My Dark Places - James Ellroy [90]
Stoner and Guenther drove him around for 14 hours. Robbie checked out various landscapes and said he couldn’t be sure. They didn’t spot any shredded clothes or human remains. Stoner and Guenther drove Robbie to the Main County Jail and processed him in.
Robbie talked to his public defender. The PD conferred with Dale Davidson. They cut a formal deal. Stoner and Guenther were free to bust Bob Beckett Sr.
Gary White ran a public-utilities check and found him. He was living in Tustin with his new wife. Tustin was Orange County. Stoner called the Tustin PD and arranged for three backup patrol units.
The bust was a nonevent.
Stoner and Carlos Avila knocked on the door. They asked Frau Beckett where Bob Beckett Sr. was. Bob Beckett Sr. walked out and placed his hands in handcuff position.
Stoner and Avila drove him to the Main County Jail. Charlie Guenther was ecstatic. He was set to retire soon. They nailed Daddy Beckett on the home stretch.
The Stewart case was closed. The Cotton Club case was in limbo. The reinvestigation was 14 months old.
Bill Rider called Stoner. He said he was living in San Pedro. He wanted to help Sheriffs Homicide. He wanted to spend time with Stoner and Guenther to see if he could trust them.
The process took three months. Stoner and Guenther met Rider two dozen times. Rider fed them tidbits on Mentzer and Marti. It was good background stuff. It wasn’t crucial information.
Rider said he had the gun that killed June Mincher. He lent it to Mentzer and got it back a few days later. He did not know it would serve as a murder weapon.
He let Stoner and Guenther borrow the gun. They took it to the crime lab and had it test-fired. They compared the rounds to the rounds from the Mincher killing. They matched perfectly.
Charlie Guenther retired. Carlos Avila replaced him. Stoner and Avila went to Bob Grimm and explained the Rider deal.
Rider was a “security consultant.” He had to earn a living. He had to stay out of sight to avoid reprisals from Mentzer and Alex Marti. Rider was essential to the case. He deserved a monthly paycheck.
Grimm talked to Sheriff Block. Block okayed $3,000 a month. Rider took the money. He agreed to formally snitch off the Cotton Club killers. The next step was entrapment.
Rider called Bob Lowe in Maryland. He was working a bartender gig there. Rider dropped some obfuscation on Lowe. He said he was coming to Washington to do a surveillance job. He needed a backup man. Lowe said he’d love to help.
Stoner, Avila and Rider flew to Maryland. The Maryland State Police bugged Rider’s car and hotel room. Rider called Lowe to set up the surveillance job. Lowe said he was busy and recommended his pal Bob Deremer. Stoner and Avila hit the roof. Rider said they should tape Deremer anyway. He used to bunk with Bill Mentzer. They were tight throughout the Cotton Club/June Mincher time frame. Deremer might spill some good shit.
Rider faked two surveillance jobs with Deremer. The State Police taped one car and one hotel-room surveillance. Deremer said Mentzer did the Radin hit. Bob Lowe was part of the team. He got paid 17 grand and a Cadillac.
Deremer said he drove Mentzer around after the Mincher hit. Rider asked him how much Mentzer paid him. Deremer said three months’ free rent.
Rider braced Bob Lowe at a bar. He was wearing a fall-body wire. Lowe said he drove for Mentzer twice. He saw Mentzer clip the fat nigger woman. They shot Radin with .22 hollow points. Exploded .22s looked like shotgun pellets. They tossed the guns in a lake near Miami—3,000 miles from Caswell Canyon.
Stoner and Avila flew back to L.A. They had to let things sit for a while. They couldn’t bulldoze Rider through a fast bug string. He had to connect with their suspects at a relaxed and believable pace.
Months dragged by. John Purvis was still in prison. Robbie Beckett and Daddy Beckett were engaged in pretrial motions. The Fort Lauderdale cops were waiting for Robbie to testify. Convincing