David Bishop - Matt Kile 04 - Find My Little Sister (17 page)

June of 1939
slipped past in the monotony of day-to-day living without much of a change. Callie and I continued to see each other regularly. We continued taking walks on the beach when the weather permitted. Dinner and the movies on Wednesdays, and a home-cooked meal at her place on Friday nights became regular events in our lives. We also had dinner with her father most Sundays, at his house or a restaurant. My parents were both dead and I found her father to be an engaging chap. I had met some of Callie’s neighbors and they all knew we were a serious couple. Still, decorum was maintained and I continued to leave her place no later than midnight.

On the broader front, the city percolated along. Mayor Bowron stayed out of scandals and Siegel and Cohen, a
s well as Jack Dragna, continued doing business without significant interruption from the authorities. The rumors were that they were still buying protection, but no longer at the highest level. I continued to stop by Mickey’s Haberdashery for ice cream a couple times a month. He’d give me tidbits or comments off the record on things I had heard. He also gave me another horse tip. I took it. Made another killing, and then swore I would not do that anymore. Time will tell.

The New York Yankees had beaten the Chicago Cubs in the ’38 World Series and were favored to repeat. The New York Giants had won th
e National Football League ’38 championship over the Green Bay Packers. The Pack was already the favorite to win it this year. I wasn’t so sure, but I cover the crime beat so what do I know?

While many people didn’t expect the movie industry
to keep up with the Academy Awards, they did. The tenth annual Oscar show in 1938 included Spencer Tracy winning best actor for his role in
Captain Courageous
. Louise Rainer won best actress for
The Good Earth
. Tracy was favored to win back to back Oscars this year for his role in
Boy’s Town
; Bette Davis, the odds on favorite, was expected to take home the Oscar for her lead in this year’s
Jezebel
. The movie business was bigger than ever and the Academy Awards were the top prize in the business.

The Rising Tide Which May Soon Wash Over Us All.

Wednesday, July 26,
1939

While we sit fascinated and enthralled with the happenings in our City of the Angels: politics, organized crime, and the ongoing battles over our beloved gambling ships, the world is simmering and it may soon boil over all of us.

Tonight’s column is one of my longest in memory. Hopefully, you will find it worthy of your time. In writing it,
I have strayed outside my normal parameters of crime and entertainment, L.A. style. You and I and all Americans are part of the world. We can no longer ignore what is going on in Europe where, in my humble opinion, the powers are marching steadily and mercilessly toward all-out war.

Germany continues to fine tune its massive, yet still growing, army and air force while the other powers of Europe,
primarily England and France, continue a course of pursuing peace through appeasement. England and France have conceded to the demands of Germany’s Fuhrer, Adolph Hitler. Last year (March 1938) we watched Germany annex Austria. Six months later France and England signed away the Czech border regions to Germany at the Munich conference and pressured Czechoslovakia to yield to Germany’s demand for the incorporation of those regions into Germany. Early this year, in violation of the Munich agreement, Germany dismembered Czechoslovakia.

Britain and France
trying to avoid looking weak and ineffective guaranteed the integrity of Poland. Hitler is countering this by offering a nonaggression agreement with the Soviet Union to be called the German-Soviet Pact. Essentially, the rumors out of Europe say that Hitler and Stalin will be agreeing to partition Poland between the two powers. Once this agreement is inked, if it is, the runway will be cleared for Germany to invade Poland without concern over intervention by the Soviet Union. I expect this to occur in the not-too-distant future.

All the while, our local war, of sorts, continues.
Not too many months ago, District Attorney Buron Fitts, backed up by Los Angeles County Sheriff Biscaliuz, and Santa Monica Police Chief Dice, commandeered water taxis and sailed out to arrest Tony Cornero on board his luxurious S.S. Rex. After brief resistance, Cornero confidently submitted to arrest to again confront the issue in court.

Fitts
dragged out the old argument that Santa Monica Bay constituted an “island” body of water and therefore, the dry coastline was not the true coastline of California. As I’ve mentioned in past columns, it is Fitts’s contention that the coastline runs along an imaginary line in the ocean from Point Vicente to Point Dume, the southernmost and northernmost land points which frame the entrance to Santa Monica Bay.

