by Bill Bernico
“We figured that out,” Gloria said. “We’re going to have an actual reception next month or maybe we’ll even wait until after the holidays. We want you there, of course. And we want to invite all our friends and family to help us celebrate.”
“When you actually set a date for this reception,” Dad said, “I want to help with the arrangements. Lord knows I have enough free time on my hands for it and I really want to help. Okay?”
Gloria nodded. “That would be great, Dad.”
Dad held up one finger. “Uh, Gloria,” he said. “I know it’s somewhat of a tradition to call your father-in-law Dad, but could I ask a small favor of you?”
“Don’t call you Dad?” she said.
“If you wouldn’t mind,” Dad said. “Please just go on calling me Clay. Clay doesn’t feel as old as when you call me Dad.”
“Clay it is,” Gloria said.
“What about me?” I said.
“I can just call you Elliott,” Gloria said, smirking.
“I was talking to Dad,” I said. “Oh, never mind. The spontaneity went out of that joke when you interrupted the flow.”
“So where are you kids going to live?” Dad said.
“We were just talking about that on the way over here,” Gloria said. “We haven’t quite decided yet.”
“You have to let me get you a house warming gift,” Dad said, turning to Gloria. “Do you have a preference? Would you prefer a .38 caliber of perhaps a .45?”
Gloria started to say something and then caught the glint in Clay’s eye. She smiled at him. “Good one, Clay. What’s next, a vacuum cleaner shaped like a bazooka?”
“Well,” I said, rising from the sofa. “We have to get going.”
“So soon?” Dad said. “You just got here.”
“Uh, Dad,” I said. “This is our wedding night, after all. As much as we enjoy your company…”
Dad held up one hand. “Say no more,” he told us. “Are you planning a honeymoon right away?” I thought I saw him and Gloria exchange a glance for a second.
I shook my head. “Maybe after the holidays,” I said. “We still have a business to run and besides, it would work out better to have it right after the reception. We can always just close the office for a week.”
“Or I could sit there and at least answer the phone for you while you’re gone,” Dad said, a bit of eagerness in his voice.
“We’ll see,” I said. “Good night. We just wanted you to be the first to know about our marriage. Good night, Dad.”
We were all standing now. Dad walked us to the door and shook my hand and hugged Gloria once more before he closed the door. Gloria and I walked back to the car. Before I started the engine I looked at Gloria. “What was that look all about?” I said.
“What look was that?” Gloria said.
“That look Dad gave you right after he said something about our honeymoon?” I said.
“I don’t know,” Gloria said. “I didn’t notice any look from Clay. Are you sure he was looking at me?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, either,” I said. “I just thought he gave you a strange look there for a second. Maybe I was wrong. So where are we staying tonight?”
“Can we stay at my place tonight?” Gloria said. “We can make up our minds about a permanent solution tomorrow. Remember, it is our wedding night. Promise me you’ll be gentle.”
“You mean gentler than I have been for the past how many months now?” I said.
“Exactly,” Gloria said and laid her head on my shoulder as we drove home.
*****
A week later, I got a call from Eric Anderson at the twelfth precinct. He’d recently been promoted to Lieutenant shortly after Dean Hollister retired for the second time. He asked if we could meet over coffee sometime this morning. I told him I would and asked if he was familiar with a coffee shop on the boulevard called The Gold Cup. He said he was and we agreed to meet at nine-thirty. Eric was already sitting in a booth when I walked in. He gestured toward the opposite side of the booth and invited me to sit. Eric extended his hand and I shook it.
“Elliott,” he said. “I know we’ve crossed paths in the past, but we’ve never really had the chance to just sit and talk and get to know each other. I also know that you and Lieutenant Hollister were pretty close.”
“Not as close as Dean and my dad,” I said. “They grew up together and their fathers worked together for a long time as well.”
“There’s a lot of history there,” Eric said. “How is your dad these days?”
