The Cold Six Thousand - James Ellroy [199]
He called airlines. He checked flights. He found the name Arden Breen. She flew to Mobile, Alabama. She flew to Bon Secour.
Logic:
Pete had Gulf ties. Pete ran guns. Pete gigged from Bon Secour. Pete interceded. Pete bucked Carlos. Pete made Jane run.
Carlos found Danny. Carlos found him with Jane.
That was theory logic. It was buttressed by facts. It was shaped by news clips.
She was dead. He mourned her. He worked with Carlos. They both kept mute. Carlos said nothing. Pete stayed mute. They both misread it. They both called it this way: Ward doesn’t know what we know.
I know. I did the logic. I dream the gist.
Carlos kills flamboyant. His teams pack power tools. Carlos kills slow.
Chainsaws/shears/drills. Lathe chisels and fungo bats.
He dreamed it. He heard it. He saw it. He slept with it. He lived it. He didn’t drink. He didn’t seek numbness. He didn’t anesthetize. He worked. He maneuvered. He hidey-hole stashed.
He hit the bank. He grabbed Jane’s file. He studied it: six folders/typed notes/comprehensive.
Jane knew him. The file nailed him.
She predicted his embezzlements. She tracked his travels. She surmised his bank accounts. She critiqued his technique. She guessed at amounts. She assumed his guilt tithes.
She prowled his papers. She linked facts. She extrapolated lucidly. She prowled his trash. She studied said trash. She corroborated spectacularly.
She nailed his target businesses. She estimated profits. She ball-parked skim flow. She predicted overhead. She guessed launder fees. She calibrated foreign currencies.
He devised the fund-book plan. She ran up to speed.
She tracked his travels. She tallied phone calls. She tracked his lies and omissions.
She nailed it:
The Hughes incursion. The full trust breach. The Boys sell Drac Las Vegas.
Casino profits/cash-flow charts/skim currency/front men/hidden points/rigged prices.
She took common knowledge—Hughes wants Las Vegas—she tracked back inductively.
The text jumped. The file nailed Jules Schiffrin. Jane knew Jules. Jules revealed things unwittingly. Jane extrapolated. Jane thus ascribed:
Jules builds the pension fund. Jules builds dummy books. Jules builds the “real” book scam.
Details. Facts. Guesses. Assertions. Astonishing—all new text—things he didn’t know.
The text jumped. The file nailed Jimmy Hoffa.
Jimmy killed Arden’s father. Eyewits spieled facts off-the-cuff. Jimmy cut management deals. Jimmy ordered beatings. Jimmy ordered hits.
Jane was smart. Jane allegedly hated her father. Jane lied. Jane drew heat off Jimmy. The file was Jane’s revenge: long-standing/long-planned.
The text jumped. The file nailed the Boys.
Carlos/Sam G./John Rosselli/Santo/Moe Dalitz/hoods in K.C.
Details. Facts. Rumors. Assertions.
Per: Hits/botched hits/extortion. Judges bought/juries bought/cops purchased wide. Rackets developed/rackets ditched/rackets reborn and revised.
Astonishing. Incendiary. Densely inclusive.
Jane builds a testament. Jane grows weary then. Jane gets tweaked and runs.
Jane holds the file. Jane forfeits it. Jane pays off her Dallas debt. Jane pays him for two years as “Jane.”
Her testament. His now. His safeguard. Tell Carlos. Tell all the Boys:
I’ve served you. I’m tired. Please let me run.
He picked a bank in Westwood. He rented a stash vault. He stashed the file. He mourned Jane.
He dreamed. He saw icepicks and drills deployed. He prayed. He tallied his dead from Big D on up.
He stole. He bilked Howard Hughes. He tithed the SCLC. He mourned. His grief transmogrified. His hurt grew into HATE.
Carlos killed Jane. His hate bypassed him. His hate bypassed all the Boys. His hate dispersed and coalesced. His hate found Mr. Hoover.
He watched him.
Mr. Hoover spoke in D.C. Mr. Hoover wooed the American Legion. He watched. He stood at the back of the hall.
The hall roared. Mr. Hoover sailed clichés. Mr. Hoover attacked Dr. King. Mr. Hoover looked old. Mr. Hoover looked frail. Mr. Hoover spewed HATE.
Littell watched.
Mr. Hoover ceded irony. Mr. Hoover ceded taste. Mr. Hoover