"The Eternal Night" drabbles by Christopher
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 131
The Eternal Night #131
Mason and I were heading up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco by 9:30 am. With a stop on the way for lunch it took about 7 hours to drive up there. I spent the time regaling Mason with stories from my casebook. He really listened intently, only interrupting to ask questions about the cases. I had to admire his attention to detail about playing a detective, even if all of this was getting on my nerves. I had left all that behind. In some ways it seemed like it was another man that had done all those things...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 130
The Eternal Night #130
"Hello, Brick," she said as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Lily," Mason said.
"And who might you be?" she said as she looked at me.
Sperry looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck.
"Chuck Wood," I said as I put my hand out. "City Building Inspector. Just checking things out here."
She shook it, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Wood."
"Likewise," I said. "I'll be in touch, Mr. Sperry."
As we walked off Mason shook his head and whispered, "The ease with which you can lie to people is staggering, Jake."
I just smiled...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 129
The Eternal Night #129
He shook my hand and Mason's and then led us out of the trailer and right smack into Lillian Wells. She was obviously older than the two photos I had seen her in but was still just as beautiful. She was wearing a form-fitting white dress and a big white hat and sunglasses that made her look bug-eyed. She had a little brown, perfectly groomed toy poodle on a leash that was yapping at everything that moved.
"Lily, dear!" Sperry said as he brushed by us and kissed her on the cheek.
"Hello, darling!" she said with exaggeration...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 128
The Eternal Night #128
Sperry put his head in his hands. I could tell I was looking at a man who knew the score before the game started and still bet on the losing team.
"Look, Sperry," I said, "maybe it's not as bad as it looks. We'll get the information and pass it on to you and you can decide if it's a storm you can weather or not. But don't worry about it until you actually see it."
Sperry and Mason both stared at me. I wasn't sure why.
"Alright, Randolph," Sperry said as he stood up. Mason and I followed suit...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 127
The Eternal Night #127
Sperry looked at me coldly. I could tell that, even if he didn't like what I was saying, he suspected the same thing or he never would've wanted a detective looking into this in the first place.
"What makes you think you'll find dirt in San Francisco?" Sperry asked as he sat back down.
I sat down as well and said, "A lot of little things add up to it. You said yourself Lily was a burlesque dancer. My guess is she was a stripper. She signed with a modeling agency that was probably not doing layouts for Life magazine."
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 126
The Eternal Night #126
"I gotta hand it to you, Randolph," Sperry said. "You haven't just been training Brick Mason, the detective. You've also been training Brick Mason, the man!"
I was still fuming but I was proud of Mason. He'd come a long way in just a few days.
"Listen, Sperry," I said, "I got as much info as I could because you said you knew next-to-nothing about Lily. Now if it's just the dirt you want, I'm afraid when Mason and I get back from San Francisco we're going to have more dirt on Lily than you can wash off."
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 125
The Eternal Night #125
Mason was getting redfaced.
"Jake has done everything methodically and thoroughly, trying to help you and me out and asking nothing in return. And he doesn't need to come back here and be yelled at by an asshole like you!"
Mason was pointing his finger at Sperry, who stood there with his mouth open. I think Mason had had enough of being treated like a doormat by Sperry. I was afraid I'd trained him a little too well and that he was about to be out of a job.
Sperry looked at Mason a moment and then looked at me...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 124
The Eternal Night #124
Sperry looked at Mason, apparently surprised he had the balls to get in the middle of it.
"Okay...Mason. Just what is the rest of it?" Sperry said.
Mason continued, "If we hadn't gone there and talked to her parents we wouldn't have found out that Lily is desperate to be an actress, to be a star. Wouldn't have found out that Lily moved to 'Frisco and signed with a modeling agency. Woudn't have found a business card for the Lexington Talent Agency. And we wouldn't have heard Lily's father describe some of the people she hung out with as lowlifes!”
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 123
The Eternal Night #123
It took both me and Mason by surprise. Sperry stood up out his chair and yelled, "What the hell kind of detective are you, Randolph?"
I stood up just as angrily and said, "Excuse me?"
"I needed to know if my fiancee had anything in her past that might cause me scandal and you bring me pictures of her damned childhood bedroom?"
I was about three seconds from grabbing Sperry, pulling him across that desk, and showing him just what kind of detective I really was when Mason stood up.
"Mr. Sperry, wait a minute! You haven't heard it all!"
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 122
The Eternal Night #122
I shook my head, "I make it a policy never to drink whiskey before 9 am."
Sperry laughed and said, "Quite right!"
He put the bottle back in the drawer without seeing whether or not Mason had the same policy.
"Now, have you found out anything about my little Lily?"
I handed him a folder with the pictures inside.
"We met with Lily's parents, posing as a reporter and a photographer, and got some photos of her room, also some information about her past, where she went to school, how she grew up, that sort of thing."
"What?" Sperry yelled...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 121
The Eternal Night #121
Mr. Sperry greeted us at the front gate and directed us over to a trailer that was acting as his temporary office while they were remodeling the one in the building.