The prior year,
Cornero’s lawyers had successfully countered that Santa Monica Bay was not, in fact, a bay at all, but a bight—a large coastal indentation. The court sided with the District Attorney, but Cornero won on appeal. The appellate court had essentially ruled the three-mile jurisdiction of California law effectively ran from the land dock of Santa Monica Bay. Cornero again returned triumphantly to operate his S.S. Rex three miles off the Santa Monica Pier.

The local authorities
became further frustrated by their inability to get the courts to recognize their desire to shut down the water taxis that service the gamblers traveling to and from the ships of chance bobbing in the waters off our coast. And, increasingly, they looked to the office of California Attorney General Earl Warren. The reasoning being that the establishment and defense of the California border is a responsibility of the state government.

As a result,
California Attorney General Earl Warren is working a new angle. He is charging that Tony Cornero, et al, are contributing to the delinquency of minors by openly glorifying gambling and the evading of the laws of the state, and by inducing them to lead idle and dissolute lives. This ploy does not look promising, but it is a fresh run at a stale problem—at least in the eyes of the anti-gambling league. The Attorney General further argues that this could lead to having floating narcotic ships and floating prostitution ships.

I agree
the potential for proliferation of undesirable activities aboard ships is a problem. However, if the state lacks jurisdiction, it lacks jurisdiction regardless of the activities conducted on board ships anchored beyond three miles. The bottom line: regardless of the emotional arguments to justify doing so, the law cannot extend beyond its authority.

I
close tonight’s column with the same uncertainty for both our city and our world: what will come next?

Good night Mr. and Mrs. Los Angeles and all the gambling ships at sea… . Good Luck, Suckers. Matt Kile

* * *

Neither Callie nor her father had seen or heard from Frances. The whereabouts of the younger Hopkins daughter hovered as unfinished business, with none of us having any idea how or when it would finish. I think we all knew Frances would write her own finish and that thought frightened Callie and her father.

The S.S. Rex
was flourishing and my pal Tony Cornero, braced by his victory in the appellate court, stopped watching the horizon for police boats. I relaxed with him, despite the continued press releases and bold bluster that regularly flowed out of the state capitol and our own city hall.

I
went back to continuing to work the L.A. entertainment and crime beats. Adolph Hitler continued to work Europe which he viewed as a row of dominos. Mickey Cohen continued to be the Mickster. Siegel and Dragna continued to work their dealings. Mayor Bowron continued to stay scandal free. And every day, I felt things were going to explode somewhere in town or in Europe, or maybe, more than likely, both. It had been too calm too long and there were just too many things that seemed to be potential detonators.

I
n August 1939 the detonation came. The ill-defined, but fully expected something. I had heard from Mickey Cohen that Fitts had huddled with California Attorney General Earl Warren to plan a concerted drive against Cornero and the lesser proprietors of the other floating gambling casinos.

I
went on board the S.S. Rex to support my friend. Callie insisted on coming along. We rode with Pug on his water taxi and boarded the Rex about noon. The ride out was quiet, the smell of doom floating on the surface of the water. Or maybe, hopefully, we were just smelling salt and the bed of kelp near the mouth of the bay.

Tony set us up in the VIP stateroom on board. We told him what we had heard, but not
that it had come from Mickey Cohen.

State Attorney General Warren served legal orders against the Rex and the other three gambling ships bobbing off California, the Tango, Tony’s old ship, the Showboat and the Texas. When none of the four showed the slightest interest in abating their activities,
L.A. District Attorney Buron Fitts joined Warren and the two high legal authorities led waterborne raids against three of the ships. They boarded the Showboat, the Tango and the Texas. On board they splintered much of the furnishings and gambling equipment with axes. The equipment, much of it still unbroken, was tossed overboard into the sea. Many of those who worked on the three vessels were taken into custody.

When the Rex’s turn came,
the authorities tried to sneak seventeen unarmed plain-clothed officers aboard the Rex by mixing them in amongst the coming and going gamblers. Cornero’s bouncers recognized them and escorted them off the ship. Thereafter, Cornero refused to surrender the ship and denied Warren and Fitts and the police officers an invitation to board. The scuttlebutt being that the U.S. Coast Guard had advised Warren that the law of the sea required the agreement of a ship’s captain in order to constitute a lawful boarding. Without it, going onboard would be piracy. I have not confirmed that story, but it sounds right.

