NOTE: This section is based on information found in the FBI files
obtained through Freedom of Information Act filings.
These files are available HERE
. . . Ed Burns is Main Man in the File . . .
The FBI never was officially involved in investigating the Black Dahlia murder. But the Bureau had a de facto involvement in the case, almost from day one. Via fingerprints, the FBI ID’d the victim, Elizabeth Short. Via an informant, the Bureau ID’d the killer, Ed Burns. The Bureau did the background investigation, and more, on Ed Burns: this answers a perplexing question. More on this later.
Read more: The FBI and The Black Dahlia Case: The Mystery of Elizabeth Short and Black Dahlia Crime Scene
A January 17 LA Herald item contains this text: “The trail of the murderer led to Long Beach where detectives combed the beach city for a ‘hot’ suspect known to be the victim’s latest boy friend.” Well, LAPD lawmen looked for naught: by the time of the crime, according to the FBI file, hot-suspect, latest-beau Ed Burns no longer resided in the LA Harbor area. This provided material for an alibi. This will be clarified later . . .
This section of The Black Dahlia Solution is segmented as follows:
1. The Karma
2. The Man
3. The Background
4. The Means
5. The Murder/Alibi
Burns cunningly manufactured an alibi. The murder and alibi are inseparably interwoven. Ed planned his Black Dahlia alibi as carefully as he’d planned all other components of his arcane riddle. This old-theme, new-twist alibi is unmistakable Ed Burns, and is why The Means is in the list.
We’ve examined the abattoir aspect of the HIRSH. The main focus of entry #5 is on the alibi aspect of the HIRSH. It will be shown that the HIRSH was as much a time chamber as a torture chamber.
The FBI-file data adds dimension to Solution that is unattainable with allusion translation and message decipherment, alone. And Solution does wonders for FBI Black Dahlia-file info. Eyed with the Solution lens, a previously out-of-focus alibi is in sharp focus. The FBI file reveals that a time window “kinda appeared” before Ed in January 1947. Window area: 10th through 15th. Through Solution, we know Ed branded “J 15,” January 15, on a live Dahlia. This brand bares preplanning . . . Via Solution, we see through the window.
In exposing Ed Burns’ alibi, the FBI file inadvertently enabled redefinition of an oddity. In The Night Mare, we dealt with forehead artwork. We referred to a part of this artwork as a “frill.” This frill is actually an ironic allusion. An explication of this allusion is in The Murder/Alibi.
For being “not officially involved” in the Dahlia-case investigation, the FBI was busy with the case. In addition to important things mentioned on page FBI1, the FBI analyzed bristles found on the Dahlia’s remains, and did fingerprint checks on several persons. This page shows that LAPD called on the FBI to obtain the Dahlia’s employment records from the Social Security Administration.
The FBI Black Dahlia File, Starring Ed Burns
The Primer
Censoring by blotout is severe in the file pages that deal with Ed Burns. The printing is mono-width font style. Therefore, we usually can figure out how many characters were censored in any given blotout. Most of the file printing was done with teletype machines. Teletypes used a limited character set.
Teletype alphas existed in upper-case only. Teletype files did not harbor quote marks. Normally, teletypers would put “QUOTE” immediately prior to a quotation and “UNQUOTE” immediately after a quotation. But teletypers liked brevity. They’d frequently type “Q,” rather than “QUOTE,” “UNQUOTE,” for a short quotation, like a name. This formally documented “Q” function was used extensively: a solo “Q” is as unique as “QUOTE,” “UNQUOTE.” The idea is to be unambiguously understood.
The Karma
. . It’s Ed Burns, alias Barnes . . .
We’ve checked out the FBI-file scenery: it’s syntactically stark and blottedly bleak. Now we’ll explore the content . . . . . . By page eight, we sense the creepy karma of the Black Dahlia killer. We know his actual name and the alias he used the first time we saw him. So let’s remove a few blotouts . . .
De-Censored FBI-File Fragments
Underlines indicate de-censored data
. . . DETERMINING IDENTITY OF SUSPECT IDENTIFIED ONLY
AS Q BARNES, FIRST NAME UNKNOWN. INFORMANT X
IDENTIFIED Q BURNS IN PICTURE AND STATES . . .
. . . AFTER THIS EVEN Q BURNS WENT TO PIECES . . .
. . . SUSPECT ADVISED QUOTE BURNS IS A MENTAL CASE . . .
. . . DEMOBILIZED PERSONNEL ARMY RECORDS Q BURNS. . . .
. . . TWENTY FIVE. QUOTE BURNS UNQUOTE PURCHASED HOUSE . . .
