Noire: Detective of L.A.

Noire: Detective of L.A. Part 10

Noire: Detective of L.A.

Chapter 4: A Marriage Made in Heaven

Noire stretched in his chair. He looked at the clock. 6:00. Time to go home. Double-checking his paper work, he filed it in his desk drawer. He stood up ready to leave. He tipped his hat to Jackson. "Good night, Stefan. See you tomorr-"

"Okay, gentlemen!" announced Captain Leary. "I just got this one handed to me. A hit and run felony at Ray's Cafe, 208 North Los Angeles. Patrolmen's on site, coroner's on his way. Get down there, and see if you can find any witnesses who can put a make on the car."

Noire scowled, but nodded. "C'mon Jackson. Let's head over there."

"Alright, my intense protege. Let's go save the world."

Noire got into the car and started the engine. The car roared to life as he sped down the road with Jackson. "You hear about Adrian, Noire?"

"What about him?"

"Broad in Seattle threw him out. The wife says she's gonna take him back."

"Women are generally more compassionate."

"What are you talking about? Adrian dumped on her- he was humping the secretary. Margaret should show more pride."

"Pride comes before fall, Jackson. I'm talking from experience."

As Noire drove up to the scene, he grimaced. Blood streaked across the road. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night. "Detectives!" a voice called. "Over here!"

Noire walked up to the patrolman. "Noire, Traffic. What have we got?"

"Vic is a white male. Name of Lester Patterson. Walked out of the bar and into the street, car hit him over there," the patrolman said pointing to a distance. "and he ended up here. Dead on impact, from the look of it."

"Have you canvassed the area?" Noire asked.

"The only one with anything useful to contribute is the young lady over there." gesturing towards the cafe. "She lives above the bar. Name of Shannon Perry. No, it's not a stage name. Twenty-four years old. Left Kansas to follow the Yellow Brick Road."

"Is that so?" remarked Jackson.

"We'll get a formal statement from her later. Right now, we're going to take a look around." said Noire.

Noire walked into the crime scene. He saw the coroner hunched over the corpse. "Noire, you should take a look at the body. Poor guy didn't stand a chance." The body was in a crumpled heap, lying face down. Blood leaked from beneath him.

"Landed on his face, and ended up here. Car must've hit him from behind." Noire observed. He turned the body over. Blood stains and chest wounds greeted him. He crouched near the body and opened the man's jacket. Inside was some kind of letter. Flipping it open, he saw that is was a life insurance letter. "Patterson's life insurance. $16,000?! That's a lot of money." Noire said, astonished.

He put the letter back in the pocket, and searched the other one. Noire found a leather wallet with a license in it. "We can notify next of kin." Standing up, he looked at the coroner. "What have you got on the victim?" Noire asked.

"From all reports, he was intoxicated at the time of the accident. I'll know how intoxicated, once I do the autopsy. Looking him over now, I'd say he died on impact."

Noire peered at the body. "Yeah, but what about the chest wounds? Isn't that inconsistent?"

"Very common in auto injuries. Look for a car with a prominent hood ornament. Those things are killers." the coroner said, walking away. Noire walked towards the site of impact. As he walked, he noticed the blood stains on the road. "Body must have traveled a good twenty feet. All this blood is a long way from the body. Car must've been going like a bat out of hell." Noire remarked. Then he noticed the tire streaks on the asphalt. "So the driver managed to break before the impact..."