The 1960’s were a historic era of cultural and political upheaval worldwide, and Los Angeles along with San Francisco were at the west coast epicenters.
The 1970s amped the Vibe; from the grit of L.A, and glitz of Hollywood, to the sunny beach-lined communities north and south of the Los Angeles International Airport.
There was a thriving evolution of new ways to live, to expand one’s mind, and new ways to do business. And one of the rising big businesses was within the Drug Culture.
The times were ripe for anyone to grab the reins and take hold of whatever they could. All ideas, trends, and concepts if not new, were brought forward from the past to be celebrated. With these near daily new enterprises and concepts came great ideas implemented for the good and some for the bad.
William Trent, a young private investigator, maintains his office and living space above the garages of an adjacent apartment building in the “Ghost Town” area of Venice, California. The rickety, but sturdy stairs to Will’s office were open for anyone who needed his services.
Will was experienced in both deductive reasoning and altered states of consciousness. He had taken nearly every drug, hallucinogen, and psychotropic known, and used those experience’s benefits to become successful enough to hold down his own one man investigation business.
There was much to be said for certain stoners’ abilities to use their clouded stoned appearance to actually gain detailed insight on those who momentarily let their guard down due to thinking that they were dealing with just another stoned Hippie.
Tonight’s 1979 Episode: “The Endless Night Ends”
Part One
It was a Friday evening, Millicent Barnes was in her pajamas on Will’s couch watching TV as Will whipped up a couple cups of hot cocoa.
These two had become a unique couple in many ways. They both shared the ability to “read” people, vibes, and situations, solve mysteries and combat evil, and they appreciated each other.
And for the first time they both could be in a relationship where each knew the other could take care of themselves in deadly serious situations; and for Will especially that meant no more threats of a girlfriend’s safety due to vengeful evil, no, if anyone tried that with Millicent they would regret it, if they lived long enough to.
And, the sex was fantastic.
Ever since they met in ‘73 they have maintained their own homes, did their own thing, sometimes worked cases together, and had been on a couple of Godfrey Workman’s missions. They were comfortable together, but both were strong individuals with self-motivating drive, and did what they had to do, above all else.
They were watching a rerun of last season’s “The Girl From V.E.N.U.S.”, but as they watched the episode, Millicent noticed something familiar: “Will, this new spy guy she teams up with sure looks a lot like . . . Wow, check out this fight scene . . .”
Just then the phone rang, Will thought: “Saved by the bell.”
He got up to answer the phone on his desk.
Millicent kept watching the TV and the sexy spy that looked a lot like Will.
Will, serious, on the phone: “Sure, we’ll be right over.”
Will to Millicent: “We gotta suit up, that was Godfrey, it‘s urgent.”
They took Will’s GTO out to the oil fields, parked, and entered an old gas station, walked down a hall to a door marked Janitor, opened the door and walked into an elevator.
Down a level, the door opened and Will and Millicent walked the corridor to the conference room where Godfrey Workman was waiting.
Godfrey: “Thank you both for coming, please, be seated.”
Will and Millicent sat down at the table.
Godfrey: “As you see the others were not requested to be here. I wanted, needed, to speak to you both about an issue that has arisen, where only two are needed, you two.”
Godfrey went on to explain the urgency of the meeting; he had acquired information that tomorrow night at the San Diego Comic-Con there was to be an attempt on the life of one of the actors from the TV series “SuperHeroes” all of the main cast would be there.
Will was puzzled, and rarely questioned Godfrey: “I won’t ask how you got this info, but I would like to know why the police aren’t in on this?”
Godfrey, for the first time looking more grievous than usual; this man put the weight of the world on his shoulders: “One of the actors is my son.”
Millicent: “You don’t want the police involved, you want the bad guy caught.”
Godfrey lifts his head, looks at them both: “Yes.”
Godfrey was a hard man to read, Millicent agreed, they had past discussions on Godfrey Workman, invisible billionaire, but far from the Howard Hughes notoriety, Godfrey was like a myth, a proven myth, he was a man, alive, and doing business, but other than that, nothing.
Will and Millicent always felt privileged and honored to assist him in his off the grid do-good deeds.
