1943: THE MASKED MARAUDER MURDER CASE

by David S. Hager

THE MURDER CASE NOBODY WANTED SOLVED. A TRUE CRIME MURDER CASE STILL 0N THE BOOKS OF LAPD. A STORY LOST TO TIME. OBSURE BY DESIGN.THE CASE TOO HOT TO HANDLE. FICTIONALIZED BUT FACTUAL.Sunday, September 12, 1943. Venice California. World War II is in its second full year. The movie business and the Aircraft manufacturing business dominate the economy of Southern California. It's a delicate time in the lives of the inhabitants of the Los Angeles area. The War in the Pacific is going no better than the war in Europe. But in Southern California, the Japanese are perceived as the more imminent threat. Added to all that, it is the film Mecca and everybody wants to be in the movies. On this Sunday afternoon, a young man stumbles from his wrecked English car and dies in a bean field of a stab wound. This young man is no ordinary young man. He is the son of a rich New England Aristocratic family, an alumnus of Yale, and, of all things, an actor. The actor who portrayed The Masked Marauder in the Saturday matinee kiddie serial. The investigating officers, Lieutenant Adam Freeman and his young partner, Detective Harry Lloyd, are prodded by LAPD Chief Douglas Gaines for a quick case closure. But that is made impossible due to being blocked in their investigations by every powerful institution in Los Angeles, including the LAPD. The clues are scarce. The ones there are prove that the case has sexual overtones that will not play well in the press for the Hollywood studio system. Justice may well have to take a back seat to tinsel town's reputation. Pressured for a speedy end to the case, Freeman enlists, for the first time ever and without authorization, Female Officers of the department to assist in his investigations. These three ladies prove invaluable to the investigation. Sergeant Sarah Lovejoy is gay. Officer Olive Branch is engaged to be married.. Officer Laura Murphy is single but open to a better offer. These women have been stuck in the homicide division doing filing and clerical jobs, but always hoping to be asked to perform 'real police work' by someone. Finally, given the opportunity, they tackle the assignment with a drive fueled by past frustrations. The case quickly centers on two locations, RKO Studios and a mysterious, walled and gated, Tudor mansion high in the Hollywood Hills. Inside the mansion resides a European Diva who is married to the murder victim. However, she is far from broken up by the tragedy. She is busy with other priorities. While waiting for her film opportunities, she runs a very successful blackmail business out of the mansion. She and her husband were convenient 'beards' for each other.Also in the mansion is a "French maid" who becomes a professional distraction for young Harry Lloyd. Very distracting indeed as she proves her "French charms." Harry learns, from personal experience, things he had only heard about from his father'sexperiences in Paris after the Great War. But Officer Laura Murphy has designs on the young detective also. She's at a disadvantage because of LAPD uniform regulations on clothing, hair and makeup. But that goes away when she's off duty. As Harry eventually learns. Lieutenant Adam Freeman, widower, finds distractions of his own when he has to work closely with the Crime Lab supervisor, Jean Darrow. Freeman is emotionally walled off, but Darrow finds cracks in the fortress. Where can that lead?Each new discovery in the case leads them ever deeper into the twisted lives of the rich and powerful of 1943 Los Angeles. Investigating those discoveries, however, takes them further and further away from the murder itself. Film stars, studio executives, Los Angeles politics and big money ... all play a part in the unraveling of the revealed truths. Finally, we understand why this case was never solved ... for reasons that had nothing to do with the crime itself. And Truth, can be a bitch.

210 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 29, 2019

Reviews

[David S. Hager · Rating 5 out of 5]

True crime is often unsolved because solving it would expose too many important people’s misdeeds.