My Dark Places - James Ellroy [89]
Serio flew back to L.A. Bob Beckett Sr. flew back to Aspen. Nobody rescued the baby.
The baby starved to death. She pulled big tufts of her hair out before she expired. The Fort Lauderdale PD investigated the Hamway murder. They hung the rap on a retarded man who lived nearby.
His name was John Purvis. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison. His sentence carried a strict no-parole clause.
Stoner and Guenther flew to Aspen. Robbie Beckett’s lawyer wouldn’t let them interview Robbie. He wanted a written deal with the L.A. DA first. Stoner called Deputy DA Dale Davidson. Davidson contacted Robbie’s lawyer and offered him murder two—if Robbie testified against Bob Beckett Sr. The lawyer accepted the deal. He told Robbie not to waive extradition just yet. He told him to get a good L.A. lawyer. Robbie said he’d sit tight and await instructions.
Stoner and Guenther flew to Miami. They looked for Laney Jacobs and came up empty. They drove to Fort Lauderdale and researched the Susan Hamway case.
The prosecutor was a judge now. He admitted the case against John Purvis was shaky. Stoner and Guenther told him Robbie Beckett’s story. The judge said he’d look into it. Stoner and Guenther flew back to L.A.
A Fort Lauderdale detective called Stoner. He gave him some details on the Hamway investigation. Stoner caught the gist: The cops wheedled a bogus confession out of a mentally deficient suspect.
Stoner ran down Robbie Beckett’s version. The detective acted shocked. He said he’d talk to Robbie—after he testified against his father.
Stoner and Guenther talked to Daddy Beckett’s ex-wife and daughter Debbie. The ex said Daddy was bugging David Beckett. He wanted him to dump that van he gave him. She said David refused.
Debbie Beckett was dying of AIDS. She said her father used to molest her. She said he beat up David and Robbie regularly. She said he ruled by terror.
The van was crucial. Stoner and Guenther found David Beckett and sweet-talked him. His father told him to burn the van. David said no. Stoner and Guenther impounded the van. A lab team went through it. They found no hair, blood or fibers attributable to Tracy Lea Stewart.
Stoner and Guenther interviewed Mark Fogel. He fingered Laney Jacobs as a major coke dealer and played dumb on the Roy Radin murder. Stoner and Guenther drove to Taft, California. They told Tracy Stewart’s parents that their daughter was dead.
They took it hard. They wanted details. Stoner and Guenther supplied them. Mrs. Stewart said she renewed Tracy’s driver’s license every year. Stoner said they’d try to recover her body.
Both their cases were in limbo. The Radin reinvestigation was almost a year old. They were waiting for Bill Rider to help them entrap their suspects. They were waiting for Robbie Beckett to waive extradition.
Stoner and Guenther located Laney Jacobs. She was married to a dope dealer named Larry Greenberger. They were living in Okeechobee, Florida. Stoner and Guenther decided to let Laney sit.
They located a string of her dope associates. Most of the people talked. They said Laney was vain, shallow, greedy, ruthless and conniving. She was Florida Panhandle trash. She was cheap ambition personified. She started out as a dope lawyer’s secretary. She met dope dealers, fucked them and learned the trade. She was a plastic-surgery freak. She’d had her face and most of her body altered to strict specifications.
She buzzed around in Stoner’s head. She joined Bunny Krauch and Tracy Stewart.
Bunny tried to live two lives a mile apart. Her tyrant husband drove her toward an unknown killer. Tracy was the quintessential female murder victim. She was killed for sex and quick disposability. Laney was lower than snakeshit. She killed a man for money and a two-second movie credit.
Robbie Beckett waived extradition. Gary White flew him out to L.A. Stoner and Guenther met the plane. They told Robbie