L.A. Confidential

by James Ellroy

  Old touches: how he taught Miller to play a cop; how he took Miller down to Central Avenue to get laid and wound up rousting Art Pepper. Gallaudet poked his head in, said Max Pelts was clean--Max stories ate up another hour. Miller got misty-- '58 would be the show's last season. Too bad they lost touch with each other, but the Big V was acting too crazy, a pariah in the Industry. White and Exley arguing next door--Jack cut to it.

  "Miller, is there something you're dying to tell me?"

  "I don't know, Jack. It's old rebop."

  "This mess _goes_ back. You know Patchett, don't you?"

  "How'd you know that?"

  "Educated guess. And the captain's file said Patchett bankrolled some old Dieterling films."

  Stanton checked his glass--empty. "Okay, I know Patchett from way back. It's some story, but I don't see how it applies to what you're interested in."

  Jack heard the side door scrape carpet. "All I know is that you've been dying to tell me ever since I said the word 'Patchett."'

  "Damn, I don't feel like a cop around you. I feel like a fat actor about to lose his series."

  Jack looked away-cut the man slack. Stanton said, "You know I was the chubby kid in Dieterling's serials way back when. Willie Wennerholm, Wee Willie, he was the big star. I used to see Patchett at the studio school, and I knew he was some kind of Dieterling business partner, because our tutor had a crush on him and told all the kids who he was."

  "And?"

  "And Wee Wiffie was kidnapped from the school and chopped up by Dr. Frankenstein. You know the case, it was famous. The police picked up this guy Loren Atherton. They said he killed Willie and all these other children. Jack, this is the hard part."

  "So tell it fast."

  Very fast. "Mr. Dieterling and Patchett came to me. They gave me tranquilizers and told me I had to come along with this older boy and visit a police station. I was fourteen, the older boy was maybe seventeen. Patchett and Mr. Dieterling coached me, and we went to the station. We talked to Preston Exley, he was a detective back then. We told him just what Patchett and Mr. Dieterling told us to-that we'd seen Atherton prowling around the studio school. We identified Atherton and Exley believed us."

  An actor's pause. Jack said, "Goddammit, _and?_"

  Slower. "I never saw the older boy again, and I can't even remember his name. Atherton was convicted and executed, and I wasn't asked to testify at his trial. It got to be '39, right in there. I was still in the Dieterling stable, but I was a boy ingenue. Mr. Dieterling had this little studio contingent go out to the opening of the Arroyo Seco Freeway, just a publicity appearance. Preston Exley, he was a big-shot contractor now, and he cut the ribbon. I heard Mr. Dieterling, Patchett and Terry Lux, you know him, talking."

  Pins and needles. "Miller, come on."

  "I'll never forget what they said, Jack. Patchett told Lux, 'I've got the chemicals to keep him from hurting anybody and you plasticked him.' Lux said, 'And I'll get him a keeper.' Mr. Dieterling, I'll never forget the way his voice sounded. He said, 'And I gave Preston Exley a scapegoat he believes in beyond Loren Atherton. And I think the man owes me too much now to hurt me."'

  Jack touched himself--he thought he'd stopped breathing. Breathing behind him--strained. Eyes on Exley and White in the doorway--up close to each other frozen.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO

  Now all his lines crossed in ink.

  Red ink mutilations. An inkwell spilling blood. Cartoon characters on a marquee with Raymond Dieterling, Preston Exley, an all-star criminal cast. Ink colors: red, green for bribe money. Black for mourning--the dead supporting players. White and Vincennes knew, they'd probably tell Gallaudet--he kicked them out of the hotel knowing it. He could warn his father or not warn his father and the end would be the same. He could keep going or sit in this room and watch his life explode on television.

  Long hours down--he couldn't reach for the phone. He turned on the TV, saw his father at a freeway ceremony, stuck his gun in his mouth while the man mouthed platitudes. The trigger half back--fade to a commercial. He emptied four rounds, spun the cylinder, put the barrel to his head. He squeezed the trigger twice, empty chambers, he couldn't believe what he'd done. He threw his piece out the window--a wino grabbed it off the sidewalk, shot up the sky. He laughed, sobbed, punched himself out on the furniture.

  More hours down doing nothing.

  The phone rang--Ed flailed for it blind. "Uh . . . yes?"

  "Captain, you there? It's Vincennes."

  "I'm here. What is it?"

