Speaker 1: A note to the listener. The following story contains some
Speaker 1: adult content and language. What's in a name? Let's try
Speaker 1: something say or think of the name of the last
Speaker 1: person you saw. Now, did you imagine the letters that
Speaker 1: make up their name or did you imagine them them right?
Speaker 1: And if you stay with that image of them, your
Speaker 1: mind will fill in even more details about that person
Speaker 1: just from a word, just from their name. There are
Speaker 1: so few names involved in the Angel of Vine case,
Speaker 1: so little information that the circumstances leading to the death
Speaker 1: of Marley Marie Evans required some level of imagination that
Speaker 1: the cops either didn't have or didn't care enough to employ.
Speaker 1: Hank briggs use of his imagination just got him a
Speaker 1: new name. It's Zeros. Granted it was the name of
Speaker 1: a nightclub, but a name no one else had associated
Speaker 1: with this case. And what's in this particular name is
Speaker 1: an entirely unexplored world which Hank Briggs was about to
Speaker 1: enter from Vox Popula and the Los Angeles. Harold, this
Speaker 1: is the Angel of Vine. My old heart ain't gain
Speaker 1: and no ground because my angels. These are snippets of
Speaker 1: the recordings from Hank's steak out of cereals. It's thorough,
Speaker 1: not so much informatively, but thorough and sheer. Volume four
Speaker 1: separate tapes for a total of fourteen recorded hours over
Speaker 1: what I think was roughly eight or nine days. My
Speaker 1: best guest just based on his mention of the daytime
Speaker 1: food deliveries, and yes, I have listened to all of it.
Speaker 1: He sat in his car on the corner of Sunset
Speaker 1: Boulevard and Olive Drive, observing that place and talking to
Speaker 1: himself for eight or nine days. Zero's being the spectacle
Speaker 1: that it was almost every night, Hank thought it would
Speaker 1: be easier to hop the velvet rope of the daytime door. Hey,
Speaker 1: excuse me, pal, you run this place? Yeah, yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: looking around Crates the salmon because I run this place. Hey, Anton,
Speaker 1: Now that one's gotta go in the cooler. It's a
Speaker 1: manager around at eight o'clock in the morning. Bunny, I
Speaker 1: think that's your name, because I didn't throw you one. Listen,
Speaker 1: it's daylight. I'm not here to make a mess. Yeah,
Speaker 1: people call me tiny while are you're stepping over him?
Speaker 1: Or before? Was that? Jesus? Nothing? Listen, Tiny, maybe you
Speaker 1: can help me, you know, with what somebody used to
Speaker 1: work here. I'm not gonna be much help there. I'm
Speaker 1: back in the house, not even back of the house.
Speaker 1: I'm more like under the house. Honestly, I'm usually gone
Speaker 1: by the time most of the staff arrived. You don't
Speaker 1: see anyone coming to donor. I do my job so
Speaker 1: I can be out of my way, simple as that.
Speaker 1: To sound philosophy, Yeah, yeah, because people mistake me for
Speaker 1: a philosopher all the time. We've done here. And who
Speaker 1: do want need to speak to? It's in charge of hiring.
Speaker 1: You're pretty persistent for not wasn't a mess. Who's asking?
Speaker 1: Labor union? Labor union? What are you some sort of commie?
Speaker 1: Get out of here, your clown clown? Le'm asking your question.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't being really nice to you, and I don't
Speaker 1: have to be. I don't have a lot of patience.
Speaker 1: I'm not patient. Draft My wife nuts who thanks buddy,
Speaker 1: it was a joker. I don't think it was. Look,
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to inconvenient you. I'm just here to
Speaker 1: find someone who might be able to help me do
Speaker 1: my job so that I can be on my way.
Speaker 1: Ask for Alistair. He's the manager. He comes in around them.
Speaker 1: But you didn't get his name from me, because I
Speaker 1: I don't need any trouble. You can tell him I
Speaker 1: was looking for him. I said, I don't need any trouble.
Speaker 1: Hank has no direct contact with anyone named Alistair within
Speaker 1: the fourteen hours of tape of the people he sees
Speaker 1: entering an exiting CEOs, Hank takes a few guesses at
Speaker 1: who might be Alistair, but there are no conversations with
Speaker 1: any other male employees. The only other time Hank left
Speaker 1: the confines of his car were to question a couple
Speaker 1: of the female employees, and for whatever reason, his favorite
Speaker 1: cover seemed to be labor union leader Hank Briggs. She
Speaker 1: was with a baseball player, that made sense, and now
Speaker 1: she's with a writer, A normal person. With a woman
Speaker 1: like that, I wouldn't even have the course to say. Hi. Way,
Speaker 1: when Piggy asked to dance and she says I would
Speaker 1: enjoy to dance, gives him every time I think about it.
