“I can on a material point, but not on character,” Burger retorted.

  “Suppose that person was not Dixie Dayton?” Judge Lennox asked the prosecutor.

  “Minerva Hamlin has testified positively that it was Dixie Dayton.”

  “That is the testimony of one witness.”

  “But that’s the only testimony before the Court at this time,” Hamilton Burger pointed out.

  Judge Lennox ran his hand over his forehead, puckered his lips, swung halfway around in his swivel chair so as to avoid the eyes of Counsel, apparently trying thereby to improve his powers of concentration.

  For several moments there was a tense silence in the courtroom.

  Judge Lennox finally said, “Ask him the question. Put it right up to him. Was that woman Dixie Dayton, or wasn’t it?”

  “Oh, no,” Hamilton Burger said, “that’s one question I have no intention of asking.”

  “Why not?” Judge Lennox asked.

  “Because if Mr. Mason should deny that it was Dixie Dayton he would be testifying as my witness. I am only going to ask Mr. Mason questions to which I already have the answers, and the correct answers, so that if Mr. Mason seeks to crucify me by betraying my case in his testimony I have it in my power to send him to prison for perjury.”

  “I take it,” Judge Lennox said, smiling, “I opened the door for that, Mr. District Attorney. I take it you wish to convey that threat to Mr. Mason, and I gave you a good opportunity to do so.”

  Hamilton Burger was grim. “The fact remains that I have stated my position.”

  “You have indeed,” Judge Lennox said.

  There was another period of silence; then Judge Lennox turned to Perry Mason. “I think I’d like to hear your position in this, Counselor.”

  “As attorney for the defendant Morris Alburg,” Mason said, “I would point out that he isn’t bound by any statement made by Dixie Dayton.”

  “As a codefendant and a conspirator, I claim that he is,” Burger retorted.

  Mason smiled, “Would you contend that any individual could walk into a hotel room and state that His Honor, for instance, was out committing a murder, and then seek to prove His Honor guilty of the murder by producing the corpse, and a recording of that conversation?”

  “That’s different,” Burger snapped.

  “Then would you mind stating exactly how it strikes you as being different?”

  “But how about the defendant Dixie Dayton?” Judge Lennox asked.

  Mason said, “Your Honor, Dixie Dayton, if she had been in that room and if she had said that Morris Alburg was out committing a murder, would still not be subject to any prosecution and the evidence could not be introduced in this manner unless she was a party to that murder.”

  “But she was,” Hamilton Burger said.

  “Prove it,” Mason snapped.

  “That’s what I’m trying to do.”

  “Then do it in an orderly manner. Get your cart and then your horse, but don’t put the cart in front of the horse.”

  “Now, just a minute,” Judge Lennox said, “there’s a peculiar situation here. I can see Mr. Mason’s point. It’s a carefully thought out point and it seems to be sound.”

  “But, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger protested, “can’t Your Honor realize the situation? Perry Mason was in that room with Dixie Dayton. Dixie Dayton stated in so many words, and I can assure Your Honor that that is a fact because we have those words recorded, that Morris Alburg was murdering or was going to murder George Fayette. Shortly after that George Fayette was found murdered, and there is ample evidence connecting Morris Alburg with the crime.”

  “That’s all very nice,” Judge Lennox said, “but first you not only have to prove that it was the defendant Dixie Dayton who made the statement, but, as Mr. Mason points out, there must be some privity, some connection, some conspiracy.”

  “Of course, as far as the element of conspiracy is concerned, we’re going to prove it by circumstantial evidence. We can’t introduce a tape recording of the two defendants sitting down and saying in effect, ‘Let’s go murder George Fayette.’ We have to prove that by declarations and conduct of the parties.”

  “Of course,” Judge Lennox said, “you could simplify the situation by asking Mr. Mason if, at a certain date, Dixie Dayton, the defendant in this case, did not say to him so-and-so and such-and-such.”

  “I don’t know what Mr. Mason’s answer would be to that question. He might deny it and then I would be in a position of trying to impeach my own witness. I don’t want to do that. I do want to keep the issues within such narrow limits of proof that Mr. Mason will either answer the questions in accordance with the facts as I understand them, or Mr. Mason will subject himself to a prosecution for perjury.”

  “Yes,” Judge Lennox said, “I can see your point. I recognize the situation—I may say the dilemma—but the fact remains that it must be solved according to established rules of legal procedure. I think I am going to hold that this witness cannot be forced to answer that question over the objection of Counsel for both defendants. I feel that there must be some further proof of conspiracy before the conversation can be admitted. Are there any further questions of this witness?”

  “Not at the moment,” Hamilton Burger said.

  “Very well, Mr. Mason, you’re excused from the witness stand,” Judge Lennox said, “and may resume your position as Counsel for the defendants.”

  “Subject to being recalled later after more foundation has been laid,” Hamilton Burger said.

  “That is my understanding of the situation,” Judge Lennox ruled. “Go on with your case.”

  “I want to call Frank Hoxie as my next witness.”