  "I'm at the Bureau with White. We just caught a squeal and grabbed it. 2206 North New Hampshire, Billy Dieterling's house. Billy and an unknown male dead. Fisk rolled on it already. Cap, _are you there?_"

  No no no--yes. "I'm going . . . I'll be there."

  "Will do. And by the way, White and I didn't tell Gallaudet what Stanton said. Thought you should know that."

  "Thank you, Sergeant."

  "Thank White. He's the one you had to worry about."

  o o o

  Fisk met him there--a mock Tudor lit by headlights--blackand-whites, crime lab cars on the lawn.

  Ed ran up; Fisk spoke shorthand. "Neighbor woman heard screams, waited half an hour and called. She saw a man run out, get into Billy Dieterling's car and take off. He hit a tree down the block, got out and ran. I took a statement. White, male, early forties, average build. Sir, brace yourself."

  Flashbulb pops inside. Ed said, "_Seal it here_. No Homicide, no station cops. No press, and I don't want Dieterling's father to find out. Have Kleckner seal the car and go get me Timmy Valburn. _Find him. Now_."

  "Sir, they blew our tail. I feel bad about this, like it's our fault."

  "It doesn't matter, just do what I told you."

  Fisk ran to his car; Ed walked in, looked.

  Billy Dieterling on a white couch soaked red. A knife in his throat; two knives in his stomach. His scalp on the floor, stuck to the carpet with an icepick. A few feet away: a fortyish white man--disemboweled, eviscerated, knives in his cheeks, two kitchen forks in his eyes. Drug capsules soaking in floor blood.

  No artful desecrations--his man was past it now.

  Ed walked into the kitchen. Patchett to Lux '39: "I've got the chemicals to keep him from hurting anybody, and you plasticked him." Cupboards dumped; forks and spoons on the floor. Ray Dieterling '39: "A scapegoat he believes in." Bloody footprints in and out--his man made trips for more adornment. Lux: "I'll get him a keeper." A scalp section in the sink. "Preston Exley, he was a big-shot contractor now." A bloody handprint on the wall, a psycho passion job for Crim 101's all-time list.

  Ed squinted at the print--ridges and whirls showed plainly. Psycho oblivion: his man pressed his hand there to leave an imprimatur.

  Back to the living room. Trashcan Jack in the middle of a half dozen lab techs. Bad flashbulb glare, no Bud White.

  Trash said, "The other man's Jerry Marsalas. He's a male nurse, and he's sort of the keeper of this guy on the _Badge of Honor_ crew. David Mertens, the set designer. Very quiet, he's got epilepsy or something like that."

  "Plastic surgery scars?"

  "Graft scars all over his neck and back. I saw him with his shirt off once."

  Techs swarming now--Ed led Vincennes out to the porch. Cool air, bright bright headlights. Trash said, "Mertens is the right age to be that older kid Stanton was talking about. Lux cut him, so Miller wouldn't have recognized him on the set. All the grafts on his back, he could have been cut lots of times. Jesus, the look on your face. You're taking it all the way?"

  "I don't know. I want one more day to see what we can get on Dudley."

  "And see if White tries to shank you. He could have told Gallaudet the whole story, but he didn't."

  "White's as crazy as anybody in this thing."

  Trash laughed. "Yeah, like you. Boss, if you and Gallaudet want this mess to go to due process, you'd better lock that boy up. He's out to kill Dudley and Deuce, and believe me he'll do it."

  Ed laug
hed. "I told him he could."

  "You'd _let him_ do--"

  Cut him off. "Jack, do this. Stake Mertens' place and see if you can find White, then--"

  "He's chasing down Perkins, how do I--"

  "Just try to find him. And with or without him, meet me at Mickey Cohen's house tomorrow at nine. We're going to brace him on Dudley."

  Vincennes looked around. "I don't see anybody from Homicide here."

  "You and Fisk caught it, so Homicide doesn't know. I can keep it I.A.-sealed for twenty-four hours or so. It's ours until the press gets it."

  "No APB on Mertens?"

  "I'll call out half of l.A. He's a drooling psychotic. We'll get him."

  "Suppose I find him. You don't want him talking old times, not with your father part of it."

  "Take him alive. I want to talk to him."

  Vincennes said, "For crazy, White's got nothing on you."

  o o o

  Ed sealed it.

