“I was instructed.”

  “By whom?”

  “By communications.”

  “In what way?”

  “The call came over the radio.”

  “And what was said in the call?”

  “Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial. Not proper cross-examination and hearsay,” Hamilton Burger said.

  Mason said, “The witness testified that he was ‘instructed’ to go to unit sixteen. Under the familiar rule that whenever a part of a conversation is brought out in direct examination the cross-examiner can show the entire conversation, I want to know what was said when the instructions were given to him.”

  “It’s hearsay,” Hamilton Burger said.

  “It’s a conversation,” Mason said, smiling.

  “The objection is overruled,” Judge Strouse said. “The witness, having testified to part of the conversation, may relate it all on cross-examination.”

  “Well,” Farland said, “it was just that I was to go to the motel, that’s all.”

  “Anything said about what you might find there?”

  “Yes.”

  “What?”

  “A body.”

  “Anything said about how the announcer knew there was a body there?”

  “He said it had been reported.”

  “Anything said about how it had been reported?”

  “He said an anonymous telephone tip.”

  “Anything said about who gave the anonymous tip—whether it was a man’s voice or a woman’s voice?”

  The witness hesitated.

  “Yes or no?” Mason said.

  “Yes,” he said. “It was a woman’s voice.”

  “Thank you,” Mason said with exaggerated politeness. “That’s all.”

  Hamilton Burger put a succession of routine witnesses on the stand, witnesses showing that the dead man had been identified as Binney Denham, that a .38 caliber bullet had fallen from the front of Denham’s coat when the body was moved.

  “Morrison Brems will be my next witness,” Hamilton Burger said.

  When Brems came forward and was sworn, Hamilton Burger nodded to Vincent Hadley, the assistant district attorney who sat on his left, and Hadley, a suave, polished courtroom strategist, examined the manager of the motel, bringing out the fact that on April sixth, sometime around eleven o’clock in the morning, the defendant, accompanied by a young woman, had stopped at his motel; that the defendant had told him he was to be joined by another couple from San Diego; that they wished two units; that the witness had suggested to the defendant it would be better to wait for the other couple to arrive and let them register, in which event they would be paying only for their half of the motel unit. However, the defendant had insisted on paying the whole charge and having immediate occupancy of the double.

  “Under what name did the defendant register?” Vincent Hadley asked.

  “Under the name of S. G. Wilfred.”

  “And wife?” Hadley asked.

  “And wife.”

  “Then what happened?” Hadley asked.

  “Well, I didn’t pay too much attention to them after that. Of course, looking the situation over and the way it had been put up to me I thought—”

  “Never mind what you thought,” Hadley interrupted. “Just tell us what happened, what you observed, what you saw, what was said to you by the defendant, or by others in the presence of the defendant.”

  “Well, just where do you want me to begin?”

  “Just answer the question. What happened next?”

  “They were in there for a while, and then the girl—”

  “Now, by the girl, are you referring to Mrs. Wilfred?”

  “Well, of course she wasn’t any Mrs. Wilfred.”

  “You don’t know that,” Hadley said. “She registered as Mrs. Wilfred, didn’t she?”

  “Well, the defendant here registered her as Mrs. Wilfred.”

  “All right Call her Mrs. Wilfred then. What happened next?”

  “Well, Mrs. Wilfred went out twice. The first time she went around to the outer door of unit fifteen and I thought she was going in that way, but—”

  “Never mind what you thought. What did she do?”

  “I know she locked him in, but I can’t swear I saw the key turn in the lock, so I suppose you won’t let me say a thing about that. Then after she’d done whatever it was she was doing, she went to the car and got out some baggage. She took that in to unit sixteen. Then a short time later she came out and went to the glove compartment of the car. I don’t know how long she was there that time because I was called away and didn’t get back for half an hour or so.

  “Then quite a while later they both left the place, got in the car and drove away.”

  “Now just a minute,” Hadley said. “Prior to the time that you saw them drive away, had anyone else been near the car?”

  “That I just can’t swear to,” Brems said.

  “Then don’t swear to it,” Hadley said. “Just tell us what you know and what you saw.”

  “Well, I saw a beat-up sort of car parked down there by unit sixteen for a few minutes. I thought it was this other couple that had—”

  “What did you see?”

  “Well, I just saw this car parked there for a spell. After a while it drove away.”

  “Now the car didn’t drive out. Someone must have driven it out.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Do you know the person who was driving that car?”

  “I didn’t then. I do now.”

  “Who was it?”

  “This here Mr. Denham—the man who was found dead.”

  “You saw his face?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did he stop?”

  “No, sir.”

  “He didn’t stop when he drove his car out?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Did he stop when he went in?”

  “No, sir.”

  “All right. Now try to remember everything as you go along. What happened after that?”

