Hollywood Assassin (23 page)
“Excuse me, Mr. President,” the man in the suit said, pointing at the presidential crotch. “As your assigned Secret Service Agent, I need to tell you something. Your fly is open.”
The former president looked down, pulled the sock out of his pants, held it up and said in a high pitched voice, “I don’t get it. The warning label said the worst that could happen would be a painful four hour erection.”
The audience became hysterical. I was the only one in the room not laughing. The voice of the actor who played the secret service agent was replaying in my mind. It was the same voice I’d heard at the Dark Dating event, the voice of the man named Sean who had warned me to stay out of things that didn’t concern me.
As Natalie came off stage, I stood and removed my fedora, wig, and false moustache.
“What are you doin’?” Natalie asked.
“I’ll be back in a minute. A voice out of my past just came to me.”
I followed the actor who seemed in a hurry to leave the room after I removed my costume. I found him in a dressing room and blocked the doorway.
As the actor’s blue eyes glanced up into the mirror, he caught sight of me studying him from behind. I saw the look of recognition move over his face.
“Can I help you?” he finally asked.
I walked over to the dressing table and took a seat next to him. I moved a hand through my hair and released it from the bun I had used to conceal it beneath the wig.
I locked eyes with the actor. “You can start by telling me why you go around threatening people in the dark.”
He ran a cloth over his face, not looking at me. “I don’t know what…”
“Stop!” I removed my small wallet badge from my purse. I’d forgotten to turn in when I met with the captain earlier in the day. I held it up. “I want the truth, now.”
The actor pushed back in his chair and released a breath. “It was a job. I was paid to show up and say what you heard. That’s all.”
“A job.” I stood and circled behind him, studying his blue eyes in the mirror. “Who sent you?”
“I don’t know. I was paid two hundred bucks by a guy I met a few days ago. He showed me a photograph of you and told me what to say. I did the job and never saw him again.”
I kicked the chair I’d been sitting in across the room. It slammed into the wall and fell over.
“Stand up.” I removed the handcuffs from my purse.
“What’s this all about?”
I pulled the actor up by his shirt. “Threatening a police officer is a crime. You’re going to jail.” I said it with such authority that it only dawned on me afterward that I was on suspension.
“Okay. Stop. I’ll tell you everything I know if you’ll let me go.”
I swung him around so that he faced me. “I’m listening.”
“I got a call from a friend. He said he met a guy at a party who needed some help with a small acting job. I didn’t know what it involved, but I needed the money. He put us together. When I met with the guy, he told me about the dating event and said I was to make sure I got seated with you. He then handed me a script and told me I had to say the words exactly as they were written. That’s how it went down. I swear.”
“This guy—what was his name?”
“He said it was Brian, but he probably made that up. He wanted me to act the part, paid me the money, and said I would never see him again if I followed through.”
The actor was nervous, but I sensed he was telling me the truth. “What did the guy look like?”
“Late twenties, dark eyes. Looked like he worked out a lot.”
“His hair,” I said. “Tell me about his hair.”
The actor hesitated. He probably realized if he told me anything more he could be in danger.
“I’m waiting and I want the truth.” I pushed him up against the wall.
“His head was shaved.”
“And?”
The actor’s gaze fell away from me. “A ponytail. His head was shaved except for a long black ponytail.”
I pushed the handcuffs back into my purse and walked out of the room. A smile found my lips.
It had been one of the worst days of my life, but I was now certain of one thing. Wolf Donovan was linked to Cassie Reynolds’s murder. I had no way to prove it, but I was sure of it.”
Nathan Kane parks on the street and kills his headlights. He watches through the window as the detective moves around her apartment.
It’s been a frustrating day, following her and waiting until she’s alone. Now that she’s finally home, he knows there’s a problem. The police dog is with her. He can’t risk breaking in. Why didn’t they take the fucking dog when they suspended her? The flesh on his face hardens with rage. The stupid department can’t do anything right.
After watching from the street until the lights in the apartment go out, Kane starts his car and drives away. He spends the next half hour driving around the city. It’s a Wednesday night, but that makes no difference. The action in the city of dreams never lets up.