By the late ‘70s the San Diego Comic-Con had become a fairly big deal, enough so that many artists, writers, actors, and celebrities showed up to promote their movie, TV show, comic book, or themselves. Also, the crowds grew from the early ‘70’s of one hundred to three hundred fans, to possibly two or three thousand fans.
Tomorrow night, would be the Masquerade, where fans dressed up like their favorite characters.
Godfrey had shown them photos of his son, however he didn’t have enough time to determine a motive or whom the target was; only that it was going to happen if not stopped. Therefore, the whole cast were in danger.
Still, this was doable, Will and Mill, as they playfully sometimes called themselves, felt confident they could focus in on anyone at this Con who wasn’t having fun, as it would be obvious – to them.
Saturday night came and as they split up and moved among the crowd, all of the vibes Will picked up on were benign, nothing negative.
He crossed paths with Millicent several times and got the “nothing” gesture from her. They had hoped to identify and isolate whoever had evil in their heart, but so far, nothing.
They met up at the “SuperHeroes” Q and A panel ahead of schedule, there was no one in the room of twenty rows of seats, nor behind the dais – maybe the person wasn’t there yet. So they took seats in the back row, Will was at one end, Millicent at the other. They would scan the fans as they entered to sit down.
As the time approached and fans filed in, neither of them picked up any bad vibes and were beginning to get concerned, surely anyone with premeditated murder on their mind would be felt instantly by either of them.
Then came time for the cast to enter, greet, and answer questions. As they filed in and sat down a couple of them wore their costumes; the actor who played a humanoid wore a belt and holster with a space gun, another actor’s signature was a Samurai sword, and a third held the silver orb that gave him his superpowers.
The crowd loved it and applauded immediately.
Will and Mill both thought and felt the same thing at the same time; there was negativity coming from someone on the dais but from their distance they could not tell exactly, only that the room’s vibe became less enjoyable when the cast entered the room,
They knew that time was of the essence, so they both got up, and walked to the front row to sit down. The closer they got the stronger the negative vibe was, but still couldn’t be pin-pointed.
Millicent, who approached things a little more straight-forward than Will, raised her hand for a question: “Any of the cast can answer this question; who among you plays the character who secretly wants to kill another member of the cast?”
The cast, the emcee, and the fans were puzzled, but Will and Mill clearly saw the one that became nervous.
Will got up and began to approach the dais, then stopped as the actor with the orb stood up and told everyone to freeze, and that he had a bomb, and raised the silver orb up in his hand.
Will stopped, looked at Millicent; it was then that each sensed the others’ next move, it was Will’s turn to build on the exposure.
Will, halfway between the front row and the dais, used mind-deflecting psychology directed to OrbMan.
Will: “So, is that the new model Z-15, or the old Z-10?”
OrbMan, in a state, tries to grasp the odd question: “Wha . . ?”‘
Timing is of the essence, for when a person, good or bad, is moved off their prime directive, for just a moment, there exists an advantage, a possibility of action, and that was second-nature to Millicent.
Millicent, in a sexy come on manner: “Hey OrbMan, check out these orbs!”
OrbMan turns his head from Will to Millicent.
Millicent pops open her shirt, rips her bra open and lets loose a luscious pair of orbs that were the last thing OrbMan saw before being taken down and out by Will.
Tonight’s 1979 Episode: “The Endless Night Ends”
Part Two
Will and Mill decided to take the generous bonuses that Godfrey Workman gave them and take a very well-deserved vacation.
When you are a dedicated person who enjoys their job, and even further, have an obligation to honor your respective gifts, it is hard to “relax” as it seems as though precious time is being wasted where progress is lost due to “taking a vacation”.
They both secretly wanted to experience a time in life where there were no demands, even on oneself – just for a little bit. Because of that they both decided to make it something meaningful, but local, no european trip or plane flights or anything that needed too much preparation.
So, they packed up essentials got in Will’s GTO and took off up the coast with the Pacific Ocean on the left and mountains on the right.
In the years that they had been together there was always the knowledge that they could never really “be” together like a normal couple; so moments of hot cocoa and watching a TV show from the couch were very special; things other couples did regularly were treasured and appreciated moments for them.
