L. A. Confidential

Big words-his head spun. "Yeah, I hate them."

"And for good reason, judging from what I know of your background. Do you hate anything else quite so much?"

Fists so tight his hands ached. "Exley. Fucking Exley. Trashcan Jack, he's gotta be up there, too. Dick Stens is giving himself cirrhosis 'cause those two squealed us off."

Smith shook his head. "Not Vince

Bud leaned over the table. " Dudley, what do you want?"

"I want you to avoid an indictment and return to duty, and I have a way for you to do it."

Bud looked at the newspaper. "How?"

"'Work for me."

"Doing what?"

"No, more questions first. Lad, do you recognize the need to contain crime, to keep it south of Jefferson with the dark element?"

"Sure."

"And do you think a certain organized crime element should be allowed to exist and perpetuate acceptable vices that hurt no one?"

"Sure, pork barrel. The game's gotta be played that way a little. What's this got to do-"

Smith yanked the paper-a badge and.38 special gleamed up. Bud, scalp prickles. "I knew you had juice. You squared it with Green?"

"Yes, lad, I squared it-with Parker. With the part of his ear that Exley hasn't poisoned. He said if the grand jury didn't hand down a bill against you, your refusal to testify would not be punished. Now pick up your things before the proprietor calls the police."

GLEAMING-Bud grabbed his goodies. "There's no goddamn bill on me?"

Ho, ho, ho-mocking. "Lad, the chief knew he was giving me a long shot, and I'm glad you haven't read the Four Star «Herald»."

Bud said, "«How?»"

"Not yet, lad."

"What about Dick?"

"He's through, lad. And don't protest, because it's unavoidable. He's been billed, he'll be indicted and he'll swing. He's the Department's scapegoat, on Parker's orders. And it was Exley who convinced him to hand Dick over. Criminal charges and jail time."

A broiling hot room-Bud pulled his necktie loose, closed his eyes.

"Lad, I'll get Dick a nice berth at the honor farm. I know a woman deputy there who can fix things, and when he gets out I'll guarantee him a shot at Exley."

Bud opened his eyes; Smith had the «Herald» spread full. The headline: "Policemen Indicted in Bloody Christmas Scandal." Below, a column circled: Sergeant Richard Stensland flagged on four charges, three old-timer cops billed, Lentz, Brownell, Huff swinging on two bills apiece. Underlined: "Officer Wendell White, 33, received no true bills, although several sources within the District Attorney's Bureau had stated that first-degree assault bills seemed imminent. The grand jury's foreman stated that four police-beating victims recanted their previous testimony, which had Officer White attempting to strangle Juan Carbijal, age 19. The recanted testimony directly contradicted the testimony of LAPD Sergeant Edmund J. Exley, who had sworn under oath that White had, in fact, attempted to grievously injure Carbijal. Sergeant Exley's testimony is not considered tainted, since it resulted in probable indictments against seven other officers; however, although the grand jurors doubted the credibility of the recantings, they deemed them sufficient to deny the D.A.'s Office true bills against Officer White. Deputy D.A. Ellis Loew told reporters: 'Something suspicious happened, but I don't know what it was. Four retractions have to supersede the testimony of one witness, even as splendid a witness as Sergeant Exley, a decorated war hero."'

Newsprint swirling. Bud said, "Why? Why'd you do that for me? And how?"

Smith crumpled the paper. "Lad, I need you for a new assignment Parker has given me the go-ahead on. It's a containment measure, an adjunct to Homicide. We're going to call it the Surveillance Detail, an i

"In Technicolor."

"You'll be transferred out of Central dicks when Parker a

"I'd be crazy not to. Why, Dudley?"

"Why what, lad?"

"You shivved Ellis Loew to help me out, and everyone in the Bureau knows you and him are tight. Why?"

"Because I like your style, lad. Will that answer suffice?"

"I guess it'll have to. Now let's try 'how?"'

"How what, lad?"

"How you got the spics to retract."

Smith laid brass knucks on the table: chipped, caked with blood.

CALENDAR

1952

EXTRACT: L.A. «Mirror-News», March 19:

POLICE BEATING SCANDAL:

COPS DISCIPLINE THEIR OWN

BEFORE WORST CULPRITS STAND TRIAL

LAPD Chief William H. Parker promised that he would seek justice-"wherever the search takes me"-in the tangled web of police brutality and civilian lawsuits that has come to be known as the "Bloody Christmas" scandal.

Seven officers have received criminal assault indictments stemming from their actions at the Central Division Jail on Christmas morning of last year. Those officers are:

Sergeant Ward Tucker, indicted for Second Degree Assault.

Officer Michael Krugman, Second Degree Assault and Battery.

Officer Henry Pratt, Second Degree Assault.

Sergeant Elmer Lentz, First Degree Assault with Battery.

Sergeant Wilbert Huff, First Degree Assault with Battery.

Officer John Brownell, First Degree Assault and Aggravated Assault.

Sergeant Richard Stensland, First Degree Assault, Aggravated Assault, First Degree Battery and Mayhem.

Parker did not dwell on the charges facing the indicted policemen, or on the scores of civil suits that beating victims Dinardo Sanchez, Juan Carbijal, De

Sergeant Walter Crumley, Sergeant Walter Dukeshearer, Sergeant Francis Doherty, Officer Charles Heinz, Officer Joseph Hernandez, Sergeant Willis Tristano, Officer Frederick Turentine, Lieutenant James Frieling, Officer Wendell White, Officer John Heineke and Sergeant John Vince

Parker closed his press conference praising Sergeant Edmund J. Exley, the Central Division officer who came forward to testify before the grand jury. "It took great courage to do what Ed Exley did," the chief said. "The man has my greatest admiration."

EXTRACT: L.A. «Examiner», April 11:

FIVE "BLOODY CHRISTMAS"

INDICTMENTS DISMISSED; PARKER

REVEALS RESULTS OF TRIAL BOARD

ACTIONS

The District Attorney's Office a

In a related development, LAPD Chief William H. Parker a