I'm a Fool to Kill You Read online

  As we drove I asked Mack if he knew anything about Ava Gardner, any recent news.

  ‘I know what I hear the boss talk about,’ he said. ‘She took some time off from movies, but just made one recently. I think she finished last month.’

  ‘Where did they shoot?’

  ‘Spain. I think that was the only reason she did it. She ain’t made a Hollywood movie since nineteen sixty.’

  Some of that I already knew.

  ‘There they are,’ he said.

  They were on the tee for the eighth hole. As we drove toward them Dean noticed us, must have recognized Mack behind the wheel. He said something to the other men – presumably Jack Benny – and walked towards us.

  ‘What’s goin’ on, Eddie?’ he asked, as I got out of the cart. With my weight gone the thing almost tipped over on Mack, but he quickly got out before that happened.

  ‘I just wanted to ask you a couple of quick questions before I bother Frank with them,’ I said.

  Jack Benny looked over at us, and then checked his watch.

  ‘I won’t keep you long, Dean,’ I said. ‘I don’t want to get Mr Benny mad.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Dean said, ‘He’ll sulk a bit, but when I beat him he’s going to blame you.’ He put his right hand in the pocket of his white pants, leaned on the golf club with his left. ‘What’s this about Eddie?’

  ‘Word’s goin’ around the hotel that Ava was there this morning.’

  ‘Ava? I thought she was in Spain.’

  ‘That’s what I thought. So you didn’t see her? Or hear anything?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Nothin’ from Frank?’

  ‘Nope,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘If he saw her he hasn’t told me.’

  ‘Would Frank bring Ava to Vegas while his kids were here?’ I asked.

  ‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘After all, she was their step-mother for a while.’

  ‘But would he bring her while their real mom was here?’

  ‘No,’ Dean said, shaking his head, ‘that’d be looking for trouble.’

  ‘Well,’ I said, ‘I guess I’m gonna have to ask him if he’s seen her. Entratter wants me to find out if she was really here.’

  ‘Well, ask him, then,’ Dean said. ‘Maybe he did see her, but he sure wouldn’t mix her with Nancy.’

  I nodded.

  ‘Thanks Dean.’

  ‘Anything else?’ he asked ‘Or can I get back to my game?’

  ‘How’s it goin’, Boss?’ Mack asked.

  ‘You and me are gonna eat in style tonight, Big Guy,’ Dean said, ‘on Mr Benny’s dime.’

  ‘That’ll make ‘im cry,’ Mack said.

  ‘Let me know what happens, Eddie,’ Dean said, and returned to his game.

  As we drove back to the clubhouse I said to Mack, ‘It should be interesting to have dinner with Jack Benny, huh?’

  ‘Oh, Mr Benny won’t be there.’

  ‘But Dean said you’d be having dinner with him.’

  ‘We’re gonna have dinner on him,’ Mack said. ‘If he loses and has to buy two dinners, he sure ain’t gonna wanna buy a third!’

  SEVEN

  When I knocked on the door I was surprised when it was answered by a beautiful young girl of twenty-two. She was blonde, slender, wearing a mini-skirt and white boots.

  ‘Well, hello,’ she said.

  ‘Hello,’ I said. ‘I was looking for Frank—’

  He came up behind her, cutting me off with his appearance.

  ‘Eddie!’ he said. ‘I want you to meet my daughter, Nancy.’

  ‘The famous Eddie G.,’ she said, with a smile. ‘This is a pleasure.’

  ‘I can see why your dad is so proud of you,’ I said. ‘You’re beautiful.’

  ‘And talented,’ Frank said. ‘She sings like an angel.’

  ‘Daddy, I’m more interested in the fact that Eddie thinks I’m beautiful,’ she said, boldly looking me in the eyes. I had the feeling this young lady was going to be a force to be reckoned with as she got older.

  ‘Maybe we could have a drink some time—’ she started, but her father cut her off.

  ‘Oh, no,’ he said, pushing her out the door. I had to step aside to let her go. She smelled wonderful. ‘Eddie’s too old for you, little girl. You just run along. We have business.’

  ‘Oh, Daddy . . .’

  ‘Go!’ he said.

  She took a few steps down the hall and when she was out of his sight held her hand to her ear and mouthed, ‘Call me.’

  Frank was casually dressed and waved me in, a big welcoming smile on his face. I stepped into the suite, where it was safe.