It was a long, but relaxing and beautiful drive up the coast through Big Sur National Forest and then to their destination, Carmel-By-The-Sea. The five and a half hour drive was only punctuated by stops for lunch, gas, restrooms, and picturesque wooded shrines along the way.
Once in Carmel they inquired about weekend rentals from a local realtor, rented a small beach house just outside of town, unpacked, then returned to town for a romantic meal at Clint Eastwood’s “Hogs Breath Inn”.
After dinner and back at the beach house they sat outside and watched the sun set; for Will this was a near nightly pleasure from his elevated office/home view in Venice, but a somewhat rarity for Millicent who lived in the city.
As the sun was absorbed by the ocean horizon, they huddled and cuddled until the chilly mist descended enough to take refuge in their cozy rental.
It had been a long day and the relaxation was new to them so they decided to burn off any lasting energy they had left with slow, sexy, romantic love-making. The sound of the undulating waves gently rolled as they rocked.
Will woke up at about two AM, thirsty from the rich dinner, so he got up and got a glass of water. As he took a gulp he looked out the window to see the moon reflected on the ocean waves.
He felt good, he was enjoying this “freedom from life”. But his innate curiosity still bubbled under his relaxed facade. He was getting a mysterious vibe. He set his glass down and went to the window; all was still except the rolling waves caressing the white sandy beach.
Will dwelled a moment on the mysterious vibe, but could not focus on its origin or intent.
Ever since the experimental drugs he was injected with by the mad scientist Marks, he had retained sporadic benefits; benefits that came and went, sometimes subtle and sometimes mind-boggling, even for Will.
He wondered whether this was yet another whiff of the “trip’s” benefits. Was he evolving?
At least he wasn’t devolving, which was still a possibility.
He was awoken from his thoughts to see what looked like someone out by the water’s edge.
A closer look revealed that the person held something, then set it down in the surf that swirled around them.
He watched as the item washed out with the tide and the person turned, walked back up the beach towards the road and out of his view.
There were other beach houses, and it was just another person, like himself, that was up for their own reasons.
Even though he couldn’t shake this new elusive vibe, he was tired, and sleep won out.
He crawled back into bed and snuggled-up next to Millicent, who was still asleep, but aware enough to return the gesture by pressing her body up next to his in a loving spoonful.
The next morning after a rare sleep-in, morning showers, and a cup of coffee, they chose to go into town for breakfast. As they were getting ready, Will turned on the TV to catch the weather and local news. The day’s temperature would be in the mid-’70s, and as Will was about to turn off the TV in preparation to leave, the newscaster repeated a previous news flash for the area.
And as if some form of deja vu, Will knew what the Newscaster was going to say as he heard it in his mind with the Newscaster as the echo.
Newscaster: “This is an important news update for the Carmel Valley and surrounding areas. There has been a murder and the police are asking everyone to be vigil as the suspect has not been found and may still be in the area.”
Millicent, upon hearing the news, comes from out of the bathroom: “Great, just great.”
Will turns to her: “You know, I got up last night, I was thirsty, and I got this weird mysterious vibe that I couldn’t place. And then while watching the waves, someone walked out into the shallow surf and dropped something in the water and then left.”
Millicent looks at him: “And?”
Will: “Nothing, it was strange but not so strange that I investigated.”
Millicent: “Show me where the person was.”
As they walked out on the beach towards the spot where Will saw the person, there were a couple of seagulls pecking at a large head of lettuce. As they got closer the gulls took off and they saw that it wasn’t a head of lettuce, it was a head, a human head.
Will: “This is what the person dropped into the surf, but the tide brought it back in.”
Millicent: “This is gross, let me go get my camera, oh, and I’ll call the police.”
Will picked up a large piece of driftwood and placed it as a barrier for the head in case the surf rose.
Will was confused, normally bad vibes, like the kind killers emit, should have alerted him last night, but it was as though he was blocked by the mysterious vibe. He didn’t like this development and tried to figure out if he was losing his abilities, or was it something else?
Millicent came running back with her camera: “I called the police they’ll be right over.”
She took a couple photos.
Millicent, with a quirky smile: “I don’t believe this, we can’t even go twenty-four hours without” – she pauses, then points at the head – “this.”
