Chapter 21: When in doubt, sacrifice the star first
West Hollywood, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
A charity art auction has just ended, and Melissa Ackerman, dressed in a costume, left the scene with a smile. She is Buddy Ackerman’s favorite daughter and the CEO of Ackerman Films.
Robert Downey Jr. chased from behind, followed Melissa's footsteps, and asked softly: "In the project "The Ghost Man", there is a character in it who is very suitable..."
"That is a movie project led by Sony and Warner. I am only participating in the platter investment." Melissa interrupted Downey, stopped and looked at him sideways, and asked: "Are you really recovering from drug addiction? ?”
Downey vowed: "I swear!"
Melissa's eyes were cold: "If your drug addiction causes losses to the company, I will let you eat until you are full."
Tang Ni unconsciously took a step back, not daring to say more.
Melissa turned around and left gracefully.
Donnie stayed for a few minutes before coming out of the art museum and getting into his car. Thinking of Melissa's words and eyes, his heart beat loudly. He quickly took out a plastic bag and had a great meal to relieve his shock. .
After regaining his composure, he drove to the Viper Bar on Sunset Boulevard, where the nightlife had just begun.
On the other side, Melissa asked the driver to wait for a while, and Barack Burnam got into the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
The car started and the soundproof panels rose.
Melissa asked directly: "It's been so long and you still haven't found anyone?"
"The heavy snow that day covered too many traces." Barack still said the same words before: "It is impossible for the local police to continuously invest in a case. You also know their efficiency in solving murder cases. The case has been closed."
That's not what Melissa wanted to hear.
Barack continued: "Our people expanded the scope of the investigation and found some traces in the northern town of Hailan. A supermarket owner said he had seen a similar person, but we did not find his car locally. After checking all the hotels and hotels, no trace of him was found. The clue ended near Hailan. "That's it?" Melissa said calmly.
Barack said: "In the name of an overseas foundation, I hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency to continue the investigation."
Melissa warned: "Don't make it public if you find the person. , take control.”
Barack wanted to ask why, but was smart enough not to ask.
Melissa thought of herself because of her father, and she also needed a blood pack just in case.
…………
Fountain Street, East Hollywood.
The second-hand Mondeo parked in front of the door. Hawke put on his camera bag, carried dinner in one hand and newspapers in the other, and walked towards the house.
Next to the nearby trash can, a fat old man was rummaging through bottles and cans. When he saw a pile of newspapers held by Hawke, he said: "Hey, man, I will help you deal with the scrap newspapers."
Hawke I found out that it was the guy who raised the middle finger during the day. I wanted to give him a middle finger, but he couldn't raise it while holding something in his hands.
"I'll hold it up for you!" Frank gave himself a middle finger, then stuffed it into his mouth, moved it back and forth a few times, licked his two blackened lips, and said, "Are you feeling comfortable? Can you give it to me?"
Hoke was amazed at his shamelessness and said casually: "Not now, let's talk about it tomorrow"
"Sure!" Frank wiped his mouth. He was wearing black clothes and walked towards the parking lot of the park across the road.
Hawke entered the house and looked specifically at the window.
The old man walked towards the RV, as if he was living in the RV.
Hawk had dinner first, looked up news about Downey on the Internet, and recorded the places where he appeared. He also looked through the gossip entertainment newspapers and found out the part about Downey separately, and wrote down the location on the same piece of paper.
He then counted the most frequent place names and found four place names.
Brentwood, Tracy's Gym, Viper Bar, Eric O'Land Boxing Gym.
Hawke has just been to the first two today and has gained nothing yet.
The Viper Bar is located on Sunset Boulevard. Johnny Depp, the owner behind the scenes, bought it and carefully built it. It is now one of the favorite nightclubs for entertainment stars and sports stars.
At the last point, Hawke entered Downey and the name of the boxing gym on Google, and a blog post appeared.
A person claiming to be Eric’s apprentice posted an article stating that Robert Downey Jr. wants to learn Wing Chun from Eric O’Lang.
Hoke carefully recalled the online news he had seen in his previous life. It seemed that Downey had really practiced Wing Chun.
There is also a related recommendation column next to the blog post about Downey, with the title "Downey's Love History".
Hoke opened it and found a name: Sarah Parker!
Before marrying Bro Derek, this woman had a love affair with Downey for many years.
