The last couple of months had been a blur. Brenda and I had to make a number of appearance at the DA’s office about Ben Roberts, and the other incidents. I kept a pretty low profile as much as I could. Having my name in the paper did get me some new work. Most of which I turned down. I wasn’t a hired gun or muscle for one who needed help. Although I did do a couple a skip traces for the courts. As much as the DA and others hated me, They needed me and they knew it. I was able to find bail jumpers in places they couldn’t. It was shit work, but I needed both the work and the distraction. Most of the time I found them within twenty-four hours. I think they could have easily found them, but they didn’t want to be bothered, It was easier to pay me and let me find them, then do actual work for themselves.
**
Then the day came. Ben Roberts Trail for the murder of Lisa Mayor, and the other Jane Doe. There was still a lot of question. Some of which hopefully would be answered over the next few weeks.
As I was a key prosecution witness they wanted me at the courthouse early. I wasn’t looking forward to trying to explain how I had been looking for Ben Roberts in the first place, and how I found Lisa’s Body. Bob and I spent many hours going over my testimony and trying to anticipate any questions the DA and defense lawyers would have.
The prosecutor was Grandstanding by having them bring Ben Roberts from the county jail over and making them bring him up the front steps of the courthouse, instead of the usual back entrance and directly to the holding cells below the courtrooms.
Brenda and I were standing on the upper steps of the courthouse. The prison van pulled up in front of the steps of the courthouse. The mob of reports and gawkers quickly crowded around the van as the officers went to open the back doors of the panel van. Hauling Ben Roberts out, and getting him up on the sidewalk they tried to push their way through the crowd. About the time they managed to get across the wide sidewalk and were just getting to the steps of the courthouse They had managed to open a small circle of space around Ben and the officers escorting him. From my angle, I could see into the circle. Suddenly a woman stepped from the crowd. Directly in front of Ben.
I heard her shout something. Before anyone realized what she was doing she raised her arm and fired what looked like a revolver. The sound of the gun going off in the open spaces echoed off the building Just as we realized what she’d done Ben Roberts dropped dead on the sidewalk. In the confusion, the girl managed to get through the crowd and disappear out of sight down the street. Blending in with the other crowds of people flocking to see what they had heard. But not before I saw her for a second she stopped just on the outside of the crowd around the body of Ben Roberts, She looked directly at me. I doubt that I recognized me. I knew her.
She was the second girl from the Movie theater. I remember not paying a lot of attention to what they actually looked like. I did notice that one had a tattoo on her hand. And I saw what looked like the same tattoo on her hand as he brushed the hair from her face as she looked at me. And the face looked familiar. The more I looked. It was her. Not that would help. I still don’t know who she was.
The rest of the day was spent answering more questions and listening to more lawyers talk about the case they had against the now Late Ben Roberts.
Brenda and I eventually wound up in Bob’s office.
Drinking half warm coffee.
“So who is she?”
“I don’t know. All I know is I’m pretty sure she was one of the two girls I chased from the movie theaters a couple weeks ago, when I was looking for Ben, and I did notice that one had a tattoo but I'd almost forgotten about them and it. Until this morning.”
“Look. We're going to have turned most of this over to Stone in Vice They’re better able to track down the girls then we are.”
“Then why haven’t they found her, or an on the Jane Doe downstairs?” I asked.
“With Ben Dead, the double murder pretty much goes out the window. But we can still chase the porn and girls side. Someone must have known exactly what was going on. We need to find them, and hopefully get a lead on your girl with e tattoo on her hand. Can’t be that many girls with a tattoo on their hand.”
So we collected what we had on the girls which wasn’t much, my descriptions and the reports on the raid on the movie theater. And headed for Stones office.
Stones office was equally small and cramped as Bobs, n many was a carbon copy of Bob’s. Except that his files were different. Stone grunted when I came in with Bob. I tried to be as pleasant as I could. Considering we’d be working with him again. Sitting down in the old rickety chair, Bob and I went over the files and what we had. I told him I recognized the girl from this morning. I was pretty sure it was the second girl from the movie theater. He had his doubts I could recognize her from that distance. I told him, the light was good, B, I d seen the girl close up before, and C, she looked directly at me. And I clearly saw her hand. No, I wasn’t ready to swear on a stack of bibles that it was her, But I was ninety-nine present sure it was her.
I got up from the rickety chair and stretched. Glancing around the room I spotted a picture on the windowsill behind Stone's desk. Looking closer I noticed that it was Stone, and who I assume is his wife and two young girls. Bending over closer I looked again. Stone was engrossed in reading my report on the Theater incident. I picked up the picture. The four of them were in front of a house, and most of what looked like a prewar ford sedan was on the one side of the picture. I was right one of the girls was the missing girl. Suddenly a lot of things fell into place. I pointed to the girl on the left. “It's her” I mouthed. So Stone wouldn’t hear me.
