“What was Duhamel doing at the Club Alabam?”
“It looked like he was eyeballing these guys back by this curtained-off room they got there.”
“What guys? What were they doing?”
“It looked like they were filing numbers off these slot machines.”
“_And?_”
“Man, you keeping saying that!”
I sapped the table hard–it jumped off the floor. “AND why did Junior Stemmons take you to the Club Alabam?”
Orchard, hands up, begging: “Okay okay okay. Junior what’s-his-name was stoned out of his gourd. He buttonholed the Golden Gloves man and told him this crazy fantasy rebop that I had this big money to buy mink coats with. The boxer cop, he almost went nuts shushing Junior. They almost threw blows, and I saw these two _other_ cops that I sorta knew by sight watching the whole thing sort of real interested.”
“Describe the two other cops.”
“Shit, mean looking. A heavyset blond guy, and this thin guy with glasses.”
Breuning and Carlisle–go from there:
Duhamel scoping slot work–Mobster Squad duty? Goons scoping _him_–suspected fur thief?
Orchard: “Man, I got no more ‘ands’ for you. Whatever you threaten me with, I’ll be feeding you bullshit from here on in.”
Work the spook: “_Give_, Leroy.”
“Give shit, I ain’t no stool pigeon.”
“No, you’re a small-time independent narcotics pusher.”
“Say what?”
“Say this heroin is a month’s pay for you.”
“An’ say I got a bail bondsman ready to stand my bail an’ a righteous Jew lawyer set to defend me. Say you book me, say I get my phone call. Say what, shit.”
I uncuffed him. “Did Tommy Kafesjian ever muscle you, Leroy?”
“Tommy K. don’t scare me.”
“Sure he does.”
“Horse pucky.”
“You’re either paying him protection, snitching for him or running from him.”
“Horse pucky.”
“Well, I don’t think snitching’s your style, but I think you’re looking over your shoulder a lot waiting for some Kafesjian guy to notice you.”
Side 122
Ellroy – White Jazz
“Maybe that’s true. But maybe the Kafesjians ain’t gonna control the Southside traffic that much longer.”
“Did Junior Stemmons tell you that?”
“Maybe he did. But maybe it’s just loose talk pertainin’ to this big Southside Federal thing. And either way I ain’t no snitch.”
Tough monkey.
“Leroy, why don’t you tell me how Junior Stemmons muscled you.”
“Fuck you.”
“Why don’t you tell me what you two talked about.”
“Fuck your mother.”
“You know, if you cooperate with me, it might help bring the Kafesjians down.”
“Fuck you. I ain’t no snitch.”
“Leroy, were you acquainted with a maryjane pusher named Wardell Knox?”
“Fuck you, so what if I was.”
“He was murdered.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
“You know, there’s quite a push to clear up these Negro homicides.”
“No shit, Dick Tracy.”
Tough and stupid.
I walked Orchard next door and cuffed him in tight. Back to Leroy–
“Give on you and Junior Stemmons, or I drive you down to 77th Street and tell Dudley Smith you killed Wardell Knox and molested a bunch of little white kids.”
Coup de grace–I laid the H on the table. “Go ahead, I never saw it.”
Leroy snatched his shit back. Zoooom–instant cooperation:
“All that Junior punk and me _did_ was talk. Mostly he talked and I listened,
’cause he shook me down for my roll and some shit, and I knew that wasn’t no crackerjack badge he showed me.”
“Did he mention Tommy Kafesjian?”
“Not Tommy specific.”
“Tommy’s sister Lucille?”
“Uh-uh.”
“A peeper spying on Lucille?”
“Uh-uh, he just said the Kafesjian family itself was going down, gonna get fucked up by the Federal business. He said LAPD Narco was gonna get neutralizized by the Feds, and he was gonna be the new Southside dope kingpin–”
KILL HIM.
–“this snotnose little twerpy cop flying on a snootful of shit. He said he had the goods on the Kafesjians, and access to his boss’s burglary investigation, which was full of dirty stuff to blackmail J.C. Kafesjian with–”
Side 123
Ellroy – White Jazz
KILL HIM.
–“and he said he was gonna drive the Kafesjians out and steal their turf, and right about this time I’m biting my tongue to keep from laughing. Next he says he’s got stuff on these brothers working for Mickey Cohen. He said they’re gonna pull these sex shakedowns on movie stars–“