The Derelict

The clerk took one look at the photo and said, “Oh yes, that’s Walter Ames; he’s a frequent guest here.”

“And he uses the name Walter Ames every time?”

“Yes, sir, he was here two nights on his last visit. Let me look at the register. Yes, the register shows he was here the

nights of March 11 and 12.”

“How far back does your register go?”

“Usually about two months,” the clerk replied. “And previous ones are kept in our vault for three years.”

“Okay, if I need to know about previous visits I’ll contact your manager. You’ve been a big help. Now, who would be most

likely to know who visited him?”

“Try the bell captain and the maitre’d.”

“Thanks.”

From the bell captain and maitre’d Carl got the names of six people ‘Walter Ames’ had visited with during his recent

stay, including ‘Big Daddy.’ All of the names were of known or suspected mob members.

* * *

Two days later Carl Benson and Evan Wansley boarded a flight to Los Angeles where they were met by Lieutenant

Gilbert Hastings. Hastings drove them to a motel near the airport in an unmarked vehicle. Here the three sat for an afternoon

while Benson filled the lieutenant in on the recent events in San Francisco, going back to Wansley’s rescue from the

dumpster in December. When Benson completed his briefing Wansley took over.

“I’m sure you know, Lieutenant, that both the politics and the police department in L.A. are infiltrated with mafia types.

What you may not know is how deeply they have penetrated. Because of this we have to be very careful about who knows

there is an investigation going on. As you may recall, they got to me two and a half years ago and almost killed me. Then,

this past December, as Carl said, they tried again in San Francisco.

“Your chief has been quoted as saying that over 90 officers have been corrupted. Either they were taking bribes or were

involved in racial incidents in which they covered for each other. He even suggested that corruption was high-placed. All this

was known three years ago and is what I was working on at the time of my ‘accident.’

“Things are even worse now and that’s the reason for this meeting. For the present I still need to stay undercover, but

someone in L.A. needs to get the ball rolling. Captain Morrissey believes you are trustworthy and can re-instigate activity

here. But, let me give you the names of some cops and pols who are not trustworthy.”

Here Wansley handed Lieutenant Hastings a list and gave a copy also to Benson. Included on the list was the newly

appointed captain of detectives in one of the police divisions, and Raymond Creighton, the new city council member.

Hastings gasped when he saw the captain’s name. “I’ve known Frank for years and would never have suspected him of

being dishonest. Creighton, I’m not surprised; he’s always been too slick for my money.”

“You have to realize,” Wansley threw in, “I can’t prove any of this at present, but I’m working on it. We do have witnesses

who saw Creighton meeting with San Francisco mob leaders. That’s why Captain Morrissey contacted you. I need to return

to L.A. to complete my investigation; but I can’t do it alone. If you can arrange things and get a top secret investigative team

to work with me I believe we can expose the bad apples.

“There is risk to me and risk to you, and definitely a risk in trying to find a high ranking official who is not secretly on the

take. I’ll need a safe house to work from, and the team I mentioned whose members are not afraid to get their nose dirty and

their fingers burned.”

When Wansley stopped talking Hastings with a ‘phew’ said, “That’s a tall order; but it’s something that needs to be done.

I won’t make any promises; you have me at a stage where I don’t know who can be trusted Let me do some private

investigating on my own. Then, if I'’ sure I have the sanctions to put a team together I’ll call Tom Morrissey. It might take a few

weeks.”

While waiting for room service to deliver their dinner Evan Wansley put together a briefcase of documents for Lieutenant

Hastings. Each document showed the leading suspects in the corruption in some kind of contact with members of the

underworld, either in Los Angeles or in San Francisco.

* * *

Wansley and Benson returned to San Francisco the next day; Wansley to resume his research until Los Angeles opened

up for him, Benson to report to Captain Morrissey.

“Lieutenant Hastings was quite disturbed to see a cop he’s known for years on Wansley’s list; I’m not sure he quite

believed it. In any case, he has to search out someone at a higher level to sanction a team down there. He’ll be in touch with

you.”

Elsewhere on the San Francisco front both Tom Aristoni and Jason Thurbridge had divided the chore of keeping track of

Jonathan Woods. They made notes of every person he contacted and every place he visited away from his home.

Apparently, from his freedom of movement, Woods had come up with a satisfactory explanation to his bosses of his 36 hour

disappearance while he was being held for questioning.

When they were not following Woods the two undercover men trailed mob members that Woods had named on the lists

Benson had him write. Again, they kept extensive notes of people and places. The double duty soon took its toll; they called

Benson and asked for help.

When Benson approached Captain Morrissey on their behalf he was told no other detectives were available. Frustrated,

Benson begged him to reconsider. “Those guys are putting in 14 to 16 hour a day; I think that’s too much to expect of them.”