Finally, I said something.
“This your family?”
“Yep.” he muttered.
“Nice kids, when was it taken?”
“Last Christmas.”
“The ford seems to be holding up ok,” I commented noting the car.
“Yeah, it just keeps on going.”
“How the girls doing?”
He stopped and looked at me. “
"Why do you care about my kids?”
“I was just curious, Looks like they’re old enough, they should be finishing up high school about now.” I made up an answer.
“Laurie did last year, she’s at Berkeley now.”
And,” he paused putting down the report. Looking directly at me.
“Sally Ann, she disappeared earlier this year. Haven't seen her since.”
Once he started talking about her he couldn’t stop.
He then told Bob and me how they had a big fight, about her going to college, and she didn't want to, and she was in love with this older man. And wanted to go be with him. She'd just packed her bag and left. They hadn’t seen or heard from her again. He thought he’d seen her in some films they’d taken from the junk dealer, and other sources, But he couldn’t track her down. He’d heard Ben Roberts name mentioned with her a couple of times. That Was why he was so hot to get to him. He wanted to find out what was on between them. But he never got the chance. He had been trying to get an in to talk to him while they had in custody but had never been able to get in alone. He’d lawyer-ed up so no one could see him without his lawyer present.
Bob and I listened to Stone go on about his home life. Getting way more information than either of us wanted. But at least I understood what was driving him back in August. I still didn't like him, but That didn't matter now.
Bob and I finally got out of Stones Office.
Back in Bob’s office, I told him and Brenda I was sure the picture of his daughter was the girl I saw shoot Ben Roberts this morning.
“But how does that help us?”
“It gives us a name. And we know what we ’re looking for. And why.” I answered.
Brenda took a cab home as there wasn’t any use of her wasting her time here at the police station. Going through the pictures of girls we’d taken from the various place Roberts had had pictures stashed. We found more pictures of Sally Ann.
Later that day Bob and I went back to jail. We went to see the Movie Theater couple in jail There were in separate cell blocks and we saw them in separate interview rooms. First was her.
She hadn’t gotten any prettier in jail for 2 months.
Bob plopped a pile of pictures down on the small table in front of her.
“Sally Ann Stone.”
“She was one of Ben’s “Special Friends” wasn’t she?”
He spread the pictures of her out so she could see them.
“Tell me about them,” Bob sat down and waited.
I was sitting in the back of the room behind Bob.
She looked over his shoulder at me.
I sat upright and stared right back at her.
“What's he doing here?”
“He here to keep me from killing you,” he said without missing a beat. I stood up walked up next to Bob in his chair.
“But I doubt that I could stop him from killing you.”
“You can talk to us, or I can call Stone in when I tell him about Sally Ann and Ben, I wouldn’t want to be you.” Bob teased.
“Hey Bob, how about going and getting us a cup of coffee?” I asked
“Oh hey, yeah you want some mam?” getting up.
“Nooo no, wait I’ll talk.” The prospect of being left alone with me was enough to talk.
Bob sat back down. I pulled up a chair and we waited.
Over the next hour or so she told us in details about Ben Roberts favorite pastimes. How he liked the girls young, and sometimes several at a time. Yes, Sally Ann and the girl she was with when I kicked them out of the office that day were two of his favorites. Sally Ann had been with him the longest, first starting when he got into the porn side of movies. He’d meet her at the local High School he had been there judging an essay contest, as a celebrity judge.
The old man also confirmed much of what his wife told us.
By the time I got done going back and forth between the jail and the police station with Bob, it was about time for me to head home to get ready to open the bar with Brenda.
It was nice to back on the routine again. Pulling in our driveway My mind went back to this morning again. I replayed it over again in my head. Was I missing something? Did she, in fact, recognize me. She’d only seen me for a few minutes several months ago. I’d read the witness statements saying that she Said, “You killed Her” right before she shot him. The gun was a .32 caliber. Then definitely a revolver. Where did she get it from? And where was she now?
But first things first. I was hungry. The food at the station left a lot to be desired, and I only ate a small bit of what Bob had managed to round up.
Brenda had a light early supper ready when I came in.
Brenda meet me at the door when I hit the porch. I heard her unlock the door to let me in. In spite of the case being over, We still kept the house locked all the time even when we were home. As we ate I told her what we’d found out about Sally Ann. The old couple confirmed what we suspected, that she and Ben were close at one time. But he liked to play with anything in a skirt. I told her, I had no doubt that he probably would have killed her, given the chance.