  “Well, of course I’ve got other things to do. I’ve got a whole motel to manage down there, and I can’t just keep looking—”

  “Just tell us what you saw, Mr. Brems. We don’t expect you to tell us everything that happened. Only what you saw.”

  “Well, the defendant and this girl—”

  “You mean the one who had registered as Mrs. Wilfred?”

  “Yes, that’s the one.”

  “All right. What did they do?”

  “They were out for quite a while. Then they came back in. I guess it was pretty late in the afternoon. I didn’t look to get the exact time. They drove into the garage between the two units—”

  “Now, just before that,” Hadley interrupted. “While they were gone, did you have occasion to go down to the unit?”

  “Well, yes, I did.”

  “What was the occasion?”

  “I was checking up.”

  “Why?”

  “Well … well, you see, when couples like that come in … well, we have three rates—our regular customer rate, our tourist rate, and our transient rate.

  “Now, take a couple like this. We charge ’em about double the regular rates. Whenever they go out we check the units to see whether they’re coming back or not.

  “If they’ve left baggage, we look at it a bit if it’s open. Sometimes if it isn’t locked, we open it. Running a motel that way you have to cater to the temporary transients if you’re going to stay in business, but you get high rates for doing it and usually a big turnover.

  “Anyhow it isn’t the sort of trade you like, and whenever the people go out, you go in and look around.”

  “And that’s why you went in?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And what did you do?”

  “I tried the door of unit fifteen and it was locked. I tried the door of unit sixteen and it was locked.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I opened the door with a passkey and went in.”

  “Which door?”

  “Unit sixteen.”

  “What, if anything, did you find?”

  “I found that the girl … that is, this Mrs. Wilfred … had a suitcase and a bag in unit sixteen and that the man had a brief case in unit fifteen.”

  “Did you look in the brief case?”

  “I did.”

  “What did you see in it?”

  “I saw a revolver.”

  “Did you look at the revolver?”

  “Only in the brief case. I didn’t want to touch it. I just saw it was a revolver and let it go at that, but I decided right then and there I’d better—”

  “Never mind what you thought or what you decided. I’m asking you what you did, what you saw,” Hadley said. “Now, let us get back to what happened after that.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Did you see the defendant again?”

  “Yes, sir. He and this … this woman … this Mrs. Wilfred got back to the motel along late in the afternoon. They went inside and I didn’t pay any more attention to them. I had some other things to do. Then I saw a car driving out somewhere around eight o’clock, I guess it was. Maybe a little after eight. I took a look at it and I saw it was this car the defendant had been driving, and this woman was in it. I didn’t get a real good look at her, but somehow I didn’t think anybody else was in that car with her.”

  “Had you heard anything unusual?”

  “Personally, I didn’t hear a thing. Some of the people in other parts of the motel did.”

  “Never mind that. I’m talking now about you personally. Did you hear anything unusual?”

  “No, sir.”

  “And you so reported to the police when they questioned you?”

  “That’s right.”

  “When did you next have occasion to go to either unit fifteen or sixteen?”

  “When this police officer came to me and said he wanted in.”

  “So what did you do then?”

  “I got my passkey and went to the door of unit sixteen.”

  “Was the door locked?”

  “No, sir. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t.”

  “What happened?”

  “I opened the door.”

  “And what did you see?”

  “I saw the body of this man—the one they said was Binney Denham—lying sprawled there on the floor, with a pool of blood all around it.”

  “Did you look in unit fifteen?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “How did you get in there?”

  “We went back out the door of unit sixteen and I tried the door of unit fifteen.”

  “Was it locked?”

  “No, sir, it was unlocked.”

  “Was the defendant in there?”

  “Not when we went in. He was gone.”

  “Was his brief case there?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Did either the defendant or the woman who was registered by the defendant as his wife return to your motel later on?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Did you subsequently accompany some of the authorities to the back of your lot?”

  “Yes, sir. You could see his tracks going—”

  “Now wait just a moment. I’m coming to that. What is in the back of your lot?”

  “A barbed wire fence.”

  “What is the nature of the soil?”

  “A soft, loam-type of soil when it’s wet. It gets pretty hard in the summertime when the sun shines on it and it bakes dry. It’s a regular California adobe.”

  “What was the condition of this soil on the night of April sixth?”

  “Soft.”

  “Would it take the imprint of a man’s foot?”

  “Yes, sir, it sure would.”

  “Did you observe any such imprints when you took the authorities to the back of the lot?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Are you acquainted with Lieutenant Tragg?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Did you point out these tracks to Lieutenant Tragg?”

  “I pointed out the route to him. He pointed out the tracks to me.”

  “And then what, if anything, did Lieutenant Tragg do?”

  “Well, he went to the barbed wire fence right where the tracks showed somebody’d gone through the fence, and he found some threads. Some of the barbs on the barbed wire were pretty rusty and threads of cloth would stick easy.”

