My Dark Places by James Ellroy Page B

had left L.A. Some were back in jail. Hallinen and Lawton ran all the mugs by Lavonne Chambers and Margie Trawick. They struck out uniformly.
    They leaned on the most dark-man-like guys just to be sure. They found them at home and had their parole officers roust them. They struck out all the way.
    Other agencies sent in mug shots. Hallinen and Lawton ran them by Lavonne and Margie.
    Lavonne and Margie kept saying no. They were decisive witnesses. They knew what they knew.
    Lavonne had three kids out of one failed marriage. She was making good tax-free coin at Stan’s Drive-in. Her boyfriend was a deputy at the Temple City Station. The carhops at Stan’s fed the Temple boys for free—so they’d chase down check dashers and pry money out of them. Station trustees washed and waxed Lavonne’s car. Lavonne knew her way around cops.
    Margie had a 14-year-old daughter. Her bookie husband died of a heart attack back in ’48. Margie blew the money he left her and moved in with her parents. She looked sort of like a brunette Jean Ellroy. She knew the El Monte bar scene intimately. She was in poor health and strung out on doctor-prescribed dope.
    Lavonne and Margie dug the whole witness scene. Hallinen and Lawton liked them. They dawdled over coffee when they brought mug shots by.
    They got a tip that the victim’s hairdresser resembled the dark man. They took Lavonne by his salon and treated her to a rinse-and-style. Lavonne said he wasn’t the guy. He was a flamboyant swish moreover.
    More tips came in.
    7/11/58:
    A man named Padilla called the El Monte PD. He said he got released from the Hall of Justice Jail on June 30th. He saw a man resembling the suspect walk out of a bar on South Main Street.
    7/13/58:
    A man named Don Kessler called the Temple City Sheriff’s Office. He stated that he worked at the El Monte Bowl and saw a man resembling the suspect in his establishment. Mr. Kessler’smother followed the man to the Bonnie Rae bar. The man ditched her. The man was dirty and appeared to be a Mexican.
    7/14/58:
    The Temple Sheriffs relayed a tip to the El Monte PD. It involved another dirty man at the El Monte Bowl.
    The man resembled the suspect. The man was wearing dirty tan trousers. An El Monte PD officer found a similar pair of trousers on the street a short time later. The officer picked them up, brought them to the station and placed them on Captain Bruton’s desk.
    The El Monte PD had Dead White Woman Fever.
    A Coroner’s Inquest was held on Tuesday, July 15th. Dr. Charles Langhauser presided. Jack Lawton represented the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office.
    Six jurors heard evidence. The inquest was held in Room 150 at the Hall of Justice.
    Armand Ellroy testified first. He stated that he had no recent relationship with his ex-wife and hadn’t seen her alive in over two years. He stated that he viewed her body on Monday, June 23rd, and acknowledged that her full name was Geneva Hilliker Ellroy, 43 years of age and a native of Wisconsin.
    George Krycki testified. He described a brief conversation he had with the victim on Saturday, June 21st. Jean did not appear to be inebriated. He said it was funny—“Her face seemed to be always made up.”
    Jack Lawton asked Krycki several questions. He emphasized the victim’s friends.
    Krycki said he didn’t know her friends. His wife might—she knew Mrs. Ellroy better than he did.
    Anna May Krycki testified. Langhauser ran her through her activities on the night of June 21st and cut back to the issue of Jean Ellroy’s friends. Mrs. Krycki said she only knew one couple—older people currently visiting Europe.
    Lawton took over. He asked Mrs. Krycki if Jean ever asked her to recommend a place to have a drink.
    Mrs. Krycki said, “Yes”—but she told Jean there was
no
place she could go unescorted. She
did
mention the Desert Inn and Suzanne’s. They were popular El Monte nightclubs.
    Lawton asked her if she ever recommended any restaurants. Mrs. Krycki said she