. . . MOTHER GONE. QUOTE BURNS UNQUOTE REMARRIED . . .
. . . ACQUAINTANCES THINK X AND Q BURNS MARRIED . . .
. . . KNOWS Q BURNS AND SAW HIM AT . . .
. . . ADVISED Q BURNS HAS ACCOUNT AT STORE . . .
. . . Q BURNS WAS IN STORE AND MADE PURCHASE . . .
. . . Q BURNS ACCOMPANIED BY . . .
. . . HIS WIFE POSITIVE Q BURNS HAS BEEN . . .
. . . STATE POLICE ADVISED Q BURNS HAS . . .
. . . ADVISE Q BURNS VERY HEAVY DRINKER . . .
. . . RECORD PERTAINING TO QUOTE BURNS UNQUOTE . . .
. . . CLINICAL RECORDS ON Q BURNS UNDER REGISTER . . .
. . . SUSPECT QUOTE BURNS UNQUOTE HONORABLY . . .
. . . RECORDS ON ONE Q BURNS WHO MAY BE . . .
. . . LAPD INDICATES BARNES DESERTER . . .
. . . WAR DEPARTMENT HAS NOT REQUESTED BUREAUS
ASSISTANCE IN LOCATING Q BURNS ALIAS BARNES
AS A DESERTER . . .
. . .
Why did the FBI continue to reference “Burns” in quotes? Rigor. They figured Barnes was one shady hombre. They wanted more proof of ID than an informant’s and/or wife’s “He’s Ed Burns.” The FBI wanted to interview the doctor who treated Ed Burns in the US Army-hospital head-case ward, in St. Louis. The FBI wanted to eye a snapped-in-1943 shot of “known-to-be” Ed Burns. The FBI verified ex-GI Ed’s honorable discharge . . .
The Man
The name-fitting by itself does not prove Ed Burns is “there.” So we’ll pour on and ponder upon more data . . .
A first-name-unknown suspect is on page 13 of the FBI file. LAPD had asked the FBI to ID this suspect from a photo from the Dahlia’s luggage . . . First name unknown. Hmmmm. Does it ring a bell, Dahlia buffs? . . . The name stuff sounds like first-name-unknown, unID’d “Barnes,” who’d checked into the HIRSH with the Dahlia on BD Day-3. A photo of Barnes was found in the Dahlia’s luggage. I’d say Barnes is probably the suspect on page 13 of the FBI file. Of shadowy Barnes, Avenger-tarnished ex-LAPD-cop Steve Hodel opined: “LAPD detectives therefore had in their files a photograph of someone who should have been their prime suspect in the Black Dahlia case.” Right on, Steve. But . . .
Maybe there were more than one first-name-unknown, six-letter-last-name suspects whose pictures were found in the Dahlia’s luggage(?) Improbable, but possible. OK, we’ll get more restrictive. Let’s assume that at least two in this improbable set were reliably sighted with the Dahlia on or after BD Day-3. And we can forget this one: it is an assumption contrary to fact. We would’ve heard about it: the reporting on the Dahlia murder was a news frenzy. And . . .
Page 13 was teletyped on January 23. It must’ve taken at least a day for the informant to get the “Barnes is Burns” info to the FBI. The Examiner item about the “Barnes” visitation at the HIRSH was dated January 22. This sychronization suggests that the FBI first-name-unknown hombre was identical with the HIRSH first-name-unknown guest: Barnes. And . . .
The FBI file contains ’47 Dahlia-related newsclippings from various dailies, including the: LA Examiner, LA Times, LA Daily News. Items about drool-case confessors such as Daniel Voorhees and Joe Dumais are there. Absent is the headline item concerning “Barnes and wife” at HIRSH Apts. This exclusion is censoring as blatant as any page-13 blotout. The FBI withheld the Barnes item and not the Voorhees and Dumais items for exactly the same reason that they censored Page-13 Guy’s name and not Voorhees’ nor Dumais’ name: Page-13 Guy was Ed Burns aka Barnes, the likely suspect in the Dahlia murder . . . It’s comical . . . The FBI pulls the item about first-name-unknown, photo-in-luggage Barnes. But they tell us this suspect is a first-name-unknown, photo-in-luggage person . . . Wow . . . But . . .