Speaker 1: Fly on the wall, Oh my kidding, there's no flies
Speaker 1: in there. There we are, ladies. Just to what I
Speaker 1: wanted to top. Two mm hmm. Excuse me, ladies, I'm
Speaker 1: really sorry to bother you. Hello. I don't think you're sorry,
Speaker 1: I'm assuming you both work here? Is that correct? H
Speaker 1: That's right? Do you mind if I asked you some questions?
Speaker 1: I'm with Local forty seven. I'm Hank Braves, Diane Mosley,
Speaker 1: late for work. Would you tell what do you ladies
Speaker 1: do here? I would coach check cigarette girl? Don't they
Speaker 1: have machines? Now? Hey? Easy, there are here trying to
Speaker 1: get me canned? So what's Local forty seven musicians? Junior? Oh,
Speaker 1: it's about Barnaby's hand, Barnaby the piano player. Obviously it isn't.
Speaker 1: What's your question, Hank Briggs? Was it? We gotta get inside?
Speaker 1: Did either of you know Marlene? Marie Evans? Never heard
Speaker 1: of her? We gotta go. Diane, you've never heard of her,
Speaker 1: don't know her? Frenie? We agree, Sony bitch? Oh hey, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm not a creepy. Let's get tossed on the sunset.
Speaker 1: Just a a few questions. You can't be back here, sir,
Speaker 1: this is private property. All right, I'm going. I'm going.
Speaker 1: Hank didn believed the cigarette girl, and he was right
Speaker 1: not to, but he was wrong when he said he
Speaker 1: didn't have patience. Hank Briggs had enough patience to spend
Speaker 1: an entire week scouring the paper for baseball scores while
Speaker 1: washing down cracker jacks with black coffee, until the right
Speaker 1: moment arrived for him to have a real conversation with
Speaker 1: Diane Moseley, the co check girl. Nice. Catch up with
Speaker 1: you later, Diane. Yeah, it's okay. He startled me. He
Speaker 1: shouldn't do that. I'm sorry. It didn't mean to scare you.
Speaker 1: Henk Briggs, yeah, I remember you. Do you mind if
Speaker 1: we walk? No? No, not at all? Cigarette, No, thank you?
Speaker 1: Did you know Marley? Yes? But not well, you know
Speaker 1: she was. She was real nice, so polite, always a
Speaker 1: please and thank you, no matter what. Were you too close? Well?
Speaker 1: I mean we didn't socialize outside of work more than
Speaker 1: a few times. If that's what you mean, any particular reason,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't think so. She was certainly
Speaker 1: a lot more outgoing than I am. How's that? She
Speaker 1: was really good on the floor, you know, never hovering,
Speaker 1: not trying to be noticed. It's just like she belonged
Speaker 1: with the stars, you know. She was so relaxed, I
Speaker 1: mean relaxed around James Dean. I mean, are you kidding me? Nice?
Speaker 1: He came in, I couldn't even look at him. I
Speaker 1: get too nervous. No, I like my little own clay
Speaker 1: away from it all. Did you know if anyone else
Speaker 1: was close with her? You're not really a musician, are you.
Speaker 1: Why did you pretend not to know her? We were
Speaker 1: told not to mention that she ever worked at the club.
Speaker 1: It would have shut us down. Why. I can't afford
Speaker 1: to lose my job, Mr Briggs, I promise you you're
Speaker 1: not going to That's not why I'm here. They didn't
Speaker 1: want a chance anyone looking at the books. Okay, there
Speaker 1: are no books. It pays in cash. And since Marlene
Speaker 1: had already quit the club when it happened, she wasn't
Speaker 1: working here when she was killed. She was only working
Speaker 1: to privates. Privates What what's that? I don't know. That's
Speaker 1: what she called him. Were these privates arranged through the club? No?
Speaker 1: Who then? I don't know. Well, did you work with
Speaker 1: anyone else? Diane? I'm not a cop. I'm not trying
Speaker 1: to get anyone in trouble here. I promised that you
Speaker 1: were in that giant bouncer you got at the front door.
