My Dark Places - James Ellroy [106]
Wheelock said he didn’t know Bobbie’s bookie. He didn’t know any “rich guy” or any guy with slicked-back hair or any guy who worked at the Challenge Creamery. Hopkinson thanked him and said he’d be in touch.
Hallinen, Hopkinson and Lovretovich drove to the Hall of Justice. They checked the bus ticket in Bobbie Long’s purse. Lovretovich called the L.A. Transit Authority. He explained his situation and read off the numbers on the ticket. His contact did some checking and called back. He said the ticket was issued yesterday—1/22/59. It was purchased at 6th and Main in downtown L.A. Their stub was the unused portion. Somebody took an M-line bus to Santa Anita Racetrack and did not take the bus home.
Hallinen walked down to the morgue. Deputy Coroner Don H. Mills ran the autopsy by him.
Bobbie Long died of acute asphyxiation. She took some bad shots to the head. Her skull was fractured in four places. One fracture wound was crescent-shaped. The killer might have hit her with a crescent wrench. Her sixth cervical vertebra was fractured and separated. She had partially digested beans, rice and cornmeal in her stomach. She had semen in her vagina. Her external genitalia were not bruised or abraded. Her blood alcohol registered at 0%. She died cold sober.
A teletype went out that night.
BROADCAST NO. 76 1/23/59 FILE NO. Z-524-820
MURDER INFORMATION WANTED EMERGENCY
FOUND AT APPROX 2:30 AM 1/23/59 VICTIM BOBBIE
LONG FWA 45-50 5/554, 135 LBS., BLUE EYES, SHORT
DISHWATER BLOND HAIR. DRESSED IN CHARCOAL AND
BLACK BLOUSE, BLACK FELT SKIRT, BRIGHT RED FULL
LENGTH COAT WITH COSTUME JEWELRY HORSE PINNED
ON LEFT SHOULDER. VICTIM’S PANTIE GIRDLE, BRA,
AND SLIP WERE ALSO BRIGHT RED. WORE OPEN-TOE
BLACK SHOES AND CARRIED BLACK PURSE. VICTIM WAS
FOUND LYING ON BACK BESIDE A DIRT ACCESS ROAD
NEAR A PUMP HOUSE OFF DON JULIAN ROAD AND 8TH
AVE., LA PUENTE AREA, FULLY CLOTHED, STRANGLED
WITH A NYLON STOCKING. HAD ALSO BEEN BEATEN ON
THE HEAD WITH AN INSTRUMENT LEAVING CRESCENT-SHAPED
MARKS. HAD HAD INTERCOURSE OR HAD BEEN
RAPED. ATTENDED RACES AT SANTA ANITA ON 1/22/59.
PURSE CONTAINED GLASSES AND CAMEL CIGARETTES,
PLUS USUAL FEMININE EFFECTS. SUSPECT’S CAR MAY
HAVE BLOODSTAINS. PLEASE CHECK YOUR FIELD
INTERROGATION CARDS FOR THE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING UP TO 12:00 MIDNIGHT OF 1/22/59.
ATTN/TEMPLE STATION
ATTN/SAN DIMAS STATION
ATTN/SAN GABRIEL VALLEY POLICE DEPTS.
ATTN/SAN GABRIEL VALLEY AREA CHP
REFER MCGOWAN, ANDRE, EVERLEY HQ DB HOMICIDE
DETAIL
FILE Z-524-820
PETER J. PITCHESS, SHERIFF DC SNDG 600 PM
Ward Hallinen met Harry Andre and Claude Everley at the Bureau. They discussed the Long case 14 hours in. They all thought it resembled the Jean Ellroy job.
Jean Ellroy was probably raped. Bobbie Long most likely engaged in sex willingly. Her undergarments were properly in place. That fact implied consensual sex.
Both women sustained head wounds. The body dump locations were six miles apart. Santa Anita was two miles north of Arroyo High School. Both victims were divorcees. The crime scenes looked almost identical. The Ellroy killer dropped the victim’s coat on her legs. The Long killer did the same thing. Bobbie Long was blond. Jean Ellroy was seen with a blond woman. Jean Ellroy ate chili at Stan’s Drive-In. Bobbie Long ate Mexican food. The time lag between homicides was seven months and one day.
The Ellroy killer used a sash cord and a nylon stocking. The Long killer used a stocking only. Nylon stockings were common strangulation tools. The MO might link the two murders. The MO might not.
Andre and Everley called every police department in the San Gabriel Valley. They laid out their case. They asked patrol supervisors to check field interrogation cards and traffic reports. Bobbie Long was out with a man last night. They were looking