Why wouldn’t LAPD have opted to identify “Barnes” without the help of the FBI? That one is easy. Los Angeles is now the 2nd-largest city in the USA. In the year of Black Dahlia, 1947, LA was listed as 5th-largest city in the country, with a population of 1,750,000. Accordingly, 1947 LAPD was a relatively small “big city” police department . . . The Barnes-Dahlia sighting at the HIRSH was the first solid lead for LAPD Homicide in what was obviously one of the biggest murder cases in the history of the department. And “Barnes,” at first, actually was an unID’d man. Compared to ’47 LAPD, the ’47 FBI had virtually unlimited “identify that person” resources. The FBI had already ID’d the Jane Duo victim, Elizabeth Short. So it’s common sense that LAPD would solicit the help of the FBI in identifyng “Barnes,” the prominently probable suspect. Is there another instance in the file where the FBI ID’s a suspect at the request of LAPD? No! Bet big bucks on Barnes being Page-13 Guy. And . . .
FBI-file pages 11 and 12 convey a revelation. They outline a dark underplot in the Black Dahlia mystery, a brainchild born of off-the-charts conception and calculation that are pure Ed Burns. This clandestine subplot connects with the cryptic brand Ed put on the Dahlia’s forehead. So . . .
The Man is Ed Burns
Put it in the bank: Ed is the guy on page 13. In fact, Ed Burns is on FBI-file pages 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 20, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 74, and 75: a total of 16 pages. Let’s include all full-page references to Ed’s Social Security data and the three fingerprints on his trilogy message . . . OK: The little man who wasn’t there, Ed Burns, WAS there, on 25 FBI Black Dahlia-file pages!
The Aligned Column Sets
All characters on a given FBI Black Dahlia-file page are the same width. FBI- file data is left-justified. This creates perfectly aligned columns. FBI-File Exhibit exhibits this. Raw data in the exhibit is from the FBI file, page 36. Counting characters censored in a given FBI blotout is no big deal. Reference nearby lines: as simple as 1, 2, 3. But FBI lines aren’t right-justified. So I tended to steer clear of “blind” end-of-line blotouts.
The purpose of the following 3 pages (FBI 6 through FBI 8) is to give you the feel of the FBI Black Dahlia file. That is all . . . But if you opt to do character-counting drills for thrills, or to check out my counting, have fun!
Ed Burns is on this page.
A comma is expected in the 1st blot in line 7: the Barnes blot. The FBI teletypists used commas freely. Lines that intersect inside said blot indicate barely enough area at the end of the blot to blot out a comma. The solitary vertical shows columnwise comma positioning. But the FBI typist might’ve mistyped and failed to put the expected/needed comma on paper. This is what probably occurred in line 5 after “JAN FIFTEENTH,” where a comma is grammatically correct/expected, but is not on paper: what is on paper is an anomalous double-space which does not follow a period.
Pending absolute ID verification, the FBI continually referred to Burns as an unknown subject: here is a superfluous clue that Burns is always enclosed in quotes. Inconsistency of FBI typers gifted us a confirmatory clue. We see a big variance in number of spaces used by the unknown subject of January 23 origin:”Q BURNS”; “QUOTE BURNS”; “QUOTE BURNS UNQUOTE.”
Is the second blot on the teletype below (exhibit 3) deep enough at the left to fully hide a “Q”? If it can fully blot out any letter at the left, it can fully blot out a “Q.” On the teletype used on this web page, “Q” is a shallow-draft letter: examine “inquiry” on the first teletype (exhibit 1), as well as “acquaintances” in the following teletype (exhibit 3). Common sense affirms the deep-enough notion: the G Men were conducting a “whereabouts at commission of murder” investigation on Q BURNS; the marginally blotted-out character at the right side of our blot insinuates “S,” as in “Q BURNS.”
The Background
. . And Shades of a Homicide Investigation . . .
Tragedy. That’s what the FBI found when they gathered background info on Ed Burns. Ed served in the US Army during WW II. During part of this period, he was married and had a daughter. When Burns was away his wife killed their two-year-old daughter and suicided. At this, Ed went bloooey and spent time in a mental hospital . . . Ed was honorably discharged from the Army in 1945, and bought a house in September 1945. He did extensive repairs and remodeling on this house, which was not in California. Shortly after Easter of 1946, Ed Burns remarried. The FBI thinks Ed’s wife is from Los Angeles.
Ed’s wife is positive Ed was home, not in California, continuously during the months just prior to the Black Dahlia murder, save a few days in December and occasional “one-day trips.” She isn’t sure of hubby’s whereabouts around time zero of the murder . . . She flew to California to visit her parents on January 10, and didn’t head for home until January 15 . . . The 10th into the 15th: Ed’s kind of time window. It was his window. He had built it. And he’d included himself out of this wintery vacation with Mrs. Burns. On the 8th, Burns had received a from- San Diego phone call, from Mrs. Barnes, aka Elizabeth Short. And he’d set up a “Barnes and wife” date at The HIRSH Apts. in south-downtown LA.
