{"id":1459,"date":"2012-08-23T17:14:36","date_gmt":"2012-08-23T22:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/?p=1459"},"modified":"2012-08-23T17:14:36","modified_gmt":"2012-08-23T22:14:36","slug":"clean-plate-club-murder-mystery-chapter-39","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/clean-plate-club-murder-mystery-chapter-39\/","title":{"rendered":"Clean Plate Club Murder Mystery: Chapter 39"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I started driving back through town, I remembered that Henry had let it slip that he knew my father professionally.\u00a0 All of Dad\u2019s old records were stored with Ralph and Fanny, so I once again headed to the Clean Plate Club to see if I could dig up any old files.\u00a0 They were technically my files now, since I had inherited Dad\u2019s business, and I quickly brushed aside any misgivings about conflicting cases.\u00a0 It just past 2 PM, and for once the Clean Plate Club was closed; it made my smile to think of Ralph and Fanny walking hand and hand along the beach on this lovely afternoon.\u00a0 Fortunately, Ralph had never changed the hiding place for his key, and I thought about all the people \u2013 tradesmen and regular customers alike \u2013 who know how to let themselves in.\u00a0 I went down into the basement, and turned on the bare light bulb that swung like a slow pendulum above my head.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ralph and Fanny were definitely collectors and getting access to the filing cabinets was like an archeological dig.\u00a0 I stepped over a pair of rollerblades, probably at least 20 years old.\u00a0 Ralph brought them when he was on a short-lived fitness kick.\u00a0 Dad, Fanny and I had all taken side bets on how long it might last.\u00a0 My estimate of 6 weeks was the winning guess.\u00a0 Fanny wasn\u2019t immune to these spasms of physical fitness.\u00a0 On top of Ralph\u2019s lightly used exercycle was an old VHS tape of a Jane Fonda work out tape.\u00a0 There was all sorts of kitchen equipment, like fondue equipment and fancy hot plates and a stack of unused waitress uniforms, all filed in the basement as Ralph and Fanny slowly realized that their cuisine was going to remain the same, regardless of the trends.\u00a0 Finally I got back to the filing cabinet.\u00a0 A velvety layer of smooth dust was evidence that these files had not been touched for years.\u00a0 I was grateful that my father was so organized, and I found a file named \u201cHenry Murphy\u201d immediately.\u00a0 On an off chance, I then looked to see if there was anything under the name of Sam Todd, and was only mildly surprised when I found another thinner file.\u00a0 I sneezed as I blew the dust off, went upstairs, made myself a pot of coffee and settled in.<\/p>\n

I started with Henry Murphy, and saw that he had actually hired my father twice. \u00a0The first was over 30 years ago; it must have been when my father first started his own business, even before my parents had been married. \u00a0The intake sheet stated that Henry had hired my father to do surveillance on Sam Todd for three successive Friday nights, and specifically to see if he had gone to an address in Cutter City\u2013422 Timber Lane, and if so how long he stayed there. \u00a0I quickly fished out Simba and Sam\u2019s engagement announcement from my files, and noticed that the surveillance started shortly afterwards.\u00a0 I bet that Henry had taken upon himself to see who this Cutter City boy was, who was potentially going both besmirch the Murphy name and get his hands on their money. \u00a0My father had a great expression for men who married rich woman.\u00a0 I could just hear him say, \u201cBoy he really put his ass in a tub of butter,\u201d and then shake his head with a laugh.<\/p>\n

I looked at the surveillance notes, and was startled to see that they were in my mother\u2019s handwriting. \u00a0Could it be that my silly father thought that surveillance was a suitable date?\u00a0 I suppose that he could have made it romantic, nestled in the car together with some wine, listening to music.\u00a0 But really, Dad, couldn\u2019t you do any better than that?\u00a0 When it was just the two of us, Dad understandably hated surveillance since he was faced with the immediate problem of getting a baby sitter for me.\u00a0 There were a couple of times when he was truly desperate and I just went with him.\u00a0 But I loved it.\u00a0 Dad would make me a cozy nest in the back seat and I could read my books with a little flashlight, as long as I stayed down low.\u00a0 I would then drift off to sleep with the sound of Dad\u2019s favorite oldies\u2019 station on, sometimes I would wake up as he whistled or hummed along with the tune.\u00a0 I would pop up to give my father a little neck rub to keep help him stay alert. \u00a0Occasionally, I would wake up to the gentle swaying of the car, as we tailed a car to a new destination, and then my father would whisper Gotcha! Under his breath as he snapped off a few pictures. \u00a0Now that I had to do surveillance from time to time, I understood why my father hated it so much. \u00a0It was relentlessly boring, and I could see the appeal of having a date or even a 6 year old girl in the back seat to break up the monotony.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t look like Henry found much of anything in his three days of surveillance. \u00a0Sam mostly stayed home, went out a couple of times to the liquor store, and it looked like Simba came every night, not leaving until the morning. \u00a0There were no visits to the 422 Timber Lane address.\u00a0 The second thinner file was from some 15 years later, and this would be right about the time of Simba\u2019s second pregnancy.\u00a0 Again it was for three nights of surveillance, and this time, sadly, the surveillance notes were in Dad\u2019s handwriting alone.\u00a0 Sam Todd was again the target of the surveillance, and this time, Henry had specified whether or not he ever visited a Sylvia Wister, and the address of both her photography studio and her home with the big oak tree was given. \u00a0According to Dad\u2019s notes, Sam had never visited the photography studio, but did go to her home.\u00a0 Dad describes a pregnant woman opening the door, and Sam Todd handing her an envelope, and then departing.\u00a0 A picture was included in the file, and there was a much younger and pregnant Sylvia Wister.\u00a0 It looked like they were having a very heated debate, with Sylvia pointing her finger only a few inches from Sam\u2019s nose.<\/p>\n

