My Dark Places - James Ellroy [88]
The old man hated Mentzer. He called Deedee and told her to cooperate. Stoner and Guenther met with her. She examined the photo that Carlos Avila found. She ID’d the two men standing with Mentzer.
One man was named Alex Marti. He was from Argentina. He was a scary, violent guy. Deedee saw him provoke a couple of fights. She was afraid of him.
The other man was an ex-cop named Bill Rider. He used to be tight with Larry Flynt, the porno king. He was married to Flynt’s sister. He used to be Flynt’s security boss. Rider was back in Ohio now. He was engaged in litigation against Flynt.
Stoner got Rider’s number and called him. He told Rider he needed to know the exact spot where that photo was taken. It pertained to an active homicide investigation. Rider said he’d think about it and call Stoner back.
He called back the next day. He was pissed. He’d talked to Deedee Mentzer Santangelo. He knew the cops were after Bill Mentzer. Stoner should have leveled with him.
Stoner acted apologetic. Rider said he’d fly out if the Sheriff’s Department paid for his airfare and lodging. Bob Grimm okayed the expenditure. Rider flew out and talked to Stoner and Guenther. He dropped little tidbits on the Mincher killing and the Radin job straight off.
He took Stoner and Guenther out to Caswell Canyon. He said Mentzer and Marti bragged about the Radin hit. Bob Lowe did the job with them. Marti was a psycho punk with Nazi tendencies. He was selling dope out of a pad in Beverly Hills now.
Rider shot his mouth off and started acting regretful. He said he was afraid of Mentzer and Marti. He had a family. Mentzer and Marti knew it. Stoner said he could supply protection. Stoner told Rider the catch.
Rider had to make Mentzer and Lowe talk. They had to talk in a closed-in, buggable venue. Rider said he’d go home and think about it.
Gary White called Charlie Guenther and broke some good news.
Robbie Beckett got out of prison. He got popped for another assault and was looking at a solid dime. Robbie called White. Robbie said he’d make a formal signed statement. Robbie made that statement. Robbie gave up Daddy Beckett for Tracy Stewart and a lot more.
Robbie Beckett was suicidally talkative. He laid himself out as his father’s full-time slave and onetime murder accomplice. The best deal he could get for handing up Bob Beckett Sr. was murder two and 20 to life. His second assault conviction would have cost him five years net. Robbie torched his whole life to fuck Daddy Beckett.
Robbie put his story in writing. He tacked on the story of Bob Beckett Sr. and the Susan Hamway hit.
Bob Beckett Sr. worked for Paul Hamway. Susan Hamway was Paul’s estranged wife. Paul and Susan were fighting a divorce war. Susan was living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She had custody of their 18-month-old daughter.
Paul hated Susan. He asked Bob Beckett Sr. if he knew any professional killers. Bob Beckett Sr. said he’d set it up for $10,000.
Paul Hamway told him to do it. He added one stipulation. Somebody should call him after the hit. He’d concoct a way to rescue his baby daughter then.
Bob Beckett Sr. called Paul Serio and arranged a rendezvous in Miami. Serio flew out. Bob Beckett Sr. met him. He brought a knife, a gun and a dildo. They rented a car and drove to Susan Hamway’s house.
They knocked on the door. Susan opened up. She recognized her husband’s friend Bob Beckett Sr.
Susan let the men in. Her baby was asleep in the bedroom.
Bob Beckett Sr. hit her in the head with his gun. Paul Serio strangled her with a telephone cord. Bob Beckett Sr. stabbed her in the back with a kitchen knife. Serio helped him remove her clothes and pull down her panties. They couldn’t get up the nerve to stick the dildo in her vagina.
The baby slept through the murder. Paul Serio and Bob Beckett Sr. left the house in broad daylight.
They drove to a causeway near Miami Beach. They tossed their weapons in. Bob Beckett Sr. called Paul Hamway and told him his ex was dead. He said he made it look like a random sex killing.
Hamway was supposed