. . . Time Means Change . . .
By the time of the Dahlia murder, Ed no longer resided in the LA Harbor District nor worked in a Long Beach hospital. He had lived there, done that. My source was as good as that of ’47 LAPD: identically. I’m sure the FBI was wrong as to when the changes took place. That notwithstanding, resourceful Ed Burns utilized these changes as intrinsic parameters in his Black Dahlia alibi.
. . . A Secret Segue to Eternity . . .
The last two entries of the De-Censored FBI-File Fragments affirm a hunch: once Ed Burns suspected his arrest was imminent, he made himself unavailable for arrest. He deserted his wife. He flew the coop in February to preserve his fully schemed and encrypted suicide. Ed would be a lamster for about two-and-a-half weeks . . . the rest of his life. In his suicide note, Burns wrote: “I have waited for police to capture me . . .” There’s Heirens illusion and face value here.
. . . Some Fog Burns Away . . .
The FBI ID’d Ed Burns via an informant. The FBI, not LAPD, did the primary investigation of Ed. FBI findings likely were passed to LAPD through Chief C. B. “Cowboy” Horrall, then Captain Jack Donahoe, then Detective Harry Hansen. I’d say this is the main reason Harry Hansen managed to keep Ed Burns a secret to most of the LAPD detectives who would work the Black Dahlia case. He was in a position to be a full-range filter. Harry Hush could decide who would be privy to data on Burns, and who wouldn’t. The would-be-privy set was a select set: a small coterie. Earlier in Solution, we considered why Hansen would’ve wanted it this way. Cogitate . . . It was over in a hurry for LAPD. By late-February Ed was a fugitive, by the ides of March the rabbit was dead: LAPD Dahlia-case sleuths’ chances of arresting their ultra-likely suspect were dead . . . So Harry Hansen redirected his sleuthhounds.
. . . As the Fog Burns Away . . .
Why couldn’t LA newspapers fill the public in on that grinner with the Dahlia in the photo-booth shots? Well, where would they find data on Grin Guy? LAPD was hush-hush about Ed. People weren’t contacting LA newshawks with info on Ed. Likely tipster origins were lacking: Ed had no LA workplace nor permanent residence in LA. It was like this: out-of-towner Ed went to town and did a murder, and the FBI ID’d and investigated out-of-towner Ed and passed the findings to the local police who couldn’t resolve the out-of-towner case, and the lead cop on the case would forever keep mum about Ed. To this day, Ed Burns, the Dahlia killer, is “the little man who wasn’t there,” to the Los Angeles news media.
Detectives Harry Hansen and Finis Brown sometimes spoke disparagingly of Elizabeth Short. Hansen once referred to Betty as “a bum and a tease.” Was it primarily because they knew about Dahlia-killer Ed Burns’ tragic background, and new marriage, and felt sorry for him? Don’t feel too sorry for him, Harry. Ed was hanging around Hollywood dance halls and bars, and playing around on his wife five months after he remarried. That’s how he met Elizabeth Short.
In section Guess Who of Chapter Deciphering the Cryptograms, we saw that the Black Dahlia’s favorite boyfriend, Maurice, was Ed Burns. We figured out one reason why Ed would use “Maurice” as an over-the-phone and address-book alias. Now we have one more reason: Ed Burns was married.
Informants clued the FBI in on Ed: “. . . very heavy drinker, spends money freely, not employed.” This conflicted combo will be reconciled later . . .
The Means
. . Wintertime Means Slow Change . . .
The Dahlia autopsist was Dr. Frederick D. Newbarr. His official estimate of the time of the Dahlia’s death is often misrepresented. At the 1/22/47 Coroner’s Inquest, Dr. Newbarr said: “It was my opinion that the appearance of the body was such that the death occurred not more than 24 hours previous to the 15th, probably less.” The 1/23/47 LA Times reported that some LAPD cops thought the official estimate was on the short side . . . Previous to the 15th . . . Dahlia death at 12:01 a.m. on the 14th would be within Dr. Newbarr’s estimate . . .
. . . To Have or Have Not, a Lucidity Tune-Up . . .
It’s good to know what we have, and what we do not have . . . when we are changing a “do not have” to a “have.” In the following Time Flies section, we’re going to figure out where Ed Burns must have resided at murder time, and how he must have been getting to and from Los Angeles. It won’t be rocket science, it won’t even be complicated. It won’t be guesswork. Ed gave it away: this was not in his plan . . . But determination of residence area and travel mode travels with an assumption: Ed Burns did not reside in Mexico.