  ‘Hey, my man Eddie,’ he said, closing the door behind me. He pumped my hand. He was dressed casually, open collar shirt, grey slacks, and a pair of slippers. ‘Great to see you, Clyde. What brings you here?’

  ‘Where’s George?’ I asked, looking around.

  George Jacobs was to Frank what Mack Gray was to Dean.

  ‘Down the hall,’ Frank said. ‘I got a separate suite for Nancy and the kids. I’m having George look after them. You wanna drink?’

  ‘No, thanks,’ I said. ‘I’m not gonna take up too much of your time, Frank. I just have a question.’

  ‘OK.’ He folded his arms and shrugged. ‘Shoot.’

  ‘Did you see Ava today?’

  ‘Ava?’ He dropped his arms. ‘Why? Is she here?’ His blues eyes lit up as they always did when he spoke of her, or heard her name.

  ‘I guess that means you didn’t see her, then.’

  ‘No, no, I haven’t seen her’ He frowned. ‘Was she here?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘That’s what I’m trying to find out. One of our valets said he saw her, but he could’ve been mistaken. I’m checking with the airport now.’

  Frank walked to the bar, hesitated, then changed his mind about a drink. Instead, he just leaned on the bar with both hands.

  ‘Maybe,’ he said, ‘she was here, and somehow . . .’

  ‘Somehow what?’

  ‘Found out that my family was here.’ He turned to face me. ‘She wouldn’t have wanted Nancy to see her.’ I knew he was talking about his ex-wife, not his daughter.

  ‘Would she just run out?’ I asked. ‘Without even leavin’ you a message?’

  ‘Run?’

  ‘The valet said she came out in a hurry, got into a cab,’ I explained. ‘I’m waiting to talk to the cab driver who might’ve picked her up.’

  ‘When was this supposed to have happened?’ Frank asked.

  ‘Jack came to me a little while ago.’

  ‘So this morning?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I was in the lobby this morning,’ he said, ‘briefly, but with my family, my ex. She could’ve seen me.’ He scratched his head. ‘Damn it. You gotta find her for me, Eddie.’

  ‘I’m lookin’, Frank.’

  ‘No,’ he said, ‘I know Entratter wants you to find her so that I won’t worry. He’s trying to protect me. But I mean you’ve got to find her for me, talk to her. Find out what’s wrong. If she came here without calling first, then something’s wrong. She wanted to see me for some reason.’

  ‘So maybe she saw you with Nancy, got jealous and ran out.’

  ‘No, Ava wouldn’t get jealous of Nancy,’ Frank said. ‘Come on, Eddie. I know you. If she’s in town you can find her. Then bring her to me so I can find out what she needs.’

  ‘And then what?’

  ‘Then I’ll give it to her,’ he said, with a helpless shrug. ‘Whatever it is.’

  EIGHT

  I left Frank’s suite and went back downstairs. I’d left word at the desk to hold the cab driver if he came in while I was with Frank. He hadn’t. But as I was standing there a driver came in and I recognized him immediately, though not by name. I knew him the way I knew a hundred cab drivers in town: by face. This one was particularly memorable, because it looked like a map, with peaks and crevices earned over years of hard working and living.


  ‘Mr Gianelli?’ he said. ‘Kenny said you wanted to see me?’ I was groping for his name when he saved me. ‘I’m Leo Rossi.’

  ‘Of course, Leo,’ I said. ‘Thanks for coming in. Leo, did you have Ava Gardner in your cab today?’

  ‘You know,’ he said, ‘I thought that was her, but I wasn’t sure. I mean . . . this broad gets in my cab and she’s a looker, ya know? But they look different when they’re not up on the screen, ya know? And she had dark glasses, and . . . I think she mighta been cryin’. What reason would a big movie star have to cry? They got it all.’

  ‘Yeah, I know,’ I said. ‘Where’d you take her, Leo?’

  ‘The airport.’

  ‘Did she say what flight she would be on? Or where she was going?’

  ‘Geez, Mr G., I didn’t . . . I mean, we didn’t talk, other then her tellin’ me where ta take her, ya know? I mean . . . geez, Ava Gardner. Wait till I tell the wife. I mean, I get stars in my cab all the time, ya know, but . . . geez . . .’

