by Bill Bernico
I stepped up into the van, still holding my end of the body and pulled as Eric set his end down on the van floor, pushing it the rest of the way in. He closed the rear van doors and motioned for me to take off. “I have to get my car,” Eric said. “It’s parked down the block. You pull out of here and turn north on El Centro and pull up to the curb and wait. When you see me pass your van, pull out and follow me. I think I know where we can leave her.”
I pulled away from the motel while Eric locked the motel room door from the inside and left the key on the dresser. I waited at the curb around the corner until I spotted Eric in his personal car drive past. I pulled out and followed him north on El Centro to Hollywood Boulevard. Eric turned east and drove to Western Avenue before turning north. He drove until Western Avenue turned into Los Feliz and headed east toward Griffith Park. He turned into the first drive that went north, a street called Fern Dell. We seemed to be the only two cars on this road at this time of night. Eric stopped just before a small bridge that spanned a culvert. He got out of his car and hurried back to my van. The two of us opened the rear doors, pulled the wrapped body out and carried it to the culvert.
“Over here,” Eric said. “Make sure you hang on to the shower curtain. That’s coming with me. Once we dump her, we can meet back at your office.”
We carried Bonnie or Sunny to the bridge, grabbed hold of the shower curtain and let her roll out of it. She landed ten feet below road level with a thud. We leaned over the rail and took one last look before we each got back in our vehicles and drove out of the park. We pulled into the parking lot behind my building and rode the elevator to the third floor. I let us into my office and we collapsed on the leather sofa against the wall.
“That went pretty smooth,” Eric said.
“Are you going to call this in anonymously?” I said. “But not from my phone.”
“I could,” Eric said. “I’ll use the pay phone down on the corner and speak in a whisper, in case they try to do voice prints.”
“You know,” I said. “I recently heard the definition of a good friend. A good friend will help you move, but a really good friend will help you move a body.”
Eric couldn’t help but laugh. And just as soon he realized what he was laughing at and stopped. “I’m sorry, Elliott,” he said. “I know this isn’t funny. But like I already told you, I didn’t have anything to do with that girl’s death. It was purely an accident. I owe you big time, Buddy. Anything you need, you just let me know.”
There was a second or two of silence and then the toilet in my office bathroom flushed. We looked at each other and froze. My hand slid inside my coat and found the .38 hanging there in its holster. I stood and pointed it at the bathroom door. It opened slowly and Bud stepped out, looking sheepishly at the floor. He cleared his throat.
“Well,” he said. “I guess I wasn’t alone after all.”
“What are you doing here?” I said. “Today was your day off.”
“Well,” Bud explained. “I was in the neighborhood and had to use the facilities and so many places these days won’t let you use their bathroom unless you’re a customer at their store. I thought I’d just stop up and quickly use this bathroom.
Eric and I looked at each other and then back at Bud. “How much did you hear?” I said.
Bud took a deep breath and said, “Everything, I guess.”
I holstered my .38 and looked at Bud. “Come on, Bud,” I said. “Have a seat. I guess we owe you an explanation.”
Bud waved us off. “You don’t owe me anything,” he said.
“Please, Bud,” Eric said. “I need to explain something to you. Will you do me the courtesy of listening before you pass judgment on me?”
“All right,” Bud said, and reluctantly sat on the sofa.
Eric rolled one of the office chairs up in front of the sofa and sat. I sat next to Bud on the sofa. Eric went through the whole story of his ordeal at the motel and the possible consequences he could face if it came out. When he had finished, I turned to Bud. “So you see how important it is that we keep this under wraps?” I said. “Eric didn’t kill anyone. It’s was just one of those freak accidents.”
“I know all that,” Bud said. “But have you considered what you two are actually doing?”
“We talked all that over before we decided to take this course of action,” Eric said. “And it’s too late to turn back now. Elliott and I could both be ruined now if this got out.”