  Frank Hoxie, the night clerk at the Keymont Hotel, was sworn, took the witness stand, and gave his name, address and occupation in a bored tone of voice.

  “Are you acquainted with either of the defendants in this case?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “With which one?”

  “With both.”

  “What were you doing on the second and third of the present month?”

  “Working as a night clerk in the Keymont Hotel.”

  “What time did you go on duty?”

  “At nine o’clock in the evening.”

  “What time did you go off duty?”

  “At eight o’clock in the morning.”

  “Now when did you first meet the defendant Morris Alburg?”

  “A couple of days before …”

  “Try and make it an exact date.”

  “On the first of the month.”

  “Where did you meet him?”

  “I was at the hotel.”

  “At the desk?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “On duty as a night clerk?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And what conversation did you have with Mr. Alburg?”

  “He came in and asked for a room. He said his sister-in-law had come to pay him an unexpected visit, and that he wanted to rent a room which she would occupy.”

  “Under what name did he register?”

  “Under the name of Mrs. Madison Kerby.”

  “You assigned him a room?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “What room?”

  “Room 815.”

  “That was the room in which the body of George Fayette was subsequently discovered?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Did you ever meet the person whom Morris Alburg said was his sister-in-law?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “When did you meet her?”

  “The defendant, Miss Dayton, came to the desk and said she was Mrs. Madison Kerby, and asked for the key to room 815. I gave her the key.”

  “That was the defendant?”

  “Dixie Dayton, one of the defendants, the one who stood up a minute ago.”

  “When was that room given up?”

  “You mean by the defendants?”

  “Yes.”

  “It was never given up. They kept the room until the date of the murder, when they were arrested.”

  “Did you tell the police who had rented that room?”

  “The police were after me pretty hard to find out who had rented it.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “I told them I’d never seen the people before and didn’t know who they were.”

  “Was that true or false?”

  “It was true.”

  “Perhaps,” Burger said, “you can tell us something of what happened on the evening of the second and the morning of the third.”

  “It was on the morning of the third instant that Perry Mason came to the hotel.”

  “At about what time in the morning?”

  “Sometime around two-thirty in the morning, I think.”

  “Was the defendant Dixie Dayton in the hotel at that time?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I had seen her come in and I hadn’t seen her leave.”

  “When did she come in?”

  “About half an hour before Mr. Mason did.”

  “And the defendant Morris Alburg, was he in the hotel?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “When did he come in?”

  “About an hour before Mr. Mason arrived.”

  “You’re certain of your identifications?”

  “Very certain.”

  Hamilton Burger turned to Mason and said, “Do you care to cross-examine this witness?”

  “I think I do,” Mason said.

  He pushed back his chair, arose, and faced the young man, whose blue, watery eyes made a valiant attempt to meet his, then shifted away, only to return, and again slither away.

  Mason stood holding his eyes steadily on the witness.

  Once more the witness made an attempt to meet Mason’s eyes, but, after less than a second, he averted his own eyes and shifted his position uneasily on the witness stand.

  “How long have you been employed at the Keymont Hotel?”

  “Three years.”

  “Where did you work before that?”

  “Various places.”

  “Can you name them?”

  “I sold goods on commission.”

  “What sort of goods?”

  “Novelties.”

  “Can you remember the name of the firm?”

  “No. It was a fly-by-night outfit.”

  “Did you ever serve in the Armed Forces?”

  “No.”

  “Have you ever held any other salaried position for as long as three years?”

  “No.”

  “You had two weeks’ vacation each year as a part of your compensation as night clerk?”

  “No.”

  “No vacations?”

  “No vacations.”

  “You worked there regularly, every night?”

  “Well, there was once I was sent to Mexico City on business. It wasn’t really a vacation. It was a change.”

  “What sort of business?”

  “To collect a sum of money.”

  “That was owed to the hotel?”

  “Yes.”

  “You collected the money?”

  “I got a promissory note and was advised that would be satisfactory. The management wired me to that effect.”

  “How long were you gone?”

  “Almost a month. It was a difficult piece of work. There were lots of angles.”

  “For what was the money due?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “When was this?”

  “About a year ago.”

  “Exactly what date did you leave? Do you remember?”

  “Certainly I remember. I left on a night plane on the seventeenth of— No, if you want to be technical it was on September eighteenth of last year.”

  “Just how do you fix the date?”

  “If you worked in the Keymont Hotel you wouldn’t have any trouble remembering when you had a free trip to Mexico City. The manager called me in and told me about this deal and said someone had to be on the ground who could handle the thing. He gave me money, told me to go up to my room, pack a suitcase and get to the airport.”

  “What time was this?”

  “Shortly before midnight, on the seventeenth.”

  “The plane left at what time?”

  “Right around one-thirty in the morning—the eighteenth.”

  “A through plane?”

  “No, I changed in El Paso, and if you want all the details, I sat next to a beautiful blonde who gave me the eye and then got sleepy when she found out I was leaving the plane at El Paso. From El Paso down I sat next to a woman who had been eating garlic, who had a kid that was airsick.”

