[THE DAMNED DON'T CRY!]

The Prodigal Daughter (part 2)

Game Date: Tuesday, 04 March 1947
Date Played: 29 August 2003


Jeff and Jack wait for "Joan Sternwood's" morning visit. If Gabi were there too she'd notice that Miss Sternwood wore the same clothes as yesterday. Jeff discusses the case with her and tells her of their progress. Meanwhile, Jack and Nate wait outside in the car to follow her when she leaves.

The false Miss Sternwood leaves, walks around the corner and waits for a bus uptown. Nate joins the queue and waits with her. They board the Number 16 to the Flower Markets. Jack follows in the car.

Benny wracks his brains for the name of anyone who could front $6000 and would be unafraid to anger Vincenzo Giuliani. The only names he can come up with is Washington Masala, one of the front men of Los Angeles' African-American gangs, and Hernando Rameriez, the leader of the city's Mexico and Hispanic underworld. No one else he can think of would be stupid enough to get in Giuliani's way.

Nate and Jack locate her address in the working class suburb of Compton. Jack bribes his way in to talk to the building superintendent. The woman's real name is Norma Desmond and she makes her living as a call girl. The super says, even though he's bailed her out of jail a couple of times, she's a good girl, pays her rent on time, goes to church Sundays. He's quite protective of her. Jack's buddy on the police force, Jake Pulaski, says that Desmond is part of the stable of a disreputable type by the name of Ray Healey.

On a side note, they learn that Stephen Sternwood, the first born and hoped-for heir of the present generation, got mixed up in the war between Giuliani and Johnny Rocco, a rival for control of Los Angeles who fled for his life to Mexico in 1938. Stephen flashed around his family name too often and too forcefully that Giuliani had him quietly done away with in 1940. Horace Sternwood has never forgiven or forgotten and is providing the financial backing for the Mayor and DA's anti-corruption campaign in City Hall.

Benny arranges a 'date' with Norma while Jack and Gabi break into Norma's apartment. Benny gets Norma drunk and pumps her for information. Something is troubling her, she confesses. She has a friend in trouble that she must help without her knowledge. She fears for her friend's life and worries that she cannot do enough to save her.

In Norma's apartment, Gabi finds a bunch of newspaper scraps cut to the correct size for bank notes - the show roll from yesterday was a sham. She also finds a bunch of unpaid utility bills and an appointment book. She takes this last item and leaves her signature dime in its place.

Meanwhile, Nate and Jeff are playing cards with the other boat operators in Nate's regular Tuesday night poker game. Jeff steers the conversation around to the subject of the Sternwoods. Do they go out to the gambling ships? Who takes them? Who do they go with? It soon becomes obvious that no one has taken Vivian Sternwood to the ships for nearly two weeks and each boat operator figured that someone else has taken Vivian.

Nate and Jeff make the trip to the Lucky Lady, the gambling ship Vivian is known to frequent. Jeff reckons she's being held captive on board. On board, flashing a large amount of cash and two gorgeous blondes at the blackjack table, is Ray Healey. Jeff walks straight up to him and tells Healey that he knows all about his Sternwood scam and is going to bust it open. Healey, rattled by this, soon loses his party attitude and heads for a boat to take him back to shore. Nate and Jeff follow.

On the dock, Jeff asks Healey where the Sternwood girl is being held. Healey refuses to answer until Jeff beats some sense in to him. The Sternwood girl is room 411 of the Hotel Miramar, Santa Monica. Nate finds a phone box and summons Benny, Jack and Gabi to meet them outside the Hotel.