My Dark Places - James Ellroy [119]
I asked Bill to prioritize the Long case. He said it rated low. A random pickup killed Bobbie Long. My mother probably knew the Blonde and the Swarthy Man. She probably knew at least one of them before that night.
I mentioned the Swarthy Man’s car and the IBM punch cards in the file. It looked like the cops only checked car registrations for the San Gabriel Valley. Lavonne Chambers pinpointed a ’55 or ’56 Olds. I figured the cops would check registrations for the whole fucking state. Bill said the punch-card run was confusing. Homicide jobs were full of weird inconsistencies.
I said it all came back to the Blonde. Bill said, “Cherchez la femme.” We flew up to Sacramento the next morning. We flew up behind some bad news.
Bill called the Coroner’s Office. They said they tossed our semen slides. They tossed out old evidence routinely. They needed space to store new evidence.
We rented a car and drove to Charlie Guenther’s house. Bill called Guenther last night and told him we were coming. He asked him some preliminary questions. Guenther said the case was vaguely familiar. He said the file might revive his memory.
We brought the file. I brought 50 potential questions.
Guenther was friendly. He came across 65 going on 40. He looked good. He had gray-white hair and blue eyes like Ward Hallinen. He ran an O. J. Simpson hate riff in place of standard hellos. He jumped to our case fast.
Bill ran the key points by him. Guenther said he remembered it now. He got called in with his partner Duane Rasure. Some woman snitched off her ex-husband. They checked the guy out. They didn’t confirm or refute his guilt.
We sat down at a coffee table. I emptied the Will Lenard Miller envelope. It contained three photographs of Will Lenard Miller; reports from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; copies of Will Lenard Miller’s 1957, 1958 and 1959 income tax returns; income tax withholding statements from 1957, 1958 and 1959; a finance company bill dated 5/17/65; an Orange County Sheriff’s Department to El Monte PD teletype dated 9/4/70; a house escrow agreement signed by Will and Shirley Miller— dated 1/9/57; an investigatory checklist in Charlie Guenther’s handwriting; a note sheet detailing Will Lenard Miller’s criminal record—with two bad check charges in ’67 and ’69 and a credit card forgery in ’70; a lawyer’s letter dated 11/3/64—detailing alleged injuries that Will Lenard Miller suffered while working at the C. K. Adams Machine Shop on 3/26/62; an Orange County Municipal Court Probation Order dated 11/22/67; and polygraph report on Will Lenard Miller—dated 9/15/70.
We looked at the paperwork. We put the income tax forms aside. We looked at the pictures of Will Lenard Miller.
He was dark-haired and heavyset. He had blunt facial characteristics. He did not look like the Swarthy Man.
Guenther examined his checklist. He said the notations pertained to standard procedure. He always did the same thing when he picked up old cases. Nothing juked his memory. The list was just a personal reminder.
We read the lawyer’s letter. It itemized Will Lenard Miller’s workplace grievances.
Miller took a spill and fucked up his left knee. He started having dizzy spells and blackouts. He fell down and fucked up his head. His physical injuries fucked up his psychological balance.
I mentioned a Blue Book report. Shirley Miller said my mother refused to process an injury claim her husband submitted. She said it sent him “off the deep end.”
Guenther said Miller was a goddamn crybaby. Bill said he sure didn’t look Latin.
We checked out the probation order. Will Lenard Miller bounced a few checks. He got a $25 fine and two years probation. He had to make restitution. He had to see a financial counselor. He had to get permission to make purchases above $50.
We all agreed.
Will Lenard Miller was one