So what do we have/know? Related to the paragraph above, we know that Ed Burns alias Barnes was the guy on page 13 of the FBI Black Dahlia file. We know this from The Karma and The Man. And if we wanted more evidence, we could consider the January time window, 10th through 15th, and the flight from arrest, late-February: these go with Ed Burns like Black goes with Dahlia. And we know that Ed Burns killed Elizabeth Short. We know this from Ed, himself: decipherment of his cryptic trilogy and his suicide message.
. . . Means Means Time, and Time Flies . . .
“Unemployed,” “spends money freely,” “one-day trips.” What’s wrong with this picture? Big clash between the first two quotations. Right . . . So let’s add one quotation: “abortionist.” Ed did do abortions. Abortionists are unemployed as far as pay stubs and income tax are concerned . . . Ed Burns had become a one-job man: an abortionist, a successful one. Ed’s fertile abortion grounds were Hollywould and El Lay. The FBI found out Q BURNS was residing outside California at the time of the Dahlia murder. I ask you, Dahlia buffs, is a mental-case abortionist likely to move out of range of his livelihood? Are “psychotic,” and “idiotic,” synonyms? Of course not! Then where was Ed’s residence at the time of the Dahlia murder?
Here’s a hot clue: think “one-day trips” . . . Hmmmmmm . . . Ed must have been residing in Arizona or Nevada. And he must have been flying in and out of Southern California. But could Ed have flown to LA, done an abortion, and flown back home, in one day? Easily! And he’d have had time to kill. Sorry . . .
And we can track Ed’s residence to the Cal-bordered Sunbelt in a different way. Barnes became the prime Dahlia-murder suspect as a fallout of checking into the HIRSH with the Dahlia. From Karma and Man sections, plus common sense, we know Barnes was the FBI-file page 13 guy. For now, forget that the FBI ID’d him: he’s plain ol’ Barnes. The FBI did the background investigation on this guy . . . The FBI file indicates Barnes was at his not-in-California home on January 14. A cop who knew Barnes saw him.
A dated receipt showed Barnes was home on January 14. But three LA moteliers saw Barnes in the LA Harbor area on the evening of January 14. HIRSH managers saw Barnes in LA at about 10:30 a.m. on the 15th. Later on the 15th, Barnes and an unwitting accomplice to an alibi departed Barnes’ home in a car and motored for California, to pick up Barnes’ wife and drive her home . . . And how was Barnes traveling between his not-in-California home and LA so swiftly, in pre-jet-age 1947?
He must’ve lived in Nevada, or Arizona. And he had to be flying . . . OK . . . Ed Burns plotted a “H I R S H corners” rectangle to show us he had X’d out the Black Dahlia in the HIRSH. So Burns was the Barnes who’d checked in with the Dahlia. Therefore, Ed Burns lived in Nevada, or Arizona, and was flying to and from LA. QED.
In what city/town did Ed Burns reside? I’d say Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, or Flagstaff. They each had an airport, not necessarily a Western Airlines kind of place, but perfect for the type of plane Ed would likely have used.
. . . “Two Places at Once” is a Giveaway, Not an Alibi . . .
Ed was seen in and out of California on January 14 and on January 15. Had he not been sighted out of CA on those days, we wouldn’t’ve had the necessary info to puzzle out his travel mode and area of residence. In being seen in LA on the 14th and 15th of January, Burns blew his alibi. This will be explained later.
. . . And 1947 was a Good Year for Flying . . .
World War II was recent history. There were many young war-veteran pilots around who were not ready to end their flying days just because the Grumman Avengers and their warbird ilk were grounded. The major airlines were unable to absorb all of these diehard pilots, so many of them found work with the smaller, commuter-type airlines. And some of the diehards flew commuter-type routes as wildcatters . . . For his Dahlia-murder flights, Burns had to dictate departure times. If Ed didn’t fly the airplane himself during his Black Dahlia marathon, he must’ve flown via a wildcatter.
By the mid-1940s, several airplanes could’ve handled the Dahlia wingathon with performance to spare. Examples: Beech 17 Staggerwing, Stinson SR-10 Reliant, Cessna T-50 Bobcat. These are larger than light planes, smaller than DC-3s. Each plane could have made a one-way between Las Vegas and LA in an hour-and-a-half, and a one-way between Phoenix/Tucson/Flagstaff and LA in about two-and-a-half hours. Ed Burns’ Black Dahlia-alibi requirements would have been no problem whatsoever to these 1940s aircraft . . .
OK . . . The pilots were available and the planes were capable. What about the weather situation on January 9, January 10, January 14, and January 15 of 1947? Zero precipitation; normal winds; superb flying conditions throughout the entire area of interest. Even the meteorological elements were working against Elizabeth Short!