“Mr. Cornero, the cops
are still hanging around off our bow and stern. They’re doing nothing to suggest they’re preparing to leave.”

“
Meaning what, Captain Stanley?”

“
Meaning they have us surrounded, sir, like a damn wagon train headin’ west in the movies. Remember, we have no motor, no locomotion. Looks like about a dozen Fish and Game boats and a bunch of the rentable water taxis. What do you want me to do, Mr. Cornero?”

“
With no engines to move the Rex, we have few options. In fact, at his point, we have no options, Captain Stanley. We hold our position. Deny the right to board. Barricade the runway. Ready the high-pressure seawater hoses. We shall not yield Captain.”

“Yes, sir.”

I was topside, standing to Tony Cornero’s right, back against the wall on that deck. Tony turned to me and smiled.

“You got a ringside seat for this one, Scribe.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked coming up to stand beside him.

“We just beat them in court
. The appellate court ruled our operation to be outside the state’s jurisdiction. They lack the authority to do lawfully what they are doing. I’ve got to go call my lawyers. Get an injunction against their unlawful act. Charge them with harassment or piracy, whatever. That’s what I got the legal mouthpieces for. Excuse me, Matt.”

I nodded
and slapped Tony on the back as he passed by, then I headed back to our stateroom to bring Callie up on what was happening, and to make some notes for my column. When I walked into our stateroom, Callie was frantic. She continued pacing, her face an ever changing kaleidoscope of expressions. Her hands seemed to be everywhere at once. One hand covered her mouth before moving to her forehead. After that both hands were on her hips. Next, she began waving one or both in the air in gestures which appeared not to support anything in particular other than the need to burn excess energy. I went to her.

“Callie. Don’t be afraid. This will be resolved. I suspect soon, maybe in hours, no more than a day or two.”

“I know that. I don’t give a damn about that. Frances is here. I just saw her. She’s with a man. I think he’s that Johnny Breeze, the killer. I saw them from a distance, too far to be certain about him.”

Right then an announcement came over the ship
’s communication system. The message reverberated into every room, every cranny of the ship.

“Your attention
, all passengers and crew, this is your captain speaking. Our ship is under siege. We are surrounded by an armada of state and local police. We have denied them right to board and they currently control the entire fleet of water taxis. None are being allowed to reach our boarding platform. For the moment, this is a standoff which will prevent anyone from embarking or disembarking the S.S. Rex. We do expect this situation to abate, but we cannot say when. In the meantime, the ship’s owner, Anthony Cornero, has asked me to inform you that the tables are open for your enjoyment. All entertainers will perform as scheduled. Mr. Cornero asks that all passengers meet with him in the gambling casino in one hour. Crew shall continue with their duties which include being certain that all non-crew comply. Attendance is mandatory.

“Both Mr. Cornero and I
understand this may cause some degree of inconvenience for you, but, please, we cannot answer your legitimate questions about when you will be able to leave the ship. We anticipate negotiations will begin at some point between us and the authorities who have unlawfully surrounded our ship. These negotiations have not yet begun and we cannot say when they will begin, beyond the logic that suggests such talks will start at some point. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We encourage you to relax and enjoy yourself and think of this as an adventure. I shall see you all in the casino in one hour. Again, attendance is mandatory.”

When the announcement from the c
aptain on the bridge ended, I returned to Callie. “Where did you see Frances? Are you certain?”

“I know my own sister
, Matt. She’s here. They were coming down the hallway toward our room when I opened it to go out. I saw them turn the corner before I ducked back inside.”

“Did they see you?”

“No. They were looking at each other.”

“Do you know why she
’s here?”

“No idea. To have a good time
, I don’t know. Why does anyone come to a gambling ship? I assume their reasons are no more or no less than with anyone else.”

“Unless Breeze is here on a job
, if so, Tony could be his target. I need to go, Callie. Tony needs to know that Johnny Breeze is on board.”

“May be on board,” Callie
corrected. She walked to the porthole and looked out toward the floating patrol boats off the starboard side of the Rex.

