Part I CLUSTER FUCK June 14, 1968-September 11, 1968 Wayne Tedrow Jr. (Las Vegas, 6/14/68) HEROIN: He'd rigged a lab in his hotel suite. Beakers, vats and Bunsen burners filled up wall shelves. A three-burner hot plate juked small-batch conversions. He was cooking painkiller-grade product. He hadn't cooked dope since Saigon. A comp suite at the Stardust, vouchered by Carlos Marcello. Carlos knew that Janice had terminal cancer and that he had chemistry skills. Wayne mixed morphine clay with ammonia. A two-minute heating loosened mica chips and silt. He boiled water to 182°. He added acetic anhydride and reduced the bond proportions. The boil sluiced out organic waste. Precipitants next-the slow-cook process-diacetyl morph and sodium carbonate. Wayne mixed, measured and ran two hot plates low. He glanced around the suite. The maid left a newspaper out. The headlines were all him . Wayne Senior's death by "heart attack." James Earl Ray and Sirhan Sirhan in stir. His front-page ink. No mention of him. Carlos had chilled out Wayne Senior. Mr. Hoover chilled out the backwash on the King/Bobby hits. Wayne watched diacetyl mass build. His blend would semi-anesthetize Janice. He was bucking for a big job with Howard Hughes. Hughes was addicted to pharmaceutical narcotics. He could cook him up a private blend and take it to his interview. The mass settled into cubes and rose out of the liquid. Wayne saw photos of Ray and Sirhan on page two. He'd worked on the King hit. His worked it high up. Freddy Otash ran fall guy Ray for King and fall guy Sirhan for Bobby. The phone rang. Wayne grabbed it. Scrambler clicks hit the line. It had to be a Fed safe phone and Dwight Holly. "It's me, Dwight." "Did you kill him?" "Yes." " 'Heart attack,' shit. 'Sudden stroke' would have been better." Wayne coughed. "Carlos is handling it personally. He can frost out anything around here." "I do not want Mr. Hoover going into a tizzy over this." " It's chilled . The question is, 'What about the others?' " Dwight said, "There's always conspiracy talk. Bump off a public figure and that kind of shit tends to bubble. Freddy ran Ray covertly and Sirhan up front, but he lost weight and altered his appearance. All in all, I'd say we're chilled on both of them." Wayne watched his dope cook. Dwight spieled more news. Freddy O. bought the Golden Cavern Casino. Pete Bondurant sold it to him. "We're chilled, Dwight. Tell me we're chilled and convince me." Dwight laughed. "You sound a little raw, kid." "I'm stretched a bit thin, yeah. Patricide's funny that way." Dwight yukked. The dope pots started boiling. Wayne doused the heat and looked at his desk photo. It's Janice Lukens Tedrow, lover/ex-stepmom. It's '61. She's twisting at the Dunes. She's sans partner, she's lost a shoe, a dress seam has ripped. Dwight said, "Hey, are you there?" "I'm here." "I'm glad to hear it. And I'm glad to hear we're chilled on your end." Wayne stared at the picture. "My father was your friend. You're going in pretty light with the judgment." "Shit, kid. He sent you to Dallas." Big D. November '63. He was there that Big Weekend. He caught the Big Moment and took this Big Ride. He was a sergeant on Vegas PD. He was married. He had a chemistry degree. His father was a big Mor Excerpted from Blood's a Rover by James Ellroy All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