  He called Chief Parker, told him he had an I.A.-related double homicide and was keeping the victims' identities secret. He woke up five I.A. men, filled them in on David Mertens, sent them out to search for him. He made the neighbor lady who called in the squeal take a sedative, go to bed, promise she wouldn't spill the name "Billy Dieterling" to the press. The press arrived--he mollified them with John Doe IDs, sent them packing. He walked to the end of the block and examined the car--Kleckner watchdogging it--a Packard Caribbean with the front wheels up on the curb, the fender nosed into a tree. The driver's seat, dash and shift lever--bloody; perfect bloody handprints on the outside of the windshield. Kleckner stripped the license plates; Ed told him to drive the car home, stash it, team up with the searchers. Courtesy calls from a pay phone: the watch commander at Rampart Station, the duty M.E. at the City Morgue. A lie: Parker wanted a twenty-four-hour blanket on the killings-- no statements to the press, no autopsy reports circulated. 3:40 A.M., no Homicide brass at the scene--Parker carte-blanched him.

  Sealed.

  Ed walked back to the house. Quiet--no newsmen, no rubberneckers. Tape outlines--no bodies. Techs dusting, bagging evidence. Fisk in the kitchen doorway--looking nervous. "Sir, I've got Valburn. Inez Soto's with him. I went down to Laguna on a hunch. You told me Miss Soto knew him."

  "What did Valburn tell you?"

  "Nothing. He said he'd only talk to you. I broke it to him, and he cried himself out on the ride up. He said he's ready to make a statement."

  Inez walked out. Grief all over her, her nails chewed bloody. "I blame you for this. I blame you for pushing Billy to it."

  "I don't know what you mean, but I'm sorry."

  "You had me spy on Raymond. Now you did this."

  Ed stepped toward her. She slapped him, hit him. "Leave us all alone!"

  Fisk grabbed her, eased her outside. Gentle--soft hands, a low voice. Ed walked down the hall looking in rooms.

  Valburn in the den, taking pictures off the wall. Bright eyes glazed over, a too-bright voice. "If I keep doing things I'll be fine."

  A group shot came down. "I need a full statement."

  "Oh, you'll get one."

  "Mertens killed Hudgens, Billy and Marsalas, plus Wee Willie and those other children. I need the why. Timmy, look at me."

  Timmy plucked a framed photo. "We were together since 1949. We had our little indiscretions, but we always stayed together and loved each other. Don't give me a speech about getting his killer, Ed. I just couldn't bear it. I'll tell you what you want to know, but try not to be déclassé."

  "Timmy--"

  Valburn threw the frame at the wall. "David Mertens, goddamn you!"

  Glass shattered. The picture landed face up: Raymond Dieterling holding an inkwell. "Start with the pornography. Jack Vincennes talked to you about it five years ago, and he thought you were holding back."

  "Is this another third degree?"

  "Don't make it one."

  Timmy squared a stack of frames. "Jerry Marsalas made David create that strange . . . filth. Jerry was a very bad man. He'd been David's companion for years, and he regulated the drugs that kept him . . . relatively normal. Sometimes he'd escalate and de-escalate his dosages and get David to do commercial art piecework, just so he could keep the money. Raymond paid Jerry to look after David. He got David the job at _Badge of Honor_ so that Billy could look after him, too--Billy ran the camera crew since the show first went on."

  Ed said, "Don't get ahead of yourself. Where did Marsalas and Mertens find the posers?"

  Timmy hugged his pictures. "Fleur-de-Lis. Marsalas had used the service for years. He'd buy call girls when he was flush, and he knew lots of Pierce's old string of girls and lots of . . . sexually adventurous people that the girls told him about. He found out that a lot of Fleur-de-Lis customers had a bent for specialty smut, and he talked some of Pierce's old girls into letting him voyeur their sex parties. Jerry took pictures, David took pictures, and Jerry escalated David's drug intake and made him do pasteup work. The ink blood was all David's idea. Jerry hired some studio art director to make finished books out of the pictures and took them to Pierce. Do you follow? I don't know what _you_ know."

  Ed got out his notebook. "Miller Stanton told us some background things. Patchett and Dieterling were partners at the time of the Atherton killings, and you know I make Mertens for them. Just keep going. If I need something clarified, I'll tell you."