The Murder/Alibi
The FBI file provides an outline of what was happening in Ed’s life around the time of the Dahlia murder. It is an outside-the-murder perspective derived from interviews of acquaintances and various informants. We have an inside-the-murder perspective handed to us by Black Dahlia-murderer Ed Burns via his messages, Dahlia- forehead artwork, and Maurice “disguise.” What follows is based strictly on fusing the two perspectives to form a complete picture.
On the afternoon of January 8, 1947, Ed Burns received a phone call from Elizabeth Short. She was returning to Los Angeles from San Diego. She was broke and had no place to stay.
She needed Ed’s help.
Ed told Betty he would do what he could. And he set up a “Barnes and wife” get-together for tomorrow night, the 9th, at their usual place: The HIRSH Apts. on East Washington, in Los Angeles.
Ed told his wife that something big had come up, and that he had to be in Los Angeles by tomorrow evening. And he’d likely be in LA for several days, on this one. It might be a great time for her to spend a few days with her parents, like they’d talked about. She agreed.
They decided she should leave for California on Friday, the 10th. She’d fly Western commuter. Ed said he thought it would be a good idea for him to drive the car to her parents’ place and bring her back home. Maybe they should plan on him heading west on, say . . . the 15th, late afternoon . . . By driving his wife home, Burns controls her whereabouts. He wants to minimize her cognizance of the monster in her marriage . . .
Ed Burns telephoned his commuter pilot, Grinnin’ Jack Black, and arranged his alibi flightfest. Ed scheduled four hops. He stipulated that Black would have two layovers: the critical 1st in the desert, the 2nd in Los Angeles. Burns would prepay. Dependable Black agreed.
Ed and Black flew their 1st one-way on January 9, a desert-to-LA hop. They landed in Inglewood in the evening twilight.
Ed is in California
Betty’s and Ed’s January 9 at HIRSH Apts. went as we know it did. The next morning they agreed to meet at the HIRSH on Sunday, then said: “Till then.” Ed must’ve been a scramblin’ man on January 10 and January 11. Maybe he took his abortion cutlery with him on his one-day trips/abortion ops. He might’ve carried his blades with him this time, in the bag he’d use. No? . . . Then did bad Doc Burns rent lockers in downtown Los Angeles, and/or Hollywood? And what about the Liz-‘n-Beth suitcases? I’ll bet Ed didn’t have those substantial suckers prior to Betty’s phone call from San Diego. Did Burns already have rope? I doubt it. What about the tow-rope death Ford? . . . Fey folks who had correct answers to those questions are Los Angeles homicide history.
Anyway . . . our LA-history-makers-to-be registered in the HIRSH on Sunday morning, January 12, 1947. And we recall what went down during early-black of the second HIRSH day . . . Guests feel witchy vibes and hear screamy sounds wafting out of the Barnes’ room . . . and Mr. Johnson does a rap, rap, rap, on the door . . . and a zoning-out Burns hears: “Mr. and Mrs. Barnes . . . Did you hear the phone? . . . Is everything OK?” Burns is dezoned, but rap, rap, rap, ceases, Johnson fades out and Ed slips back into his grislies . . . and at around two a.m. Johnson is back! In a toxic tone he threatens to get a key. Ed Burns is all ears, radar, and frenesy, and is out of there ahead of schedule. And Ed failed to finish his allusional bladework. Oh, well. Later . . .
. . . Burns takes Washington west to Crenshaw, turns left and rolls south to Manchester, hangs a right, and motors into Inglewood. A quick trip: this time, quicker than the first time he drove it . . . Four minutes later, Ed wheels into the parking lot of the Los Angeles Airport and soon spies a contiguity of open spots, and parks. He’s here earlier than he had planned: he has time to unwire. Would Ed have prepared for early arrival at LA Airport by bringing an alarm clock? Real crazy. But after what he’s done, don’t put it past him . . . A bashed-up old car, a loudly ticking alarm clock, two suitcases bearing strange cargo, and a snoozing madman . . . Eerie, dude!
At 8:00 a.m. on January 14, Burns and Black connect in the LA Airport cafe. On schedule . . . And they do a soft-touch landing on the desert-town air strip.
Ed is outside California
Ed Burns is home for about a half-hour when he goes into a store and spots an excellent witness to his presence: a policeman Burns knows. Ed walks over to his friend and initiates a conversation with him and cogitates . . . If he, a cop no less, knew what I have in my car right now . . . But I’m not worried . . . Why should I be? Those suitcases are still working as camouflage. What’s unusual about two suitcases in a Ford, at Los Angeles Airport? Nothing. Unless they’re temporary storage for a bisected lady . . . But Liz and Beth are going to keep it hush-hush . . . And now the cop can sincerely say: “. . . that’s funny. Ed Burns was home on January 14. He and I had a nice chat.” Ed has an account at this store. And he makes a purchase to create a paper trail of his presence. He has been home. It’s recorded. Now he can leave.