After we ate and cleaned up it was past time to head for the bar for the evening. The rest of the evening was routine. The regulars started wandering in about 5 pm or so, by six it was pretty busy and stayed that way all evening. By midnight the place was cleared out and the last of the stragglers had left. Brenda and I cleaned up from the night's business and headed home.
We locked up the bungalow and called it a night
**
Then the day came. Ben Roberts Trail for the murder of Lisa Mayor, and the other Jane Doe. There was still a lot of question. Some of which hopefully would be answered over the next few weeks.
As I was a key prosecution witness they wanted me at the courthouse early. I wasn’t looking forward to trying to explain how I had been looking for Ben Roberts in the first place, and how I found Lisa’s Body. Bob and I spent many hours going over my testimony and trying to anticipate any questions the DA and defense lawyers would have.
The prosecutor was Grandstanding by having them bring Ben Roberts from the county jail over and making them bring him up the front steps of the courthouse, instead of the usual back entrance and directly to the holding cells below the courtrooms.
Brenda and I were standing on the upper steps of the courthouse. The prison van pulled up in front of the steps of the courthouse. The mob of reports and gawkers quickly crowded around the van as the officers went to open the back doors of the panel van. Hauling Ben Roberts out, and getting him up on the sidewalk they tried to push their way through the crowd. About the time they managed to get across the wide sidewalk and were just getting to the steps of the courthouse They had managed to open a small circle of space around Ben and the officers escorting him. From my angle, I could see into the circle. Suddenly a woman stepped from the crowd. Directly in front of Ben.
I heard her shout something. Before anyone realized what she was doing she raised her arm and fired what looked like a revolver. The sound of the gun going off in the open spaces echoed off the building Just as we realized what she’d done Ben Roberts dropped dead on the sidewalk. In the confusion, the girl managed to get through the crowd and disappear out of sight down the street. Blending in with the other crowds of people flocking to see what they had heard. But not before I saw her for a second she stopped just on the outside of the crowd around the body of Ben Roberts, She looked directly at me. I doubt that I recognized me. I knew her.
She was the second girl from the Movie theater. I remember not paying a lot of attention to what they actually looked like. I did notice that one had a tattoo on her hand. And I saw what looked like the same tattoo on her hand as he brushed the hair from her face as she looked at me. And the face looked familiar. The more I looked. It was her. Not that would help. I still don’t know who she was.
The rest of the day was spent answering more questions and listening to more lawyers talk about the case they had against the now Late Ben Roberts.
Brenda and I eventually wound up in Bob’s office.
Drinking half warm coffee.
“So who is she?”
“I don’t know. All I know is I’m pretty sure she was one of the two girls I chased from the movie theaters a couple weeks ago, when I was looking for Ben, and I did notice that one had a tattoo but I'd almost forgotten about them and it. Until this morning.”
“Look. We're going to have turned most of this over to Stone in Vice They’re better able to track down the girls then we are.”
“Then why haven’t they found her, or an on the Jane Doe downstairs?” I asked.
“With Ben Dead, the double murder pretty much goes out the window. But we can still chase the porn and girls side. Someone must have known exactly what was going on. We need to find them, and hopefully get a lead on your girl with e tattoo on her hand. Can’t be that many girls with a tattoo on their hand.”
So we collected what we had on the girls which wasn’t much, my descriptions and the reports on the raid on the movie theater. And headed for Stones office.
Stones office was equally small and cramped as Bobs, n many was a carbon copy of Bob’s. Except that his files were different. Stone grunted when I came in with Bob. I tried to be as pleasant as I could. Considering we’d be working with him again. Sitting down in the old rickety chair, Bob and I went over the files and what we had. I told him I recognized the girl from this morning. I was pretty sure it was the second girl from the movie theater. He had his doubts I could recognize her from that distance. I told him, the light was good, B, I d seen the girl close up before, and C, she looked directly at me. And I clearly saw her hand. No, I wasn’t ready to swear on a stack of bibles that it was her, But I was ninety-nine present sure it was her.
I got up from the rickety chair and stretched. Glancing around the room I spotted a picture on the windowsill behind Stone's desk. Looking closer I noticed that it was Stone, and who I assume is his wife and two young girls. Bending over closer I looked again. Stone was engrossed in reading my report on the Theater incident. I picked up the picture. The four of them were in front of a house, and most of what looked like a prewar ford sedan was on the one side of the picture. I was right one of the girls was the missing girl. Suddenly a lot of things fell into place. I pointed to the girl on the left. “It's her” I mouthed. So Stone wouldn’t hear me.
Finally, I said something.
“This your family?”
“Yep.” he muttered.
“Nice kids, when was it taken?”
“Last Christmas.”