“Dad’s doing well,” I said. “Retirement agrees with him. But you didn’t call me down here to talk about Dad. What’s up?”
“Well,” Eric said, “I’ve had several occasions to talk with Dean regarding manpower issues. That is, when our department finds our officers spread a little thin, Dean told me I could call on you and your investigations business for occasional help. I guess what I’m asking is, are you available to help out on a case we’re involved with? It would just be a temporary situation, but we could use a couple extra people for a while, if you’re interested.”
“What kind of case is it?” I said.
The waitress came by with a coffee pot and asked Eric if he’d like a refill. He held his cup out and she filled it. She turned to me and asked if I’d like some. I waved her off but asked if I could have a small glass of milk.
“There have been a series of gas station holdups in the neighborhood recently,” Eric said. “The guy never hits the same place twice and staking out all the gas stations around here takes more men than I have available to me at the moment. What I would need from you is to pay a visit to some of these stations, talk to the owners or attendants and just get a feel for the places. Ask if they’ve noticed anything or anyone out of the ordinary recently and just keep me in the loop with your progress.”
“You have nothing more to go on?” I said.
“Only one thing seems to be constant,” Eric said. “The guy always comes into these places wearing a green bath towel over his face. We’ve tagged him as the Green Towel Bandit.
“The Green Towel Bandit,” I said. “How obvious is that?”
“Thing is,” Eric said, “He’s in and out in under a minute every time. By the time we’re called he’s long gone. Is this something you’d be interested in?”
“How long a job are we talking here?” I said.
“I just need you, and possibly Gloria as well, for three or four days,” Eric said. “Just until a few more of my men come back from vacation.”
“Count us in,” I said. “How soon did you need us to start?”
“Does tonight work for you?” Eric said. “I could start you out on the east end of Sunset Boulevard, say the forty-five hundred block where Sunset meets Hollywood Boulevard and you could work your way west as far as Fairfax and back again. That’s just about five miles each way. There is something like fourteen or fifteen gas stations on that route. You should be able to make the route, round trip three or four times a night.
A couple nights on that route could be all it takes. What would you charge me?”
“Well,” I said, “Our regular rate is two hundred dollars a day plus expenses. I’d give you a break at one-fifty plus expenses. Gas will probably run you fifty bucks and figure three days. Call it five bills for the three days.”
Eric extended his hand again. “Deal,” he said. “Let me know what you find, if anything.”
I finished the last of my glass of milk and slid out of the booth. Eric left a tip on the table and followed me out to the street. “Tell Gloria thanks from me, will you?”
“Will do,” I said, and slid behind the wheel of my car.
I drove back to the office and found Gloria still working on the computer at her desk. “Looks like we’ve got us a case to work on,” I said. “We start tonight on Sunset.”
“Doing what?” Gloria asked.
I explained what Eric wanted from us. At the rate that I had quoted Eric, Gloria
thought that we were stealing his money. Actually it was the taxpayers’ money but I didn’t feel like debating that issue and let it drop.
“Any calls while I was out?” I said.
“Just one,” Gloria said, handing me the pink memo slip.
The name on the slip said, ‘Barry Armstrong’ along with a Hollywood number but no message. “Doesn’t say here what he wanted,” I said, holding up the slip.
“That’s because he wouldn’t tell me what it was,” Gloria explained. “He insisted on talking to you so I just took his name and number and told him that you’d get back to him when you returned.”
“When did he call?” I said.
Gloria glanced at the clock above the office door. “About ten minutes ago,” she said. “Said he’d be at that number for half an hour and then he’d be gone for a couple hours. You can probably still reach him.”
I hung my jacket and hat on the rack and sat behind my desk, reaching for the phone. I dialed the number from the memo slip and waited.
“Armstrong,” the voice on the other end said.”
“Barry Armstrong?” I said.
“Yes.”
“This is Elliott Cooper returning your call,” I said. “How can I help you today?”