Will, smiling, sensing the absurdity: “You know, sometimes I wonder if it’s us, you and me, what if because of our energy we attract evil.”
This concept is not lost on Millicent, she too has felt that when you operate on a certain level those of the same level interact whether good or bad, like attracts like, only in their cases it was an attraction of the opposite levels of good and bad.
Apparently, it didn’t matter where they were and this trip proved it – trouble in the form of evil will find them in any town or city.
Will to Mill: “The mysterious vibe was probably a combination of the leftover Ayahuasca’s penchant for precognition and the mad scientist’s drug that mutated into a form of “the knowing”, a warning signal of an evil occurrence as it was happening.”
Millicent nods in agreement: “I guess that’s been a possible factor all along, but now . . “
Just then the police pulled up and parked on the road, then walked the deep white sand over to the wet sand of the scene.
Will told them of their morning discovery, that he was a P.I. from L.A. on vacation, and that was all, then excused himself and he and Millicent went back to the beach house.
Will: “The cops disclosed to me that the headless body was found late last night by a friend of the victim at his house in town.”
Will, stops and is in deep thought.
Will: “There must have been a reason the perp disposed of the head here. It was too random; it was meaningful.”
Millicent, with a fake sigh, but secretly intrigued: “Well, vacation’s over, it looks like Will and Mill are on the case.”
Will smiled: “You’re the best!”
Millicent: “Where do we start?”
Will: “Let’s see if we can follow any tracks leaving the surf before the cops do.”
They leave and walk the beach above the crime scene into the deeper sand. There were definite footsteps that led up between beach houses and to the road, then stopped.
Millicent: “Dead end, took off in a car, could be anywhere by now.”
Will: “Yeah, but the person last night didn’t look concerned, didn’t look around to see if anyone was watching or saw them. And the person walked solemnly.”
Millicent: “The person? Male or female?”
Will: “I’m not sure, even with the moonlight it looked like a person wearing a hooded sweater.”
Will pauses.
Will: “But there was also a shroud or a long coat – this was at a distance, at night, and I was barely awake, and other than the mysterious vibe that’s all I remember, a person.”
Willicent: “What about the walk, was it more male or female?”
Will: “Good point, seemed tall, leaned forward, the gait could’ve been male or female, there were no obvious . . . “
Will stops, gets up, walks into the bedroom, goes through his bag, searches through a smaller bag of drugs, pulls out a vial, unplugs it, lets a little trickle under his tongue, lets it slowly dissolve into his system, plugs the vial, returns it to the bag, and rejoins Millicent.
Will: “This should be easy, even though my memory, as good as it is, sometimes needs (Will goes into a brief bit of Boris Karloff inspired imitation) “to get a jolt from my electrodes – they did the mash, they did the Monster Mash.”
Millicent loved this trait of Will’s, to bring song lyrics into everyday speech, she acted as though she just tolerated it, but actually loved it, and him.
Will’s “monster mash trails off: “I took a dose of a proprietary blend that, you know, tends to hone the memory.”
Millicent, looking to get real: “Psychedelics.”
Will: “Well, yeah, but personalized.”
Millicent: “Fine, when does the show start?”
Will, coming on strong, walks to the window to mentally recreates the middle of last night.
As he stared out of the window he saw what looked like someone out by the water’s edge.
A closer look revealed that the person held something, then set it down in the surf that swirled around them. He watched as the item washed out with the tide and the person turned, walked back up the beach towards the road and out of his view.
But there was a moment that he focused on; as the person turned to leave, their face was revealed for a second, but that was enough, Will was excellent with facial recognition, bone structure, and elements that traditionally distinguish males from females. That, coupled with the fact that as he played it over again in his mind he also saw that although the person was tall, unless a runway model, the person was a man.
Will relates all of this to Millicent and adds: “I could’a done it on my own, but, we were in kind of a hurry, so . . “
Millicent: “You cheated.”
Will ignoring her put down, but loving it, and her, is busted, but smiles innocently.
Back in his “part of town” the police acknowledged Will as a closer of many cases, and tended to accept his “unlawful” methods, but anywhere else it was best to not involve the police unless and until it was necessary, as they ask too many unanswerable questions.