  Timmy said, "All right then. If you don't know it, the ink pictures were similar to the woundings on the Atherton victims. Pierce didn't know it when he saw the books, I guess only policemen saw the evidence photos. He also didn't know that David Mertens was the Wennerholm killer's new identity, so when Marsalas hatched this plan to sell the books and went to Pierce for financing, he just thought it was dirty books that compromised his prostitutes and their customers. He turned Marsalas down on his offer, but he did buy some of the books to sell through Fleur-de-Lis. Then Marsalas went to this man Duke Cathcart, and he went to these people the Englekling brothers. Ed, your Mr. Fisk hinted that all this has to do with the Nite Owl case, but I don't--"

  "I'll tell you later. You're talking about early '53, and I'm following you so far. Just keep telling it in order."

  Timmy laid his pictures down. "Then Patchett went to Sid Hudgens. He and Hudgens were going to be partners in some extortion thing that I don't know anything about, and Pierce told Hudgens about Marsalas and his smut. He'd had Marsalas checked out, and he knew he was a regular on the _Badge of Honor_ set, which interested Hudgens, because he had always wanted to do an exposé on the show for _Hush-Hush_. Pierce gave Hudgens a few of the books he'd held back from Fleur-de-Lis, and Hudgens approached Marsalas. He demanded information on the show's stars and threatened Jerry with exposure of his smut dealings if he didn't cooperate. Jerry gave him some tame stuff on Max Pelts, and a little while later it appeared in print. Then Hudgens was murdered, and of course it was Jerry who put David up to it. He lowered his drug dosage and drove him insane. David reverted to his old . . . to the way he killed the children. Marsalas did it because he was afraid Hudgens would keep trying to extort him. He went with David, and he stole Hudgens' _Badge of Honor_ files from his house, including an incomplete file Hudgens had on him and David. I don't think he knew that Pierce already had carbons of the files he and Hudgens were going to use for their blackmail thing, or that Pierce knew the bank where Hudgens kept his original files stashed."

  Three key questions coming up; more corroboration first. "Timmy, when Vincennes questioned you five years ago, you acted suspiciously. Did you know back then that Mertens made the smut?"

  "Yes, but I didn't know who David _was_. All I knew was that Billy kept an eye on him, so I kept quiet to Jack."

  Question number one. "How do you know all this? Everything you've told me."

  Timmy's eyes glazed fresh. "I found out tonight. After the hotel, Billy wanted that awful policeman's hints about Johnny Stompanato explained. Billy's known most of the story for years, but he wanted to know
the rest. We went to Raymond's house in Laguna. Raymond knew about the more recent things from Pierce, and he told Billy the whole story. I just listened."

  "And Inez was there."

  "Yes, she heard it all. She blames you, sweetie. Pandora's box and all that."

  She knew, his father probably knew. Full disclosure as good as public. "So Patchett supplied the dope that's kept Mertens docile all these years."

  "Yes, he's quite physiologically ill. He gets brain inflammations periodically, and that's when he's most dangerous."

  "And Dieterling got him the job with _Badge of Honor_ so Billy could look after him."

  "Yes. After the Hudgens killing Raymond read about the mutilations and thought they sounded like the ones from the old child murders. He contacted Patchett, who he knew was friendly with Hudgens. Raymond revealed David's identity to Pierce, and Pierce became terrified. Raymond was afraid to take David away from Jerry, and he's been paying Jerry extraordinary money to keep David drugged up."

  Key question two. "You've been waiting for this one, Timmy. Why has Ray Dieterling gone to all this trouble for David?"

  Timmy turned a picture around--Billy, a lump-faced man. "David is Raymond's illegitimate son. He's Billy's half brother, and look at him. Terry Lux has cut him so often that he's so ugly next to my sweet Billy that you almost can't look."

  Moving on grief--Ed cut in before he snapped. "What happened tonight?"

  "Tonight Raymond filled Billy in on everything going back to Sid Hudgens--he didn't know any of it. Billy made me stay with Inez at Laguna. He told me he was going to snatch David from Jerry's house and wean him off the drugs. He must have tried it, and Marsalas must have retaliated. I saw those pills on the floor . . . and oh God David must have just gone insane. He couldn't understand who was good and who was bad and just..."

  Three. "At the hotel you reacted to Johnny Stompanato. Why?"

  "Stompanato's been blackmailing Pierce's customers for years. He caught me with another man and got part of the Mertens story out of me. Not much, just that Raymond paid for David's upkeep. It . . . it was before I knew very much. Stompanato's been preparing a dossier to bleed Raymond dry. He's been threatening Billy with notes, but I don't think he knows who David is. Billy was trying to convince his father to have him killed."