Google Images
The shoulder was getting stronger by the day... I had begun a workout regimine and the god-forsaken pain pills were a thing of the past. At last I was able to enjoy a glass of Scotch again. To celebrate, I took Elnora to a few of my favorite watering holes- places frequented mostly by LA's finest. It was an unusual experience for her and she enjoyed it immensely, her beauty making her the center of attention. It was good for the both of us, the kidnapping and then the shooting having made us virtual prisoners in the Thousand Oaks mansion. I had given up my apartment and was living with Elnora full time now... something I had promised myself long ago never to do. It had been over a month since the shooting and everything had been quiet. Kevin and Dennis had moved out of the main house into the spacious apartment above the garage giving Elnora and I more privacy. They could be reached by intercom in case of any emergency. Flora, against both Elnora and my advice, had moved in with Otto- something that made us both very uncomfortable.
The investigation was going nowhere fast- Manny and the task force, such as it was, had made a couple of low level busts, but nothing that brought us any closer to the big fish. I almost longed for the days of photographing errant husbands and looking for missing persons- at least they eventually came to some conclusion. Flora and Otto were manning the office every day and I was in Thousand Oaks living the life of a country squire... or at least that's what it felt like. My shoulder was better and I was ready for some action.
The days all seemed like they were melting into one another... I think it was a thursday when I got a call from Randy Schnerf.
"Hey Reg," he began, "long time, no see."
"I know," I replied, "too long. I feel like a hermit out here in the boonies."
"The reason I called," he said, "is to find out if you've heard of NXIVM?"
"Nexium," I said, "you mean the medicine?"
"No," Randy said, "It's pronounced like the medicine, but it's spelled N-X-I-V-M... it's some kind of sex cult with ties to Hollywood. They busted the head of it down in Mexico along with a couple of actresses in Hollywood- they were recruiters."
"Never heard of it," I told him, "how does it tie in with our investigation?"
"It may not, but one of the charges is child sex trafficking," Randy informed me. "And get this... it hits some New York politicians and the the Seagrams whiskey heirs. This thing is huge."
"But does it have any relationship to Harold Pimpledick and the Commissioner?" I asked. This was getting confusing and I was trying to limit our investigation to something manageable... we couldn't investigate the whole country.
"I'm not sure," he replied, "you might want to put Otto on it to see if he can find anything out. By the way, has he made any progress breaking the code in those files?"
"Not yet," I said glumly. "We need some kind of key- those initials are meaningless without something to tie them in... in fact I think they're in code."
We hung up and I called Otto, telling him to take a look into the mystery cult, but not to spend too much time on it. He called me back a little over an hour later...
"You're not going to believe this," he said.
You're probably right, I thought... "What have you got?" I asked.
"The guy that runs the cult is named Keith Raniere. The actress is a B-lister named Allison Mack- she's on some cable tv program. There are references in the files to an RK and MA... what if the initials in the codes are just initials that are reversed?"
What if??? I needed something we could take into court, not what if, but at least it might be a step in the right direction.
"Keep working on it," I told him, "see if reversing initials fits any of the people we know."
"I already did," he informed me. "There's a couple of possibles, but nothing definite. I'm scouting other people in the case to see if I can make some connections."
"Good work," I said, "let me know what you find. By the way, if you ever..."
"I know... If I ever hurt Flora, you'll kill me." He said before hanging up.
Smartass, I thought... at least he got the picture. What we had wasn't much to go on, but it was more than we had a couple of hours ago. To make matters worse, as usual someone else was doing the work while I was sitting around doing nothing. Kevin had driven Elnora to the market for groceries... things had been quiet, but like my shooting, they seemed to come in spurts and at random times. We weren't taking any chances... just because the enemy- whoever that was- was inactive, it didn't mean they were gone. Elnora, her usual cheery self, came to see me while Kevin and Dennis unloaded the car.
"Did you ever hear of NXIVM?" I asked.
"You mean the medicine?" She asked. "Yes, why?"
"Not the medicine; N-X-I-V-M," I said spelling it out.
"Yes," she replied, to my surprise. "They're some sort of self-help group. They have seminars all over the place... I thought about signing up a while ago."
"It's probably a good thing you didn't," I informed her. "They're a sex cult that preys on children as well as women."
"What?" she asked her mouth agape. "How do you know?"
"Randy Schnerf called a while ago and told me they arrested their leader and a couple of recruiters... some actress named Allison Mack and it seems that some prominent people are involved- including the heirs to the Seagram's whisky empire."
"You mean the Bronfmans?" Elnora asked incredulously. "The father wouldn't surprise me... but the girls?"
"You know them?" I asked.
"Just in passing," she said, "I've met them at events- I don't know them personally. I think there's a brother too, but I'm not sure, but I've met Claire and her sister."
Well, it's a small world I thought to myself, my Elnora knowing the Seagram's whiskey family. I wondered if Harold did too, and if so did his relationship go beyond exchanging pleasantries at black-tie events. I was trying to keep the focus of the investigation small and manageable, but the network we were investigating seemed to include almost all of the elites... at least those in Hollywood, politics and big business. What had I gotten myself into?
"I have a wonderful idea darling," Elnora cooed settling beside me on the sofa. "Why don't we have a dinner... for the team and their wives. I've never met Manny's wife and I've never even met Randy or Jack Whitaker... Please?"
"As long as you don't make it formal," I laughed. It might not be a bad idea to get everyone together, just to keep us all on point.
"I bought enough roast beef to feed an army," she was beaming now, "we can have new potatoes and asparagus spears, salad and tiramisu for dessert."
"Tira... what?" I asked.
"Tiramisu, darling, it's Italian," she said patiently rubbing my cheek, as if schooling a child. "You'll love it, it has booze in it."
I made the requisite phone calls and it was settled- the dinner would be a week from tomorrow, a friday evening... dress, informal.
Haha didn't think Elnora would of objected for Flora to move in with Otto.
There is NOTHING between Reg and Flora! There's an almost 30 year age difference for one thing. He's more like a father.
Where have you been re: Twitter? Haven't seen you forever.
I try to get on there every day... I keep seeing your stuff and liking and retweeting- some comments. I think Twitter is messing with people.