True Detective

'We come from Davenport. Iowa? On the Mississippi. One of the Tri-Cities. Heard of that? Rock Island? Moline?'

I'd heard of all three: Davenport was where Bix Beiderbecke came from- the jazz cornet player who, till bad bootleg gin killed him in '31. made Paul Whiteman worth listening to; Rock Island I knew from its railroad; and Barney had fought in Moline. But the term 'Tri-Cities' was new to me. I didn't bother saying so. because she was off and away.

'My father was a chiropractor. That makes it sound like he's dead, and he isn't. He's alive and well. But Daddy was a chiropractor. Davenport is the home of that, you know… the Palmers, they invented chiropractic. And my father was very thick with them. Very friendly, one of their first students. But he had an accident in an automobile, and his hands were badly burned. He had to stop practicing. He taught at the Palmer College for a while, and ended up as the manager of WOC Radio.'

I stopped her. 'How did he go from being a bonesetter to the manager of a radio station?'

'The Palmers own WOC. 'World of Chiropractic' Like the Tribune's station WGN stands for 'World's Greatest Newspaper.' Understand? That's where I had my first experience, in radio, was on Daddy's station. I read poems on the air when I was a little girl. When I was older, I had my own program for the kids, reading stories, like fairy tales. That's where I got my experience, and why I was able to come to

Chicago and find work in radio, here.'

Having a father in the business who could pull some strings (even if he couldn't crack bones) must not have hurt, either.

'Jimmy and I were always close. We had a lot of the same dreams. I wanted to be an actress, and he wanted to be a reporter. We both read a lot, as kids, and I think that's what fueled our fantasies, and our ambitions. But, anyway, that was Jimmy's dream, only Daddy wanted him to be a chiropractor, as you might guess. Jimmy had a couple of years at Augustana College, taking liberal arts, planning to take journalism, but Daddy wanted him to go on to Palmer, and when Jimmy wouldn't, Daddy cut off the money. And Jimmy left home.'

'When was this?'

'A year and a half ago. About June 1931, I'd say. Right after his college got out.'

'How long have you been in Chicago?'

'A year. I hoped to run into him here.'

'Chicago's a big place to just run into people.'

'I know that now. I didn't know that in Davenport.'

'Understandable. But you had reason to believe he'd come here?'

'Yes. He wanted to work for the World's Greatest Newspaper.'

'The Trib?.'

'Yes. Short of that. I think any Chicago paper would do.'

'And you think, what? He came to Chicago and applied for jobs at the various papers?'

'I think so, yes. I called all the papers and asked if they had a James Beame working for them and they just laughed at me.'

'They thought you were pulling their leg.'

'Why?'

'James Beame. Jim Beam. You know.'

'No.'

'It's a whiskey.'

'Oh. I didn't make that connection.'

'Well, they probably did. He hasn't contacted your family? Your father, your mother, since he left in the summer of 31?'

'No. Mother's dead, by the way. When she gave birth to us.'

I didn't know what to say to that; it was a little late in the game to express condolences. Finally I said. 'I take it this is your personal effort to locate your brother… your father isn't involved.'

'That's right.'

'Is there anything else pertinent you can tell me?'

She thought. 'He came by hopping a freight. At least that's what he told me he planned to do.'

'I see. It's not a lot to go on.'

'But you will try, won't you?'

'Sure. But I can't guarantee you anything. I can check with the papers, and maybe ask around some Hoovervilles.'

'Why those?'

'A naive kid. down on his luck, he might fall in with hobos or down-and-outers.' If he lived through it.

'Or he might have gone on by freight to someplace else. Do you want to know what my guess is?'

'Certainly.'

'He came here and tried to land a job and got nowhere. He was too embarrassed to go back home, so he hit