Bogart Sleeps Here: A Trace Novella (Chapter Six)

“Did you know that Nasser Reid used to own The Blue Orchid?” Trace asked Lisa over his cell phone.
He was mired in slow-moving southbound traffic on the 405. The section connecting the 405 between Route 90 and the Santa Monica Freeway had been a nightmarish mess for months while Cal Trans embarked on a [...]

Bogart Sleeps Here: A Trace Novella (Chapter Five)

Trace wasn’t scheduled to meet Marcel in Long Beach until three o’clock. He wasn’t in the mood to start work on the treatment for “Stalag Dracula” yet so he avoided driving toward home when he steered the Packard out of the Warner Brothers lot. He made a left onto Olive and drove a few yards [...]

Bogart Sleeps Here: A Trace Novella (Chapter Four)

Dan Knight’s Hollywood bungalow is as dark and spartan as a monk’s cell. The tightly-shuttered Venetian blinds refuse to allow any ration of morning sunshine to invade the room. There is a simple mattress on the floor for bedding. Upturned cardboard boxes for night stands.
Dan lays on his side on the mattress, both hands [...]

Bogart Sleeps Here: A Trace Novella (Chapter Three)

“It’s time for you to die,” Dan Knight snarled at the corpulent editor. “I hope you understand that it’s nothing personal but forcing me to write poetry is stepping over the line.”
Dan grabbed the edge of the desk with both hands and pounced to his feet. Raw menace was dripping from him like molasses on [...]

Bogart Sleeps Here: A Trace Novella (Chapter Two)

Lisa disentangled her long legs from the crisp brown sheets and answered the hotel phone with a groan and a yawn for a greeting.
“Did I wake you?” Trace knew it was a stupid question before he asked. Six nights a week, Lisa was the featured attraction at The Blue Orchid, a popular blues and [...]

Bogart Sleeps Here: A Trace Novella (Part One)

When Trace developed arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome from fifteen years of slamming away at typewriters and keyboards he traded in his old handgun for a System Automatic 9mm revolver with an ergonomic grip.
“So is this why you carry that cannon around?” Selwyn asked, waving a page from the letter in the stagnant air of [...]