with, Hislop. La Paz had a calm temperament and had kept Hislop in tow on a number of occasions.
Marty Hislop was quick to shoot his mouth off and then have to back track to keep face. La Paz liked working with Marty Hislop. He knew his strengths and weaknesses, but he always admired the man for his honesty, sticking to the book but sometimes bending the rules to accommodate a case closure. The other guys always asked him how he could manage working for such a hard nut workaholic, but La Paz could see the other side of Marty Hislop. He had invited the bachelor Hislop home for a meal on a few evenings, with his wife and five children. Four daughters, ranging from 19 years to the youngest, who was 7. Jonas was in the middle, the only son. Hislop was a different man away from the office and loved to play baseball with the kids and eat Mexican food. La Paz’s wife, Gloria was quite a beauty and also an excellent mother and cook. She worked part time two days a week at a beautician salon on Sunset Strip, cleaning the faces of the haggard makeover ladies, who could not remember which part of their body was real, fake or uplifted! Miguel and Gloria enjoyed the company of Marty Hislop and sensed his loneliness and need for an adopted family. They were happy to provide this.
Marty had taken Miguel and the 14 year old Jonas, on a fishing trip last autumn, up to a favourite fishing haunt of Hislop’s in Washington State. They had stayed in a log cabin overlooking a crystal clear lake, with a roaring log fire. The lake had been a good source of excellent fishing and much fun and laughter amongst the three men. The bond between Marty Hislop and Miguel La Paz had grown deeper and Jonas thought that his “Uncle Marty” was the best yet at fly fishing! The trio had come home with a large esky full of fish and tales to tell the waiting Gloria and the girls.
La Paz began to read the scant case notes and Hislop stressed the need for complete secrecy, while they were tackling this case. La Paz nodded in comprehension and made some notes himself in his notepad.
“Boss”, said La Paz with a question mark in his deep voice, “Why was the boy walking alone to the drug store and not with an adult? I know it was 1965, but even then kidnapping was prevalent. You would have thought that someone would have driven Billy to the store. It seemed a bit risky for a young kid, 7 years old, to be out alone.”
“Yeah, I know”, Marty was looking out the window again and turned around to face La Paz. The expression in Marty’s face had altered to one of concern. He said in a lowered voice, “Would you allow your youngest, Maria, aged 7, to walk alone to the drug store to buy a cool pop La Paz? I think not!”
Marty’s voice was raised now, “Yes, regardless of the difference in crime rates then to now, it does appear to be bloody thoughtless and irresponsible. See there in the notes that it wasn’t the first time that the kid had walked alone to the drug store. Whoever was looking after the poor little guy needed their head knocked against a brick wall, common sense didn’t exist! I think it’s stated in the notes, the names of the couple who were looking after him; if you can call it that! Come on, let’s get together now, band together and decide our course of action.” Marty Hislop’s reaction to this case that had been conveniently forgotten.
Yes, he pondered, that was it. The case that was a bit too hard, so they shoved it under the carpet!. A kid from another country – not important enough. Well not to Marty Hislop, no way. He was going to solve this one, for sure.
The pair sat for some time and decided who was going to research the file, that would be La Paz. A super sleuth on background information, he could filter facts from fiction and had some good contacts to boot. An expert with the computer, not one of Marty’s strong points..
Marty’s claim to success was in questioning people, asking the right questions and grasping a lead with a vice like grip. He followed up any clue and covered every angle. He did not give up without a fight.
The two men fell silent as they perused the notes, one sheet each at a time. La Paz was constantly making notes with his large handwriting. Hislop kept looking at the child’s photo and wondered who had written the words on the reverse of the publicity shot.
Finally, after some time La Paz said he would check on the internet for any information that may exist on Billy’s walk to nowhere. People put anything on the Internet these days. He wanted to also check background details on the witnesses, see if any were still alive and contact Universal Studios to arrange a meeting with their Media people and ask about Billy’s contract. Someone from the period may still work there and remember the poor little kid.
La Paz shook his head, and looking over to Marty, said, “Gee Boss, hardly any witness statements, and what there is, gives us little to go on.”
Marty agreed and replied, “Yeah, I know. See what you can do. We may be able to speak to at least one of these people.”
Hislop was keen to interview the main witness, Mrs Marjorie Femmer. She was the one who had seen Billy walking along North Beaumont on that fateful day. However, he knew they would need to check if Mrs Femmer was still alive and kicking, and where did she live now?
After a little assistance from faithful La Paz, they found out that she still resided at the same address in the Hollywood Hills. Hislop was out of the office before La Paz could turn his head to see his boss leave.
CHAPTER two
It was a cooler day as Hislop drove along the winding road leading up to the spacious, palatial mansions in the Hollywood Hills. He thought again of Billy Parsons. According to the case notes, there was nothing there to tell Hislop if Billy was unhappy or was he really enjoying himself, all that way from his family.
Eventually Marty located the home of Mrs Marjorie Femmer. Number 1768 North Beaumont was located in an older, yet quieter part of the district. Hislop had to slow down as the driveway sloped down from the main road. Hislop was hoping that she would be home. He had not phoned to warn Mrs Femmer of his visit. Hislop liked to catch people unawares, they often slipped up and gave themselves away. Spontaneity was Hislop’s tool to break open hidden knowledge that otherwise lay nestled away with care or just completely dormant.
So, let’s see what this dame has to say after all this time, thought Hislop, as he parked the unmarked car in the wide semi circular driveway.
The house was from the ’50s, definitely. Stone feature front porch, fashionable from that era. The cement between the stones was crumbling in places. Wide windows, however the wooden frames were in need of a paint job to freshen the place up. The roof tiles looked tired, but for its age, the house was in average condition, on the outside anyway.
Someone is tending to the house, long time to be still living at the same address. This Mrs Femmer is probably getting on in years now. I wonder if there is a Mr Femmer? Marty thought.
The bungalow spread across the wide block and he noticed a below ground garage, probably under the lounge room, Marty assumed. That was typical for these homes too. The garden was mostly cacti, planted amongst small stone pebbles – another characteristic of homes from that period. Some of the cacti plants had seen better days. Would be better if they were dug out, thought Marty. There were light coloured pavers surrounding the cacti beds. Some of the cacti were in flower and had attracted the bees; who were busy humming away and collecting nectar.
Marty skipped up the two stairs on to the porch and pressed the doorbell. He was quite agile for his age, hair thinning a bit and going grey at the temples, but to look at, he was still a pleasant looking chap. Straightening his tie and wiping his shoes on each trouser leg, he waited for a response to the bell.
Shortly, the door was carefully opened by an elderly woman with dyed brunette hair. There was a tortoise shell hair comb pushing the hair up in the centre, something
