“What do you mean, not exactly?”
“I didn’t tell her all that.”
“But you did tell her to walk up and down Hollywood Boulevard near the intersection of Western?”
“Well... yes.”
“And to report to you anything that happened?”
“Yes.”
“And she did report that a woman had made an identification?”
“Yes.”
“And didn’t you then advise her that she could take the next day off and didn’t need to do anything?”
“I can’t remember my detailed instructions but something of that sort probably happened.”
“And all of that was under instructions from Henrietta Hull?”
“Yes.”
“You were reporting to Henrietta Hull regularly?”
“Yes.”
“Cross-examine,” Parma snapped.
Mason said, “How did you know Henrietta Hull was the representative of the defendant?”
“She told me so.”
“In a conversation?”
“Yes.”
“In person or over the telephone?”
“Over the telephone.”
“Then you have never seen Henrietta Hull. Is that correct?”
“That is correct. I talked with her over the telephone.”
“You received compensation for your work?”
“Yes.”
“Did you bill the defendant for that?”
“No, I did not.”
“Why?”
“I was paid in advance.”
“Who paid you?”
“I received the money from Henrietta Hull.”
“In the form of a check?”
“In the form of cash.”
“But if you have never met Henrietta Hull, she couldn’t have given you the cash.”
“She sent it to me.”
“How?”
“By messenger.”
“How much?”
“Thirty-five hundred dollars.”
“Did you see Dorrie Ambler personally?”
“Yes.”
“And you have seen the defendant?”
“More recently, yes. I am, of course, looking at her now.”
“Was there a striking physical resemblance between Dorrie Ambler and the defendant?”
“A very striking resemblance.”
Mason held his eyes on the witness. “For all you know, Mr. Compton,” he said, “you were hired, not by the defendant, but by Dorrie Ambler.”
“What?” the witness asked, startled.
“Dorrie Ambler,” Mason said, “wanted to establish a claim to the Harper Minden estate. She wanted a certain amount of notoriety in order to launch her campaign. She needed newspaper publicity. So she rang you up and told you she was Henrietta Hull and—”
“Just a minute, just a minute,” Parma shouted, jumping to his feet. “All this assumes facts not in evidence. It consists of a statement by counsel and I object to it on—”
“I withdraw the question,” Mason said, smiling, “and ask it this way. Mr. Compton, if Dorrie Ambler had wanted to attract attention to her remarkable similarity to the defendant in this case, and if she had called you up, told you she was Henrietta Hull and had asked you to put that ad in the paper and to hire Dorrie Ambler when she showed up to apply for the job, was there anything in the facts of the case as you know them and as covered by your testimony which would have negatived such an assumption?”
“Objected to,” Parma said, “as being argumentative and calling for a conclusion of the witness; as being not proper cross-examination and assuming facts not in evidence.”
“Sustained,” Judge Flint said.
Mason, having made his point so that the jurors could get it, smiled at the witness. “You don’t know that the person you were talking with on the telephone was Henrietta Hull, do you?”
“No, sir.”
“Did you ever at any time during the employment call Henrietta Hull?”
“No, sir. She called me.”
“Why didn’t you call her?”
“Because she told me not to. She said she would call me.”
“So you were never to call her at the house or her place of business?”
“Those were the instructions.”
“Given to you by someone who, for all you know, could have been Dorrie Ambler or any other woman?”
“Objected to as argumentative and not proper cross-examination,” Parma said.
“Overruled,” Judge Flint said.
“It was only a voice over the telephone,” Compton said.
“And from time to time this same voice would call you and give you instructions as to what you were to do?”
“Yes.”
“And tell you what instructions you were to give to Dorrie Ambler?”
“Yes.”
“You never met the defendant prior to her arrest?”
“No.”
“You didn’t ever have any conversation with her on the telephone?”
“No.”
“You never called the defendant to find out if she had authorized Henrietta Hull to make you any such proposition, and you never called Henrietta Hull?”
“That’s right.”
“No further questions,” Mason said.
Hamilton Burger rose to his feet. “If the Court please,” he said, “this next witness will undoubtedly be controversial. I am going to call him somewhat out of order. I am going to state to the Court that I make no apologies for what we have done in granting this witness a certain immunity from prosecution. We—”
“Just a minute,” Mason interrupted, getting to his feet, “I submit that this is an improper statement in front of the jury. This is not the time to argue the case, this is not the time to apologize for giving some criminal immunity in order to further the interests of the prosecutor.”
“Just a minute, just a minute, gentlemen,” Judge Flint interrupted. “I don’t want any personalities from either side, and there is no need for any argument. Mr. Burger, if you have another witness, call him.”
“Very well,” Burger said, turning and smiling at the jury, knowing that he had registered with them the thought that he wished to convey. “Call Dunleavey Jasper.”
Dunleavey Jasper was a rather slender young man in his early thirties who managed to convey the impression of slinking as he walked forward, held up his hand, was sworn, and took the witness stand.
“Now, your name is Dunleavey Jasper,” Hamilton Burger said. “Where do you reside, Mr. Jasper?”
“In the county jail.”
“You are being held there?”
“Yes.”
“You are charged with crime?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know the defendant?”
“Yes, sir.”
“When did you first meet the defendant?”
“It was around the eleventh of September.”
“Did you know Dorrie Ambler in her lifetime?”
“Now, just a minute,” Judge Flint said. “I’ve already ruled on this matter. The words, ‘in her lifetime,’ are extraneous. The jurors are instructed to ignore that part of the question. Now, the question is, Mr. Jasper, whether you knew Dorrie Ambler.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How did you get acquainted with Dorrie Ambler?”
“It’s rather a long story.”
“Just go ahead and answer the question and never mind how long it takes. Keep your answer responsive to the question but tell how you happened to meet her.”
“She stole my getaway car.”
There was a startled gasp from many of the spectators in the courtroom. The jurors suddenly sat forward in their chairs.
“Will you repeat that, please?” Hamilton Burger said.
“She stole my getaway car.”
“What was your getaway car?”
“It was a Cadillac automobile, licence number WHW 694.”
“This was your getaway car?”
“My partner and I were going to use it for a getaway. We didn’t have title to the car.”