I then picked up Sam\u2019s file and smiled when I saw that Sam had hired Dad to do surveillance on Henry. \u00a0What was with these two men stalking each other?\u00a0 Sam had hired Dad about 6 months after Henry, so it must have been just after Sam and Simba had married in 1986. \u00a0And here was the surprise; the intake form stated that Sam specifically wanted to know if Henry ever went to 422 Timber Lane, the same address that Henry had requested. \u00a0This surveillance seemed more productive.\u00a0\u00a0 Henry had been there 2 out of the 5 nights that Dad had tailed him, and there were a couple of photos. \u00a0422 Timber Lane looked like a run down boarding house, and one picture showed Henry ringing the doorbell, and the next picture showed a woman opening the door wearing some sort of negligee, and the final picture showed Henry entering the building. \u00a0Wow, Henry, I thought, you’ve got a secret life.\u00a0 Well good for you.<\/p>\n

I went to the Zilla real estate search engine, typed in 422 Timber Lane and saw from the aerial view that the house looked essentially the same. \u00a0I then did a reverse search on the address and found that it was now a branch library in Cutter City, and in fact it was called the Sam and Simba Todd Children\u2019s North Branch Library. \u00a0I knew that if I fiddled around enough on line and got in the county tax records, I could find the name of the previous owner, but I have found that is often more informative to go to the neighborhood and just start asking questions. \u00a0It was about 2:30 PM at this point, and another trip to Cutter City would just complete my day.<\/p>\n

I found 422 Limber so easily with the GPS, and it made me wonder how my father could have ever done without it. \u00a0The house had obviously been renovated and turned into a very attractive library, blending in nicely with the surrounding residential neighborhood. \u00a0I\u2019d had pretty good luck with librarians a couple of days ago at the high school, so I thought I\u2019d try again at this library. \u00a0The library was strangely quiet, but I guess the kids had not yet gotten out of their grade school, and a friendly looking middle-aged librarian looked up as I approached.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello,\u201d I said, \u201cI used to live in this neighborhood when I was a kid, and I don\u2019t think this used to be a library,\u201d I said. \u00a0\u201cDo you know what was here before?\u201d<\/p>\n

“Oh, my goodness,\u201d said the librarian, \u201cOur little library here has had quite a colorful history, but not one that we like to discuss in front of tender ears,\u201d she said with a finger to her lips. \u00a0\u201cThis used to be a boarding house for many, many years.\u00a0 During the war, it was for women who were working at the armory plant that used to be up the road a piece, and then after the war, it was still for women, but they worked at a different type of job, if you know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my God,\u201d I said, \u201cI must have walked by this house every day on my way to school, and it looked perfectly normal to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I did too, and so did everyone. \u00a0Cutter City perhaps doesn\u2019t have the best reputation because of the prison, you know,\u201d said the librarian, \u201cbut there are lots of nice neighborhoods here, and this was one of them. \u00a0Anyway, it was quite a scandal when the police finally raided the place. \u00a0I think that they found the mayor of Santa Teresa in there; we all had a good laugh about that. \u00a0Nobody knew what to do with the building \u2013 it is supposedly a historic house, over a hundred years old, but then that nice Sam Todd came in, fixed it up and turned it into this library. \u00a0At first, I had trouble working here, thinking about what went on, you know, but now I think that it just give this building character.\u00a0 Somebody once told me that they were thinking of making a movie out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWow, we must have just moved away,\u201d I said, \u201cI don\u2019t remember any of that, but maybe I was too young. \u00a0Do you remember about what year that was?\u00a0 I wonder what my mother thought about having a brothel right in our neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see I was about,\u201d she went quiet as her lips moved to do the math. \u00a0\u201cIt must have been around 1986 or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHmm, that was right around the time we moved, so we must have missed all the excitement,\u201d I said. \u00a0\u201cWait until I tell my mother. \u00a0She will be so surprised. \u00a0Thanks for the info.\u201d<\/p>\n

