Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Vol. 29, No. 4, September 1971

The old man hustled to a phone as soon as Barbara was out of sight and called Detective Chief Thad Brown.

“Yeah, it’s her!” he said excitedly. “I know her! Don’t forget me on the reward. It’s my reward!”

The full force of the police department went into immediate action. Plainclothes detectives, some on foot, some in unmarked cars, policewomen, the whole bit. That’s the big advantage the law has on the lawbreaker — unlimited resources of men, equipment, cooperation of citizens, and many denizens of the underworld who seek protective favor in exchange for information. And so the trap was set and ready to be sprung. The last days of Barbara Graham’s freedom and life began.

Barbara made her buy in the ladies’ room of the depot. The woman who handed over the packets of heroin was a policewoman. She went into a compartment, closed the door, and fixed a pop, pumped it into her arm. She came out and headed for the door leading to a bus stand, got into the bus and sat down. Another policewoman also boarded the bus. Detectives in several cars followed.

Barbara got off the bus almost at the door of the hideout in Lynwood. It was a plain one-story building that had been converted from a store into an apartment and the door leading to it was flush with the sidewalk. A half-dozen teams of detectives headed by Brown, Homicide Captain Bob Lohrman, and Intelligence Captain James Hamilton covered every side of the building, front, sides, and back. Brown gave a signal and a burly detective kicked the door in and about a dozen cops rushed into the room.

Barbara let out a scream. She was standing in the middle of the room, completely naked. Jack Santo grabbed a pair of shorts and drew them on. Emmett Perkins stood against a wall of the room and glared first at Barbara and then at the cops. He saw the whole picture. Barbara had led the cops right to their door. He had told Jack they shouldn’t allow her to leave the apartment but Santo had minimized it.

“But you warned her about how hot we were,” Perkins said after Barbara had left.

“I know. She’s a smart girl, knows how to handle herself!”

“Like hell! No broad does. And this one is on the stuff!”

“You worry too much, Perk. Drop it.”

Newspaper reporters flooded the hall of justice when the three were brought in. Santo and Perkins stared straight ahead as they walked but Barbara bent her head and refused to look up as news photographers snapped pictures. The trio was booked and charged with suspicion of robbery, murder, and kidnaping. Barbara also was charged with the offense of passing worthless checks. She had failed to pick up the checks from the super market with the $30 given her to do so.

The grand jury voted murder indictments against Jack Santo, Emmett Perkins, Barbara Graham, and John True. The district attorney knew he still didn’t have a case he could take to court despite the indictments. He needed direct testimony from an eye witness to the crime. It was hopeless to think that either Santo or Perkins would turn state’s evidence. And equally hopeless to believe that Barbara Graham would sing. She had no voice for it. That left them John True.

“He’s our only chance,” the D.A. said. “We know he’s out in Sausilito.”

“We’ll go get him,” Lieutenant Coveney said. “With enough pressure he just might talk.”

The D.A. put though a call to Inspector Frank Ahearn of the San Francisco Police Department and asked him to arrest True on a charge of murder. Lieutenant Coveney and Robert LaVold of the Los Angeles Police Department flew to San Francisco. They put the heat on True. They grilled him for three days and finally True indicated that he wanted to get off the hook. Free. Clean. No charges of any kind.

“You guarantee me full immunity for turning state’s evidence and I’ll testify. Otherwise, no deal. I’ll take my chances in court. Santo and Perkins won’t tell you the right time, and I don’t think Barbara will either. So what have you got? Also, I want a bodyguard, highest cop you can give me. No rookie. I know Santo.”

“Let me call the D.A. and we’ll give you an answer,” Coveney said. “I’ll be right back.”

Coveney got in touch immediately with District Attorney Ernest Roll and related the terms on which True would agree to testify.

“Okay,” Roll agreed. “We’ve got no case without him. Tell him I said we’ll go along.”

“No good. He wants to hear from you personally.”

“Put him on.”

Lieutenant Coveney put True on the phone and Roll assured him that he would be given full immunity from prosecution and a bodyguard.

“Good enough. You’ve got a deal,” True replied.