Put the smut/Hudgens line to the Atherton case aside, former Inspector Preston Exley would make discreet inquiries when asked.
A theoretical line--Pierce Patchett to Duke Cathcart. Lynn Bracken denied it, a lie, Vincennes' deposition had Patchett pushing the smut Cathcart planned to distribute--_but who made it?_ Hudgens to Patchett and Bracken: the dirtmonger was terrified that Vincennes was nosing around Fleur-de-Lis; Lynn told Jack that Patchett and Hudgens were going in on a gig together, she now denied it, another lie. He needed another graph just to chart lies--he didn't have a room big enough to hold it.
More lines:
Davey Goldman to Dean Van Gelder to Duke Cathcart and Susan Nancy Lefferts--incomprehensible until Vincennes reported back from McNeil Island, and Bud White, obviously hiding out, was questioned on what he might be suppressing. Vocational lines--Patchett, the Englekling brothers and their father possessed chemistry backgrounds; Patchett, a reputed heroin sniffer, had plastic surgery connections to Dr. Terry Lux, the owner of a booze/dope sanitarium. Dudley Smith's report to Parker stated that Pete and Bax Englekling were tortured to death with corrosive chemicals, no other details added. Conclusion: the link to decipher every interconnected line had to be Patchett--his whores, his smut posers, Patchett the conduit to the man who made the blood smut, killed Hudgens and formed the final line stretching back to 1934 and his own father's glory case.
Too many lines to ignore.
Patchett bankrolled early Dieterling films. Dieterling's son Billy and boyfriend Timmy Valburn used Fleur-de- Lis; Valburn was a Bobby Inge K.A. Billy worked on Badge of Honor, the first focus of the Hudgens homicide investigation. Badge of Honor co-star Miller Stanton was a Dieterling kid star around the same time that Wee Willie Wennerholm was murdered--by Loren Atherton? Slash lines--Atherton to the smut to Hudgens; lines of coincidence too convenient not to cut at family loyalty-- seventeen years post-Atherton, Preston Exley builds Dreama- Dreamland.
Governor Exley. Chief of Detectives Exley.
Ed thought of Lynn, tasted her, shuddered. A quick jump to Inez--a new line to utilize.
He drove to Laguna Beach.
o o o
The press, swarming: perched by their cars, playing cards on Ray Dieterling's lawn. Ed pulled around the block, walked up, sprinted.
They saw him, chased him. He made the door, slammed the knocker. The door opened--straight into Inez.
She slammed it, bolted it. Ed walked into the living room-- Dream-a-Dreamland smiled all around him.
Gimcracks, porcelain statues: Moochie, Danny, Scooter. Wall photos: Dieterling and crippled children. Canceled checks encased in plastic--six figures to fight kids' diseases.
'See, I've got company.'
Ed turned to face her. 'Thanks for letting me in.'
'They've been treating you worse than me, so I figured I owed you.'
She looked pale. 'Thanks. And you know it'll pass, just like last time.'
'Maybe. You look lousy, Exley.'
'People keep telling me that.'
'Then maybe it's true. Look, if you want to stay and talk awhile, fine, but please don't talk about Bud or all this _mierda_ that's going on.'
'I wasn't planning on it, but small talk was never our forte.'
She walked up. Ed embraced her; she grabbed his arms and pushed herself away. Ed tried a smile. 'I saw some gray hairs. When you're my age you'll probably be as gray as I am. How's that for small talk?'
'Small, and I can do better. Preston's running for governor, unless his notorious son ruins his chances. I'm going to be his campaign coordinator.'
'Governor Dad. Did he say I'd ruin his chances?'
'No, because he'd never say bad things about you. Just try to do what you can not to hurt him.'
Reporters outside--Ed heard them laughing. 'I don't want Father to be hurt either. And you can help me prevent it.'
'How?'
'A favor. A favor between you and me, nobody else to know.'
'What? Explain it.'
'It's very complicated, and it involves Ray Dieterling. Do you know the name 'Pierce Patchett'?'
Inez shook her head. 'No, who is he?'
'He's an investor of sorts, that's all I can tell you. I need you to use your access at Dream-a-Dreamland to check his financial connections to Dieterling. Check back to the late '20s, very quietly. Will you do that for me?'
'Exley, this sounds like police business. And what does it have to do with your father?'
Recoiling: doubting the man who formed him. 'Father might be in some tax trouble. I need you to check Dieterling's financial records for mention of him.'
'Bad trouble?'
'Yes.'
'Check back to '50 or so? When they began planning for Dream-a-Dreamland?'
'No, go back to 1932. I know you've seen the books at Dieterling Productions, and I know you can do it.'
'With explanations to follow?'
More recoil. 'On Election Day. Come on, Inez. You love him almost as much as I do.'
'All right. For your father.'
'No other reason?'
'All right, for what you've done for me and the friends you gave me. And if that sounds cruel, I'm sorry.'
A Moochie Mouse clock struck ten. Ed said, 'I should go, I've got a meeting in L.A.'
'Go out the back way. I think I still hear the vultures.'
o o o
The recoil got squared driving back.
Call it standard elimination procedure:
If his father really did know Ray Dieterling during the time of the Atherton case, he had a valid reason for not revealing it, he was probably embarrassed at plumbing business deals with a man he once rubbed shoulders with in the process of a hellish murder investigation. Preston Exley believed that policemen striking friendships with influential civilians was inimical to the concept of impartial absolute justice, and if he fell short of his own standards it was understandable that he would not want the fact known.
Squared with love and respect.
Ed made the Dining Car early; the maitre d' said his guest was waiting. He walked back to his favorite booth--a private nook behind the bar. Vincennes was there, holding a tape spool.
Ed sat down. 'That's tape off a bug?'
Vincennes slid the spool over. 'Yeah, filled with Mickey C. running off at the mouth on stuff that has nothing to do with the Nite Owl. Too bad, but I think we can put Davey down as a traitor to Mickey, and I think he must have heard the Engleklings offer Mick the Cathcart deal. He liked the sound of it and sent Van Gelder after Duke. And that's as far as I can take it.'
The man looked shot. 'Good work, Jack. Really, I mean it.'
'Thanks, and that first name bit just went over large.'
Ed picked up a menu, emptied his pockets underneath it. 'It's midnight and I'm all out of subtlety.'
'You're working up to something. What'd you get out of Bracken?'
'Nothing but lies. And you're right, Sergeant. The McNeil end is dead for now.'
'So?'
'So tomorrow I'm hitting Patchett. I'm sealing l.A. off from Dudley and his men and bringing in Terry Lux, Chester Yorkin and every Patchett flunky that Fisk and Kleckner can find.'
