My Dark Places - James Ellroy [167]
Jean returned to Chicago. The trip was fun. She made some money. She liked California. The screen test was fun and no more. She didn’t want to be a movie star.
It was 1939. Jean turned 24 in April. Aunt Norma ditched her husband. She took up with another local pastor. They left Tomah forever. Norma lost track of Jean. They never saw each other again. Jean lost track of Mary Evans. They never saw each other again. Leoda Hilliker married Ed Wagner on 6/7/39. Jean attended the wedding in Madison, Wisconsin. Jean had a lover or lovers then. She got pregnant. She called Mary’s boyfriend and asked him to abort her. He refused. Jean aborted herself. She killed the fetus and hemorrhaged. She called Mary’s boyfriend. He treated her. He did not report the abortion.
Jean moved to Los Angeles. She might have met the Spalding man there. They were married somewhere. It wasn’t Chicago. It wasn’t in L.A. County, Orange County, San Diego County, Ventura County, Las Vegas or Reno. Bill Stoner checked marriage records in all those locations. Janet Klock found some old notes. They pertained to the split-rail-fence portraits. My mother wrote the notes. She said the pictures were taken near Mount Charleston, Nevada. My mother alluded to “we.” She wore a wedding ring. They looked like honeymoon photos. The Hilliker-Spalding marriage could not be verified. Leoda never met the Spalding man. Jean’s friends never met the Spalding man. Nobody knew his first name. Two men qualified as heirs to the Spalding sporting goods fortune. One man died in World War I. The surviving son was named Keith Spalding. Bill Stoner could not link him to my mother. She might have married him. She might have married a Spalding with no blood ties to the Spaldings. The marriage was brief. Five witnesses confirmed that fact or rumor. Bill found a Geneva Spalding in the ’39 L.A. directory. Her occupation was listed as “Maid.” Her address was 852 Bedford in West Los Angeles. The ’39 directories came out in ’40. She had time to marry and divorce Mr. Spalding. She had time to find work and an apartment of her own.
Earle Hilliker died in 1940. He checked out behind pneumonia. Jean Hilliker was listed in the ’41 L.A. book. She was a stenographer. She lived at 854 South Harvard. She’d moved east to the Wilshire District. She was probably working toward her nurse’s certification.
And a rendezvous with my father.
My father moved to San Diego after World War I. He told me that. He was a liar. All his statements were suspect. Bill Stoner checked old San Diego directories. He found my father in the ’26 book. He was listed as a deputy county auditor. He held the job through 1929. He was a salesman in ’30. He managed a hotel in ’31. He worked at the U.S. Grant Hotel for the next four years. He was a house detective and an assistant auditor. He changed jobs in ’35. He became a salesman. He worked for A.M. Fidelity. He wasn’t listed in the ’36 or ’37 book. He was listed in the ’37 L.A. directory. His occupation was not listed. He lived at 2819 Leeward. He was listed at the same address in ’38 and ’39. 2819 Leeward was Central L.A. It was four miles east of Geneva Spalding’s ’39 address. The ’40 book listed my father at 2845 West 27th. The ’41 book listed him at 408 South Burlington. The address was a mile and a half from Jean Hilliker’s ’41 address.
My father married a woman in San Diego. The date was 12/22/34. Her name was Mildred Jean Feese. She came from Nebraska. My father “willfully deserted” her on 6/5/41. She filed for divorce on 9/11/44. She said my father treated her in a “cruel and inhuman manner, which caused this plaintifif grievous mental suffering and distress, resulting in her becoming extremely nervous, suffering physical anguish, and becoming physically ill.”
My father received a court summons. He did not appear in court. A default decree was filed on 11/20/44. The divorce was finalized on 11/27/45. The marriage produced no children. The final decree did not mention