  ‘OK, Leo, OK,’ I said. ‘I’ve got eyes at the airport. Maybe I’ll get something from them. Thanks. Wait, I owe you ten—’

  ‘That’s OK, Mr G.,’ Leo said. ‘Ya don’t got to pay me. I’m glad ta help.’

  ‘Leo, would you and your wife like to see a show? Frank, Dean and Sammy?’

  ‘Geez, Mr G., my wife’d love it,’ Leo said, eyes wide. ‘That’d be great.’

  ‘I’ll leave tickets for you,’ I said. ‘Just mention my name.’

  ‘Thanks, Mr G.’

  He hurried back to work.

  ‘Eddie?’

  I turned. One of the desk clerks was holding his phone out.

  ‘Call for you.’

  ‘Thanks, Sean.’ I accepted the phone. It smelled like the clerk’s Hai Karate. ‘Hello?’

  ‘Eddie? Ted Silver.’

  ‘Whataya got for me, Ted?’

  ‘Ava Gardner came in on a Hughes Air Line shuttle from L.A. this mornin’,’ Ted said.

  ‘And?’

  ‘And it looks like she just went back the same way.’

  ‘And then what?’

  ‘I don’t have any way of knowing that,’ Ted said. ‘You’d have to check with the airport in L.A.’

  ‘Yeah, you’re right,’ I said. ‘You got a name for me there?’

  ‘Hang on.’ He came back on and gave me the name of somebody at LAX who could help me.

  ‘OK, Ted. Thanks. I’ll leave tickets for you, as usual.’

  ‘Sure thing, Eddie. Thanks.’

  I hung up, then dialed the number he’d given me and asked for Ben Hoff.

  ‘This is Hoff,’ a gruff man’s voice came on the phone.

  I told him who I was, who’d given me his name, and what I needed.

  ‘You’re the guy who gets Teddy tickets to shows, right?’ Hoff asked.

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘Will I get tickets for this?’

  ‘Any time, Ben,’ I said. ‘You just tell me when you’re in town.’

  ‘OK,’ he said. ‘Ava Gardner. Well, that shouldn’t be too hard. Where do I call you back?’

  I gave him the number of the hotel.

  ‘OK, Mr Gianelli,’ Hoff said. ‘I’ll get back to you as quick as I can.’

  ‘I appreciate it, Ben,’ I said. ‘And just call me Eddie.’

  I hung up, glad I was going to be able to figure this out without having to actually go to L.A.

  I had to go to L.A.

  Ben called me back and said, ‘Miss Gardner came in on a flight from Vegas, didn’t go out on any other flights.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ I asked. ‘Did you check international flights? She lives in Spain.’

  ‘I checked all flights, local and domestic,’ he said. ‘I promise you, Eddie, she’s still someplace in L.A.’

  I thought fast. I could have asked my P.I. friend, Danny Bardini, to go to L.A. and check on her, but the last time I did that – earlier in the year with Marilyn – Danny had a rough time of it and almost got killed. I also could have called Fred Otash, the Hollywood P.I. who had helped me find Danny, but that didn’t mean I trusted him. Not completely, anyway. After all, he did work in Hollywood.

  ‘OK, look, Ben, find out for me if she took a cab. I’m flying in as soon as I can get a flight.’

  ‘Need help with that?’

  ‘I can get help on this end, but thanks.’

  ‘No problem. Call me any time, Eddie.’

  ‘You let me know when you’re in Vegas, Ben,’ I said, and hung up.

  I had options: take a flight, get Jack to set it up for me, pay for the ticket; get Frank to do it; call Ted Silver at the airport, have him do it; use the Sands helicopter.

  I decided to let Jack do it. I didn’t want to bother Frank anymore while he had his kids with him, while Ted Silver probably could have gotten me on a flight, I’d still have to pay for it and then get the money back from Jack. So, cut out the middle man, let Jack get me the ticket.

  I waved thanks to the desk clerk for the phone again and headed for Jack’s office.

  NINE

  I had to see Jack and Frank before I left. Jack’s girl gave me a disapproving look as I breezed past her into his office. I had come to terms with the fact that she didn’t like me and never would, so I just stopped trying.

  ‘You got somethin’ for me already?’ Jack asked as I sat across from him.

  ‘I need you to get me on a flight to L.A.,’ I said.

  ‘Why are you goin’ to L.A.?’ he asked. ‘Last time you went there you almost got killed.’

