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

The phone man placed the slip in Jack Lawton's box.


Jim Bruton called Frank Godfrey Tuesday morning. He told him to hustle down to Brea and talk to a Mexican girl named Carmen Contreras. They got a tip that she knew a Desert Inn habituщ named Tommy. The girl's address was 248 South Poplar.
Godfrey drove to Orange County and found the address. The girl's mother sent him over to the Beckman Instrument Company--Carmen's place of employment.
Godfrey talked to Carmen. Carmen said she knew a man named Tommy--but she didn't know his last name. He was a Caucasian, 30 to 40, 5'6" to 5'7". He was dark complected and had brown eyes and dark curly hair.
Carmen thought he lived in Baldwin Park. He was married--but was trying to obtain a divorce. He drove a '57 Mercury coupe, pink over white. He told her he used to own a '52 Olds. He worked for a floor-installation company in Temple City. He hung out at the Ivanhoe in Temple City and the Desert Inn in El Monte. He liked to sit at the bar or table-hop. He took her to an Italian place on Valley a couple of times. She hadn't seen Tommy in a while.
Godfrey gave her a card. He told her to call him if she dredged up Tommy's last name. Carmen said she would.
Godfrey called Jim Bruton and ran the interview by him. Bruton said he'd check out the Ivanhoe.


An anonymous tipster called the Temple City Sheriff's Tuesday morning. He said this "Johnny" guy might be the one who choked that nurse.
The tipster said Johnny frequented the Desert Inn. He drove a pink-and-white Olds Holiday and considered himself a "lover boy." He was white, 30 to 35, 5'8" with a medium build. He had black hair and a dark complexion. He had an ex-girlfriend named Patricia Fields.
The desk sergeant relayed the information to Bill Vickers. Vickers found a phone listing for Patricia Fields and called her.
Miss Fields told him that Johnny had been working overseas since December. She'd been corresponding with him since that time. Vickers asked her if she could verify it. Miss Fields told him to call Peggy Narucore. Her number was GI3-2638.
Vickers called the number. Peggy Narucore confirmed Miss Fields' story.


It was mid-afternoon.
Frank Godfrey and Bill Vickers were canvassing bars and restaurants. Ward Hallinen and Jack Lawton were reinterviewing the victim's ex-husband and son.
Their apartment was small and hot. They sat around a small kitchen table.
Armand Ellroy mentioned the funeral next week. He'd arranged 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 watching TV 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 Whittaker. 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 hemmedand-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.