It Was a Very Bad Year

by Robert J. Randisi

  ‘I think we’re OK,’ I said.

  He put the hammer away in the bag. The door was metal, on hinges. He removed the snapped lock, then slowly, quietly swung the door open.

  SIXTY-NINE

  There was a naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. I grabbed the short chain and yanked it, and the light came on.

  File cabinets along one wall, the back, and down the other.

  ‘Sonofabitch,’ I said. ‘I’ll bet I know what’s in these.’

  He started at one end, me at the other, and all we found were nude photos of young girls.

  ‘Goddamn,’ I said, ‘I wish I had a can of gasoline.’

  ‘I know what ya mean.’

  ‘Wait,’ I said, closing the drawer of the cabinet I’d been looking through. I turned, went through another two cabinets until I found a drawer with ‘D’ names in them. Sure enough, I found what I was looking for.

  ‘Sonofabitch!’ I swore again. ‘If Irwin was here right now I’d strangle him.’ I was holding a whole sheaf of Abby Dalton photos.

  ‘I guess I didn’t scare him enough,’ Jerry said, and he seemed genuinely disappointed with himself. ‘I knew I shoulda broke somethin’.’

  ‘Well, next time I’ll hold him and you break his damn neck,’ I said.

  ‘So what do we do now?’ Jerry asked. ‘Wait for him to come back? Because he ain’t gonna leave town without these photos. I’ll bet he’s got some other ones in there he wants as bad as those of Miss Dalton.’

  ‘If we stake this place out it could take days, or weeks for him to show up,’ I said. ‘We don’t have that much time.’

  ‘What, then?’

  I looked around.

  ‘I suggest we go through the rest of these cabinets and see what we find,’ I said. ‘Maybe there’s somethin’ here that’ll help us.’

  ‘OK, Mr G.,’ Jerry said. ‘But . . .’

  ‘What?’ I said, detecting something in his tone.

  ‘I just hope we don’t find nothin’ else that might make you wanna burn the whole buildin’ down.’

  I looked at the photos of Abby I was holding in my hands, and wondered what that would be.

  As it turned out, the cabinets along the back wall – only three of them – held something quite different from the photos in all the others.

  One cabinet had a drawer that was filled with financial reports, bills, tax records. The other two drawers were empty.

  The second cabinet had one empty drawer, and two that seemed to be holding all sorts of personal records and papers that I really didn’t want to go through. I already felt like I had to steam my hands clean when we got out of there.

  The third cabinet was the emptiest. The top drawer was completely bare, the second held only one folder.

  ‘What’s that?’ Jerry asked.

  I took it out, opened it, knew exactly what it was right away.

  ‘It’s a floor plan,’ I said.

  ‘Of what?’ Jerry asked.

  ‘Harrah’s, in Lake Tahoe.’ That sonofabitch, I thought.

  There was one more drawer to search, at the bottom. Jerry opened it while I was still staring at the floor plan, realizing the implications. It even included a drawing of the parking lots.

  ‘Mr G.?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘You better have a look.’

  ‘What?’

  I bent down and saw what he meant. There were some reels of film in the drawer. I took one out, and unfurled a length of it, holding it up to the light.

  ‘Jesus,’ I said, ‘this opens up a whole new can of worms, Jerry.’

  ‘Stag films?’

  I nodded. We took another roll and had a look. Same thing. Men and women doing things to each other you should do at home, or in a hotel, or in a closet, but not on film.

  ‘These look like good quality, Mr G.,’ Jerry said. ‘Maybe pro.’

  ‘There’s a lot more to Irwin than meets the eye, Jerry,’ I said. I held a roll of film in one hand, and the Harrah’s floor plan in the other. ‘We been had, Jerry.’ I waved the floor plan folder at him. ‘Looks like Irwin was not only involved with the kidnapping. He may have planned the whole thing.’

  SEVENTY

  Barney Irwin was a kidnapper, and a producer of stag films. I wondered how many young girls who came to him for portraits ended up on film with their clothes off?

  ‘What do we do?’ Jerry asked.

  ‘There’s a lot of stuff here, Jerry,’ I said. ‘I doubt he’d want to leave it behind. In fact, I doubt that he’s even leavin’ town.’

