The Cold Six Thousand (45 page)
Read The Cold Six Thousand Online
Authors: James Ellroy
DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/21/64. Pouch communiqué. To: John Stanton. From: Pete Bondurant. Marked: “Hand Pouch Deliver Only”/ “Destroy Upon Reading.”
J.S.,
Wayne hit paydirt. We’re on go for 1/9/65, & after final distribution, I’m predicting a net profit of $320,000. That makes the kadre’s profit nut (45%) about $150,000. Right now I’m working out the details, but the plan is unchanged.
Laurent, Chuck and Flash will purchase weapons on the right-wing circuit in Texas & the south & will funnel them to exiles on the Gulf. That’s the essential plan, with one proviso.
We’ve both been the coastal harassment route, and running missions out of South Florida & the Gulf got us nowhere. I think our exiles should take advantage of
being
Cuban & should conduit the weapons to anti-Castro groups inside Cuba. I’m emphatic about this.
What do you think? Please reply ASAP.
P.B.
DOCUMENT INSERT
: 12/26/64. Pouch communiqué. To: Pete Bondurant. From John Stanton. Marked: “Hand Pouch Deliver Only”/ “Destroy Upon Reading.”
P.B.,
I approve the general outline of your plan and agree that our ultimate goal should be to provide on-island dissidents with the weapons our net profits secure. That said, I should again point out that you’re jumping the gun on the Cuban end of things.
Make no specific profit distribution plans until our in-country costs can be assessed, with all monies flagged for laundering through appropriate Agency fronts.
We do not want our Cuban “contributions” to be traceable back to our Las Vegas business.
To close:
The Saigon cleanup will be implemented soon. A Can Lao contingent
will secure the area around Khanh Hoi, but I have been assured that the lab will not be touched. Have Tedrow secure the lab and be off the premises by the a.m. of 1/8/65.
Por la Causa,
J.S.
DOCUMENT INSERT
: 1/6/65. Body-wire transcript. Marked: “Route to: Director/Blue Rabbit/White Rabbit/Father Rabbit/Live Tape Destroyed/Read & Burn.”
Location: Washington, D.C. (Lafayette Park). Date: 1/4/65/0842 hrs. Speaking: CRUSADER RABBIT/PINK RABBIT.
CR (conversation in progress): What I (static/ambient noise) read in the press. Dr. King sounded encour—
PR (laughing): With Martin, nonviolence extends to the absence of invective (pause/2.1 seconds). No, Hoover was rude and intractable. Martin said he was shaking.
CR: No progress, then?
PR: None. He did not affirm or deny the existence of the bugs and the taps. (Static/2.8 seconds.) Didn’t really press it. He’s so goddamn Christlike at times.
CR: Dr. King was wise not to rile him.
PR: You’re right, Ward. You have a hateful lunatic in his declining years and a hugely important figure in his ascent. You have to believe that people will see through to the gist of that.
CR: Never condescend or underest (ambient noise/2.9 seconds) abilities.
PR: That was reinforced for Martin soon after.
CR: How—
PR (interrupting): Martin received a letter, and regretfully Coretta saw it first. It was allegedly written by a Negro man, who urged Martin to kill himself. There were (static/3.3 seconds) references, and I won’t comment on their veracity, to philanderings that Martin (static/1.6 seconds) may or may not have committed. Coretta was (pause/0.9 seconds) well, she was devastated.
CR: Jesus Christ.
PR: That about says it.
(Static/ambient noise/9.3 seconds.)
PR (conversation in progress): No saint, but I never fully grasped the man’s evil nature until that moment. (Pause/4.1 seconds
/PR laughs) Why so glum, Ward? Really, you’re looking positively spectral.
CR: I can’t give you any more money, Bayard. It’s getting too risky on my end. (Static/0.8 seconds) later, but not for the foreseeable future.
PR: You needn’t (pause/2.2 seconds). Stop with the glum looks, child. You’ve done the cause a world of good, and I for one hope you’ll stay in touch.
CR: I want to. You know how I feel.
PR: I do indeed. I enjoy our talks, and I rely on your perceptions of the FBI mindset.
CR: I’ll continue to offer them. And I’m always passing through D.C.
PR: I’m always good for a drink or a cup of coffee.
CR (static/3.4 seconds/conversation in progress): Dr. King have planned?
PR: We’ve got a big push coming up in Selma, Alabama. We’re making plans to reprise “Freedom Summer” in Mississippi, and we’ve targeted Eastern Louisiana in June.
CR: You’ve got a strong Klan presence there. The Baton Rouge Office has a substantial file.
PR: Bogalusa’s a simmering hotbed of our pointy-headed friends. We’re going to mount voter registration drives and vex them out of their sheets.
CR (laughing/ambient noise/20 seconds): Anticipate resistance?
