My Dark Places

Read My Dark Places for Free Online Page B

Book: Read My Dark Places for Free Online
Authors: James Ellroy
for a minister and burial at Inglewood Cemetery.Jean’s sister and her husband were flying in from Madison, Wisconsin. He’d be taking his boy back to El Monte next Monday to pick up his things.
    Hallinen and Lawton asked the boy some questions.
    Did your mother know a blond woman with a ponytail? Did you ever see her with a Mexican man or a dark white man? Who were her friends at work? Did she make any friends since you moved to El Monte?
Why did she move to El Monte?
    The boy said his mother lied about the move to El Monte. She said she wanted him to live in a house, not an apartment. He knew she was lying.
    He liked Santa Monica. El Monte scared him. He didn’t understand why they moved so far away.
    He didn’t know any blond woman. He didn’t know any Mexican guy or dark white guy. He didn’t know his mother’s work friends. He already told them about Hank Hart and Peter Tubiolo. Mrs. Krycki was his mother’s friend—he knew that.
    Lawton asked him if his mother drank liquor.
    The boy said she drank a lot of Early Times bourbon.
    Jim Bruton got a call Tuesday evening. The Temple Sheriff’s forwarded a tip: Tommy just showed up at the Ivanhoe.
    Bruton arranged for a Sheriff’s unit to transport him to the El Monte Station. He set up an interview room with a one-way glass mirror and called Myrtle Mawby. She agreed to come in and view the suspect.
    Two deputies brought Tommy in. It was Tom Baker from the Desert Inn guest book. Bruton had him run down his Saturday night.
    Baker said he went to the races at Hollywood Park. He stayed through the seventh race and drove to a restaurant on Florence and Rosemead. He had a burger and drove to his place in Baldwin Park. He spent the rest of the evening watchingTV with his landlord and the landlord’s son. He was not at the Desert Inn Saturday night.
    Myrtle Mawby observed Tom Baker. She told Bruton that he was not the man she saw with the redhead.
    Tom Baker was released. A patrol car drove him back to the Ivanhoe.
    It was 8:00 p.m.
    Vickers and Godfrey were over at Temple—calling bartenders and carhops at home. Hallinen and Lawton were calling out from the El Monte Station.
    They were trying to locate Margie Trawick and Mike Whit-taker. They needed them to submit formal statements tonight.
    They found Margie at her parents’ house. They found Mike at the Melody Room and told him they’d send a car for him. They arranged for a Sheriff’s stenographer to come out to the station.
    The desk sergeant interrupted them. He said a tip just came in—a carhop at Stan’s might have seen something Saturday night.
    Lavonne Chambers was wearing a red-and-gold uniform. Hallinen and Lawton interviewed her in the manager’s cubbyhole.
    Stan’s was circular and space-age modern. A neon spire poked out of the roof. The lot behind it was huge—cars could stack up three rows deep and flash their lights for service.
    Lavonne said she heard a radio broadcast. She hemmed-and-hawed for a day or so and told her shift boss what she knew. He called the Sheriff’s for her.
    Hallinen and Lawton coaxed her a little. Lavonne relaxed and told them her story.
    She recognized the description on the radio. She remembered the redhead—from her dress down to her pearl ring. She was certain that she served the redhead and her date
twice
— Saturday night and Sunday morning.
    They came in shortly after 10:00. The woman ordered a grilled cheese sandwich; the man ordered coffee. The man was driving. The car was a ’55 or ’56 Olds sedan. It was two-tone green—with the lighter green probably on top. The man was very thin, 35 to 40, with black hair combed straight back. He looked like he might be of Greek or Italian extraction.
    The woman acted lighthearted. She might have been intoxicated. The man acted bored and reserved.
    They ate and drove off. They returned between 2:00 and 2:45 a.m. They parked in one of her stalls again.
    The redhead ordered chili and beans. The man ordered coffee. She was

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