  ‘He ain’t as scared, or as stupid, as we thought,’ Jerry said.

  ‘No, he’s still stupid. Or else why leave this stuff lyin’ around?’

  ‘It ain’t lyin’ around,’ Jerry said. ‘It’s under lock and key.’

  ‘Still,’ I said, ‘this kidnap stuff, and the note I found in his desk drawer . . . not smart.’

  ‘OK,’ Jerry said, ‘but he’s tougher than we thought. He tried to have us both killed, tried to set us up again in that warehouse.’

  ‘He’s still in town,’ I said. ‘Maybe the Rienzas know where.’

  ‘How do we find out?’

  ‘We ask ’em.’

  ‘I hope that don’t mean goin’ to a police station?’ Jerry said.

  ‘No,’ I said, ‘I’ll just call Hargrove. Come on, let’s lock up and get out of here.’

  The combination lock wouldn’t close again, but we managed to hang it on the door so it looked locked. Only Irwin, when he came to get inside, would know.

  As we went down the back stairs I said, ‘We’re gonna need somebody to sit on this place and watch for Irwin to come back.’

  ‘Not me.’

  ‘No,’ I said, ‘I’ll ask Danny to find somebody.’

  We took the kidnap folder and a roll of film with us. I put them in the back seat while Jerry got behind the wheel.

  ‘Where to?’ he asked.

  ‘Phone.’

  ‘Pay phone?’

  I thought a moment, then said, ‘My house.’

  ‘Is that smart? I mean, what if Irwin sends somebody after us again?’

  ‘You’ll take care of ’em.’

  ‘As long as there’s not more than three.’

  When we walked into my house Jerry got a beer from the frig while I called Danny.

  ‘Yeah, I got a guy who can sit on the place,’ he said, after I told him everything we found. ‘Stag films, huh? I hate those things. Most of the girls look strung out on somethin’.’

  ‘For all we know Irwin’s dealin’ in drugs, too. The guy’s real good at playin’ dumb.’

  ‘Well, maybe he’s a pro when it comes to fuck films and drugs, but he’s still an amateur when it comes to kidnapping.’

  ‘Ain’t that the truth. Listen, give your guy all my numbers and have him call as soon as he sees Irwin.’

  ‘I’ll have him tail him, and then call.’

  ‘OK. Thanks, Danny.’

  I hung up, called Hargrove at his office. He was there.

  ‘You’re running out of time, Eddie.’

  ‘What about the Rienzas?’ I asked. ‘How are they doin’ on time?’

  ‘Better than you,’ he said. ‘They’re out.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Hit the streets hours ago.’

  ‘How did that happen?’

  ‘Their alibi checked out.’

  ‘You said yourself about alibis—’

  ‘Hey, if it checks out, it checks out,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing I can do about it. I had to cut them loose.’

  ‘That’s great.’

  ‘Watch your back,’ Hargrove said. ‘I think they were pretty mad at you.’

  I hung up.

  ‘So?’ Jerry asked. ‘They’re out?’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘Want a beer?’

  ‘Yup.’

  He tossed me a can. I caught it one handed.

  ‘Now what?’ he asked.

  ‘I don’t kn
ow, Jerry,’ I said. ‘We got the word out on Irwin, and we got his storage unit covered. I seriously don’t know what else we can do. You got any suggestions?’

  His eyes brightened and he said, ‘Get somethin’ to eat?’

  SEVENTY-ONE

  Morning came and we had twenty-four hours left to find Irwin and prove that he was responsible for Wayne’s death. Also that he was involved in the kidnapping.

  I took Jerry and the folder we had found to Jack Entratter’s office at the Sands. We told him how we had come by it, and what we thought it meant.

  ‘So,’ Entratter said, ‘it’s not finished. Even if Irwin didn’t plan the kidnapping, it’s obvious he was involved and has to pay. Frank isn’t gonna let anyone get off scot free.’

  ‘He ain’t gettin’ off free,’ Jerry said. ‘Mr G. and me are gonna find him.’

  ‘And we need to do it in the next twenty-four hours,’ I said, ‘or Jerry and I will be behind bars.’