PR: Yes, but Martin was encouraged by the FBI’s presence in Mississippi last summer, and he’s convinced that the evil Mr. Hoover will work for the safety of our people, however reluctant—
(Sustained static/tape ends here.)
DOCUMENT INSERT
: 1/7/65. Courier message: Saravan, Laos, to Saigon, South Vietnam.
To: Wayne Tedrow Junior. From: Pete Bondurant. Marked: “Hand Pouch Deliver.”
W.T.,
Be ready to follow first shipment stateside a.m. of 1/9/65. Be off lab premises by 1/8.
Urgent! Respond today!
P.B.
DOCUMENT INSERT
: 1/8/65. Courier message: Saravan, Laos, to Saigon, South Vietnam.
To: Wayne Tedrow Junior. From: Pete Bondurant. Marked: “Hand Pouch Deliver.”
W.T.,
Board up lab & vacate immediately!
Urgent! Respond immediately!
P.B.
(Saigon, 1/9/65)
L
et’s stay. Let’s get close. Let’s
watch
.
The lab was secure. He pouched Chuck last night: I’ll meet Pete/Tan Son Nhut Airport/flight 29. I packed the shit. I hid it—check the box marked “Flamethrower Parts.”
Let’s linger. Let’s get close. Let’s watch the “Cleanup.”
The Can Lao hit last night. The Can Lao precleaned. They stink-bombed the Go-Go. They ran out the patrons. They ran out the whores. They locked up the dope den. They secured the O-heads. Said O-heads dozed on.
Wayne checked his watch—6:14 a.m.—Wayne checked his window.
Marvs draped flags. Marvs unfurled banners. Marvs muscled vendors out. Marvs stole their cash. Marvs dumped their stalls. Marvs cued hose crews up.
The crews aimed. The crews fired. Water smashed walls and stalls. Water squashed fruit. Water launched debris and scoured graffiti. Vendors flew—flyweights—hose confetti.
The Marvs raised banners. There’s LBJ. Dig his big schnoz and Smile of Love. There’s Premier Khanh. He’s got big teeth. Dig his Big Smirk of Love.
A vendor flew. Water tossed him. Water tossed rickshaw bikes.
“You a watchin’ motherfucker.”
Wayne gulped a tad. Wayne turned around. Wayne saw Bongo.
In his tight fruit briefs. In his pointy fruit boots. With a chubby whore.
“You know what I like about you? It’s that ‘meek-shall-inherit-the-earth’ thing. You like to watch, but you never say a motherfuckin’ word.”
The whore wore skivvies. The whore wore thigh hickeys. The whore wore cigarette burns.
“You like her? I call her ‘Ashtray.’ You don’t need to reach for one when she’s around.”
Wayne shut the window. Bongo hoisted his balls. Bongo pumped up his veins.
“I figured I’d trade you for a taste. I get to geez, you get to watch Ashtray french me.”
Wayne smiled. Wayne gulped a tad. Wayne unlocked his closet.
He prepped water. He prepped a spike. He prepped a spoon. He prepped horse. He cooked it. He siphoned it in.
Bongo laughed. Ashtray giggled. Wayne blocked their view. He siphoned in ammonia. He siphoned in rat poison. He siphoned in strychnine.
Bongo said, “You slow, you know that?”
Wayne turned around. Bongo looped a tourniquet. Bongo tied off a vein.
Wayne saw it. Wayne tapped it. Wayne jabbed it. Wayne pushed the plunger in sloooooow.
There now—how’s that
?
Bongo lurched. Bongo jumped. Bongo sprayed piss and shit. Bongo fell down and spasmed and thrashed.
Wayne stepped back. Wayne watched. Ashtray stepped up close.
Bongo coughed foam. Bongo coughed blood. Bongo bit his tongue off. Wayne stepped up. Wayne stepped on his head. Wayne cracked his skull.
Ashtray held her nose. Ashtray crossed herself. Ashtray kicked Bongo in the balls. Wayne grabbed him. Wayne dragged him. Wayne dropped him down the air vent.
Ashtray said, “Bongo cheap Charlie. Bongo number ten.”
Wayne saw Leroy and Cur-ti. Wayne saw Wendell Durfee.
More cleanup—his and theirs.
Wayne cleaned the lab. Wayne watched the outside show. Marvs hosed monks. Marvs hosed walls. Marvs abridged graffiti.
The vent shook. Rats bopped through. Rats found Bongo. Rats ate him.
10:05 a.m.—flight time soon.
Theeeeere—
Voices and clumps now—two clicks downstairs. There—it’s coming—you knew it would.
Wayne walked down. Wayne stood on the landing. Wayne found a shadow patch.
There—ten Can Lao goons. Two five-man teams paired off. They’ve got flashlights and silencered magnums. They’ve got hoses/flamethrowers/sacks.
They dispersed. They walked the pallet rows. They shot faces in tight.
It went soft—silencers—head shots in light.