Kane stops outside a club and watches the lineup of young people tipping the bouncers, trying to get past the velvet rope. A stretched Hummer rolls up to the curb, music blaring. As the door opens, he sees neon lights flashing inside the car and there’s even a stripper pole. A couple of naked women dance around the pole to the beat of the music.
Idiots. Maybe he’s been away from the city too long. There are better ways to amuse yourself than riding around, watching some whores fuck a pole.
He drives away and turns onto Hollywood Boulevard. There’s a parade of women moving up and down the street. He slows down, taking his time.
Tonight he needs something special—someone who will take his mind off the detective. When he finally pulls to the curb, Kane knows he’s made the right choice. The girl is young and full of attitude. He likes the plaid skirt and white blouse with her nipples almost popping through.
“Whatcha lookin' for tonight?” the girl asks.
Kane flips a hundred dollar bill through the open window. He knows he’s overpaying, but he’ll get the money back later. “Something special, something I’ll never forget.”
The girl takes the bill, folds it into her clutch purse. She smacks her lips. “That might just be a down payment then.”
Kane laughs, his sharp teeth glinting in the streetlight. He likes her attitude. This is going to be fun.
When she gets into the car, he pulls away from the curb and asks, “What’s your name sweetheart?”
The girl again smacks her lips together, bends over and unzips his pants. “Most people call me Hoover, but I’ll be anyone you like tonight.”
Kane laughs. The prostitute begins working on him as he drives away. He turns off on a side street and eases over to the curb. He pulls the girl’s hair away and brings his knife down to the base of her neck. It rakes across her skin, drawing blood.
He feels the woman tense up, start to pull away.
“Nice and slow now,” he says. “The longer you make me happy, the longer you have to live.”
After stopping at the post office the next morning and calling an emergency meeting with Pearl and Natalie at Dirty Rays, I got Jimmy Chester on the phone.
“I want you to expedite my Board of Rights Hearing,” I said.
“Captain Jankowitz already called me about this. I believe you’re making a mistake, Ms. Sexton.”
The rat was no longer calling me
Detective
and it irritated the hell out of me. “I don’t care what you believe. I want to defend myself at a formal hearing and the sooner the better.”
“These things take time. There are scheduling…”
“No excuses. I want the hearing set as soon as possible!”
“It’s your funeral but…”
I ended the call and turned to Bernie. “One of these day’s I’m going to serve you a rat for dinner.” Bernie licked his chops as we pulled to the curb in front of the coffee shop.
I got my usual from the barista and waited for Pearl and Natalie on the deck that overlooked the city. It was just after ten, the day dawning cool and clear.
“Good mornin’,” Natalie said, pulling up a bench across from me. I waved to Pearl who was at the counter. She stirred sugar into her tea. “Got me a call from a producer who was at the actors’ workshop last night. He wants me to be on one of them reality TV shows.”
“What kind of show?”
“Somethin called,
Hollywood Couples
. They want me and Clyde to live with some other couples in a big house in the hills for a week, see how many scuffles we can get ourselves into.”
“Bet Clyde’s thrilled with that idea.”
Natalie laughed. “Maybe I’ll get him some boxin’ gloves to go with his pink undies.”
Pearl took a seat next to Natalie, hearing the end of our conversation. He smiled at us. “I’m not even going to ask.”
“Probably a good idea,” I said. I took a moment to tell them about my suspension. After receiving some sympathy, I moved on, filling them in on last night’s conversation with my Dark Dating companion.
“So you really think Donovan’s involved?” Natalie asked.
“I’m sure of it.” I opened the manila folder I’d received in the mail and pushed several police reports across the table. “These were sent to me by my friend in the department’s record division. The reports were misfiled, so it took a while to find them.”
I pointed to the dates on a couple of the reports. “Some of these go back to the early 1980s. A few involve some minor scrapes with the law that Nathan Kane had, but some others involve rather large drug investigations that led nowhere. Each time, just as Bill Compton told me, Marvin Drake was the lead investigator. He closed all the investigations without follow up.”
I sipped my coffee and then said, “Now for the good part.” I removed another report from the envelope and handed it to them, explaining what I’d learned. “This report involves Wolf Donovan being questioned about heroin and cocaine that was found in a shipping container with some artwork under his name in the Port of Los Angeles back in 1983. The contents were to be delivered to a warehouse in Santa Monica rented by Nathan Kane. Both Donovan and Kane denied any knowledge of the drugs or how they got into the shipping container. The case was eventually closed for insufficient evidence under the signature of Marvin Drake.”