Speaker 1: Will never ever see me again. I just need a name, please, Fish, Fish, Fish,
Speaker 1: that's what I thought, you said. He runs a club
Speaker 1: called The Battle. It's way down on Central Marley and
Speaker 1: asked me if I wanted to make some good money
Speaker 1: working for him, like three or four times would make
Speaker 1: here in a night, Like I said, I'm not real outgoing,
Speaker 1: so I said no. Well, please don't not tell anybody.
Speaker 1: I told you all of this, and there's no need
Speaker 1: for me to talk to anyone. I doubt what I needed.
Speaker 1: Can I help you get somewhere? Thank you? And it's
Speaker 1: hey day. The historic Central Avenue Jazz Corridor, or the
Speaker 1: Avenue as it was called, was where everybody wanted to
Speaker 1: be when the sun went down in Los Angeles. Wild
Speaker 1: nights of drink, dance, and authentic live jazz unlike any
Speaker 1: you might ever hear again. Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday,
Speaker 1: Art Tatum, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Parker, Lena Horne. These were
Speaker 1: just some of the musicians you might see on any
Speaker 1: given night, and if not performing, chances are you could
Speaker 1: catch a glimpse of one of them amidst the crowd
Speaker 1: at Club Alabama, the Last Word, the down Beat, or
Speaker 1: in the lobby of where they all stayed the famed
Speaker 1: Dunbar Hotel. It was the West Coast lem renaissance, and
Speaker 1: it had everyone's attention, including the cops. Like any other
Speaker 1: area in Los Angeles at that time, Central Avenue had
Speaker 1: its sed reputation for drugs, gambling, and prostitution, and it's
Speaker 1: known that gangsters like Mickey Cohen would hide away in
Speaker 1: the clubs that he was rumored to have invested in,
Speaker 1: either from the cops or from hits placed on him
Speaker 1: by other gangsters. The Battle was a lesser known venue
Speaker 1: than the others and opened just at the tail end
Speaker 1: of this booming era. It was a smaller club, so
Speaker 1: it wouldn't have been as easy to blend in, So
Speaker 1: for a few nights, Hank carefully assumed the role of
Speaker 1: bar fly very much. I haven't heard the name fish
Speaker 1: once since I've been here. I got three viable contenders, though,
Speaker 1: each one of them real slick, good with the crowd.
Speaker 1: At ten of this we are that steals trio dude,
Speaker 1: forget to tip your that's last called buddy, Yeah, why not?
Speaker 1: I'll take one more? Still on, still on it. There
Speaker 1: you go. Thanks, keep the change this sea taking our
Speaker 1: years bound. You made it just in time, drink up fast.
Speaker 1: Good point, Good point. I was gonna say the same
Speaker 1: thing to you, just taking my time, unless you're gonna
Speaker 1: sit here another night talking to yourself? Can I help
Speaker 1: you with something uncanny? There you go, taking the words
Speaker 1: right out of my mouth again. Only cut the chitchen.
Speaker 1: What you want? What makes you think? Good? Nights? Ago?
Speaker 1: You asked the trumpet player by the name of Ellis
Speaker 1: that this was Fish's joint. Fish Frank, hand me that
Speaker 1: bottle and two glasses. You got it. Why don't we
Speaker 1: head to my office and talk about whatever the hell
Speaker 1: it is got you looking so skittish. I'll be in
Speaker 1: the back it rayneeds me. Uncle. It's been a long
Speaker 1: time since a white man came asking for me. What
Speaker 1: are you playing that? I see plenty of white people
Speaker 1: in there, Oh them, No, they are customers. They're down
Speaker 1: here slumming to get a taste of a real experience. You.
Speaker 1: I got no idea why you're here, but I do know.
Speaker 1: I clocked you the seince you walked in. You don't
Speaker 1: exactly scream jazz man, set jass down. Do you hear
Speaker 1: about Shepherd's money? No good? Am I gonna need this?
Speaker 1: No good? As long as we square on that what
Speaker 1: you want? Where was Marline Murray Evans work in the
Speaker 1: night she was murdered? Little ship? You just came out
Speaker 1: and said it just like that. You ain't messing around,
Speaker 1: aren't you. I know that she worked for you doing
Speaker 1: privates wherever the hell that is? Privates? Kind of foolish nonsense,
Speaker 1: is that? What did she do for you? Look? I
Speaker 1: had a lot of girls who worked for me. I
Speaker 1: don't keep track of them all. Sure, I get it.