“Mr. Cooper,” Armstrong said. “Let me call you right back from a different phone. Just give me a minute.”
I hung up and waited, staring at the phone. Then I scrolled through the call history on the handset and found the number from the call Gloria took. I wrote down that number on my pad.
“That was quick,” Gloria said.
“I must have reached him at a phone where other people could hear his conversation,” I said. “He’d going to call me right back, probably from a cell phone away from prying ears.”
Thirty seconds later my phone rang. I made a note of the number that appeared in my caller I.D. window and said, “Cooper Investigations, this is Elliott.”
“Mr. Cooper, it’s Barry Armstrong,” he said. “Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.”
“What can we do for you, Mr. Armstrong?” I said, getting right to the point.
“Mr. Cooper,” Armstrong said, “I’d like to hire your services, that is if you’re available. What I need is someone like yourself to tail a person for me and let me know what they do and where they go. That’s all.”
“Well, Mr. Armstrong,” I said. “The obvious question that comes to mind is why wouldn’t you tail him yourself and cut out the middle man?”
“Because this person would recognize me and I can’t take that chance,” he said. “I’d only need your services for three or four days. I’d pay your going rate plus a bonus if you get results.”
“And just what constitutes results as far as you’re concerned?” I said.
“If you can just bring me the information I need, I’ll be satisfied,” Armstrong said. “And what I need is for you to tell me where my target goes, what he does and who he meets.”
“Sounds easy enough,” I said. “When can I meet with you?”
“I can come to your office in ten minutes,” Armstrong said. “I’m just three blocks away. Will you be in?”
“Come on up,” I said. “You know where we’re located?”
“Yes, Mr. Cooper, I do,” Armstrong said. “I didn’t choose you on a lark. I’ve researched you and Miss Campbell thoroughly. I’m sure you can do the job. I’ll be seeing you shortly, Mr. Cooper.”
He hung up and I stared at my handset as if it had answers for me. I set the handset back into the cradle and turned to Gloria. “I’ll bet if you look up ‘Cloak and Dagger’ in the P.I. manual, this guy’s picture will be there. Talk about vague.”
“And it sounds like he’s on his way here,” Gloria said. “Any bets on whether or not he’s wearing a trench coat and fedora?”
“I’ll be interested to know who he wants us to follow,” I said. “This guy says he’s researched us and he mentioned you by name, too.”
“Me?” Gloria said.
“Well, maybe his information is a bit outdated,” I said. “He referred to you as Miss Campbell. I think we’ll let him go on with that assumption, just to be safe.”
Twelve minutes later our office door opened and a man entered. He was not wearing a trench coat or fedora, but a three-piece blue suit and shiny black shoes. He looked like he belonged on the cover of Forbes Magazine. He looked at me and nodded.
“Mr. Cooper,” he said, not in the form of a question. He turned to Gloria. “Good morning, Miss Campbell.”
“Good morning,” Gloria said, not bothering to get up.
I did get up, however and walked over to greet my guest. “Won’t you sit down, Mr. Armstrong?” I said, gesturing at my client’s chair. I summoned Gloria to come and sit with us as well. She pulled her client’s chair close to mine and the two of us waited for Barry Armstrong to speak. It didn’t take long.
“What I need,” Armstrong said, talking to both of us, but looking only at me, “is for you to tail my subject, like I said on the phone. He shouldn’t be too difficult to follow. He follows somewhat of a daily pattern, ending up in MacArthur Park at precisely three p.m. He sits there for a few minutes and is always joined by another person. They talk for a few minutes before going their separate ways. That much I was able to observe, but I can never get close enough to catch any of the conversation or to see if they exchange anything between them. That’s where you come in.”
“You think they’re going to let us sit next to them on the bench and listen in?” I said. “Just how did you expect us to accomplish what you want?”
