"Ellroy, James - My Dark Places" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ellroy James)

The initial canvass was tapped out.
The grid search was tapped out.
No patrol units were reporting suspicious males with cuts and scratches.
A call came in to the El Monte PD. The caller said she just heard a radio bulletin. That lady they found at the school sounded just like her tenant.
The switchboard operator radioed Virg Ervin: See the woman at 700 Bryant Road.
The address was El Monte--about a mile southeast of Arroyo High School. Ervin drove there and knocked on the door.
A woman opened up. She identified herself as Anna May Krycki and stated that the dead woman sounded like her tenant, Jean Ellroy. Jean left her little house on the Krycki property last night around 8:00. She stayed out all night--and still hadn't returned.
Ervin described the victim's overcoat and dress. Anna May Krycki said they sounded just like Jean's favorite outfit. Ervin described the scarring on the victim's right nipple. Anna May Krycki said Jean showed her that scar.
Ervin went back to his car and radioed the information to the El Monte switchboard. The dispatcher sent a patrol car out to find Jack Lawton and Ward Hallinen.
The car found them inside of ten minutes. They drove straight to the Krycki house.
Hallinen pulled out the victim's ring straight off. Anna May Krycki ID'd it as Jean Eliroy's.
Lawton and Hallinen sat her down and questioned her. Anna May Krycki said she was _Mrs_. Krycki. Her husband's name was George, and she had a 12-year-old son from a previous marriage named Gaylord. Jean Ellroy was technically _Mrs_. Jean Ellroy, but she'd been divorced from her husband for several years. Jean's full first name was Geneva. Her middle name was Odelia and her maiden name was Hilliker. Jean was a registered nurse. She worked at an aircraft-parts plant in downtown L.A. She and her 10-year-old son lived in the little stone bungalow in the Kryckis' backyard. Jean drove a redand-white Buick. Her son was spending the weekend with his father in L.A. and should be home in a few hours.
Mrs. Krycki showed them a photograph of Jean Ellroy. The face matched their victim's.
Mrs. Krycki said she saw Jean leave her bungalow last night around 8:00. She was alone. She drove off in her car and did not return. Her car was not in her driveway or her garage.
Mrs. Krycki stated that the victim and her son moved into the bungalow four months ago. She stated that the boy spent weekdays with his mother and weekends with his father. Jean was originally from a little town in Wisconsin. She was a hardworking, quiet woman who kept to herself. She was 37 years old.
The boy's father picked him up in a taxicab yesterday morning. She saw Jean doing yard work yesterday afternoon. They talked briefly--but Jean did not discuss her Saturday-night plans.
Virg Ervin brought up the victim's car. Where did she get it serviced?
Mrs. Krycki told him to try the local Union 76 station. Ervin got the number from Information, called the station and talked to the proprietor. The man checked his records and came back on the line with a plate number: California / KFE 778.
Ervin called the number in to the El Monte PD switchboard. The switchboard shot it out to all Sheriff's and local PD units.
The interview continued. Hallinen and Lawton pressed one topic: the victim and her relationships with men.
Mrs. Krycki said that Jean had a limited social life. She seemed to have no boyfriends. She went out by herself sometimes--and usually came home early. She was not much of a drinker. She often said she wanted to set a good example for her son.
George Kiycki walked in. Hallinen and Lawton asked him about his Saturday-night activities.
He told them Anna May went to a movie around 9:00. He stayed home and watched a fight card on TV. He saw the victim drive off between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. and did not see or hear her return home.
Ervin asked the Kryckis to accompany him to the L.A. County Morgue. They had to log a positive ID on the body.
Hallinen called the Sheriff's Crime Lab and told them to roll a print deputy out to 700 Bryant, El Monte--the small house behind the larger house.
Virg Ervin drove the Kryckis to the L.A. Hall of Justice--a twelve-mile shot up the San Bernardino Freeway. The Coroner's Office and the morgue were in the basement below the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau.
The victim was stored on a slab in a refrigerated vault. The Kryckis viewed her separately. They both identified her as Jean Ellroy.
Ervin took a formal statement and drove the Kryckis back to El Monte.
The print deputy met Hallinen and Lawton outside the Ellroy bungalow. It was 4:30 p.m. and still hot and humid.
The bungalow was small and built of maroon-colored wood and river rock. It stood behind the Krycki house, at the far end of a shared backyard. The yard featured shade palms and tall banana plants, with a rock-and-mortar pond as a centerpiece. The two houses were situated at the southeast corner of Maple and Bryant. The Ellroy place had a Maple Avenue address.
The front door faced the pond and the Kryckis' back door. It was constructed of louvered glass affixed to wood framing. A pane near the keyhole was missing. The door could not be locked from the inside or outside.
Hallinen, Lawton and the print deputy entered the house. The interior was cramped: two tiny bedrooms off a narrow living room; a stand-up kitchen, breakfast nook and bathroom.
The place was neat and orderly. Nothing looked disturbed. The victim's bed and her son's bed had not been slept in.
They found a glass in the kitchen, partially filled with wine. They checked the drawers in the victim's bedroom and found some personal papers. They learned that the victim worked at Airtek Dynamics--2222 South Figueroa, L.A.
They learned that the victim's ex-husband was named Armand Ellroy. He lived at 4980 Beverly Boulevard, L.A. His phone number was HOllywood 3-8 700.
They saw that the victim did not have a telephone herself.
The print deputy dusted the wineglass and several other print-sustaining surfaces. He came up with no viable latent fingerprints.
Hallinen walked over to the Kryckis' house and called the ex-husband's number. He let it ring a good long time and got no answer.
Virg Ervin walked in. He said, Dave Wire found the victim's car--parked behind a bar on Valley Boulevard.


The bar was called the Desert Inn. It was located at 11721 Valley--two miles from the dump site and a mile from the victim's house. It was a flat one-story building with a red clay-shingle roof and front window awnings.
The rear lot extended back to a line of cheap stucco bungalows. A grass strip covered with sycamore trees divided four parking space rows. Low chain-links closed the lot in sideways.
A red-and-white Buick was parked by the west-side fence. Dave Wire was standing beside it. Jim Bruton and Harry Andre were standing by a Sheriff's prowl unit.
Al Etzel was there. Blackie McGowan was there.
Hallinen and Lawton pulled into the lot. Virg Ervin and the print deputy pulled up in separate cars.
Dave Wire walked over and laid it all out.
He caught the license plate call and started checking side streets and parking lots. He found the victim's car at 3:35 p.m. It was unlocked and appeared to be unransacked. He checked the front and back seats and did not find car keys or the victim's purse, undergarments and shoes. He _did_ find a half-dozen empty beer cans. They were wrapped in brown paper and tied up with string.
Hallinen and Lawton examined the car. It looked pristine inside and out. The print deputy photographed the interior and exterior and dusted the doors and dashboard. He came up with no viable latent fingerprints.
A Temple deputy arrived. He impounded the Buick and drove it to a nearby Ford dealership for safekeeping.