The following passage is from the radio adaptation of a novel called Dark side of the street which takes place in Los Angeles.
[Now, what is amazing indeed is that Harry Patterson, the writer, is a prolific author of some sixty best-selling thrillers published under pseudonyms like Martin Fallon, Hugh Marlowe, James Graham, Jack Higgins, and himself. Dark side of the street belongs to the Paul Chavasse series in his Jack Higgins authorship].
The
Woman without a Name
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A man and a woman are sitting in an expensive restaurant in Beverly Hills, not far from Hollywood.They are looking at a photograph of two people, which the woman has brought with her.
A: You know
who she is, I suppose.
B: Of
course. And the man? Who's he?
A: Carl
Earlham. Ever heard of him?
B: No, I'm
afraid not.
A: He was
one of her favourite photographers. He was her friend...he spent a lot of time with
her just before she died, in '62.
B: Where is
he now? What's he doing?
A: He's
dead. He died last year. I knew him well. Very well. Do you understand?
B: I think
so.
A: Well? Are
you interested?
B: In what?
A: In using
the information in the book you’re writing about her, of course. You are doing
some research into her death, aren't you?
B: Yes, but
. . . I'm not sure. How did you know I was writing such a book?
A: Someone
told me.
B: Who?
A: Just a
friend. I have a lot of friends.
B: What's
the name of your friend?
A: That
doesn't matter! The only thing that matters is whether you want the information
or not.
B: What
information?
A: It's all
in the letters.
B: Letters?
What are you talking about?
A: She wrote
Earlham several letters before she died. She told him all about things like her
relationship with someone very . . .
B: Look. A
lot of people say they've got letters like that. And just about everyone in
Hollywood can tell stories about what happened just before she died.
A: What I've
got isn't a story. I'm not making it up! It's the truth. In her own
handwriting. I can prove she wrote the letters. And what's in them is dynamite.
Pure dynamite.
B: Are you
sure? It isn't exactly news any more, is it? It happened more than 25 years ago.
A: It's
still dynamite.
B: How did
you get hold of these letters?
A: I told
you. I was Earlham's friend. We were . . . very close. He gave me the letters
before he died. Well? Do you want to see the letters?
B: That
depends.
A: On what?
B: On what
you want in return.
A: Money, of
course.
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A: $100,000.
B: That's a
lot of money.
A: Yes, and
it's worth it! Every penny. Look, I hope you understand what I'm offering you.
Letters. Her letters. Some of which she wrote only a few days before she
died.
B: Yes.
A: Yes? Yes,
what?
B: Yes, I
understand.
