Midnight visit

It's along story, but this was the beginning of my disenchantment with media, newspapers in particular. The morning after that visit and my Dad's return. He had identified the body of Charlie his law partner who apparently killed himself. The newspaper headlines were he shot her for a kiss and ended it all. Actually Charlie and Sylvia had been living together for years, and had exchange much more than kisses. In fact this incident put my father in debt for $10,000. a very tidy sum in 1931. The real story is Charlie had defended an embezzlewho got a ten year prison term. Mr. X had given Charlie $10,000 to hold for him when he got out of jail. Mr. X was to be released in 10 days. Charlie had invested the money, and of course couldn't use his name. So it was in Sylvia's name. When he asked Sylvia to sell the bonds and get him the cash. She flatly refused. His plan was to kill her. He drove to a deserted spot near the beach in Coney Island. (This was premeditated, because he had taken the handle off the door on the passenger side of the car so that she couldn't jump out .) When she still wouldn't get the cash for him, he shot her and then himself. But she ducked and was shot in the face. She was totally disfigured and underwent much plastic surgery. I remember her always wearing a hat with a veil to hide her scars.
My father had just become Charlie's partner in his law firm. That's how he got stuck with a huge debt, and that's when we moved from Dekalb Avenue. Uncle Louis bought my mother's half of the house. From then on we lived in a new and different world.