Pearl thumbed through the report before removing his reading glasses. “Anything that links Donovan and Harper?”
I shook my head. “No, but we now have a direct link between Donovan and Kane, with Drake killing the investigation. And we know from Bill Compton that Kane and Harper were involved in the drug trade going back to the same era.”
Natalie apparently saw the smile that tipped my hand. “Okay, give it up. You’ve got more sauce in your sizzle.”
I moved the stack of reports aside and showed them a newspaper clipping from April of 1983.
“This is a copy of an article from the
Hollywood Reporter
. It was filed with one of the early reports on John Carmichael’s disappearance. It talks about his film,
Days of Destiny
being suspended due to production costs.”
I placed a second page of the article that had a photograph on top of the first. “Notice anyone familiar?”
“John Carmichael and a very young Conrad Harper,” Pearl said, his smile almost as big as mine. “Who’s the woman standing between them?”
“The article doesn’t say, but If I was a betting woman I’d put money on it being Gloria Stallings, Cassie Reynolds’s mother.”
Pearl and Natalie spent a few minutes reviewing the article and police reports.
When they finished, Pearl said, “I have a friend who works at the UCLA Film Institute. I wonder if he would know anything about
Days of Destiny
.” He stood and tossed his paper cup in a receptacle. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment I’ll make a phone call.”
While Pearl took a walk to use his phone, Natalie and I spent a moment reflecting on where we stood.
“If we’re right about everything,” I said, “it means that Harper, Kane, Drake, and Donovan may have all had a hand in a conspiracy to murder John Carmichael. It’s a conspiracy that’s unraveling behind something Cassie Reynolds found out. I believe Drake framed Jack Bautista for Cassie’s murder, but then he or maybe all those involved thought better of it. That’s when Drake tried to kill Jack.”
“They were probably worried that Cassie told him somethin’ and wanted him out of the picture,” Natalie said.
“Then they started to worry about what Jack might have told me. That’s when the threats began, including Robin being set up on drug charges to warn me off the case.”
“No tellin' what’s gonna happen next, especially if Kane is back in the picture,” Natalie said.
“As we get closer to the truth, the danger is going to increase. I want you to be careful, make sure someone is always with you.”
I saw Natalie’s usually expressive eyes turn down. She didn’t acknowledge what I said.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“You’re startin’ to be able to read me like a tabloid.” My friend swept a hand through her blonde hair. “Actually, old Clyde and me are havin’ a case of the squabbles. It’s not just the changes I want to make to the store he doesn’t like.” Natalie lowered her voice. “Clyde doesn’t think we’re sexually compatible.”
“What? I thought you two were…”
“At first we were, but I’m fraid the honeymoon is over. Clyde says our frequency is too frequent. Says I’m about to bust his banger.”
“Oh.” I’m usually not at a loss for words but didn’t know what to say. I saw Pearl making his way back up the stairs to the deck.
Natalie continued, “So, I was wonderin’ if I could spend a night or two with you. Try and sort a few things out. I’d just sleep on the sofa. Wouldn’t be any sorta trouble.”
“Of course.” I squeezed her hand. “Anything you need.”
Pearl was back at our table. “If you two have a couple of hours, I think we should head over to UCLA. My friend’s teaching a class, but his secretary is sure that he’ll meet with us on his break.”
I tugged on Bernie’s leash as we stood up and said, “I love old movies.”
***
We found Billy Canfield, the director of the UCLA Film and Television Archives, teaching a community class called, “The Stars of Old Hollywood.” He agreed to meet us on his lunch break.
“As I mentioned when I called your secretary,” Pearl said to Canfield after the class, “we’re looking for anything you might have on a film that was being produced in the early eighties called,
Days of Destiny
. The movie was never completed.”
Canfield was a better fit for a motorcycle than a library. Leather jacket. Gray hair tied into a ponytail. Full, bushy beard.
As he punched commands into a computer console in his office, he told us about the classes he taught. We chatted aimlessly for a moment and I mentioned that my middle name was Hedwig, taken from Hedy Lamarr.