At this the captain relented and promised to do his best.

Two days later Benson got some help from his captain. Two more undercover detectives were assigned to assist

Aristoni and Thurbridge, but only for a week. Benson met with them in Captain Morrissey’s office. To his surprise, one of

them was a woman.

Anita Hernandez was a young, attractive Hispanic woman who had been working on the vice squad. Also assigned to

work with Benson was a young male Hispanic named Ernest Ramirez. He had been doing undercover work with the

narcotics division.

Benson filled them in on the background of the case and what, specifically, Aristoni and Thurbridge were doing. “You two

have been brought on board because Tom and Jason have too much to handle. I’ve set up a meeting with them for later in

the day so that the four of you can organize a rotating schedule, each of you working individually on the surveillance they’ve

set up. You’ll also need to establish a communication system among the four of you that’s relatively free of interception. And

I want each of you to give me a daily briefing on my cell phone. Any questions?”

“Not a question, but a clarification,” said Anita. “Our intent is to gather information that can later be used to indict these

people for criminal activities. Is that correct?”

“That’s correct,” replied Carl. “Every nail we can drive into their coffin now will make the indictment that much easier.”

* * *

The next week proved to be one that turned the tide in favor of the investigating team. With the addition of Hernandez

and Ramirez the undercover team was able to do a more comprehensive job of trailing mob members and writing detailed

logs of their visits and meetings with others of their ilk.

Evan Wansley, meanwhile, concentrated on financial transactions carried on by the mob leaders. None of the

transactions by themselves would have impressed any prosecuting attorneys but the total picture presented enough

ammunition to convince the San Francisco district attorney he could get a judge to issue warrants to subpoena bank and

business records. It was at this point that the district attorney, Sam Weinberg, met with Captain Morrissey and Evan

Wansley to discuss future steps.

“My main concern,” said the D.A. after a series of meetings, “is that if we act prematurely in San Francisco we will alert

everyone in Los Angeles and give them time to cover up. I think it’s time to bring the Los Angeles district attorney in on

Evan’s findings so that we can act jointly on the proceedings.”

It was agreed that Evan Wansley and Carl Benson would again meet with Gil Hastings in Los Angeles and he, in turn,

would introduce them to the L.A. prosecutor. Sam Weinberg would call his contemporary in Los Angeles and prepare for the

meeting.

When Wansley and Benson were met by Gil Hastings in Los Angeles he informed them he had found a trustworthy ally on

the L.A. police force. “I have complete confidence in Deputy Chief Ritter, and he is now forming a task force with me in

charge. We will be ready in a few days to put you, Evan, in a safe house to begin doing the same things you were doing in

San Francisco. Tom Morrissey has informed me he will assign you, Carl, as full time liaison with me. He’s also promoting

you to sergeant.”

That same afternoon Carl and Evan, accompanied by Gil Hastings, were introduced to Isaac ‘Ike’ Ritter, a gray-haired,

heavy-set man nearing retirement age. The four men held a lengthy discussion to describe the investigation going on in San

Francisco. Chief Ritter was more than receptive to their ideas. “We know we have a problem here, Evan, and I’m aware of

what you were on to three years ago. I’m very happy to see you back at it. With enough urgency I believe we can clean up

the mess.”

The next morning the same group met with Los Angeles District Attorney, Enika Toshiba, an attractive Japanese-

American in her early forties. They again went into detail about the San Francisco investigation, with both Gil Hastings and

Ike Ritter adding their concerns about the situation in Los Angeles and describing the steps they were taking to remedy it.

“Mr. Wansley will be moving his efforts to Los Angeles in the immediate future where he will resume his investigation into

the local crime scene,” Gil Hastings began. “This time we will be behind him one hundred percent. We have organized an

invest-igative team to work with him. They will do all the grunt work on an undercover basis and follow up, discreetly, on every

lead that turns up.”

PART II: Los Angeles, April through June

Three days later Evan Wansley moved into the safe house in Los Angeles; actually, an apartment on the third floor of a

non-descript apartment building in the Wilshire District, three blocks from the area police headquarters. Here, he was

provided with a computer and a duplication of the office supplies he had access to in San Francisco. He was also provided

with a pert-time secretary from the office pool. She would set up a filing system and do other related secretarial chores as

needed.

Late in the evening on April 12th Gil Hastings introduced Evan Wansley to the three Los Angeles police officers

assigned to the investigative team. Vince Seagram, a short. Stocky man in his mid-thirties wore a Dodgers baseball cap

and jacket. He greeted Evan with a firm handshake and a gruff, “Hi.” The second member introduced was a young,

attractive black woman named Joly Franklin. On temporary assignment from the vice squad, Joly wore her usual ‘uniform’ for

that assignment, a mini skirt and a figure hugging sweater.