They flashed. They shot. They dumped shells and reloaded. Heads snapped inside halos. Heads cracked pallet slats.
Opium—
hush now anesthesia
—in slow and tight.
Wayne watched. Wayne saw faces alight. B-girls and Ashtray. Uncle Ho–types.
The goons finished up. The goons regrouped in the doorway. The goons stood way back.
A goon aimed a toaster. Said goon strafed low. Said goon cooked body rows tight.
Three sweeps out and back. Flame levels in tight.
The goon turned the toaster off. A goon strafed a hose. Said goon sprayed water down tight.
Flames sputtered. Bodies flared. Pallets cracked.
Wayne watched. The goons regrouped. The goons walked and dispersed.
They took their pants off. They kicked through hose water. They lugged gunnysacks. They poured out quicklime. They perfumed bodies. They flour-dipped flesh.
DOCUMENT INSERT
: 2/8/65. Internal memorandum. Topic: OPERATION BLACK RABBIT. To: DIRECTOR. From: BLUE RABBIT. Marked: “Stage-1 Covert”/“Eyes Only”/“Read and Burn.”
Sir,
My first summary report on OBR.
1 - CRUSADER RABBIT met PINK RABBIT on two occasions in Washington, D.C. (1/6/65, 1/19/65) and forwarded his tapes to me. Per Stage-1 Covert guidelines, I personally transcribed the tapes and destroyed the live tape copies. Tape #1 and Tape #2 transcripts are included (Addendum #A) with this memorandum. Per guidelines, please read and burn.
2 - Although there were numerous moments of poor sound quality, I feel confident in my assessment of the tapes. It is obvious that the effeminate and witty PINK RABBIT is much taken with the wit, beautifully feigned sincerity and ardently expressed ideals of CRUSADER RABBIT. You were farsighted in your instinct to match them up. PINK RABBIT accepted CRUSADER RABBIT’s stated withdrawal of “pilfered” organized-crime monies with magnanimity and both men expressed a desire to “keep in touch.” That desire, expressed on Tape #1, was confirmed by the second meeting of PINK RABBIT and CRUSADER RABBIT, recorded on Tape #2.
3 - CRUSADER RABBIT deftly questioned PINK RABBIT on both tapes. (See transcripts.) To date, however, PINK RABBIT has revealed only information already revealed by our “in-house” SCLC source, WHITE RABBIT. The broad outline includes:
3 - A: Planned agitation in Selma, Alabama (picketing, boycotts, voter-registration drives);
3 - B: A (6/65) projected school desegregation drive in Chicago;
3 - C: Early plans (but no compelling specifics) regarding SCLC participation in a second “Freedom Summer” campaign of agitation in Mississippi;
3-D: Planned agitation in and around Bogalusa, Louisiana, to commence in 6/65.
4 - I’ve reviewed the recent tapes retrieved from our remaining hotel-room bug-posts. RED RABBIT, PINK RABBIT and other SCLC members have stayed in said rooms on a total of 14 occasions from 1/1/65 to 2/4/65. No salient information was gleaned. The innocuous conversations and frequent whispers indicate that the
subjects suspected the presence of electronic surveillance. Said bugs will remain in place.
5 - WHITE RABBIT reports that RED RABBIT, PINK RABBIT and other SCLC members have discussed the anonymous “suicide letter” sent to RED RABBIT and concluded that it derived from an FBI source. WHITE RABBIT further reports that RED RABBIT and PINK RABBIT have verbally attacked you on numerous recent occasions, much in the manner that PINK RABBIT attacked you on Tape Transcript #1. WHITE RABBIT stated that RED RABBIT was “very upset” by the letter, especially the “crippling effect” it had on his wife.
6 - Per MAIL COVERS. To date, assigned agents have intercepted, logged and remailed numerous letters of support, along with large and small donations to the SCLC, many of them sent by notable leftist-sympathizers, members of Communist front groups and movie stars, among them Danny Kaye, Burt Lancaster, Walter Pidgeon, Burl Ives, Spencer Tracy, Rock Hudson, Natalie Wood and numerous folk singers of lesser repute. (See Addendum List #B for details. Per guidelines, please read and burn.)
7 - Per TRASH COVERS. To date, assigned agents have collected and logged large quantities of discarded left-wing periodicals and risqué magazines with photographs of nude white women, along with innocuous and non-itemized trash. (See Addendum List #C for inventory.) (Note: An Addendum List #B inventory log will soon be compiled & stored per Stage-1 Covert guidelines. It will be used to facilitate, should you so direct, an SCLC BANK ACCOUNT COVER, to determine if the above-noted contributions were banked legally, which should help us gauge the viability of an IRS cross-check of the SCLC’s federal and state tax returns.)
In conclusion:
All COVERS to proceed as directed. A summary report on the WHITE-HATE arm of OPERATION BLACK RABBIT to follow.
Respectfully,
BLUE RABBIT