  ‘Well,’ Entratter said, ‘you ain’t gonna find him sittin’ here. Let me know if there’s anythin’ I can do to help.’

  ‘Keep your lawyer on call, Jack,’ I said. ‘He may have to get us outta jail.’

  ‘You got it.’

  We left Entratter’s office, took the elevator down to the hotel lobby, where I stopped dead.

  ‘What is it, Mr G.?’

  I stared at him for a moment, then said, ‘I don’t know where to go next, Jerry.’

  ‘We could go sit on his storage unit,’ Jerry said.

  ‘Danny’s already got a guy on it,’ I said. ‘What’s the point of the three of us there?’

  ‘So is there any place else we can look?’

  ‘I figured with all the stops we made we would have gotten a call by now,’ I said. ‘We’ve got less than a day.’

  ‘You really think Hargrove would be that much of a dick?’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ I said, ‘I do.’

  ‘Maybe we should do some more drivin’ around, then,’ Jerry said.

  A bellman came walking over.

  ‘Mr Gianelli, hotel operator’s got a call for you. They won’t hang up until we find you.’

  ‘OK, thanks,’ I said. ‘I’ll get it on a house phone.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  I took Jerry over to a bank of phones and picked one up.

  ‘Operator, it’s Eddie Gianelli. You have a call for me?’

  ‘Yes, sir, I’ll put it through.’

  I waited only a few seconds and then a girl said, ‘Eddie? It’s Darla.’

  ‘Hey, Darla,’ I said, raising my eyebrows at Jerry. ‘We were just talkin’ about you.’

  ‘Good things I hope, love,’ she said.

  ‘Only the best. You got somethin’ for me?’

  ‘I’ve got a location where your guy might be hidin’ out,’ she said.

  ‘Where’d you get this info?’

  ‘I put the word out on the street, same as you. One of my people got back to me.’

  ‘OK,’ I said. ‘So where is this place?’

  ‘Out in the desert.’

  ‘The desert’s a big place, hon.’

  ‘Well,’ she said, ‘the exact location is gonna cost ya, Eddie.’

  ‘You’ll get paid, Darla,’ I said. ‘You know you can trust me.’

  ‘We just have to agree on a price, Eddie,’ she said. ‘Then I’ll trust you for it.’

  ‘How about two hundred?’ I asked.

  ‘How about two thousand?’ she asked. ‘Is this important to ya?’

  Important enough that I didn’t really want to haggle, but I was probably going to have to do business with her in the future.

  ‘Five hundred, Darla.’

  ‘A thousand and you got a deal.’

  ‘OK,’ I said. ‘A grand. Now give.’

  ‘He’s at the Sunshine Ranch.’

  ‘That’s just outside of Indian Springs, right?’

  ‘That’s the one.’

  One of the things the casinos had to supply for their clients was women, which meant we had to know where the women were. And if they weren’t on the street, they were in the ranches out in the desert. Many had been closed down as public nuisances in 1951, but the ones that continued to operate had a ‘special’ relationship with the law.

  ‘Darla, is he there now?’

  ‘I been hangin’ on the phone for you a while, Eddie,’ she said, ‘but when I made the call, he was still there. That’s why I wouldn’t hang up till I talked to ya.’

  ‘And you’re positive this is a place he goes?’

  ‘He goes there a lot, Eddie,’ she said. ‘He owns it.’

  Well, maybe that explained where Irwin got some of his girls for his stag films.

  ‘Baby, if he’s there you earned every penny,’ I assured her.

  ‘I’ll be waitin’, lover.’

  I hung up.

  ‘What’s near Indian Springs?’ Jerry asked.

  ‘The Sunshine Ranch,’ I said. ‘It’s a brothel. A cathouse.’

  ‘Whores?’

  ‘Lots of ’em.’

  ‘And that’s where Irwin is?’

  ‘He was when she made the call.’

  ‘How far away is that?’ he asked.

  ‘Maybe an hour.’

  We stood there and stared at each other for a few moments. The same thing was going through our heads. Call Hargrove and walk away, or drive out there and get Irwin ourselves?

  ‘Let’s do it,’ Jerry said, and I nodded.