The third member of the team was also black, a fiftiesh man who had the build of a basketball player. He was introduced

as Curtis Pelham. After the introductions Gil Hastings informed the three who Evan Wansley was and described his recent

role in San Francisco. “I will leave it to Evan to tell you what your role is.”

“Your role,” said Evan, “is surveillance. I’m going to provide you with a list of people you are to cling to like a leach. I

would like to know where they go, whom they meet with and who their gofers are. One person on the list is a high ranking

member of your police force, another is a city councilman, so you will have to be very discreet. The others are lesser lights

but they all have connections to the mob in Los Angeles. What we need to come up with is incontrovertible proof that they are

connected.

“You will need to keep accurate records of every contact you observe and report on a regular basis to Lieutenant. I

suggest you rotate your coverage so that none of you will be constantly attached to the same people. Occasionally it will be

necessary for one of you to travel, to San Francisco or some other location. So keep a small overnight bag handy. Any

questions?”

“What kind of contacts are we looking for?” Vince Seagram asked. “And how detailed do you want our records to be?”

“Every contact, no matter how insignificant, might be the one that nails things down. If your notes are too voluminous we’ll

try to get secretarial help to transcribe them, and perhaps condense them.”

“Let me give you an example of one contact in San Francisco. One member of the team there used contacts he had to

uncover a man who drove the vehicle when the second attempt was made on my life. This man, by using the threat of

outstanding traffic citations, has become a very valuable informer. He provided two leads which have opened up new

avenues for investigation, including a lead to the Los Angeles politician whose name is on the list I mentioned.

“If each of you can come up with a person such as that, the investigation here will proceed rapidly. I don’t need to tell you

how to operate; you’re experienced at your work and have been carefully selected for the team. Do your usual fine job and

we’ll go a long way toward cleaning up this city.”

When Evan finished this pep talk Gil Hastings added, “I couldn’t have said that better myself. Now, to add one other

instruction; to keep me posted I think it’s best if we meet on a regular basis. Let’s meet for breakfast on a rotating schedule,

at which time we can discuss any discoveries you’ve made and provide me with copies of your notes. Also, in the event you

need to make immediate contact I’ll provide you with my cell phone number. Use a pay phone to call me, 24 hours a day.”

After handing each of the team members his card listing his cell phone number Gil continued with, “Okay, let’s go to

work.”

* * *

During the next few weeks the team, each member working 12 to 14 hours a day, followed the 6 men on the list Evan

Wansley had provided, with particular emphasis placed on the activities of Captain Frank Rapelli and Councilman Raymond

Creighton. They each reported regularly to Lieutenant Hastings and handed over records they had kept of contacts made

and places visited. These notes were transcribed, and in some cases condensed, then turned over to Evan Wansley.

Evan divided his time between studying these notes, making notes of his own and examining recent financial

transactions of the people on his list. Frequently Gil Hastings dropped in to help sort out the important information from what

seemed less important. In two weeks time the mass of data accumulated became mind-boggling to Hastings. Evan

seemed to take it in stride and spent long hours poring over different notes searching for connections.

One morning in early May Gil stopped in to visit and brought with him a young man he introduced as Bill Lyons. “Bill is a

computer expert who has been working in a civilian capacity at headquarters setting up a new system for us. I prevailed

upon Ike Ritter to borrow him for a while to see if he can set up a system for you here. On the way here I explained to Bill what

you are trying to do. He’d like to take a crack at organizing what you have and write a program for it. Then, your secretary

can keep it on track. Would that be helpful to you?”

“I’m sure it would be,” Evan replied. “But he’ll have to train me in its use at the same time. What I know about computers I

could write in the eye of a needle.”

“Okay, I’ll leave him with you and check back later to see if any progress has been made. Oh, one item to pass along to

you that I found in Joly Franklin’s latest notes. Our friend Raymond has a mistress.”

When Hastings left Bill Lyons sat at a table across from Evan and said, “Tell me what kind of data you have and how you

plan to use it.”

For the next two hours Evan described the data he had been compiling based on the input from the team of detectives.

When he had filled Bill in on the general picture he added, “What I need is to coordinate all the information and see where

there are significant correlations in the contacts reported. Also, if you can do it, I’d like to dig into the financial records of

several people to find out if there is information that would be useful in our investigation.”

Bill thought about Evan’s statement and then replied, “If the data includes time and place of meetings taking place we

can use that information to see if there is a pattern, or patterns. Let me get to work feeding data into the computer and try a

few things, then I’ll show you how to retrieve it.”

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