“Your namesake was not only beautiful, but brilliant,” Canfield said. “She starred in dozens of films. First actress to do a nude scene. She also invented a patented device that had military applications. Her personal life was interesting, as well—married six times.”
“Maybe you should continue with your actin’,” Natalie suggested. “You’ve already made a splash as a Cuban crooner.”
I saw the questioning looks from Pearl and Canfield and said, “Don’t ask.” I turned to Natalie. “And my acting career is history.”
Canfield turned his attention back to the computer. “Almost everything that’s produced is catalogued by the American Film Institute. The AFI’s archives go back to the silent film era. If your film has ever been distributed, it should be listed.”
“But
Days of Destiny
was never completed,” I said. “Would there be a record of an unfinished film?”
“It shouldn’t be an issue, as long as the film somehow got into the hands of a studio or even a private collector.”
Canfield’s fingers continued to dance across the keyboard. In a few moments they stopped. He looked at us. “I’m not getting a hit on the movie by name.”
“Would it possibly be listed by the director or production company?” Pearl asked. “A guy name John Carmichael directed it. It might even be listed as a Conrad Harper production.”
Canfield again worked the keyboard. “Too bad about Harper. He was a true genius.”
A true asshole, I wanted to say.
“Got it,” Canfield announced after a moment. “It was filmed in 1983, but, as you said, never completed. The catalogue shows Harper was the producer.”
“Can we check it out of the library?” Natalie asked. “Got me library card right here in me purse.”
“I’m afraid not,” Canfield said. “The film is in Hutchinson.”
“Where?” I asked.
“It’s an underground film vault in Kansas, really just a big salt mine that absorbs moisture and prevents deterioration of prints and negatives. All the originals of anything anyone wants to preserve are sent there.”
“Can we request a copy?” Pearl asked.
“I can have it express shipped. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days.”
My phone was ringing as Pearl made the arrangements with Canfield. I told the caller I would be right there and hung up.
“I’ve got to go,” I said. I turned to Natalie. “That was Clyde. He’s at the store and happened to notice the door to my loft was pushed open. My apartment was broken into—burglarized.”
“I’m comin’ with you,” Natalie said.
***
I felt sick when we entered my apartment with Bernie. It had been ransacked, the intruder leaving nothing undisturbed. The biggest mess was in my bedroom, where every drawer had been opened and the contents tossed onto the floor.
“This is enough to make me bite off an acrylic,” Natalie said. “Almost worse than when Clyde lived here as a bachelor.”
After a more thorough survey of the disaster with Bernie following me around and providing whines of support, I said, “It doesn’t look like anything was taken. I even had a small amount of cash in the bedroom dresser that was just tossed onto the floor with everything else.”
“Maybe someone was lookin’ for somethin’ besides money,” Natalie suggested.
“The police reports,” I said, remembering I’d left the reports Wilma Bibby had sent me in Olive’s trunk. I looked out the window. My little car was still parked at the curb where I’d left her, untouched.
For a moment I contemplated making a police report and having the apartment dusted for fingerprints, but decided against it. I already had enough problems with the department. It was unlikely that whoever broke in had left any prints behind. Something else about what had been happening over the last several days then struck me.
I checked the phone in the living room first and then the one in the bedroom. I found what I’d suspected, holding the listening devices up to Natalie.
“This explains why my every move seems to be known by someone almost before it happens.”
My cell phone could have also been monitored. I knew that was possible from working a stalking case a few years back where the suspect hacked into the victim’s calls. I made a mental note to call Riggs or Smith for advice on what to do. They were good friends who would help me out, even if I was on suspension.
Natalie was saying something about bugs when the phone in my living room rang. I threw the listening devices in a drawer and picked up the phone. The voice was muffled but familiar.
“Jack, where are you?”
“Still in Arizona.” I heard the sound of voices in the background and then something that sounded like a loudspeaker.
“I found Cassie Reynolds’s mother. Gloria Stallings has been living off the radar for years, in and out of homeless shelters here in Tucson, but she’s currently staying with a guy named Harvey Bishop.” He gave me the address.
After writing it down, I took a moment to update him on everything. There was a lot of noise in the background again. I then heard someone say something about time being up.