The Cold Six Thousand - James Ellroy [174]
Hardwood door/strong jambs/good fittings.
He worked the crowbar. He tapped the jamb. He leaned hard. He made slack. He wedged his blade in.
He pushed. He shoved. He applied. Wood cracked. Wood splintered. Wood sheared.
He regripped. He rewedged. He snapped the bolt. He popped the door. He stepped inside and shut himself in.
He brushed the walls. He tripped switches. He got lights.
WHITE RABBIT’s den:
Dusty and musty. Beaten-down bachelorized.
Living room. Kitchen. Side doors. Gag wall prints—dogs at card games and dogs in black tie. Faux-leather couches. Faux-leather ottomans. Faux-leather chairs.
Littell prowled. Littell checked the kitchen. Littell checked the bedroom and den.
Old fixtures. Cold cuts and liquor. Ratty drawers and cupboards. Undusted shelves.
More prints—dogs at stag nights and dogs ogling chicks.
One desk. One file drawer. Please: No wall panels or safes.
Now: Trash it first.
Littell put gloves on. Littell grid-worked. Littell trashed systematic.
He dumped drawers. He scattered clothes. He stripped the bed. He found a German Luger. He found Nazi flags. He found Nazi hats. He bagged them in a pillowcase. They played burglar swag.
He found a Nazi dagger. He found Krugerrands. He found a Jap knife. He bagged them in a loose sheet. They played burglar swag.
He popped the fridge. He dumped the cold cuts. He dumped the booze. He swung the crowbar. He ripped up the couches. He sliced up the chairs.
He dumped the kitchen cabinet. He found a Mauser pistol. He found a Nazi knife. He bagged them in a paper bag. They played burglar swag.
He swung the crowbar. He ripped up floorboards. He tore up wall beams.
Now: the desk and file drawer.
He walked back. He tried them. They were unlocked.
He went through them. He bagged bills. He bagged letters. There: one file extant.
It was folder-sealed. It was doodled up. Lyle drew Nazi maidens and shivs.
It was marked. It was circled: “Marty.”
He drove south. He got out of Hollywood. He found a trash bin. He dumped Lyle’s swag.
Don’t go home—Jane’s there—find a motel.
He cruised south. He found a place on Pico. He booked a one-night room. He locked himself in. He skimmed Lyle’s bills. He read Lyle’s letters.
Bland: Phone bills/gas bills/second-mortgage strife. Flyers from gun shows/notes from ex-wives.
Slow now—here’s “Marty.”
He opened the folder. He saw typed notes—sixteen pages single-spaced.
He skimmed through. He got the gist. Dr. King plans. Dr. King plots. Dr. King schemes.
The intro—WHITE RABBIT verbatim:
“The following points detail MLK’s overall designs between now (3/8/65) and the ’68 Pres’l election. MLK has discussed the following topics in high-level SCLC staff meetings, has forbidden staff members to announce them publicly or discuss them outside staff meetings and has rebuffed all criticism that points out one obvious fact: The breadth of his socialistic agenda will divert his energies, deplete SCLC resources and undermine the credibility of the civil-rights movement. It will enrage the American status quo, perhaps cost him congressional and presidential support and will earn him the enmity of his ‘limousine liberal’ supporters. The true danger of his plans is that they may well serve to fuel and unite a coalition of hard-core Communists, Communist sympathizers, far-left intellectuals, disaffected college students and Negroes susceptible to inflammatory rhetoric and prone to violent action.”
MLK on Vietnam:
“Genocide cloaked as anti-Communist consent. An evil war of attrition.”
MLK plans speeches. MLK plans boycotts. MLK plans dissent.
MLK on slums:
“The economic perpetuation of Negro poverty. The bedrock of de facto segregation. 20th-century slavery, euphemized by politicians of all stripes and creeds. A cancerous social reality and a condition which mandates a massive redistribution of assets and wealth.”
MLK plans speeches. MLK plans boycotts. MLK plans rent strikes.
MLK on poverty:
“The Negro will not be truly free until his God-given