Millicent: “If this was done in a solemn manner, then maybe we’re not looking for a crazed killer but a grieving . . killer.”
Will: “The head, that’s a pretty gruesome ordeal . . .
Will takes a psychedelic spike from Millicent’s set-up: “What if that wasn’t the killer? What if he was, I don’t know, a caretaker?”
Millicent gets cold chills: “I think you’re onto something, that just struck me as a confirmation.”
Will and Mill’s initial attraction was like attracts like, she read people and vibes and so did Will, that alone was a strong attraction, and then there was the sex.
Will: “We need to get to the murder site.”
Millicent: “I’ve got that covered, while you were talking to one of the cops, I overheard another repeat the address a couple times on their hand held radios.”
Will smiles wide: “You’re the . . “
Millicent having fun, cuts him off, and pushes him along: “Let’s go.”
They pull over and park down the street from the now black and yellow striped Do Not Enter police tape surrounding the house.
Millicent: “Alright, let’s scan the place, gather clues, and regroup back at the GTO ASAP.”
Will loved it when she talked ex-military.
They split up, and since this was an “active site” there were police on guard.
Will took the back Millicent the front. She ducked into the bushes of the house next door, dipped under the tape, jumped the fence and was in. Will was in the backyard of the next door neighbor trying to move across the yard with a very friendly and playful German Shepherd that was body-blocking and jumping on him slowing down his progress. Will gave in and with the homeowners apparently at work, Will stopped and played with Dusty, which was the name on his nametag. After a few rounds of really fun play Will had to do the sad – the end of play, but Dusty seemed to understand.
Will hopped the fence and went in the back, By the time he got in Millicent had already “cleared” the first floor of the two story house but as the murder took place upstairs, they both moved up the stairs with caution.
They didn’t even need to say anything to each other; they could each sense the heavy, thick vibe of dread.
They reached the second floor, walked down the hallway to the bedroom where the body was found, walked in, and looked around, when the sound of metal and wood came from the hallway.
Millicent and Will saw that the sound was from an attic staircase that had been lowered.
They kept their positions as they saw a tall, dark figure emerge from the attic. It was the man Will saw last night, the man with the head.
But Will and Millicent felt no evil, no threat as the man walked between them to the window and jumped out.
They both ran to the window and looked out to see the man dead on the ground below, only then did that arise the police guards.
Will and Mill knew what they had to do and that was to get the Hell outta there.
They jumped the back fence into Dusty’s yard, Will played with him as they crossed the yard, then down along the side and over a wall to the street and to the GTO.
Both gathering their breath.
Millicent: “That was something up there, I couldn’t move!”
Will: “Me too! What was that?”
Millicent: “He just walked on by and I felt I should do something because I knew what was going to happen, but I couldn’t move.”
Will: “Same here.”
They were both silent on the way back to the beach house.
Will parked, and they went inside.
Will, excited, breaks the silence: “How about this? We just experienced a karmic force that overrode our physical ability.”
Millicent, excited: “We’ve tapped into some strange shit, but this was karma in action, oh, and you know what that means, that means that it was his exact time to go. Will I think we somehow experienced a moment in uncharted territory.”
She pauses.
Millicent: “I don’t know whether to feel honored or abused.”
Will shakes his head with a cosmic chuckle: “I don’t think we’ll ever know the details of what really happened.
He pauses, looks at Millicent.
Will: “But this trip with you has made me wonder about the future.”
Millicent coyly reading him: “What do you mean?”
Will: “I mean why don’t we go forward together, doing what we do, more than less (he pauses) way more.”
Millicent, seductively: “And by way more, just what do you mean?”
Will, realizing she’s in control of the whole thing: “Millicent Barnes, will you marry me?”
Through the sexiest, most beautiful eyes Will had ever seen, Millicent looked at him, smiled and said: “Yes!”
Copyright 2019 00individual TLL
Part One written spontaneously over a few hours during Sept 18 – 19, 2019 Part Two a few hours during Sept 20 – 25, 2019 with only The Stoned Private Eye, the 1970s, Endless Night Ends, and a Noir Vibe as inspiration.
THE STONED PRIVATE EYE 