mrs. Brady was sworn, identified herself as the manager of the motel.
"On Tuesday night did you have occasion to go to Unit 10?"
"I did."
"What time was this?"
"I made a note of the time. It was exactly nine-twelve."
"And what happened?"
"The telephone rang and a woman's voice said that I had better check on the man in Unit to, that he seemed to be ill. I hung up the telephone, went to the unit and looked in and Mr. Boring was lying there on the floor. He was breathing laboriously and heavily and I dashed back and called the police."
"Cross-examine," Leland snapped at Perry Mason.
"What time did this call come in?" Mason asked.
"At twelve minutes past nine."
"You went to the unit?"
"Yes."
"How long were you in there?"
"No time at all. I opened the door and saw this man lying on the floor and turned and dashed out and notified the police."
"At once?"
"At once."
"Did you close the door behind you when you entered the motel unit?"
"I… I can't remember, Mr. Mason. I think I started to close the door and then saw the man on the floor and was startled and ran toward him and bent over him and saw he was still alive and then I dashed out of the unit and called the police."