Ed meets Black at the appointed place, a Mexican eatery near the air strip, at the scheduled time: 2:00 p.m. Dependable Black . . . And they are in the air, winging westward, hellbent for the City of Angels! . . . By late-afternoon Burns and Black are in the wintery sky above the Los Angeles Basin . . . then on the ground, in Inglewood . . .
Ed is in California
And as Burns wheels the battered sedan out of the airport-parking area, he glances at the languid January sunset and senses an ominous chill in the air, and ponders a major problem . . . Burns did not complete his Black Dahlia knifework. The HIRSH operator got nervous, very antsy, almost panicky, and Ed wonders . . . Somebody obviously heard something, but what? Somebody must’ve yapped to Johnson about it, but what did they tell him? . . . Ed decides that going back to the HIRSH to finish his bladework would be risky.
So Burns drives to the LA Harbor District to search for a suitable bladework-completion room w/bathtub. He examines motels in Lomita and San Pedro. Three in all. And he gives up . . . I believe he takes a big chance and motors back to the HIRSH, and finishes the mutilation makeover. And on 1/15/47 in the dusk of dawn, Ed Burns sets up his outre Dahlia Noir display, slips into the shadows . . . and disappears. But . . . Burns has big trouble in Angel City. On fleeing HIRSH Apts. in the wee hours of the 14th, he’d left behind a batch of bloodies: Betty’s clothing, and sheets. Ed stashed them in a reasonably safe spot. But he thinks LAPD cops are apt to find them.
So at about 10:30 a.m. on the 15th, Burns returns to the HIRSH to retrieve bloody evidence. To no avail: manager makes spooky remark; Ed gets jitters; Ed jackrabbits out of the area . . . That’s it for now, Los Angeles . . .
At 1:00 p.m., Burns connects with Black in the LA Airport cafe . . . Forty-five minutes later, they’re high above the weirdly twisted Joshua trees of California’s Mojave Desert . . . By late-afternoon, a flown-out Ed Burns is home . . .
Ed is outside California
And by nightfall he is on the road, at the wheel of the family car. Burns is not alone: he has an unwitting accomplice to an alibi at his side . . . They are rolling westward . . . Ed is driving to California to get his wife and drive her back home, doting husband that he is . . . But Ed Burns’ Black Dahlia alibi has been destroyed. This will be explained in the section to follow.
. . . The Intent . . .
Ed knew he’d be seen by the HIRSH managers on January 12, when he and Betty registered in the HIRSH. There was no avoiding it. It was guaranteed. Ed’s alibi was fueled mainly by the Johnsons: they would see Ed Burns with Elizabeth Short on January 12; they would clue LAPD in on it. But Ed intended to be seen with Betty only once: on January 12, a safe three days before her remains would appear in the lovers’ lane. Keep this in mind: Ed branded “E,” “B,” and “J 15” on Betty’s forehead. Ed Burns knew January 15 would be the day, before The Duo’s 1/12/47 HIRSH check-in.
If Ed was seen with Betty on the 12th and not again, and if Ed was known to have been outside California on the 14th and 15th, then how could Ed have killed Betty? Was he even in California? Ed Burns could say: “Yes, I was in the HIRSH with Betty on the 12th. But we had a spat and she took a powder on me. Just left me there. I didn’t see her after that. It was a Sunday . . . Betty didn’t show up in the vacant lot until Wednesday. I was home before then. I can prove it . . .” But Ed left the HIRSH earlier than planned and left bloody stuff behind. This led to the destruction of his hard-flown-for alibi. Ed allowed himself to be seen in LA on the 14th and 15th, in the time window of the Black Dahlia murder.
. . . The Mighty Suitcases . . .
Burns likely planned on 40+ unsuspicious-to-guests hours in the HIRSH with Elizabeth, plus 24+ hours of suitcase-storage for Liz and Beth. During some of these temp-storage/suitcase hours, the two suitcases would be locked inside a car which would be parked at the airport. The suitcases enabled Ed’s alibi: they held and hid Liz and Beth when Ed was seen at his not-in-California home. The two suitcases were much more than HIRSH-exit camouflage. They were at-the-airport camouflage, and 24-hour storage!
And some folks still wrestle with the why of the bisection . . .
