Sweetie's Diamonds (27 page)

“In those days adult movies were shot on film,” Marshall stated.

“Right.
 
There were feature films being made by a select group of producers, mostly in San Francisco, but LA had its fair share of work available.
 
Other companies made loops—those are short films, ten to twenty minutes, and these were made for adult peep shows and bookshops to run in viewing booths, you know?”

“I know.”

“Anyway, I was doing that and made a few loops for Erotica Selecta.
 
Aaron Valentine was getting into feature film production by then and I starred in his first two flicks,
Coed Dormitory
and
Doggy Day Afternoon
.
 
Dana Barnett appeared one afternoon at the studio as my leading lady for my third flick,
Blondes Have a Helluva Lot More Fun
.
 
It also had Karen Klinger and Jerry Zork in it, as well as my sister.”

“Angel Babe?”

“Yeah, Angela.”
 
Gilliam made a face that indicated he didn't like to talk about his sister.
 
He took a sip of coffee.
 

“What was Dana like?”

“Smart,” Gilliam answered.
 
“Smart and beautiful.
 
Nothing ‘dumb blonde' about her.
 
I had the feeling she could do anything she wanted.
 
A lot of actresses who get into the adult business have shit for brains.
 
Dana could have been a lawyer, she was that smart.
 
I have no idea why she wanted to get into porn.
 
I think she was escaping her past, although I don't know what that was.
 
She never talked much about it.
 
Angela told me once that Dana's parents had died when she was young and that she had grown up in Texas.
 
She was raised by an aunt and uncle and I have a feeling her uncle must have abused her.
 
I'm not sure about that, though.”

“Do you know where in Texas?”

Gilliam rubbed his chin.
 
“It was a small town.
 
Somewhere in the western part.
 
Let me think on that one.”

“Did you have a relationship with Dana outside of business?” Marshall asked.

“We were great friends,” Gilliam said.
 
“'Course you know she was with Angela from the get-go.
 
Those two hit it off so fast that it made your jaw drop.
 
They had a girl-girl scene in
Sgt. Pecker's Lonely Hearts Club Band
and from then on, they were a couple.
 
Angela moved in with Dana and they were roommates until they disappeared three years later.”

“Do you think Dana was a lesbian or was she bisexual?”

“I imagine she was bi, but when I knew her she definitely preferred girls.
 
Angela was the only girl she preferred, too.
 
Anyway, the three of us often hung out together.
 
Angela and I were always pretty close so it was natural that we'd all get together.
 
If there was a girl I was seeing, we'd go out as a foursome.”

“Do you think the fact that Angel Babe—er, Angela—was blonde had anything to do with Dana's attraction to her?” Marshall asked.

“Hell, I don't know,” Gilliam answered.
 
“Maybe.
 
They looked alike, you know, and they liked to pretend they were sisters.
 
They were cast as sisters three or four times and that was a major selling point for Erotica Selecta.”

Marshall made a couple of notes in a notepad and asked, “When did you begin to think things weren't so rosy at Erotica Selecta?
 
When did all the disappearances and murders start?”

Gilliam frowned and said, “You know, none of that was ever proven.
 
The police got involved and all those cases were eventually dropped.
 
Valentine was brought in for questioning a few times but he was never charged for anything.
 
So what I'm about to say is pure conjecture.
 
You can't quote me as stating facts.”

“I understand.”

“It was in nineteen seventy-eight, around Thanksgiving, when Julie Titman disappeared.
 
You remember her?”

“Yes.”

“Lovely brunette girl.
 
She had the sweetest smile.
 
Anyway, she just didn't show up one day.
 
After a few days someone went around to where she lived and there was no sign of her.
 
All her stuff was still there but the car was gone.
 
She was reported as a missing person.”

“And then her body turned up six months later in the desert.”

“Right.
 
At least they
thought
it was her.
 
Nothing but bones there and the skull was gone.
 
Some of the clothing that was still on the skeleton was probably Julie's, or so they said.
 
No one was ever charged for the crime.”

“What do you think happened?”

“Julie was in a dispute with Aaron over her contract.
 
She wanted more money and was threatening to leave for another studio.
 
I think he threatened her and when she didn't budge, he had her killed.”

“Why do you think that?”

“That's the way Aaron Valentine is,” Gilliam said.
 
“He's a cold-hearted, mean son-of-a-bitch.
 
He's a sadist.
 
He likes to control people.
 
He had
me
under his thumb for several years and he threatened
me
when I tried to get out of my contract.
 
I stuck with it until it expired and I didn't renew.
 
That was in nineteen eighty-three.
 
I did work for other studios and then in nineteen-ninety I started my own line of videos.
 