  “Now, from the time you saw Binney Denham, with his automobile which you have referred to as a rather beat-up car, near unit sixteen earlier in the day, did you see Mr. Denham again?”

  “Not until I saw him lying there on the floor dead.”

  “Your motel is open to the public?”

  “Sure. That’s the idea of it.”

  “Mr. Denham could have come and gone without your seeing him?”

  “Sure.”

  “You may cross-examine,” Hadley said.

  Mason said, “As far as you know, Denham could have gone into that unit sixteen right after the woman you have referred to as Mrs. Wilfred left, could he not?”

  “Yes.”

  “Without your seeing him?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s readily possible?”

  “Sure it is. I look up when people drive in with automobiles and act like they’re going to stop at the office, but I don’t pay attention to people who come in and go direct to the cabins. I mean by that, if they drive right on by the office sign, I don’t pay them any mind. I’m making a living renting units in a motel. I don’t aim to pry into the lives of the people who rent those units.”

  “That’s very commendable,” Mason said. “Now, you rented other units in the motel during the day and evening, did you not?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “On the evening of April sixth and during the day of April seventh, did you assist the police in looking around for a gun?”

  “Objected to as incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial, not proper cross-examination,” Hadley said, and then, getting to his feet, added, “If the Court please, we have asked this witness nothing of what he did on April seventh. We have only asked him about what took place on April sixth.”

  “I think, under the circumstances, the morning of April seventh would be too remote,” Judge Strouse ruled. “The objection is sustained.”

  “Did you ever see that gun again?” Mason asked.

  “I object to that as not proper cross-examination,” Hadley said. “As far as the question is concerned, he may have seen it a week later. The direct examination of this witness was confined to April sixth.”

  “I’ll sustain the objection,” Judge Strouse ruled.

  “Referring to the afternoon and evening of April sixth,” Mason said, “did you notice anything else that was unusual?”

  Brems shook his head. “No, sir.”

  Bedford leaned forward and whispered to Mason, “Pin him down. Make him tell about that prowler. Let’s get a description. We’ve simply got to find who she is!”

  “You noticed Binney Denham at the motel,” Mason said.

  “Yes, sir. That’s right.”

  “And you knew that he wasn’t registered in any unit?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “In other words, he was a stranger.”

  “Yes, sir. But you’ve got to remember, Mr. Mason, that I couldn’t really tell for sure he wasn’t in any unit. You see, this defendant here had taken two units and paid for them. He told me another couple from San Diego was coming up to join him. I had no way of knowing this here Denham wasn’t the person he had had in mind.”

  “I understand,” Mason said. “That accounts for the presence of Mr. Denham. Now, did you notice any other persons whom we might call unauthorized persons around the motel that day?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Wasn’t there someone in unit twelve?”

  Brems thought for a minute, started to shake his head, then said, “Oh, wait a minute. Yes, I reported to the police—”

  “Never mind what you reported to the police,” Hadley interrupted. “Just listen to the questions and answer only the questions. Don’t volunteer information.”

  “Well, there was a person I didn’t place at the time, but it turned out to be all right later.”

  “Some person who was an unauthorized occupant of one of the motel units?”

  “Objected to as calling for a conclusion of the witness and argumentative,” Hadley said.

  “This is cross-examination,” Mason said.

  “I think the word ‘unauthorized’ technically calls for the conclusion of the witness. However, I’m going to permit the question,” Judge Strouse said. “The defense will be given the utmost latitude in the cross-examination of witnesses, particularly those witnesses whose direct examination covers persons who were present prior to the commission of this crime.”

  “Very well,” Hadley said. “I’ll withdraw the objection, Your Honor, just to keep the record straight. Answer the question, Mr. Brems.”

  “Well, I’ll say this. A woman came out of unit twelve. She wasn’t the woman who had rented the unit. I talked to her because I thought … well, I guess I’m not allowed to tell what I thought. But I talked to her.”

  “What did you talk to her about?” Mason asked.

  “I questioned her.”

  “And what did she say?”

  “Now there, Your Honor,” Hadley said, “we are getting into something that is not only beyond the scope of cross-examination, but calls for hearsay evidence.”

  “The objection is sustained,” Judge Strouse ruled.

  “What did you ask her?” Mason asked.

  “Same objection!” Hadley said.

  “Same ruling.”

  Mason turned to Bedford and whispered, “You see, we’re up against a whole series of technicalities there, Bedford. I can’t question this witness about any conversation he had with her.”

  “But we’ve got to find out who she was. Keep after it. Don’t let them run you up a blind alley, Mason. You’re a resourceful lawyer. Fix your question so the judge has to let it in. We’ve got to know who she was.”

  “You say this woman who came out of unit twelve had not rented unit twelve?”

  “That’s right.”

  “And you stopped her?”

  “Yes.”

  “And did you report this woman to the police?”

  “Objected to. Not proper cross-examination. Incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial,” Hadley said.