Bud rubbed his forehead. He gave the situation some serious thought before he spoke. “I totally understand,” he said. “I’m not sure that I wouldn’t have done the same thing if it was me in this situation.”
“So you’ll keep this to yourself then?” Eric said. “I mean you can’t tell anyone, not even Emily.”
Bud looked at me and then back at Eric. “I won’t tell a soul,” he said. “Especially my wife. And you’ll try to throw a little work our way from time to time?”
“I’ll do everything I can to help you two out,” Eric said. “Thank you, Bud. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.” Eric grabbed Bud’s right hand with both of his and pumped it vigorously.
“All right,” Bud said. “Can I have my hand back now? I’m beginning to lose feeling in it.” Bud shook his hand back and forth, trying to get the blood circulating again. “So, what’s your next move?”
“Like I was telling Elliott,” Eric said, “I think I’m going to have to make an anonymous call to the precinct and tell them that I saw a body in the ravine in Griffith Park.”
Bud shook his head. “It’s probably better if you don’t,” he said. “Better let me do that. Give me the exact location.”
“That’ll put you in the middle of all this, Bud,” Eric said. “You sure you want to do that?”
Bud nodded. “I’m in this far,” he said, “I might as well jump in with both feet.”
Eric gave Bud explicit directions, ending with the exact spot where Bonnie or Sunny’s body was left. Bud looked at Eric and said, “You mean you don’t even know her name? Don’t you think you should find out?”
“Why?” Eric said. “The less I know about her the less I have to keep straight in my mind if it ever comes down to having to answer any questions. Let whoever takes this case find out her name.”
“I suppose,” Bud said. “So, are you done with hookers now? From what I’ve heard so far, Leslie seems like a decent woman and you sure don’t want to do anything to spoil what you two could have for a future.”
“I know,” Eric said. “It’s becoming clearer every minute and if I ever get out of this damned mess I plan on spending the rest of my life making it up to her.”
I looked at Eric. “Just take it a little at a time,” I said. “If you start acting way nicer than you ever have to her it’ll send up a red flag with Leslie and she’ll put you through the third degree. Just act like you missed her while she was gone, but don’t go overboard with presents or excess sweet talk or too much fussing over her. Just act like you always did and she won’t suspect a thing.”
Eric gave me a strange look. “Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought, Elliott,” he said. “Are you speaking from experience or just spouting off?”
“Mostly common sense,” I said. “Besides, every movie I’ve ever seen where the guy was cheating on his girlfriend or wife ended with the guy tripping himself up with overboard actions afterwards.”
“Well,” Bud said, “I’d better get moving if I want to find a public phone booth somewhere. They’re getting scarce since cell phones came into the picture. Do either of you know where I could find one?”
Eric and I thought for a moment. “I think there’s still one outside the sporting goods store at the mall,” Eric said.
I shook my head. “Nope,” I said. “They took that one out more than a month ago. But I saw one just yesterday. Just give me a minute and I’ll remember where I saw it.” I mulled it over in my mind and then snapped my fingers. “One the side of the asph
alt apron outside of the Chevron station on Sunset. I saw it yesterday so it should still be there.”
Bud headed for the door. “Then that’s where I’ll go,” he said. “Keep your cell phone on and I’ll let you know when I’m done.” Before he left the office, Bud turned back to Eric and added, “And let me give you just one more piece of good advice.”
“I know,” Eric said. “Stay true to Leslie.”
“That’s not what I was going to say,” Bud told him. “I was just going to advise you to stay out of our bathroom for the next twenty minutes or so until the air thins out in there again.” He closed the door and walked off down the hall toward the elevator.
Eric looked at me. “Sounds like good advice to me,” he said.
Bud drove to the sixty-seven hundred block of Sunset and pulled into the service station. The booth was located near the sidewalk, away from the station. It was secluded enough for the privacy Bud needed. He dropped his quarter, dialed the twelfth precinct and got a desk sergeant named Phillips.
“Twelfth precinct,” Phillips said.