Speaker 1: A businessman like you does tons of deals. Definitely too
Speaker 1: busy to remember every single person he hires. In my
Speaker 1: costs you pretty spot all. And the Angel of Vine
Speaker 1: was well over a year ago, right, easily right, except
Speaker 1: that it was the Angel of Vine girl being ripped
Speaker 1: open in the parking lots, the kind of thing people
Speaker 1: tend to remember, especially when they're partly responsible. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Now,
Speaker 1: I didn't have nothing to do with that girl getting killed.
Speaker 1: She signed up to work those parties through one of
Speaker 1: my other girls. I only ever meta when she came
Speaker 1: down here to get paid. Okay, good, So she did
Speaker 1: work for you. Thank you for being honest. Damn it. Now,
Speaker 1: what parties you know, just private parties. That was all
Speaker 1: all these fancy ass people in their big houses, the
Speaker 1: ones who have their drivers, bring them down here to
Speaker 1: take a peek at how we live. Just like those
Speaker 1: people out there tonight. They want the life, but on
Speaker 1: the turf. You know what I'm saying. I supplied to
Speaker 1: things musicians and girls, prostitution. Ow hell, no, I look
Speaker 1: like jelly roller you. As far as I was concerned,
Speaker 1: they were having drinks and tiny ask food on silver
Speaker 1: platters with important Hollywood people. Whatever they did after them parties,
Speaker 1: I didn't ask. None of my damn business still isn't ship.
Speaker 1: When that girl turned up dead, all of that stopped.
Speaker 1: The people who hired me stopped calling. Not you here,
Speaker 1: why I need to know where she was at night?
Speaker 1: We did a party at Leonard Schawles that week, Leonard
Speaker 1: Shaw as in Classics Studios, Leonard Shaw. Most of the
Speaker 1: parties with a Leni Shaw your movie mogul A hell,
Speaker 1: that's gonna do it? All that money, you got what
Speaker 1: you need? Because I'm tired as all hell, and I'm
Speaker 1: certainly not gonna get any more. Sober sly in here
Speaker 1: talking with your ass. This was huge. The fact that
Speaker 1: Marlene was working at a party before she was killed,
Speaker 1: opened up new possibilities for a number of potential witnesses
Speaker 1: as well as potential suspects. All Hank needed was a
Speaker 1: guest list from one of the most powerful and inaccessible
Speaker 1: people in all of Hollywood. All I could say is,
Speaker 1: I'm glad he's paying good afternoon. So how may I
Speaker 1: help you? I'm supposed to be beating someone here. Irwin Ogelman. Yes,
Speaker 1: he's in the new room, right this way, new room.
Speaker 1: A quick reminder, Erwin Fogelman was the director who had
Speaker 1: hired Hank and then recommended him to Samuel Towns Hag
Speaker 1: Briggs Musso's huh and I think they were gonna let
Speaker 1: me in. It's good to see you, Hag. I appreciate
Speaker 1: you taking the time out of your busy schedule. Or
Speaker 1: when are you kidding? You know the reason I still
Speaker 1: have a busy schedule. I already ordered us the double
Speaker 1: tender one. Get a drink, let me get the winter No, no, no,
Speaker 1: it's okay. Water is fun. You know I'm footing the
Speaker 1: bill right. No, suit yourself. So to what do I,
Speaker 1: oldest honor? What can you tell me about Leonard Shaw? Uh?
Speaker 1: He's a prick. Say this. He's mean just for the
Speaker 1: sake of being mean, gets his kicks humiliating people working
Speaker 1: on a case, and his name came up. He throw
Speaker 1: a lot of parties at his house. He threw parties
Speaker 1: on that estate every weekend. How many people you think?
Speaker 1: How many people like that? Everyone? I used to say,
Speaker 1: if you want to keep your stars, then you gotta
Speaker 1: keep them full of champagne. What a prick? Anyway you'd
Speaker 1: be able to track down. I don't know a guest
Speaker 1: less me? Oh no, no, God no, I mean. Leo
Speaker 1: hates me almost as much as he hates being called.