  The courtroom broke into laughter.

  Mason didn’t even smile.

  “There were some difficulties attendant upon your job in Mexico City?”

  “Lots.”

  “But it was a vacation?”

  “It was a change.”

  “Have you ever tried to leave the Keymont Hotel and secure employment with any other hotel?”

  “Oh, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said. “There’s no reason why this witness should be ripped to pieces with all the details of his past life. Let Counsel confine his cross-examination to things that have been asked on direct examination.”

  Judge Lennox said, “It seems to me that there is something unusual about the background here, and I am not going to limit Counsel’s cross-examination. The objection is overruled.”

  “Have you?” Mason asked.

  The witness tried to meet Mason’s eyes and failed. “No,” he said in a low voice.

  “Have you,” Mason asked, “ever been convicted of a felony?”

  The witness started to get up from the witness chair, then stopped and settled back down.

  “Oh, Your Honor,” Hamilton Burger said, “this is so plainly a shot in the dark. This is an attempt to smear the reputation of a witness whose only fault has been that he has testified against Mr. Mason’s clients.”

  “I think, myself, the question, under the circumstances, is rather brutal,” Judge Lennox said. “However, it is a perfectly permissible question. It’s one of the grounds of impeaching a witness, and obviously the question has been met with no forthright denial. Therefore I will have to overrule the objection, somewhat against my wishes.”

  “Have you,” Mason asked, “ever been convicted of a felony?”

  “Yes.”

  “What was it? Where did you serve time?”

  “I served time in San Quentin for armed robbery. Now you know the whole thing. Go ahead and ruin me. Rip me up the back if you want to.”

  Mason studied the young man for a moment, then moved his chair around the end of the counsel table, sat down, and in a tone of genuine interest said, “I don’t think I want to, Mr. Hoxie. I think perhaps we may use this as a point of beginning rather than a point of ending. Did your employers know you had been convicted of a felony?”

  “Why do you suppose I was holding down a second-rate job in a third-rate hotel?” Hoxie demanded angrily.

  “You’re positive of your identifications of the witnesses?” Mason asked.

  “Completely positive. I have a knack of never forgetting a face. Once I have seen a person and placed him I never forget him—which is why my services presumably are of some value to the hotel.”

  “When were you convicted, Frank?”

  “Ten years ago.”

  “And you served how long?”

  “Five years.”

  “And then what?”

  “Then I had four or five different jobs, and something was always happening. My record would come up and I’d be thrown out.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then I was picked up on suspicion. Not because of anything I had done but purely because of my record. I was put in a police show-up box and I knew it meant the loss of another job. I was pretty sore about the whole thing.”

  “Go on,” Mason said.

  “A police sergeant came to me after one of these show-ups. He sympathized with me and told me he knew how I felt. He said that he had a friend who managed the Keymont Hotel. He said it was a place that had been in trouble with the police and the manager would therefore know just how I felt, and the trouble I was having. This police officer knew I had a great talent for remembering people and he knew the Keymont Hotel was looking for a night clerk because he’d been instrumental in sending the one who had just been employed there to prison.

  “He told me he’d had to threaten to close the hotel for good, and this new manager had promised to do his best to keep the place within the law. The police officer advised me to go to this new manager, to tell him all about myself. He said that the only thing for me to do was to get a job where the employer knew all about my past history so I’d have a real chance to make good. He suggested that I go there and tell them frankly my entire history, and he warned me that if I didn’t want to try to go straight, I wasn’t to apply for the job because the place had a bad reputation and the Vice Squad was watching it.”

  “You did that?”

  “Yes. It was the best advice I ever had.”

  “And you’re well-treated in this job?”

  “My hours are twice as long as they should be. I’m paid about half of what I should be getting. I’m treated courteously. I’m told to keep my mouth shut. It’s not the best hotel in the city. It’s a third-rate hotel and caters to third-rate business with all that it means. I keep my eyes open, my ears open, my mouth shut, and my nose clean, and I’m still there. Now, I take it that answers your question, Mr. Mason, and you’ve had your fun. Tomorrow regular residents of the hotel will know that the night clerk is an ex-convict.”

  “For your information,” Mason told him, “I think that this is the only time in my courtroom experience I have ever asked a witness if he had ever been convicted of a felony. Personally I believe that when a man has paid his debt to society, the debt should be marked off the books. However …”

  “Oh, Your Honor, I object to all this self-justification on the part of Counsel,” Hamilton Burger said. “He’s tipped over the apple cart and ruined this young man’s career, and now he’s trying to present an alibi in the unctuous manner …”

  Judge Lennox pounded his gavel. “The district attorney,” he said, “will refrain from offensive personalities. Mr. Mason is within his legal rights and the Court thinks it sees the general purpose in the back of Mr. Mason’s interrogation. If you have any specific objections to make, make them when Counsel has finished asking his questions…. Proceed, Mr. Mason.”