Our house was ours again. This was the first time I’d been back in a week.
Last night seemed like a dream. Neither of us slept. It was nearly noon when we finally decided to face the world.
Brenda and Walt spent some time cleaning up from where Drossel and his men had grabbed her from the house.
The blood I’d found yesterday belonged to one of Drossel’s men, who she had wounded only slightly, and he had disappeared along with the rest of the gang. While they cleaned up I started writing my full report for Bob. Getting my thoughts together and remembering what happened when was a challenge, as the last week had become of a blur. Few events stood out in my mind. Wanda appearing out of nowhere in the rain. If I closed my eyes and thought, I could still her slowly falling to the sidewalk. The shattering of the back door of the bar. Then the look on the face of the man I shot. What really stood out was the look of terror on Brenda’s face when Drossel pushed her out of the car last night. I’ll never forget that. Eventually, I managed to get all the details into some kind of order and write out a full report of my week from Hell. My Marine training had served me well this week, probably saved my life. I made a mental note to have Bob make me a copy of my report to have for my own records.
By the time I was done typing it up and finding a folder to put it on, It was almost three in the afternoon.
Wandering to the living room, I looked out the front window. No old Yellow Chevy waiting to tail me across town. I poured myself a cup of coffee as Brenda came from the bathroom. Offering her I cup I mentioned we had to get to Robert’s office to fill out our final reports.
The late editions of the newspapers had it. The whole bloody story. How Philip Drossel had run a black market operation and sold secrets to the Germans during World War Two, and had been shielded by his brother in law, the FBI agent in charge of his investigation. All the sorted details came out. How I had killed his son years ago. The revenge. Wanda, and her hat. Everything. It was all out there now. The newspapers were having a field day with it. The state and federal governments were getting in on it. They had helped to cover it up.
The three of us filed into Bob’s office about four in the afternoon.
“Here it is Bob, the entire Philp Drossel file.” I tossed the folder on his desk. He opened it up and glanced it over. It was about ten pages of neatly typed and complete with a timeline at the end. “Thanks, I’ll have it filed with the rest of the case. Here, I have your statement from last night.” he handed all three of us a stack of papers. The next few minutes were spent by the three of us reading our respective statements and signing them.
“You didn't catch hell from upstairs about last night did you?” I asked as I returned my signed statement.
“Actually no. To my surprise they usually don’t like PI’s or civilians getting to gunfights, but when I explained to them this ended the rash of shooting we’d had, and closed the Drossel file for good , they didn't say much. Especially when I showed them the files You and Walt dug up. In fact the more I showed them, and told them, the less they had to say. I think they want this to disappear quietly and quickly.”
“Like that's going to happen.” Walt commented. We nodded in agreement. I showed Bob the late edition of the paper I’d picked up on the way over. The headlines spread over the top of the paper said it all. “WWII Spy Caught and Killed.” Lower down a headline, “FBI Agent pleads Guilty to Obstructing Justice”.
Down at the bottom just below the fold was a picture of Wand Reed. with the headline; “ Who was Wanda Reed?” There was even a small article about me in there. As we were leaving I remembered to ask Bob to make a copy of my full report. He made a note and said he’d bring it over when he came over to house later tonight. We thanked him for his help and got out of there just as the phone on his desk rang.
Walt said he had to get to his place so he took off in his Mercury. On the way home We stopped at the same church we'd gotten married in in 1940. The pastor was there. So we made arrangements to renew our vows the next day. When we got home I called Walt and Bob and told them about the ceremony the next day.
Soon after the wedding the insurance came through and paid for everything. Walt came to see me. After the wedding.
“You need a partner?” He asked,
“I couldn’t have a better one.” I replied We shook hands.
LA was still a crooked dirty town. But at least there was one less crook in it
The end
Last night seemed like a dream. Neither of us slept. It was nearly noon when we finally decided to face the world.
Brenda and Walt spent some time cleaning up from where Drossel and his men had grabbed her from the house.
The blood I’d found yesterday belonged to one of Drossel’s men, who she had wounded only slightly, and he had disappeared along with the rest of the gang. While they cleaned up I started writing my full report for Bob. Getting my thoughts together and remembering what happened when was a challenge, as the last week had become of a blur. Few events stood out in my mind. Wanda appearing out of nowhere in the rain. If I closed my eyes and thought, I could still her slowly falling to the sidewalk. The shattering of the back door of the bar. Then the look on the face of the man I shot. What really stood out was the look of terror on Brenda’s face when Drossel pushed her out of the car last night. I’ll never forget that. Eventually, I managed to get all the details into some kind of order and write out a full report of my week from Hell. My Marine training had served me well this week, probably saved my life. I made a mental note to have Bob make me a copy of my report to have for my own records.
By the time I was done typing it up and finding a folder to put it on, It was almost three in the afternoon.
Wandering to the living room, I looked out the front window. No old Yellow Chevy waiting to tail me across town. I poured myself a cup of coffee as Brenda came from the bathroom. Offering her I cup I mentioned we had to get to Robert’s office to fill out our final reports.
The late editions of the newspapers had it. The whole bloody story. How Philip Drossel had run a black market operation and sold secrets to the Germans during World War Two, and had been shielded by his brother in law, the FBI agent in charge of his investigation. All the sorted details came out. How I had killed his son years ago. The revenge. Wanda, and her hat. Everything. It was all out there now. The newspapers were having a field day with it. The state and federal governments were getting in on it. They had helped to cover it up.
The three of us filed into Bob’s office about four in the afternoon.
“Here it is Bob, the entire Philp Drossel file.” I tossed the folder on his desk. He opened it up and glanced it over. It was about ten pages of neatly typed and complete with a timeline at the end. “Thanks, I’ll have it filed with the rest of the case. Here, I have your statement from last night.” he handed all three of us a stack of papers. The next few minutes were spent by the three of us reading our respective statements and signing them.
“You didn't catch hell from upstairs about last night did you?” I asked as I returned my signed statement.
“Actually no. To my surprise they usually don’t like PI’s or civilians getting to gunfights, but when I explained to them this ended the rash of shooting we’d had, and closed the Drossel file for good , they didn't say much. Especially when I showed them the files You and Walt dug up. In fact the more I showed them, and told them, the less they had to say. I think they want this to disappear quietly and quickly.”
“Like that's going to happen.” Walt commented. We nodded in agreement. I showed Bob the late edition of the paper I’d picked up on the way over. The headlines spread over the top of the paper said it all. “WWII Spy Caught and Killed.” Lower down a headline, “FBI Agent pleads Guilty to Obstructing Justice”.
Down at the bottom just below the fold was a picture of Wand Reed. with the headline; “ Who was Wanda Reed?” There was even a small article about me in there. As we were leaving I remembered to ask Bob to make a copy of my full report. He made a note and said he’d bring it over when he came over to house later tonight. We thanked him for his help and got out of there just as the phone on his desk rang.
Walt said he had to get to his place so he took off in his Mercury. On the way home We stopped at the same church we'd gotten married in in 1940. The pastor was there. So we made arrangements to renew our vows the next day. When we got home I called Walt and Bob and told them about the ceremony the next day.
Soon after the wedding the insurance came through and paid for everything. Walt came to see me. After the wedding.
“You need a partner?” He asked,
“I couldn’t have a better one.” I replied We shook hands.
LA was still a crooked dirty town. But at least there was one less crook in it
The end