He came immediately to see me, and I explained this to him. I said I never would have made a move of that kind if there had been a chance; that I had to do it in order to do myself justice. I said I knew I would not live another two years in that jail; they had all admitted they could do nothing for me, and I thought I had a right to do as I did.
He said, “I think you did the only thing. It was the only way out for you. I would probably have done the same thing myself.”
He remarked that I was looking stronger and healthier. I had gained about thirty pounds in weight. Mr. Older could see in a minute that I had quit the opium. He spoke of it at once.
He said he would see if something could be done for me. He thought it might be possible that the district attorney’s office, on account of all the complications of the case, would agree to ask for an amended sentence, a sentence of only a year or two, if I would stop fighting and plead guilty.
I said: “If I had thought such a thing possible, Mr. Older, I’d have paid my way back here and given myself up!”
I had little hope that any such thing would be done. I had never encountered anything like it. The next day Maxwell McNutt of the district attorney’s office came in to talk to me.
He spoke about my escape, and I told him the reasons for it as I had told the others. I explained that I would not have had to do it if my friends had been able to do something for me in the way of a lighter sentence.
He said that so far as the district attorney was concerned, he thought I had served almost enough time. I was astounded when I heard this. In all my experience I had never encountered a district attorney’s office that thought any criminal had served enough time.
This was a revelation to me in the ways of courts and police. It was the first time I ever got any better than the worst of it. I saw myself relieved of that burden of a twenty-five-year sentence. I saw myself coming out in a couple of years with the slate wiped clean.
I realized that Judge Dunne would be taking a chance in giving me a sentence that amounted practically to nothing. He had his place on the bench and his reputation with his fellow judges and the people to consider. If I came out of prison and got into trouble immediately after, I would be double-crossing him.