The timing was just too perfect to be true. \u00a0A vendetta between Sam and Henry was taking shape.\u00a0 Sam must have found out that Henry was spying on him, and then turned the tables. \u00a0Somehow he must have know that Henry was a patron at the brothel, and perhaps he used Dad to find out the pattern, and then maybe even arranged a raid the night that Henry was there.\u00a0 Sometime afterward Sam supposedly swooped in and turned the brothel into a community jewel of a library, but I wondered if perhaps he was involved the whole time. \u00a0Maybe, in fact, he was a pimp.\u00a0 So maybe Henry and Sam had been in a tense stalemate all these years \u2013 Henry knew that Sam was a pimp, and Sam knew that Henry was a customer.\u00a0 I would love to know if my father knew more than what was in his notes.\u00a0 Ralph and Fanny might know, but if so, I wondered why they had not spoken up earlier.<\/p>\n

I could go to the library and look through old microfiches for the news of the raid, but I know that I could probably do just as well by spending more quality time on the computer.\u00a0 I turned the car south and headed back to the Clean Plate Caf\u00e9.\u00a0 I let myself in the back way, and could hear Ralph and Fanny preparing dinner, and I think that they knew I was here, but had decided to let me alone. \u00a0This was why our relationship worked so well.\u00a0 I typed in the date of when my father had last seen Henry and crossed it with the words \u201craid\u201d and \u201cCutter City\u201d and there was the story in the Santa Teresa Gazette.<\/p>\n

Police Raid Cathouse in Cutter City<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0An early morning raid on 422 Timber Lane, a residential neighborhood of Cutter City, resulted in a surprising catch, our very own major of Santa Teresa, R. \u201cJonesy\u201d Elvord. \u00a0Apparently, the police received an anonymous tip that the woman\u2019s boarding house was actually a brothel.\u00a0 Mayor Elvord issued no comment, but was seen going to church with his wife and children the next day. \u00a0According to the police, the rooming house consisted of at least 6 bedrooms, of which 5 were in use at the time of the raid.\u00a0 The names of the women and other men are unknown at this time.\u00a0 The building is owned by the Catholic Church, who issued the following statement, \u201cWe are shocked and horrified at this news.\u00a0 We obviously would never have taken rent for a sex venue.\u00a0 The property is managed by our real estate agent and we have been assured that the building has been managed as a safe home for women, many of whom are seeking temporary shelter to escape difficult domestic situations.\u00a0 We thought that we were offering a real service to the community.\u201d\u00a0 The building supervisor is a John Knox, who has been taken in for questioning.<\/p>\n

I leaned back in the chair and stared at the white board that we had created last night. \u00a0It was getting crowded.\u00a0 Ralph poked his head in.\u00a0 \u201cBusy day?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

I quickly recounted the day and judging by the way his eyes popped out, I might have embellished Henry\u2019s antics at the park. \u00a0\u201cHey Ralph,\u2019 I said, \u201cDo you remember the time back in 1986 when the mayor got caught in a whorehouse in Cutter City? \u00a0Was Dad involved in that case?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure I remember the mayor, a real sleaze ball, Jonesy something or other. \u00a0He still got re-elected, I couldn\u2019t believe it.\u00a0 He had this wild story that it was some sort of sting operation, that he was set up, which never really explained why he was there in the first place.\u00a0 He called it entrapment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid they ever reveal the names of the other men that got caught \u2013 or the women?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGeez, I don\u2019t remember, but I think that someone made a big point of not opening up the black book, made it sound like there were all sorts of famous people in there, but it might have just been a marketing gimmick. \u00a0I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Why do you think that your Dad was involved?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, he was doing surveillance on that address the same night that it got raided,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Ralph saw me pause slightly, and he immediately backed out of the room.\u00a0 \u201cListen I can see we are getting into sensitive territory, and you know that Fanny and I are on a strictly need to know basis.\u00a0 But we can certainly get together after the dinner service, if you would like to discuss if further.\u201d<\/p>\n

I went back to the computer and followed the story as it unfolded over the next couple of weeks.\u00a0 The men\u2019s names were eventually revealed, but I didn’t see Henry Murphy among them. \u00a0The women\u2019s names must have all been aliases, and included such delights as Krystal Caves and Amber Laurel. \u00a0Johnny Knox was put on trial for running a prostitution ring and served 4 years of a 10 year sentence.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t feel like rehashing the case with Ralph and Fanny again. \u00a0I was beat and headed home.\u00a0 It was only about 9 o\u2019clock, just barely dark, but I got in bed and stared at the ceiling as the fan slowly rotated.\u00a0 I tried to think of an agenda for the upcoming \u00a0\u201cCome to Jesus\u201d meeting between Simba and her brother Henry \u201cPolly Waddle\u201d Murphy.\u00a0 I began to think that I knew too much, it was getting too cluttered and it was going to be hard to know where to begin.<\/p>\nFollow Liza Blue on: \"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>Share: \"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I started driving back through town, I remembered that Henry had let it slip that he knew my father professionally.\u00a0 All of Dad\u2019s old records were stored with Ralph and Fanny, so I once again headed to the Clean … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-murder-mystery"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iVc8-nx","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1460,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459\/revisions\/1460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fanagrams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}