Hoke shook his head, but he didn’t feel weird anymore when he thought about these people being in the entertainment industry.
Hollywood stars, regardless of gender, would be too embarrassed to go out without more than a dozen ex-boyfriends.
After finalizing tomorrow's target itinerary, Hawke lit the paper recording the place names and burned it to ashes. The newspapers were also returned to their places, and he focused on reading the four largest-selling entertainment gossip newspapers, "News of the World", "U.S. Weekly", "National Enquirer" and "Hollywood Life".
All of them have news hotlines and dedicated telephone numbers for submissions.
Hoke's cameras and camcorders are not only for Downey, they are also for making money.
As we all know, once a scandal breaks out, first kill an entertainment star to divert attention.
For Hawke, entertainment stars have a wide audience, great influence, a lot of money and low risks, and they do not conflict with Downey.
He entered the contact information of the four newspapers into his mobile phone address book.
Early the next morning, Hawke got up on time, went for a morning jog in the park opposite, and bought breakfast on the way. When he came back, he found a fat old man in the park sitting on the side of the road, holding a hat and begging.
Occasionally passers-by will put some money in.
Hoke went home and had breakfast, put on his equipment bag and a thick stack of newspapers, went out to the roadside, and placed the useless newspapers next to the old man.
Frank picked up the newspaper and said, "Thank you."
Hoke didn't want to say more, nodded and left.
Frank flipped through the newspaper, looked at the bag that Hawke was carrying, and said, "Reporter? Freelance reporter? Or someone new to the industry?"
Hoke stopped and looked at old man.
Frank was showing off: "I just moved here, carrying a camera bag, and bought a bunch of entertainment gossip tabloids. It's so easy to guess." He chuckled: "There are many people in this industry in Los Angeles, and most of them are It’s over.”
Hawke thought for a while and asked deliberately: "Do you have any suggestions?"
Frank shook the newspaper, seemingly for the sake of the money he could exchange: "I dug up big news and sold it to Channel 11. They were bought by Fox News and could afford a big price."
Hoke made a note of it, got in the car and left.
Not long after, the Mondeo entered North Hollywood and parked in a roadside parking space on Victory Boulevard.
The nearby Eric Oulang boxing gym has a bilingual sign in Chinese and English.
Hawke entered the boxing gym and someone immediately came to greet him.
Learning that he wanted to learn Wing Chun, this person specially took him into the exhibition room and looked at the photos of celebrities hanging on the wall one by one. He was promoting the course both inside and outside his words.
In the exhibition room, Hawke saw photos of Bruce Lee and Ip Man, as well as a photo of Eric and his teacher Zhang Zhuoqing.
However, there are only a few Hollywood stars.
This boxing gym has not really made a name for itself yet.
Hawke asked for a quote and a schedule of private lessons and left the gym.
It is impossible to learn boxing, and the fees are more expensive than Tracy Gym.
Hoke stood on the roadside, looked around, crossed the road, and came to the convenience store opposite the boxing gym.
There was a white woman in her thirties standing behind the cashier, and there was a mixed-race black man tallying goods on the nearby shelves.
Hoke found Chinese ingredients and condiments in the sales area, and each took some.
The black man now moved some things out of the storage area.
The white woman immediately ran over and lowered her voice: "Damn it, Edward, don't you have a brain? I want to give these away, not sell them."
The black man asked back : "If you don't want to sell it, why do you put it in?" The storage room? So it's you who's wrong."
The white woman was a little angry: "Did your brains grow down there? Or did you spray all the brains out last night? ”
The black people had to move back.
Hawke saw that what the black people brought out were some fireworks.
In California, it is illegal to sell and set off dangerous fireworks without a license.
Of course, there are too many people who don’t comply.
Hoke pretended not to see it, handed the woman a business card when checking out, and said: "I am a reporter. I heard that celebrities often go to the boxing gym opposite. Next time you see it, you can fight There is a cash reward for this call.”
The woman took it and put it on the counter. Then she followed suit and took the store's business card and product brochure and handed them to Hawke: "The store has a delivery service. If the total exceeds 25 US dollars, I will ask the clerk to deliver it to your door." , but tips and delivery charges are not included.”
The black man was dissatisfied: "I am your boyfriend, not an employee!"
Hoke casually stuffed the business card and coloring page into his pocket, and went out to hand out business cards elsewhere.
(End of this chapter)