Valentine didn't like it that I left, but I left fair and square, you know?
 
I stuck it out with him.
 
Even while suspecting him of having my sister killed.
 
I never confronted him about it, though.”

“Do you get along with him now?”

“We're cordial on a business basis.
 
He respects what I've done with my career.
 
I'm a star in the industry and he likes to think he discovered me.
 
He invites me to some of his parties.
 
We get along okay.”

“What other things led you to suspect Valentine was a murderer?”

“Well, after Julie disappeared, it seemed that more and more of his acting stable went missing, and they were all stars who wanted out or something.
 
Another body was found in the desert in nineteen seventy-nine, remember?
 
They think it was Paul Stud.
 
All they found were a pile of bones but they linked the teeth to Paul Stud's dental records.
 
Brenda De Blaze—her real name was Karen Andrews—she disappeared in seventy-nine and then
her
body was found in Death Valley.
 
That was definitely labeled a homicide but nobody was ever charged.
 
Anyway, it was getting pretty weird around Erotica Selecta.
 
There was a rumor going around that Valentine would have you burned up in an incinerator that he kept at his warehouse if you didn't tow the line.
 
Valentine kept up the gloss, though.
 
By then he had moved into that big mansion of his and started throwing the extravagant parties.
 
He had some hit movies and was making a lot of money.”

“He became one of the kings of porn.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think the mafia was involved?” Marshall asked.

“Absolutely.
 
There were these greasy Italian guys always hanging around the mansion and sometimes at the studio.
 
They looked like they were right out of
The Godfather
only they wore Las Vegas-style glitzy shit.
 
It was no secret that the West Coast mafia was controlling all the distribution of the films and stuff.
 
They had an interest in the adult bookstores and peep shows and all the sleaze that went with them.
 
No question that it was all organized crime.
 
Not like today.
 
Today it's all legit.
 
My production company is completely clean.
 
I pay my taxes and no one bothers me.
 
A criminal element might still exist in some circles, but not in the mainstream adult business.
 
That was a thing of the past.”
 
Gilliam lowered his voice and added, “Although I think Valentine is still in bed with those guys.”

“I guess you've seen the reports that Dana Barnett is alive and well and living in Illinois?”

“Yeah, I heard that,” Gilliam said, shaking his head.

“What do you think of that?”

“I don't know what to think.
 
All this time I was sure she was dead.
 
She and Angela.
 
They disappeared together.
 
I'd like to ask Dana a few questions, like what the fuck happened to my sister?”

“They're saying that the woman in Illinois claims that she's not Dana Barnett.
 
She says that Dana Barnett was her twin sister.
 
Do you believe that?”

“I tell ya,” Gilliam said.
 
“Dana never said
anything
about having a twin sister.
 
I don't believe that for a minute.
 
I saw a picture of that woman and I'm convinced it's Dana.”

“Thanks, Mister Gilliam.”
 
Marshall shut off the tape recorder.

B
y dinnertime David had not come home and Diane had become concerned.
 
She and her son had an agreement that he was to be home for dinner and if there were a problem he was to call.
 

She picked up the phone and punched the speed-dial button for Billy Davis' house.
 
Unfortunately his father Peter answered.

“Peter, it's Diane,” she said quickly.
 
“Is David there?”

“Well, hello, Diane,” Davis said cheerfully.
 
“How's life treating you?”

“Is David there, Peter?” she repeated with a touch of impatience in her voice.

“No, he isn't.
 
Actually Billy doesn't want to see David much anymore, Diane.
 
I can't imagine why.”

Cut the sarcasm, you bastard.
 

“Fine,” she said and hung up.
 

Where could that boy be?

She dialed Boston Ford and spoke to the hated secretary.
 

“Tina, is Greg there?”

“Oh, hi Mrs. Boston,” the girl said, ever so sweetly.
 
“No, he didn't come in today.
 
In fact, he wasn't here yesterday either.
 
We don't know where he is.”

“Really?
 
That's odd,” Diane said.
 
“He's not at home?”

“He doesn't answer the phone, Mrs. Boston.”

“I see.
 
Well, leave a message for him if he calls in.
 
Ask him to call me, it's about David.”

“I will,” Tina said.
 
There was a playfulness in her voice that Diane didn't like, as if the girl—Diane didn't want to think of her as a woman—was laughing at her at the other end of the line.
 
Everyone else was laughing at her, why not her ex-husband's mistress?

Diane hung up and drummed her fingers on the counter.
 
She went out to the garage through the kitchen, raised the garage door, and got into the Honda.
 
She pulled out of the driveway and spent the next half-hour driving around the neighborhood looking for her son.
 
She circled his school and found no trace of him.