In Chapter The Night Mare, we referred to a mark as a “frill.” We did this in A Frill from the Far Side. This mark is frilly. But the FBI Black Dahlia file shows that flying in a plane was essential to Ed’s Dahlia alibi. Flying might’ve been how Ed got to and from LA on some Betty and Ed get-togethers: togethers where Ed and Betty would spend a night in the HIRSH, and Betty would get Burns bucks for food and rent. So let’s eyeball that far-side frill . . . Hmmmmm . . . You know what? The frill looks like wings, to me. And the positioning of these wings on the stem of the B conjures up a “flying EB,” for me. It looks like Ed B wanted us to perceive the frilly symbol as wings.
The Serendipity . . .
Does it strike you as peculiar that the horse with Betty would have all these marks of interest to Ed Burns in particular? It does, me. So maybe: Ed finds the photo of Betty and the horse . . . sees the star and other marks on the horse’s forehead . . . is inspired to we-know-what, and thinks . . . And it would be even better if that horse had a certain marking it does not have . . . OK . . . I’ll put it there through this snapshot . . . And Ed Burns fetches his Xacto knife, and very carefully . . . And maybe Burns doesn’t. It’s neither here nor there nor then nor now. But it is kinda interesting.
. . . The Very Far Side . . .
Ed sent us a picture of the Dahlia with a horse. The horse wore a star. The Dahlia was hugging the horse. Now the Dahlia wears Ed Burns’ “EB” where the horse wore the star. Ed sent us a photo of himself with the Dahlia. She was wearing her former boyfriend’s wings. Now the Dahlia wears Ed Burns’ wings where the huggable horse wore the star.
Here is a fact: The first name of Ed Burns’ second wife, the one he deserted in February of 1947, had four letters. Here is a hunch: One reason Ed morphed the Dahlia into a Mare was so he could bid adios to the two women in his life, with a single word . . .
The De numb ment
Page 23, Part 2 of the FBI Black Dahlia file is a message from the LA Office of the FBI to the Washington Office of the FBI. It is dated 2/26/47. Unbeknownst to the FBI or LAPD, the Dahlia case was hellbent for an unresolved denouement phase . . . With decensored Barnes and uncensored spelling errors, essentials of the hard-to-read and extensively censored message are:
“WASH FROM LOSA 13 3-20 PM
DIRECTOR . . . URGENT UNSUB, ELIZABETH SHORT, AKA BLACK DALIA, VICTIM, MUTILATION MURDER, INFO., CONCERNING . . . . . . ENLISTED . . . CONSIDERED LIKELY SUSPECT IN SHORT MURDER . . . INFO AVAILABLE LAPD INDICATES BARNES DESERTER. NO RECORD . . . INDICES THIS OFFICE. REQUEST BUREAU ADVISE WHETHER OR NOT . . . SUBJ OF DESERTER FUGITIVE CASE, AND IF SO WHAT OFFICE IS ORIGIN . . . LISTED RESIDENCE ADDRESS . . .”
My guess is that Ed’s wife telephoned LAPD and said something like: “I can’t believe Ed had anything to do with the Black Dahlia murder, but he’s gone. I have no idea where he is. I haven’t heard from him since . . .”
Ed Burns was on the lam . . .
Page 24, Part 2 of the FBI Black Dahlia file is the Washington Office response to the message shown above. The decensored message reads:
“FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEBRUARY 26, 1947
SAC, LOS ANGELES URGENT
UNSUB, ELIZABETH SHORT, AKA BLACK DAHLIA, VICTIM MUTILATION MURDER, INFORMATION CONCERNING. RE:RTEL TODAY. WAR DEPARTMENT HAS NOT REQUESTED BUREAUS ASSISTENCE IN LOCATING Q BURNS ALIAS BARNES AS A DESERTER.
HOOVER”
Eddie Rabbit was running and the FBI was not going to chase him. Famous Los Angeles newsperson Agness Underwood put it like this: “Evidence against this man was almost conclusive. LAPD had him. But they let him go.”
The De noir ment
Go, rabbit, go! . . . Ripper Rabbit was running. And run he would, until March 14, 1947, the day of his suicide. So it already was all over. But . . .
The FBI would continue to interview “unsubs” and/or kook confessors, run fingerprint checks against latent prints lifted from Ed Burns’ trilogy messages, and monitor the Dahlia case via news items, until . . .
January 6, 1956: the date of the final page in the FBI Black Dahlia file. This page bears a news article about one more kook confessor to the Black Dahlia murder. In 1956? Hmmmm . . . Confessing to the Dahlia murder might’ve been a boredom breaker. It no longer was a novel idea.