You never know when the next Cadillac or cab might be coming.

I OWE THEM ONE

Despite its extensive basis in history, this is a work of fiction; some liberties have been taken with the facts, and any blame for historical inaccuracies is my own, mitigated by the limitations of conflicting source material.

My usual practice, in the Nathan Heller memoirs, is to use real names as much as possible. That remains generally true here, but I have employed composite characters in several instances. For example, Sandra O’Day is merged with madam May Traynor (O’Day survived, Traynor was shot and killed); I retained “Sandy O’Day” because I liked the sound and got used to it. “Sandra O’Day” was just one of many aliases used by the woman born Mary Ann Redd. Johnny Hagan is a fictionalized version of cab driver John Oliver Hager. Will Letterman is a composite of Robert Ledterman and several other business associates who came to the aid of Robert Greenlease in his hour of need.

With several real-life persons named John involved in the Greenlease case, referring to John Carr as “Jack” made sense; and partly because two players were named Elmer, Elmer Dowling has been fictionalized into Elroy Downey. For the Greenlease daughter, Virginia Sue, I used “Sue” to avoid confusion with her mother, Virginia. Those kinds of liberties, designed to lessen disorientation for readers, have been taken throughout. The wonderful noir-ish name Lou Shoulders, however, is real.

Characters who appear here under their true names must also be viewed as fictionalized. Available research on the various individuals ranges from voluminous to scant. Whenever possible, newspaper and magazine interviews, and transcripts of courtroom and hearing appearances, have been used as the basis of dialogue scenes, although creative license has been taken.

Time compression has been employed, sparingly. While most of the events of the second section indeed took place in 1958, I have included material from somewhat earlier and somewhat later. The depiction of the arrest of Carl Hall taking place at the Coral Court—and not in a St. Louis apartment house—reflects an inconsistency in the research material. The official record insists on a St. Louis arrest, but numerous articles and books give the Coral Court as the location. For my narrative purposes, the latter was preferable; and surely I can be forgiven for doubting the official record coming from the St. Louis police of this period.

Though the Greenlease kidnapping was a significant crime of the Twentieth Century, and at the time rivaled the Lindbergh case in public perception and interest, few books on the subject have been written, of which only two can be considered substantial. Zero at the Bone: The Playboy, The Prostitute, and the Murder of Bobby Greenlease (2009) by John Heidenry is a straightforward, well-written account, and the book I would recommend for readers interested enough to seek out a non-fiction account. A Grave for Bobby: The Greenlease Slaying (1990) by James Deakin arguably covers the case in more depth, but was a frustrating research tool, archly written, nonlinear in presentation, and lacking an index. Nonetheless, I am in debt to both authors.