“Yes,” Bud said, in a low whisper. “I was just walking in Griffith Park and I saw someone laying down in the ravine almost under that little bridge on Fern Dell. I think she might be dead.” Without waiting for a reply from Sergeant Phillips, Bud hung up the phone, got back into his car and retrieved his cell phone. He dialed Elliott’s private number.
“This is Elliott,” the voice on the other end said.
“Elliott, it’s Bud,” he said. “I called the twelfth precinct and got a Sergeant named Phillips. I told him what I saw and hung up before he could ask me anything else. Now we just have to wait until they send someone to look into it.”
“Thanks, Bud,” I said. “Can you do me one more favor before you come back here?”
“I didn’t know I was supposed to come back there,” Bud said. “What do you need?”
“Could you stop and pick up a can of air freshener?” I said. “It’s either that or I’m going to have to burn this place down.”
“I get the picture,” Bud said. “I’ll pick up a can. Did you really want me to stop back there?”
“No, Bud,” I said. “But you’re working tomorrow, aren’t you? Just bring it with you then.”
“Will do, chief,” Bud said and hung up.
I turned to Eric. “And you’d better make yourself available pretty quickly now,” I said. You’re bound to be getting a call as soon as one of your patrolmen finds the body. It wouldn’t do to have them reach you here.”
“Good idea,” Eric said. “I’ll see you later.”
“Let me know if you hear anything,” I said.
“Probably not a good idea,” Eric said. “I won’t do anything out of the ordinary that I wouldn’t normally do in a situation like that. I’ll fill you in if and when I can. Meanwhile, just lay low. Remember, you’re not supposed to know anything, so don’t ask unless I call you.”
“All right, Eric,” I said. “Good luck.”
Eric drove home and tried to relax but couldn’t seem to settle down. He’d get up from his couch, walk to the refrigerator and find nothing worth eating and return to the couch. He couldn’t concentrate on the television show in front of him and finally turned off the set. He tried paging through one of the magazines on his coffee table but threw it back down after just a few seconds. He settled back into the couch and tried to close his eyes but he kept seeing Bonnie or Sunny in his mind. What the hell was that poor girl’s name anyway? He almost jumped out of his skin when the cell phone in his pocket rang. He nervously pulled it out of his pocket, let out the breath he’d been holding, flipped open the phone and said, “Anderson.”
“Lieutenant,” the voice on the other end said. “This is Officer Mallman. Sorry to disturb you at home, sir.”
“Not a problem, Officer,” Eric said. “What do you have?”
“Lieutenant, my partner and I were following up on an anonymous call to the station about a dead body in Griffith Park,” Officer Mallman said. “The caller said a woman was lying in the ravine almost under the bridge on Fern Dell.”
“All right,” Eric said. “But I don’t understand why you’re calling me.”
“Because I’m not sure how to handle this call,” Officer Mallman said.
“Try to identify the body,” Eric said, “without disturbing the scene and then call the medical examiner. He’ll take the body back to the morgue. Ask around if there are any people in the area. See if any of them saw anything.”
“That’s what I’d normally do, sir,” Mallman said.
“So then what’s the problem, officer?” Eric said.
“That’s just it,” Mallman said. “We’re at the exact location that the caller described but there’s no body here, dead or otherwise.”
“And you’re at that location now?” Eric said.
“Yes sir,” Mallman said.
“Good,” Eric said. “Stay there and I’ll join you as soon as I can get there. Keep anyone away from the area. It could still be a crime scene.”
“Yes, sir,” Mallman said.
Eric slipped into his shoes, grabbed his jacket, backed out of his driveway and headed toward Griffith Park. He found the black and white patrol car parked almost in the same place Elliott had parked his van earlier that night. He got out and found a patrolman standing on the bridge, looking down into the ravine. “Officer Mallman?” Eric said.
“Yes sir,” Mallman said. “I’m sorry you had to some all the way out here for nothing.”
“Maybe not,” Eric said. “Is this the location that the caller described?”
