The taxi did not go to Malibu. It went, instead, to Chinatown.
And, more specifically, to the Jade Lion, which didn’t surprise Archer one little bit. When Chinatown got involved in things, it tended to stay involved.
Chapter 34
Bonham paid off the cab and walked up the steps to the front door. Archer eased to the curb a little down the street. It was too early for the Jade to be officially open for business, he knew. The doorman he’d fought before was nowhere in sight. If Archer was really lucky, he might be in a hospital.
But another man was there. Archer saw him as he came out to greet Bonham. It was the gray-suited gent with the scars, though he was now attired in a dark blue pinstripe with a pale blue pocket square. Now he knew who Bonham had called from the airport.
Archer popped open his glove box, snagged his Kodak camera, took aim, and fired off a few photos. The pair spoke for about a minute and then went inside. Even with his window down, Archer couldn’t hear a word of their conversation from this distance, but he knew that he and his questions were probably the number one topic.
He drove off and headed to Green and Ransome. It was time he reported in with his client. Along the way he dropped off the film for development and paid for a fast turnaround.
When he walked into the office he was met by Audrey, the receptionist. She was in her fifties, with a pencil stuck in her hair bun. Archer wanted to snatch it out, as though it were King Arthur’s sword in the stone, and freeing it would grant him all the answers he needed. But it was just a pencil stuck in hair, and the answers would have to come the hard way.
“While Miss Ransome is at Warners filming today, she said if you came by to tell you that she put your name on the visitor’s sheet at the gate, Mr. Archer.”
“Thanks. I’ll head over there now. I understand Bart Green is in Vegas?”
Efficient now looked suspicious. “I have no idea where he is.”
“His wife told me that’s where he was.”
Now Audrey just blinked at him.
“Have the cops been by to ask questions about Eleanor Lamb?” She shook her head but said nothing.
“I hear Green flies up to Vegas on his own plane with his own pilot. Must be nice.”
That got him four blinks in staccato.
“Does he go to Vegas a lot? He likes to gamble, I take it?”
That got him five blinks and then Audrey picked up the phone before saying, “Will there be anything else?”
“No, but can I compliment you on your answers? They’re some of the best I’ve never heard.”
That got him a smile with no words or blinks tacked on.
He headed north to Warner Brothers, which was located in the southeastern tip of the San Fernando Valley in Burbank. The skies were still sunny, but with the chance of severe thunderstorms once he got there, depending on how things went with his client.
Archer passed through the suburbs of Burbank, where the partly built middle-income neighborhoods looked like they had been stamped out by tool-and-die concerns with the goal of a dull sameness that not even the Soviets could approach. But maybe that was okay. A house was to live in, not live your life through like maybe those monied folks did in Bel Air and Beverly Hills.
He found a parking spot down the street from the studio, which was a miracle unto itself. The guard at the gate found his name on the list and directed him to one of the soundstages. He waited until the red light went off and then rang the bell on the door. He gave his name to the woman who answered and asked to see Ransome when she had a moment.
Ten minutes passed and Ransome opened the door and stepped out.
“Follow me, Archer,” she said in a tone that made Archer think the woman was still in director mode.
She strode off and he had to step quickly to keep up.
Ransome was dressed in a man’s suit, but tailored for her shape. Instead of a tie she had a colorful scarf around her neck. Her hair danced over her shoulders and was capped by a lavender beret. She would have looked très chic on the streets of Paris, he thought.
She led him to a series of small Spanish-style bungalows and unlocked the door of one.
They stepped inside, where Archer found a comfortable office space and casual seating, with a full bar set up against one wall. Movie posters from old Warner Brothers flicks were in frames on every wall.
She poured herself a club soda and lemon and asked him what he wanted.
“Same but the lime over the lemon. I’m working,” he added, smiling.
They sat across from each other in leather club chairs. “Nice place,” he said. “Yours?”
“So long as you make them money, the studios give you almost whatever you want.”
Archer wondered what all that might encompass. “What’s the picture you’re directing?”
“Let’s just call it Moby Dick, only from the whale’s perspective.”
“Should be a big hit.”
She made a show of looking at her watch. “What have you found out?”
“You like Boleros?”
He had asked the question to see if Sam Malloy had filled his grandniece in on their conversation. By the look on her face, the old cop had decided to let Archer play it out for himself.
“I like it fine. Why do you ask?”
He explained what had happened after she’d left Boleros.
“Sam Malloy is a swell guy. He’s very proud of you.”
“And I think the world of him.”
“He filled me in. You went to get his advice. It was a good move.”
“And he said I was in good hands with you.” She glanced down at his bandaged hand.
“What happened?”
“I just ran into a knife a guy was holding over in Chinatown.”
She sat back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other in the most unfeminine manner Archer had ever seen a woman manage. He was actually quite impressed.
“Why Chinatown?”
He decided to pull out the same matchbook he had shown Alice Jacoby.
“The Jade Lion?” Ransome said, reading the name off the cover.
“I found a bunch of them in Lamb’s desk.”
“And what did you find there, besides the man with the knife?”
“I found a shot of pure fire in a glass, and then I went snooping.”
“And did you find anything connecting Ellie to this place?”
“Nothing directly, but I found out lots of other things.”
“Like what?”
“I’ll keep them to myself for now. It might be safer for you if I do.”
“That bad, huh?”
“People will go to disgusting lengths to make a buck, let’s leave it at that. You know a gal named Alice Jacoby?”
“I do, slightly. She works at Warners as a set designer. Good reputation.”
“Your tastes aren’t simpatico, at least she said.”
“Aren’t we getting rather far afield? Have you made any progress?”
“Have the county cops been by to talk to you?”
“No, they haven’t.”
Archer sat back, puzzled. “Okay, have they questioned anyone else at the company?”
“Not that anyone has told me.”
“All right, do you know Peter and/or Bernadette Bonham?”
“No. Who are they?”
“Next-door neighbors of Lamb’s. I met Mrs. Bonham at the airport today. She was in France and now she’s not. Same for her hubby.”
Ransome lazily rubbed her cheek, but her look was focused. “Why is that important?”
“I told her about Lamb being missing and the dead body. She seemed surprised. I say seemed because I’m not sure. After she left the airport, guess where she went?”
“I don’t like games, Mr. Archer.”