"It's good to see you, Randolph," Sperry said, before looking at Mason and adding, "...uh, you too, Mason."
Mason nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Sperry."
Sperry motioned to a couple of folding chairs in front of his makeshift desk.
"Sorry about the conditions, but we're making great progress here. And I don't have a drinks cabinet but I do have a bottle of whiskey if you care for a drink."
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 120
The Eternal Night #120
I picked up Mason at 8 am the next morning and we went by Whistling Eddie's to pick up the photographs. I made Mason stay in the car, lest he piss off Aristotle again. I was running out of favors to cash in with Ari.
After that we drove out to Culver City to the Paragon Pictures lot to meet Sperry. What once had been an isolated, abandoned lot when Roxie took me there just a couple of days before was now teeming with construction workers, carpenters, and laborers trying to get the place ready to make movie magic again...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 119
The Eternal Night #119
"You can handle it, Jake. Just be careful. Do you mind if I stay home tonight? I have a meeting with the brass from Paragon Pictures in the morning and I need to get some sleep."
"No, that's fine," I said. I was actually relieved. I needed some sleep myself. "You get some rest. Mason and I are driving up to San Francisco some time tomorrow. We may be a day or two. Just keep your head cool and your motor warm for me."
"You got it, baby," she said and hung up the phone.
I fell into the bed...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 118
The Eternal Night #118
"Hello?" Roxie said as she answered the phone.
"It's me. We're back."
"Is everything okay?"
"Well, the goal of this was to train Mason and find out answers about Lily. The training Mason part is going okay but instead of finding answers about Lily I just keep finding more questions. I'm afraid she was into somethng that could put Mason in danger."
"And you," she added.
"I'm not worried about me. I can take care of myself. But carrying around a backpack like Brick Mason may slow me down just in the moment where I really need to be fast."
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 117
The Eternal Night #117
I got back to my place late. I drove around for a while wondering what kind of worms were going to inch out of this can once I got it opened. Mr. Wells' use of the term lowlifes was really getting under my skin. What could Lily have been involved in? I guessed when Mason and I drove to San Francisco the next day we'd find out.
When I got in there was a note on the table from Roxie that said, "Call me when you get back no matter what time it is. Love, Roxie."
I called her up...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 116
The Eternal Night #116
"It'll take several hours to get it done and let the film dry, so how about you come back in the morning and you can pick it up?" Eddie said. He'd never been this nice or this accomodating. The mystique of Hollywood does strange things to people.
"Okay, Eddie. Thanks a lot." I said.
Eddie shook Mason's hand again.
I told Ari goodbye. "The offer of free drinks at my cafe is still good, Ari. Anytime."
He nodded, "Maybe I'll drop in one day, Randolph. See ya."
Mason and I left and had dinner and then I took him home...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 115
The Eternal Night #115
Eddie looked at me, "You've come up in the world since you stopped being a private dick, ain't ya, Randolph?"
"So it would seem," I said.
"So what are these pictures you want developed? Publicity photos of Brick Mason here?"
I shook my head, "Just some photos of a room. Can you help?"
"Sure!" he said as he took the roll of film from me. It was hard to believe all the years I had to cajole and threaten this little worm to help me. Little did I know all I had to do was bring in a movie star...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 114
The Eternal Night #114
Eddie looked at me, then Mason, then back at me.
"Who's this, Randolph?" he asked suspiciously.
"Brick Mason. He's an actor."
Eddie smiled, "Oh yeah! Riot At Reform School!"
Has everyone seen that movie but me?
Eddie stuck his hand out toward Mason. Mason looked at me before offering his hand. I nodded so Mason shook Eddie's hand.
"I like your work," Eddie said.
Mason perked up, "Thanks. Not the best script in the world but I did what I could with it."
"I think it's great!" Eddie said, which didn't surprise me.
It was probably a documentary to Eddie...
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 113
The Eternal Night #113
Mason nodded just as Whistling Eddie came out of the back room. He was whistling until he saw me, then his whole demeanor changed.
"Ah...Randolph, what the hell are you doing here? I haven't had to look at your ugly mug since you quit the Philip Marlowe bit."
"S'good to see you too, Eddie."
"Why are you here?" he asked with irritation.
"I need some film developed."
Eddie chuckled, "Does this look like a photography studio, Randolph?"
"No...but I know you have a dark room in the back...and I know the kind of dirty pictures you develop in there too."
Jake Randolph in "The Eternal Night" Pt. 112
The Eternal Night #112
"Ari," I said, "remember that night at the Pink Pussycat when we were arguing over who got to take that blonde dancer home and I bowed out and let you do it?"
Ari smiled. "That was a good night!"
"Yeah," I continued, "well you owe me one for that."
Ari looked at me and then Mason. He stepped right up to Mason and said, "This is your lucky day, stilts."
And with that Ari turned on his little heel and went back to his chair.
I turned to Mason and said, "Not one more word that isn't in the script."