  ‘According to both airports, Ava Gardner flew to Vegas and back, but didn’t fly out of L.A. So she’s still there.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘That I don’t know,’ I said. ‘I’ve got to go and find out.’

  ‘Wait, wait,’ he said. ‘Hold your horses. So Ava was here this mornin’?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And did she see Frank?’ ‘No.’

  ‘Well, then . . .’ Jack said, sitting back and spreading his hands.

  ‘Well then . . . what?’

  ‘Why are you going to L.A.?’ he asked. ‘You did what I asked you to do. You found out if it was her, and it was. And she’s gone. Go back to work.’

  ‘I can’t do that, Jack.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Frank wants me to find her, and see what she was doing here.’

  ‘So you had to talk to Frank?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘don’t worry, I trod lightly, as you suggested.’

  ‘I’m sure you did.’

  ‘I’ll go talk to Frank now,’ I said. ‘Would you call him and see if he’s in his suite?’

  ‘And if he isn’t I’ll locate him for you,’ he said. ‘And I’ll get you your flight.’

  ‘Which the Sands will pay for?’

  ‘Of course,’ he said, with the phone in his hand. I heard a buzz from the outer office and then he said, ‘See if you can locate Frank Sinatra for me. Thanks.’ He hung up without saying his girl’s name. I wondered if I’d ever heard it, then decided I didn’t care enough to ask.

  ‘I’ll get packed,’ I said, rising from my chair. ‘I’ll check in with you to see where Frank is.’

  By the time I packed an overnight bag, using just what I had in my locker, Jack had found Frank and arranged for me to meet him for a drink in the Silver Queen Lounge. Frank was sitting at the bar, having just signed autographs for a couple of middle-aged broads. There was a drink on the bar in front of him.

  ‘Glad to see you, Clyde,’ he said. ‘Do you know that most of the time, if I’m sitting with somebody, folks don’t bother me for autographs? It’s when I’m sittin’ alone they think they can come over.’

  ‘Guess they figure they’re not interruptin’ anything, Frank,’ I said.

  ‘You wanna drink?’

  ‘Just a beer,’ I said. ‘I’m headin’ for the airport.’

  ‘This about Ava?’ he asked, after waving at the bartender to bring me a
beer.

  ‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘I’m goin’ to L.A. Apparently she stopped there and didn’t catch another flight to, well . . . anywhere.’

  ‘Not to Spain?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘So where is she now?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘That’s what I’m goin’ there to find out.’

  ‘Eddie, I didn’t mean for you to miss work—’

  ‘Don’t worry, the Sands will pay me, and take care of my expenses.’

  ‘You sure Jack will do that?’ Frank asked. ‘I mean, if you need money—’

  ‘No, I’m fine, Frank,’ I said. ‘Just a quick flight to L.A. and a little talk with Ava, once I find her.’

  ‘Try the Beverly Hills Hotel,’ Frank said. ‘You might find her there in a bungalow.’

  ‘Maybe I could call—’

  ‘She wouldn’t use her real name,’ he said. ‘And the staff would cover for her. No, you’re right, you’ll have to go and see if she’s there.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘I wonder why she flew under her real name?’ Frank asked.

  ‘That’s somethin’ else I’ll ask her,’ I said.

  ‘Call me as soon as you see her,’ Frank said. ‘In fact, you can put her on the phone with me. Maybe then we’ll get some answers.’

  ‘OK, Frank.’

  I got off the bar stool without having touched my beer. He grabbed my arm.

  ‘Sit down a minute,’ he said. ‘There are things you should know about Ava.’

  I sat, sipped my beer.

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘She’s at an age where she’s feeling vulnerable. You’ve got to be careful with her.’

  Vulnerable was not a word I had heard used to describe Ava Gardner. Fiery, maybe, even wild. Not vulnerable.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘She’s not happy,’ Frank said. ‘She thinks she’s gettin older.’

  ‘We’re all gettin’ older, Frank.’

  ‘Ava doesn’t like what she sees when she looks in the mirror,’ Frank said. ‘And she’s become hard to get along with. She gave them a helluva time on her last film, Fifty-Five Days at Peking.’

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘I got it from Chuck Heston and Bernie Gordon, the screenwriter. Gordon says she was drinkin’ a lot. Heston says her behavior was the worst he’s ever seen from a colleague.’ Frank shrugged. ‘He’s a bit of a stiff, but she still musta been pretty bad.’