  SEVENTY-TWO

  For a long time I’d been of the opinion that prostitution in Las Vegas should be legalized. Not so much the street trade, like Darla, but the girls who worked the hotels and ranches out in the desert. Once that was done, Las Vegas would become the place people could go to get anything they wanted.

  We kicked up a lot of dust as most of the drive was on dirt roads. Eventually, we came within sight of a structure and I put my hand on Jerry’s arm. He braked and let the car idle.

  ‘That it?’ he asked.

  ‘Should be.’

  ‘Don’t look like much.’

  ‘Some of them actually look like a ranch,’ I said, ‘but this one . . .’

  This one looked like a worn out double-wide. There were a couple of cars parked out front.

  ‘Let’s back up some, just till we’re out of sight,’ I said. ‘Then we’ll walk the rest of the way.’

  He put the Caddy in reverse. We only had to go about twenty yards. I directed Jerry to pull off the road. If anyone came along maybe they’d think we’d gotten stuck and had to walk.

  We got out of the car and, since we were in the desert, left our jackets in the car. I could see Jerry’s .45 tucked into the back of his pants.

  Once we started out on foot I looked around, imagining that this was the same view a cowboy would’ve seen a hundred years ago when he was out here on a horse. That is, until we once again came within view of the trailer.

  ‘Let’s circle and come in from the back,’ I suggested.

  ‘Good idea.’

  From that angle we could see how large the structure actually was. An extension had been built on the back, which probably housed rooms – or cribs – for the girls.

  We couldn’t walk right in and pretend to be customers. Irwin had seen both of us, would know us on the spot. Of course, we could’ve taken the chance that he wouldn’t notice us till too late, but with girls and customers around some innocent people could have gotten hurt if there was gun play.

  And there were customers. We saw a few cars parked alongside the trailer’s extension. And there were those two out front. Some of the cars must have belonged to employees, so I was hoping the interior wasn’t going to be too crowded.

  There was a back door at the very end of the extension, but if we went in that way we’d probably have to bypass every room in the place.

  ‘There’s gotta be another door, maybe on the other side,’ Jerry said.

  We circled completely around the building and,
sure enough, found a side door about halfway up the extension. There were also three motorcycles parked there. Not only was Irwin probably inside, but the Rienzas, as well.

  We’d done this before, even though neither of us was an expert at breaking and entering. There were windows on either side of the door. The window on the right was blocked with something, so it was probably a crib. The window to the left was clear, and the room appeared to be an office. We saw a desk, a lamp, and a sofa. We could only see half the sofa, though, so we saw half a man lying on it – the bottom half. However, that half was clad in lime green pants, and white shoes.

  ‘That’s him,’ I whispered.

  ‘Gotta be,’ Jerry said.

  Instead of having the bad luck to have to use the back door, we ran into good luck. Once we got through this side door we’d be right next to the room Barney Irwin was in.

  Jerry dropped to one knee and started working with his lock picks. I kept looking both ways – actually, all ways; left, right, behind us and above. I was sweating, and it wasn’t just from the sun beating down on us. The back of Jerry’s shirt was soaked through, but knowing him that was from the sun.

  Irwin might still be dressing like a buffoon, but we’d discovered he was more than that. This might not be as easy as we’d hoped. It wasn’t necessarily just girls, customers, other employees and Irwin inside. He could have a couple of mugs with him.

  I heard the lock go snick and patted Jerry on his damp shoulder. He was getting better at that.

  He stood up, looked at me and indicated he would take the lead. I nodded. He slid his .45 from his belt, held it in his right hand, and put his left hand on the door knob.

  He looked at me. Again, I nodded, and he opened the door.

  SEVENTY-THREE

  We stepped inside, closing the door behind us. Irwin may not have spent much money on the worn outer shell of the place, but the inside was air-conditioned. My soaked shirt immediately felt like a coat of ice on me.

  We moved down a short hall, which led to a longer one that ran the center of the extension. Jerry peered out to be sure we were clear, then waved me on with his left hand as he stepped out. At any minute a girl and her john could come walking up or down the hall. We quickly moved to the door of the office. Jerry grabbed the knob, turned it and the door opened. We sprang into the room; I pulled the door closed behind, quickly, without slamming it.