“How sure
were you that this guy is Breeze?”

“All but certain. My look was brief and mostly at Frances.”

“I need to tell Tony.”

* * *

“Tony. There’s something you need to know.”

“No time right
now, Scribe. As you can appreciate, things around here are changing by the minute. The boats around us are not closing in. It appears the law of the sea is holding. No permission from the captain equals no right to board.”

“Make time.”

Tony saw the look on my face and came over to me, in close. “What is it?”

I turned slightly so my voice would not carry toward the others standing nearby. “
Johnny Breeze is on board along with Callie’s wayward sister, Frances, who I’ve been told is now Breeze’s moll. Callie saw them. She’s not certain, but there’s no doubt about her sister being here, so likely she’s right about Breeze. You have to play it like he’s here.”

“Lots of people
come on board.”

“Tony
, this is not just some guy. Breeze is a top freelance gunsel. He could be holding a contract from Siegel or Jack Dragna. The cops could be involved tangentially. Breeze knocks you off and the cops job is to get him back on dry land. This would gain the politicians objective and the mobs. You’ve got to play this as real.”

“I agree. I’ve got Carter Mitchum on board for security. Will you fill him in? I can’t leave the bridge at the moment.
I’m going to speak with all the passengers in a few minutes.”

I nodded.

“Mitchum’s in the security room, go inside, two doors to the left. And, how about coming on staff as my publicity man during this showdown?”

“Not officially. But
I’m here so if I can do anything … of course.”

I visited with Mitchum until we both heard the captain
’s announcement that all passengers should immediately come to the casino. As the ship’s head of security, Mitchum remained armed at all times. Several other members of his security team were armed as well.

* * *

Ladies and gentlemen,” Tony began, “I thank you all for coming and for your patience and understanding in this matter. No, we have not yet begun or even been asked to engage in discussions to break this impasse. I remain confident this will occur, however, there is, as of yet, nothing to report. When I know, you will all know.

“Now, in the meantime, while we wait and build
upon this memory, I want you to know that the ship’s live entertainers will continue to perform. Our bars and restaurants will remain open just as they would have had this unfortunate event not been forced upon us. For the duration of … this adventure, all your food and beverages will be provided with my compliments. We have a well stocked storeroom so do not concern yourself with the availability of food and drink. Having said that, the bartenders and serving girls, as well as all other crewmembers have been instructed to deny the drink order of any passenger should that crewmember believe that passenger has had enough to drink. Captain Stanley and I will support the decisions of the crew on this matter. We must all keep a keen eye and a sharp wit. Thanks for your understanding.”

While Tony spoke
, rather formally, Carter Mitchum and I watched Johnny Breeze and Frances Hopkins. The couple was sitting at a table in the approximate center of the room. The position of that table did not provide Breeze a good place from which to take a shot at Tony. As long as Breeze did not stand up and move forward, we were confident Breeze did not plan to assassinate Tony, at least for the here and now.

At one point, Callie
began to walk toward Frances. When she did, her sister got up and headed out of the casino. Crewmembers posted near the door denied her access to the exit and ushered her back to her seat at the table occupied by Johnny Breeze.

Captain Stanley ended the meeting and approved the passengers moving about with the run of the public areas of the ship. Mitchum and I approached Johnny Breeze.

“Mr. Breeze, I’m Carter Mitchum. I’d like—”

“I know who you are, Mitchum
, and I know Kile. What is this about?”

“We also know you
, Breeze,” Mitchum said. “Know what you do. Why are you on board?”

“The advertisements that Cornero runs in Los Angeles invite
the public to come aboard to dance, dine, and roll the dice. I’m part of that public.”

“That’s all the
re is to it?”

“That’s all there is to it.”

“Look, Breeze,” I interjected. “You’re a smart enough guy to know what we’re thinking. The people you have worked for would like Cornero out of business. Do you have a contract on Tony the Hat?”

“A contract? I’m sorry, Mr. Kile, I have no idea what you are referring to.” Breeze smiled, turned and walked away. Frances put her arm inside his and they walked out of the casino onto
the outside deck. The wind was light, the temperature in the sixties. Frances had on a wrap. They turned and walked casually toward the bow of the ship.