“I understand they do make gadgets these days,” Armstrong said, “that will allow you to listen in from a distance. And there are such things as binoculars and cameras with long lenses. But mostly you two could easily pass for a couple and would be able to just walk right by them without being suspected. That’s what I’m counting on, Mr. Cooper.”
“May I assume that you’ve already tried these gadgets you just mentioned?” I said.
“You may,” Armstrong said. “But I could never get close enough to make them effective for my purposes. If I got any closer, he’d recognize me.”
“May I also assume that you will give us the loan of those gadgets that you’ve tried?” I said.
“They are at your disposal,” Armstrong said. “And when this job is finished, and if I get the results I need, I’ll make you a present of those gadgets. Fair enough?”
“Works for me,” I said and then turned to Gloria. “Do you have any questions for Mr. Armstrong?”
“Just one,” Gloria said. “This person who meets your target in the park, is it a man or a woman?”
“A woman,” Armstrong said without hesitation. “And before you ask any more questions, yes, she is my wife. And yes, I do know who the man is. I suspect that there is something of a romantic nature going on between them and that’s what I need to know. I probably couldn’t do anything to stop her from leaving me for another man, but with the right evidence, shall we say, I could negotiate a much better settlement by the time we got to divorce court.”
“This sounds like your garden variety, run-of-the-mill divorce cases,” I said. “What’s with all the cloak and dagger?”
“Mr. Cooper,” Armstrong said. “Everything I think, do or say affects my stock price and if word of something like this fell on the wrong ears, I would stand to lose a lot of money overnight. So you can see why this has to be handled with the utmost discretion.”
“And it will be,” I assured him.
“Thank you, Mr. Cooper,” Armstrong said. “I assume you have a document or two I will need to sign to start this process in motion.”
I told him there was and ten minutes later I had his signature on one of my standard contracts, with a few addendums at the bottom. I thanked him for his business and showed him to the door.
“I’ll await your call, Mr. Cooper,” Armstrong said. “But only call me on the cell phone.”
After Armstrong had gone, I turned to Gloria and said, “Looks like we’re pulling double duty for the next few days. We can cover Mrs. Armstrong in the park and still have time to start our surveillance route along Sunset after dark.”
“Feast or famine,” Gloria said. “Last week we had nothing going on. This week we have two cases.”
It was after eleven when Gloria and I got in my car and headed south to Wilshire Boulevard and then east to MacArthur Park a few blocks away. We parked on South Park View Street near Wilshire and got out of have an up close look for ourselves. According to Armstrong his wife always met with the mystery man on the first bench from the corner, facing the lake. We walked over to the bench and looked all around us. Directly across from the park sat a twelve-story apartment building with a banner strung across several of the windows that advertised apartments for rent. That was one possibility, I thought.
There didn’t seem to be any other acceptable place where we could watch the couple without being seen ourselves. We walked across the street and into the lobby of the apartment building. Gloria found the manager, a chubby fellow named Ronald Harper, and we posed as a couple looking for an apartment. He started to show us something facing Wilshire Boulevard.
“Don’t you have anything facing the park?” Gloria said, and flashed Harper a smile.
“Let me have a look at the journal,” Harper said, reaching for a book under the counter. He paged through it and stopped on a particular apartment. “Apartments facing the park usually are the first to go,” he said, “but I do have one left. It’s not very high up and those are the really desirable ones. This one is on the third floor. Would you like to see it?”
Gloria smiled, nodded to Harper and wrapped an arm around mine. We followed him to the elevator and got off on the third floor. He walked us to the last apartment at the end of the hall. Before he opened the apartment door, I took a quick look out the hall window toward the park.
Harper unlocked the apartment door and let us walk in ahead of him. Gloria kept Harper busy, asking to see the bedroom and the closet space and the bathroom. I used the time to check the view from the living room window. I could see the park directly below and across the street. The bench where Mrs. Armstrong always met our mystery man was in plain sight from where I stood. I was sure the parabolic ear device would be able to pick up their conversation from here.