Her voice was careful. “What kind of reassurance do I have, James? Your word for it?”
He sighed, voice sounding far away, as if she were listening to a seashell.
“Look, Miranda, I’ve done what I can. Bennett said he’d look into it and he’s a good man. You’ve played your trump card, Ducks. Quit while you’re ahead.”
“You mean quit before Hoover has a chance to smear me even more than he has?”
The State Department man was silent for a few seconds. “You know politics is a dangerous game. Hoover plays for keeps. And if I’m not mistaken, he’ll be around for a long, long time.”
Miranda’s jaw tightened. “I plan to be, too, James. All right. On your word I won’t mention Miller or Linkletter. On your word. But if I don’t get confirmation that Linkletter was fired—not transferred, but fired—all bets are off.”
“Miranda, I can’t—”
“Yes, you can. Or Bennett can. And one of you better. We’ve still got a free press in this country, thank God, and sure, maybe the big papers won’t print it, but I’ll find someone who will. Word will get out, and there are a few people in government who’d be upset. Maybe more than a few. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes, James. And you can tell Hoover I’m watching.”
She hung up the phone, afternoon sunlight gleaming red against her hair.
* * *
The cops unsealed her office at five, tape on the door removed, just a few small pieces left behind to signify that a man killed himself there fourteen hours earlier.
She thought she could still see a blood splatter on the wall by the sink, and she scrubbed at it with a cloth, but it must have been a reflection of the light.
She sat at the desk, re-read Rick’s letter.
She’d write, letting him know what happened, send him her travel schedule.
Maybe they’d meet before she sailed …
There were messages unanswered, three from Bunny Berrigan. She’d see the redhead tomorrow … wondered what she’d do, whether Alexander Publishing was finally over, whether Bunny would salvage the business and try again.
Miranda rose and stood at her window, watching Market Street unfold in the twilight.
White Fronts and late-model cars, tall, soot-stained buildings, ornate and mannerly, rooftop signs advertising Mobile and the Hotel Excelsior; neon blinking everywhere, and everywhere the sound of people and the sea and the foghorns of the Golden Gate.
She breathed it in, window open, soft breeze blowing moist air with the scent of eucalyptus. Breathed it in, drank it in, food, water, all the nourishment that sustained her.
San Francisco.
And she was saying good-bye.
Miranda stared into the colors of dusk.
It was war she was sailing into, a war that would decide the fate of the world, decide whether Shakespeare would be played, whether jazz would be sung, whether books would be read.
A war she had to join.
Waning purples, oranges, and reds gleamed against Lotta’s Fountain.
Miranda breathed in again, eyes wide open, trying to hold it, to savor it, to taste it enough so that she could remember it always, the way the City looked, the way the City felt, the way the City was.
She knew it wouldn’t be the same.
She’d come back, if she survived, if she found her mother … but it wouldn’t be the same.
A train roared toward the Ferry Building, sending a man in a brown suit running across the tracks.
A young woman bought a carnation.
Blue neon flashed.
We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when …
Miranda looked at her City.
No matter what changes lay ahead for either of them, San Francisco would be hers …
Forever.
Author’s Note
City of Sharks is a work of fiction. However, many of the people and events described in the book are historical.
I once had the pleasure of speaking to Herb Caen (and the honor of having a previous family business mentioned in his famous San Francisco Chronicle column). He is a life-long inspiration, both as a writer and a transplanted San Franciscan. His City sorely misses him.
Richard Gump became president of his family’s company in 1947; he was also a consultant to and inspiration for the detective fiction radio show The Casebook of Gregory Hood, created by Anthony Boucher and Denis Green. Hood’s character was based on Gump and his life as an importer of artifacts and treasures. The show aired originally on the Mutual network and ran from 1946 to 1950. Today, you can still stroll through Gump’s if you’re in San Francisco; it is located off of Union Square and is one of the City’s treasures.
James Johnston was the first warden of Alcatraz and Edward Joe Miller was his associate warden. Their depictions are fictional, though Miller’s background as a correctional officer and other research inspired his characterization. Hellcatraz is, indeed, the name of a tell-all book published by Roy Gardner, the “gentlemen bandit,” who lived and died as related in City of Sharks.
As for the prisoners … Ralph Roe and Theodore Cole escaped as described—and, though it is likely they perished, no bodies were ever discovered and reported sightings of the duo persisted through the late ’30s and early ’40s.
Rufus McCain, Henri (or Henry) Young, and William Martin took part in an escape attempt by Arthur “Doc” Barker and were apprehended. Once they were released into the general population after “isolation,” Young eventually killed McCain; his defense attorney claimed that his maltreatment in Alcatraz drove him to insanity. Many modern historians give his narrative little credence.
Joseph “Dutch” Cretzer and Arnold “Shorty” Kyle were apprehended and sentenced as described in the book, though their personal lives are fictionalized in City of Sharks. Cretzer was later killed in the 1946 infamous “Battle for Alcatraz” … his one last bid to escape.
The veil of secrecy over daily life at Alcatraz created much unease and speculation throughout the “gangster” era—a natural result when an almost absolutely powerful institution seeks to hide all information from the public. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
I relied on many sources for my research, including contemporary newspaper articles, phone books, and archival material and ephemera. Books that were particularly helpful include Alcatraz, the Gangster Years (David A. Ward), Alcatraz: History and Design of a Landmark (Donald MacDonald and Ira Nadel), Eyewitness on Alcatraz (Jolene Babyak), Last Train to Alcatraz (Leon “Whitey” Thompson), and San Francisco’s Playland-at-the-Beach: The Early Years (James R. Smith).
For more information about Alcatraz and other historical elements in the Miranda Corbie series, please visit my website: http://kellistanley.com.
Also by Kelli Stanley
MIRANDA CORBIE SERIES
City of Ghosts
City of Secrets
City of Dragons
OTHER TITLES
The Curse-Maker
Nox Dormienda
About the Author
KELLI STANLEY is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of three previous Miranda Corbie novels (City of Dragons, City of Secrets, and City of Ghosts). She is a Macavity, Bruce Alexander, and Golden Nugget Award winner and has been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Shamus Award. Her other books include Nox Dormienda and The Curse-Maker, both part of a historical noir series set in Roman Britain, as well as contributions to various fiction and nonfiction anthologies. The city and county of San Francisco have awarded her a Certificate of Honor for her contributions to literature. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Act One. The Idea
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Act Two. The Plot
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Act Three. The Draft
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Act Four. The Rewrite
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Act Five. Publication
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Author’s Note
Also by Kelli Stanley
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
CITY OF SHARKS. Copyright © 2018 by Kelli Stanley. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover photographs: bridge © Nat Farbman/Getty Images; woman © Dm Cherry/Shutterstock.com
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-00675-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-9310-8 (ebook)
eISBN 9781466893108
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: March 2018
City of Sharks Page 38