The Case of the Mischievous Doll

“Now, let’s get this straight,” Judge Flint said. “Lieutenant, look up here. Now, Lieutenant, is it true that there are eighteen points of similarity between the fingerprint of the defendant and the fingerprint of Dorrie Ambler?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“How could that happen, Lieutenant? You have just testified under oath that twelve points of similarity would show an absolute identification; yet you have here eighteen points of similarity between the prints of two different people.”

“I’m afraid,” Lt. Tragg said, “that there’s something here I don’t understand. I have now noticed more points of similarity. I could go on and probably get many other points of similarity.”

“And what does that mean?” Judge Flint asked.

“It means,” Perry Mason said dryly, “that either the science of fingerprinting is breaking down or that this defendant and Dorrie Ambler are one and the same person, in which event there never was any Dorrie Ambler and the testimony of the witness, Dunleavey Jasper, that he saw the two women together and noticed their similarity is absolute perjury.

“The Court will notice that other witnesses have testified to the similarity of appearance of Dorrie Ambler on the one hand and the defendant on the other, but no witness has been produced who had seen them together, and no witness could be produced who had seen them together because there was only one person. Therefore the testimony of Dunleavey Jasper that he saw them together is—”

Judge Flint shouted, “Bailiff, apprehend that man! Keep him from leaving the courtroom.”

Dunleavey Jasper, halfway through the swinging door was grabbed by the bailiff. He turned and engaged in a frantic struggle.

The courtroom was in an uproar.

Judge Flint shouted, “The spectators will be seated! The jurors will be seated! Court will take a fifteen-minute recess.”

Chapter Fifteen

As court was reconvened amidst the breathless hush of excitement, Mason got to his feet. “If the Court please,” he said, “it appearing that there never was any such person as Dorrie Ambler, and in view of the fact that the prosecutor now knows a confession of perjury has been obtained from Dunleavey Jasper, I move the Court to instruct the jury to return a verdict of not guilty and discharge the defendant from custody.”

“Does the prosecutor have any statement?” Judge Flint asked.

Hamilton Burger dejectedly got to his feet.

“I don’t understand it, Your Honor,” he said, “and I think that the patience of the Court has been imposed upon by reason of the fact that the defence did not disclose this matter to the Court at an earlier date but chose to present it in this dramatic manner. However, that is a matter for the Court to take up with counsel for the defence. As far as the present motion is concerned, I will verify the fact that Dunleavey Jasper has made a confession.”

“I think,” Judge Flint said, “that it would clarify matters if the general substance of that confession were a part of the record. Would you care to make a statement, Mr. Prosecutor?”

“It seems,” Burger said, “that Dunleavey Jasper, Barlowe Dalton, and a young woman named Flossie Hendon, stole this Cadillac car and started south.

“These people had committed various crimes before they stole the Cadillac. Afterwards they committed other crimes, among them the holdup of the branch bank at Santa Maria where they secured some eighteen thousand dollars. They divided eight thousand dollars of this money into three equal lots, and the balance of ten thousand dollars was wrapped in paper, held in place with rubber bands, and placed in the glove compartment of the stolen automobile.

“They went to the Montrose Country Club intending to steal valuable furs from the cloakroom, to hold up the cashier for the large sum of money which they thought would be in the safe that evening. They left their getaway car with Flossie Hendon at the wheel, and she was supposed to be there with the motor running, ready to help them escape as soon as they had completed their crime.

“However, Flossie Hendon succumbed to the feminine urge to look in at the gowns of the dancers who were in the country club. She left the wheel of the car for only a few moments but that was long enough.

“Minerva Minden had apparently forfeited her driving licence for drunk driving some months earlier. So that she wouldn’t be deprived of the privilege of driving a car, she had established a dual identity, taking the name of Dorrie Ambler and renting the apartment in the Parkhurst Apartments, staying there on occasion and building up a bona fide identity so in case the validity of this second driving licence should ever be questioned she could have proof of her identity.

“Since the attendant at the parking lot saw she was under the influence of liquor and asked to see her driving licence, she showed him the only one she had — the one made out to Dorrie Ambler.