Officer Mallman pointed down to the ravine floor ten feet below him. “Right down there,” he said.
“Come on,” Eric said. “I want to have a closer look.” He made his way down the side of the ravine and stopped at the bottom, afraid of disturbing anything. He looked under the bridge and saw where leaves had been disturbed. Eric carefully stepped along the side of the dried creek bed and bend over for a closer look. He straightened up again and turned to Officer Mallman. “Someone or something’s been through here recently,” Eric said. “Come with me, officer.”
Eric led Officer Mallman under the bridge and out the other side. Footprints and slide marks made their way up the bank on the opposite side. The two cops followed the trail back up to the road, where it ended.
“Looks like someone came up there,” Officer Mallman said, pointing down the side of the bank. “And any trace of them disappears here. You think someone got into a vehicle up on this side, sir?”
“That’s what it looks like,” Eric said. “Better get on your radio and call the station. Have them send a forensics team down here to see what they can find.”
“Right away, sir,” Mallman said and returned to his patrol car. He returned to Eric’s side a couple of minutes later. “They’ll be here right away,” he said.
Fifteen minutes later a black van pulled up behind Eric’s car and two men and a woman got out, each carrying a metal case at their sides. They looked at Eric, who pointed down to the ravine floor. “Down there, on that side,” Eric said. “There’s a trail that comes up this side and vanishes when it gets to the road.”
“Very good, Lieutenant,” one of the men said. “I’m Bart Walker, crime analyst. We can take it from here. Are you sticking around or do you just want me to call you when we know something?”
“Why don’t you just call me when or if you find anything,” Eric said. “I’ll be at home.”
Eric drove back home, more confused now than ever. It was the correct location, all right. There was no doubt about that. But where was the body? It was obvious that someone had found it and had taken it away, but who and why? Eric’s spine tingled as he thought about the possible explanations.
Eric didn’t get a call that night from the forensics technician, but the next morning as he sat in his office, the door opened and that same tech walked in. “Lieutenant,” Walker said, “We didn’t co
me up with anything until way late last night. I figured you wouldn’t want to be disturbed at that late hour so I waited until now.”
“That’s fine,” Eric said. “Did you find anything at the scene?”
“Just two drops of blood,” Walker said. “We had to move each of the hundred of leaves one at a time and examine them, but there were two drops of blood at the bottom of them. The disturbed leaves that you notices had been trampled by someone wearing a large boot with a waffle sole. Up at the road on the other side of the bridge we found a partial boot print and some rubber residue from a squealing tire.”
“Not much to go on, is it?” Eric said.
“We’ve worked miracles with less evidence than this,” Walker said. “But this is going to take some time to sort it all out. We can send the blood sample to DNA but we won’t get any results for a week or more.”
“That long?” Eric said.
“I know,” Walker said. “Everyone who’s seen even one episode of CSI thinks we can get DNA results in ten minutes. They just do that on the show to speed up the plot. Doesn’t work that fast in the real world.”
“Well,” Eric said. “Let me know later if you can identify her.”
“You’ll be the first to know,” Walker said before he left Eric’s office.
Eric waited a respectable amount of time before he called Elliott at his office.
“Cooper Investigations,” Elliot said. “Elliott Cooper speaking.”
“Elliott,” Eric said, “It’s Lieutenant Anderson.”
“Eric,” I said, “Why so formal?”
“I don’t know,” Eric said. “Just trying to break out of my regular routine. Anyway, are you free for lunch today?”
“Are you buying?” I said.
Eric paused for a moment and then said, “Sure, why not. Can you meet me at the Gold Cup in fifteen minutes?”
“I’ll be there, pal,” I said and hung up. I turned to Bud at the other desk and said, “That was Eric. He wants to meet me for lunch. Maybe he’s found out something about your anonymous call last night.”
“I’m coming with you, Elliott,” Bud said. “It would be a wise move to keep all three of us on the same page so we’d all have the same answers if anyone asks.”