Speaker 1: Leo took absolute pleasure in firing me. He and I
Speaker 1: haven't spoken in at least three maybe four years. He
Speaker 1: swore to destroy my career. That's all right, all right,
Speaker 1: it's not the first, probably won't be the last. The
Speaker 1: double tenderloine for your gentlemen, Please be careful. The play
Speaker 1: is very high, not that one of these. Please, hey,
Speaker 1: come on, please start eating. What happened with you two?
Speaker 1: Did you ever see my picture divided before the fall?
Speaker 1: I'm afraid I didn't wife and I don't get out much.
Speaker 1: It's rhetorical Hank, I never made it. Pardon Leo gave
Speaker 1: me six million dollars to shoot this epic production in Utah,
Speaker 1: which turned into a disaster. Everybody was getting violently. It
Speaker 1: was hotter than hades. We had actors passing out in
Speaker 1: their costumes, right makeup running into the actor's eyes. Then
Speaker 1: we had a week of torrential rain and flash flooding
Speaker 1: in the basin that served as the majority of our location.
Speaker 1: We had to pack up and return to the studio.
Speaker 1: I got it done, but there wasn't much to brag about.
Speaker 1: Downright disaster. Ended up costing lead on another couple of
Speaker 1: millions of shelving so as not to affect the studio's reputation.
Speaker 1: M I couldn't get your run a Leonard show if
Speaker 1: you showed up with eight million dollars and an apology
Speaker 1: letter written on gold leaf in my own blood. But
Speaker 1: I can get you on the lot. That'll do great.
Speaker 1: Set it up with my girl, Yeah, hand deliver a
Speaker 1: script or something anyone knows. Maybe you can finagle your
Speaker 1: way into his cold black heart. Yeah, prick. As the
Speaker 1: very next hite begins, Hank is already on the lot.
Speaker 1: I don't know how he did it, but he did
Speaker 1: testing testing. Okay, let's find out a little bit about you.
Speaker 1: Mr Shaw here, ghoes just here to drop up this script? No,
Speaker 1: no need to get up. I could just hand it
Speaker 1: right to r I'm sorry, he just shipped. Should I
Speaker 1: call security? You're Adler, Harrison Adler. Should I call security? No?
Speaker 1: Not if you want to keep your job, you wan.
Speaker 1: I don't think Leonard shouted be too happy to know
Speaker 1: that just any random stranger could get into his office.
Speaker 1: All right, just calm down. That won't be necessary, imagin
Speaker 1: Just close the door and go back to work. Yes, Adler,
Speaker 1: And just like that, Hank Briggs was face to face
Speaker 1: with the only person suspected of killing. The Angel of Vine.
Speaker 1: The Angel of Vine is a podcast produced by Vox
Speaker 1: Populi on behalf of the Los Angeles Herald. Thank you
Speaker 1: for listening to the Angel of Vine. If you'd like
Speaker 1: to support us, please leave us a review and tell
Speaker 1: your friends to subscribe. The Angel of Vine is available
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and all major podcast apps.
Speaker 1: If you can't wait for the next episode of the
Speaker 1: Angel of Vine, episode five is available right now exclusively
Speaker 1: on Stitcher Premium, as well as Angel of Vine, bonus episodes,
Speaker 1: extended episodes, and add free episodes. Go to Stitcher Premium
Speaker 1: dot com slash Angel and use promo code Angel to
Speaker 1: get your first month of Stitcher Premium free. The Angel
Speaker 1: of Vine is directed by E Ryan Marts, written by
Speaker 1: Oliver Vakare, story about E. Ryan Marts, Jason Smwalt and
Speaker 1: Oliver Vakare. Sound designed by Joel Robby and Kevin Duzablon.
Speaker 1: Produced by Vox Popular in association with Forever Dog Podcast Network.
Speaker 1: This episode's performances by Joe Manganello, Misha Collins, Cary Peyton,
Speaker 1: Nolan North, Travis William, Cory Walgren, Courtney Taylor, Eric Bowsa,
Speaker 1: William DeMeritt, Imari Williams, Philip Murshawn Delaney, Hilen Cree, Summer
Speaker 1: and Oliver Vakhare. Angelis is performed by Desi Dennis Dylan
Speaker 1: piano and arrangement by James Harper. Composed by Matt Dennis,
Speaker 1: Lyrics by Earl Brent from downtown Los Angeles. This has
Speaker 1: been the Angel of Vine. You'll hear more from us soon.
Speaker 1: Oh is my Joe h A excuse me? While I
Speaker 1: did Suppia