Backlot Requiem

When a long-buried corpse is unearthed at the National Pictures Studio in Los Angeles private investigator Rick Walker is called in to solve the thirty-year-old murder case.</p><I>The white-haired chairman of the studio steps forward and commands everyone's attention. The cheerful executives jockey for position and the photographers take a few casual practice shots. The muslin cover is removed from the sign and flash-bulbs pop as the studio chairman announces future construction on this site--formerly Old Western Street--of a state-of-the-art film laboratory to be the biggest and most advanced in Hollywood. The bystanders clap politely.</b>The ceremonial shovel is handed to the chairman and the photographers move around for better angles. The chairman sinks the long-handled shovel into the dark soft earth and flash-bulbs pop again. The studio president takes his turn with the shovel. He is followed by a nervous dowager who struggles to lift a shovelful of earth from the deepening hole then dumps it next to the growing pile of dirt. A large gray-white object tumbles into the sunlight and the woman drops the shovel and screams. The reporters and photographers scramble forward to record the sudden turn of events.</I></p>