“The ford seems to be holding up ok,” I commented noting the car.
“Yeah, it just keeps on going.”
“How the girls doing?”
He stopped and looked at me. “
"Why do you care about my kids?”
“I was just curious, Looks like they’re old enough, they should be finishing up high school about now.” I made up an answer.
“Laurie did last year, she’s at Berkeley now.”
And,” he paused putting down the report. Looking directly at me.
“Sally Ann, she disappeared earlier this year. Haven't seen her since.”
Once he started talking about her he couldn’t stop.
He then told Bob and me how they had a big fight, about her going to college, and she didn't want to, and she was in love with this older man. And wanted to go be with him. She'd just packed her bag and left. They hadn’t seen or heard from her again. He thought he’d seen her in some films they’d taken from the junk dealer, and other sources, But he couldn’t track her down. He’d heard Ben Roberts name mentioned with her a couple of times. That Was why he was so hot to get to him. He wanted to find out what was on between them. But he never got the chance. He had been trying to get an in to talk to him while they had in custody but had never been able to get in alone. He’d lawyer-ed up so no one could see him without his lawyer present.
Bob and I listened to Stone go on about his home life. Getting way more information than either of us wanted. But at least I understood what was driving him back in August. I still didn't like him, but That didn't matter now.
Bob and I finally got out of Stones Office.
Back in Bob’s office, I told him and Brenda I was sure the picture of his daughter was the girl I saw shoot Ben Roberts this morning.
“But how does that help us?”
“It gives us a name. And we know what we ’re looking for. And why.” I answered.
Brenda took a cab home as there wasn’t any use of her wasting her time here at the police station. Going through the pictures of girls we’d taken from the various place Roberts had had pictures stashed. We found more pictures of Sally Ann.
Later that day Bob and I went back to jail. We went to see the Movie Theater couple in jail There were in separate cell blocks and we saw them in separate interview rooms. First was her.
She hadn’t gotten any prettier in jail for 2 months.
Bob plopped a pile of pictures down on the small table in front of her.
“Sally Ann Stone.”
“She was one of Ben’s “Special Friends” wasn’t she?”
He spread the pictures of her out so she could see them.
“Tell me about them,” Bob sat down and waited.
I was sitting in the back of the room behind Bob.
She looked over his shoulder at me.
I sat upright and stared right back at her.
“What's he doing here?”
“He here to keep me from killing you,” he said without missing a beat. I stood up walked up next to Bob in his chair.
“But I doubt that I could stop him from killing you.”
“You can talk to us, or I can call Stone in when I tell him about Sally Ann and Ben, I wouldn’t want to be you.” Bob teased.
“Hey Bob, how about going and getting us a cup of coffee?” I asked
“Oh hey, yeah you want some mam?” getting up.
“Nooo no, wait I’ll talk.” The prospect of being left alone with me was enough to talk.
Bob sat back down. I pulled up a chair and we waited.
Over the next hour or so she told us in details about Ben Roberts favorite pastimes. How he liked the girls young, and sometimes several at a time. Yes, Sally Ann and the girl she was with when I kicked them out of the office that day were two of his favorites. Sally Ann had been with him the longest, first starting when he got into the porn side of movies. He’d meet her at the local High School he had been there judging an essay contest, as a celebrity judge.
The old man also confirmed much of what his wife told us.
By the time I got done going back and forth between the jail and the police station with Bob, it was about time for me to head home to get ready to open the bar with Brenda.
It was nice to back on the routine again. Pulling in our driveway My mind went back to this morning again. I replayed it over again in my head. Was I missing something? Did she, in fact, recognize me. She’d only seen me for a few minutes several months ago. I’d read the witness statements saying that she Said, “You killed Her” right before she shot him. The gun was a .32 caliber. Then definitely a revolver. Where did she get it from? And where was she now?
But first things first. I was hungry. The food at the station left a lot to be desired, and I only ate a small bit of what Bob had managed to round up.
Brenda had a light early supper ready when I came in.
Brenda meet me at the door when I hit the porch. I heard her unlock the door to let me in. In spite of the case being over, We still kept the house locked all the time even when we were home. As we ate I told her what we’d found out about Sally Ann. The old couple confirmed what we suspected, that she and Ben were close at one time. But he liked to play with anything in a skirt. I told her, I had no doubt that he probably would have killed her, given the chance.
After we ate and cleaned up it was past time to head for the bar for the evening. The rest of the evening was routine. The regulars started wandering in about 5 pm or so, by six it was pretty busy and stayed that way all evening. By midnight the place was cleared out and the last of the stragglers had left. Brenda and I cleaned up from the night's business and headed home.
We locked up the bungalow and called it a night