The Black Dahlia Page #5

So, if you have to pump

everybody for my alibi, be subtle.

Who's this?

Balto.

The paper is the L.A. Times

for August 1, 1926.

Balto was bringing in

the paper

when Daddy found out

he made his first million.

He wanted to consecrate

the moment,

so he shot him.

Here we go.

Mother, Father,

this is my friend, Bucky.

Bucky, this is my mother,

Ramona Cathcart Linscott.

Nice to meet you.

My father,

Emmett Linscott.

Pleasure to meet you, sir.

And my sister,

Martha McConville Linscott.

Hi.

Saw you fight Mondo Sanchez.

Boxed the pants off him.

Another Billy Conn

you might have been.

Thanks.

Can I get you something?

Sure.

I'll get it, Daddy.

Okay, darling.

Mondo gave a good show.

Whatever happened to him?

Heroin overdose.

Too bad.

He shamed his family.

And speaking of families,

Ramona, Martha.

That's our best Glenlivet,

laddie.

Madeleine says nice things

about you.

Daddy,

can we eat?

Bucky and I want

to catch a 9:
30 show.

Of course, darling.

Dig in, lad.

Hearty fare breeds

hearty people.

Haute cuisine breeds

degenerates.

I want to draw

Mr. Bleichert, Daddy.

You're in for

a cruel caricaturing, Bucky.

Maddy's my pretty one, but

Martha's my certified genius.

What kind of a name

is Bleichert? Dutch?

German.

A great people, the Germans.

Hitler was a bit excessive.

But mark my words

that someday we'll regret

not joining forces with him

to fight the Reds.

You know, I killed a lot of

your countrymen during the war.

Mr. Bleichert, have you

met Balto in the hallway?

Yes. Very realistic.

An old friend

stuffed him.

We were in the Scots Regiment

together. Georgie Tilden.

He wanted to work

in the flickers.

When did you move here?

Hollywood was a cow pasture but

the silent flickers were booming.

Georgie got work as a lighting

man, me building houses.

Georgie introduced me

to Mack Sennett.

I helped him build that housing

project he was putting up

underneath

that god-awful sign.

Hollywoodland.

I used to love

the Keystone Kops.

Me, too.

Old Mack knew how

to squeeze a dollar dry.

He had extras moonlighting

as laborers and vice versa.

Georgie and I used to drive

them over to Hollywoodland

after 12 hours

on a silent flicker.

Then put in another six hours

by torchlight.

He even gave us movie credits

a couple of times.

Mother.

Are you feeling well?

Would you like to contribute

to the conversation?

Did you know, Mr. Bleichert,

that Ramona Boulevard

is named after me?

I didn't.

When Emmett married me,

for my father's money,

he promised my family that

he would use his influence

with the City Zoning Board

to have a street named

after me.

But all he could manage

was a dead-end block

in a red-light district

in Lincoln Heights.

Are you familiar with the

neighborhood, Mr. Bleichert?

I grew up there.

Yes, well,

then you'll know

that Mexican prostitutes

expose themselves

in windows.

I hear many of them

know Mr. Linscott by name.

That's enough!

I will sing for my supper

when Mayor Bowron comes

to dinner,

but not

for Madeleine's male whores.

He's a common policeman.

My God, Emmett!

How little you think of me.

I'm sorry.

I'm really so sorry.

Mr. Bleichert.

You kept your name

out of the papers.

Until the wedding.

Your mother would love that.

She's a snob.

The kind who takes pills

the doctor gives her

so she doesn't have to admit

to being a hophead.

Do you want to know a secret?

Sure.

Daddy bought

rotten lumber

and old movie sets

from Mack Sennett

and built houses

out of them.

That's how he really made

his money.

He's got firetraps

all over L.A.

His good friend Georgie,

maimed in a car crash,

while running Daddy

some errands.

And now he throws him scraps,

odd jobs, tending

Daddy's rental properties.

You don't have

to tell me this.

I like you, Bucky.

I didn't tell you

all about Betty.

You didn't?

Don't be mad at me.

Last summer, I heard about

a girl who looked like me.

I got curious.

I left notes

at a couple of places,

"Your look-alike wants to

meet you," things like that.

I left my number.

She called.

That's how I met her

at LaVerne's with Lorna.

And that's all of it?

Yes.

Tell me something.

Why'd you want to meet

Betty Short anyway?

I've worked hard to be loose

but the way people

described Betty

it was like she was a natural.

"Don't walk out on me,

Richard.

"Say you care.

Say that you..."

Miss Short.

There is a pause

after "care".

Are you familiar

with the English language?

I try to be.

Okay.

Let's try it again.

And remember, go back to the

beginning, you're begging him.

Begging.

He's walking out on you.

You're begging him.

So, come on, let's do it.

We're running out of

film here. Let's go.

Richard,

don't walk out on me.

Please say that you care.

Say that you think

that I'm beautiful,

and that you love me.

Miss Short, you know,

this is a very sad scene.

Do you think you're capable

of playing sadness?

Sure.

I can do that.

Miss!

Get your hands off her!

I'm an emancipated minor

and if you touch me

without a matron present

I'll sue you!

- Leave her alone.

- No!

I'm a policeman. Policeman.

You and Betty made the

casting rounds together, right?

Did you ever get

any movie work?

No.

Well, then,

what about the film can?

It's a movie.

What kind of movie?

Something tells me

it's not David O. Selznick.

Now, you have to tell us the whole

thing, sweetheart, so think it through.

I was cadging

at a bar in Gardena.

This man started

talking to me.

I thought I was pregnant

and I was desperate

wicked bad for money.

He said he'd give me $200

to act in a nudie film.

He said he needed another

girl, so I called Betty.

We made... Thank you.

...the movie at this big house

a couple of hours

outside town.

Then he drove us

back to L.A.

Where was this house,

exactly?

I was pretty out of it,

if you know what I mean.

What do you think, Russ?

This got anything to do

with the girl's murder?

Long shot, Chief.

What's that about, gentlemen?

Your boy can't hold his water?

I got you Warrants.

You're my men and you made me look like a fool

in front of the most powerful

man in the department.

And you...

Yeah, you. Look at me.

Blanchard? Look at me!

If you weren't Mr. Fire,

you would be suspended

from duty already.

You're a punch-drunk,

washed-up fighter...

Stay out of this, Bleichert!

You're back on Warrants

as of tomorrow.

I want you to report to me

at 0800

with a letter of apology

for Chief Green.

You are a political animal,

and for the sake

of your pension,

I suggest that you grovel.

It is now 8:
15

in the morning.

Where's your partner?

I don't know.

I was hoping he'd be here.

Well, it is 8:
15

and he is not here

and neither

are his letters of apology.

Bleichert,

get out of my sight.

Try and be a police officer.

Attention all units in the

vicinity of Crenshaw and Stocker.

Code four.

Two dead. Suspect, dead.

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