Regnad Kcin- Private Eye... The Case of the Erstwhile Accountant- Part IV

in #fiction5 years ago

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It was well after dark when I arrived at my destination, a mansion in the finest neighborhood in Thousand Oaks. I decided to park outside on the street hoping I wouldn't have to prevail on my friend Mike again. The house was a large stuccoed affair in the Spanish style so prevalent in Southern California. I cut crosslots a couple hundred feet through a grove of trees until I could see Elnora's Bentley parked alone in the long circular drive. There was a light on in a room at the close end of the ground floor so I made my way to a better vantage point to see inside making sure to stay hidden as I went.

When I looked in I could see Elnora dressed in a gauzy blue floor length nightgown... she was on the phone having a rather animated conversation with someone. She paced back and forth waving her free hand manically as she spoke. I thought of busting in, but thought better of it- I walked to the front portico and rang the bell. It took under a minute for her to answer the bell. As it turned out she was no better at feigning surprise than she was at sincerity.

"Nick dear, I expected you earlier," she said eyes searching mine.

I pushed my way in and slapped her hard. She went down hard looking up in fear at first giving way to petulance. "Is that how you treat all your women, Reg, or just the special ones," she said wiping the trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth. "I could call the police and have you arrested."

"You could, but you won't," I smiled scornfully at her. She was afraid, but trying hard not to show it. I decided to go all in and grabbed her by the hair jerking her to her feet. "You were the only one besides myself who knew where my car was parked."

"So what, she spat.

"There was enough C-4 in that car to blow me and the car to kingdom come," I shot back watching her eyes to see just how involved she was. "Start talking and you better make it good, I've still got plenty of pals on the force and I don't think you'd look good in orange."

I guess I had knocked her down off her high horse, she had the look of a cornered animal... and that's when they're the most dangerous. By this time I was certain there was nobody else in the house, or they would have come running. Surely there were servants- a place like this always had them and I couldn't imagine Elnora doing the housework herself. Her look turned plaintive as she began to speak...

"It started with my grandfather, he was one of the first to own the land in and around Hollywood," she began. She suggested that we go to the den where we could sit and talk. I went outside and fetched the box with the documents and joined her there.

"He was sick," she said looking down. "He raped me when I was six... and I wasn't the only one. He and his partners had this plan- they brought children across the border... some they kidnapped from here. He was friends with all the Hollywood big shots back in the day and my father picked up where my grandfather left off... including forcing himself on me."

I opened the box and placed a handful of papers on the coffee table. "What about all this?" I asked.

"I haven't seen those papers," she said. I could tell she was holding back tears. Either she was finally telling the truth, or she was one hell of an actress. "I can only assume that those are the records." She grabbed a handful of papers and began to look through them. If she knew they were only copies, she didn't let on.

"How does the commissioner fit into all of this?" I asked already knowing most of the answer. The LAPD and Hollywood have always had a cozy relationship- taking payoffs to keep the heat off the Hollywood elites and their peccadillos. What I didn't know was how deep and perverse those peccadillos were.

"Harold was supposed to pick up where my father left off. My father and grandfather have always kept the books as well as taken part in the business. When you're involved too, you can't go to the law- in this case the Feds- because you're compromised too. But Harold was having none of that and that's why I think they did something to him," she said with a sob.

"So exactly what is this 'business'?" I asked looking into her eyes to see what she actually knew.

"I don't know all of it," she was looking directly at me now. "I know that many of the rich and famous in Hollywood are pedophiles... they always have been. Just like my father and grandfather. They bring in kids from Mexico and Central and South America... others come from China- all around the world I guess. They buy and sell them like cattle, or any other commodity. I don't know what happens to them afterward. I know the commissioner is involved."

"How?" I asked.

"Harold told me," she said. "He said that the commissioner plays both sides to the middle. There are more people outside this network that try to do the same thing. The commissioner provides protection. This is huge, Reg, it goes all the way to Washington DC."

I shook my head... what had I gotten myself into? For some reason Philip with one l's admonition popped into my mind. "What is it between you and your brother's assistant?" I asked.

"Philip?" she asked. "Why, what did he say?"

"He told me you're evil," I told her watching her reaction.

She laughed, the first genuine laugh I had ever seen from her. "I'm not surprised," she said still smiling. "I don't like him, he's a nasty little shit and I told my brother so. He knows a lot of the gay actors in Hollywood and he blackmails them threatening to out them if they don't pay him."

"Everybody knows that most of Hollywood is gay," I replied. "Nobody would be surprised, so what's the big deal?"

"These guys would by a surprise," she said eyebrows arched. "Some of Hollywood's real macho men- the bigtime action stars, is who I'm talking about."

"Like who," my curiosity was piqued.

"No," she said. "I'm not going to do that to them."

"Ok," I said. "Another question. Why did you have a bomb put in my car?"

"But Reg," she exclaimed. "I didn't... I wouldn't..."

I fought back the urge to smack her again... she probably enjoyed it. "You were the only one that knew where my car was."

"I swear on everything that's holy... on everything that is good," she said, eyes filling with tears. "I had nothing to do with that. What would I gain by killing you? How would I find my brother?"

I don't know if it was something in her voice, or perhaps her logic, but I was beginning to believe her. She looked up at me pleadingly... and then it hit me and if I was right this could turn out badly for more than just me. I thought about Flora- she was at home alone I surmised. If I was right and my phones were tapped we were all in danger.

"I've got to go," I said. I needed to make sure Flora was alright.

"Please don't leave me," Elnora sobbed. "I'm afraid to be alone."

"Get dressed," I told her, "make it quick." I gathered up the papers and put them back in the box. I would go through them and try to make sense of it all tomorrow... if there was a tomorrow.

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I am the opposite I love a good detective story.

Me too and I've always wanted to write one. I started one on here a couple of years ago, but it sucked so bad I quit. This one is fun and I think it has some potential!

Wow, I'm really enjoying this story. And I'm not usually one to go for this kind of detective story. To be honest, I'm not crazy about detective stories in general, but this one's got me sucked right in. Can't wait for the next installment <3
And by the way, you said you just sit down and write what comes to you. and I get that, believe me, I do, but I just wanted to say it doesn't seem that way, you know? It looks thought-out and that's a really great thing :) I hope this makes sense :D

That's what's so much fun about writing it... I get to see what's going to happen right along with the readers. I have an idea about where it's going to go generally, but I have to plug in all of the action and dialogue.

I've been doing it on Weku... I think I'm up to Part VII on there. It makes sense and I'm glad you feel that way... that's quite a compliment!

no matter how many of them old time stories you read, they are still great page turners,

One of my favorites was Ed McBain, AKA, Evan Hunter, AKA Salvatore Lombino. As McBain he wrote the 87th Precinct novels. What made them special was that they were How-done-it's instead of who-done-its. He told you who the culprit was (usually the Deafman) and you had to figure out how he pulled it off.

Now that is an author that I haven't read before, thanks.

I love his writing, he has a really wry sense of humor. The main characters in the 87th Precinct stories are Det. Steve Carella and his partner Meyer Meyer Meyer (whose father also had a wry sense of humor).

I saw an interview in which he was asked about his aliases and he said: "You sell a lot more books as Evan Hunter from Conneticutt than Sal Lompino from Harlem.

I was missing this new series by you!!! Happy to see you're writing a new story and happy to have something good to read, now I have to start to read from the firt episode. Thanks so much for this new one, dear friend!

Thank you my dear friend! This one is so much fun to write! I was just going to do a short story (5-6 chaps) but I think this will be another book!

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