The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Chapter 21 When in doubt, sacrifice to the stars first

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, West Hollywood.

A charity art auction just ended, and Melissa Akerman, dressed in a gorgeous dress, left the stage with a smile. She is Buddy Akerman's most beloved daughter and the CEO of Akerman Films.

Robert Downey Jr. chased after Melissa and asked softly, "There's a role in the Ghostly Man project that's very suitable..."

"That's a film project led by Sony and Warner. I'm just investing in it." Melissa interrupted Downey, stopped, looked at him sideways, and asked, "Are you really trying to quit your drug addiction?"

Donnie swore, "I swear!"

Melissa's eyes were cold: "If your drug addiction causes losses to the company, I will make you eat until you are full."

Tang Ni took a step back unconsciously, not daring to say anything more.

Melissa turned around and left gracefully.

Donny stayed for a few minutes before coming out of the art gallery and getting into his car. Thinking of Melissa's words and look, his heart was pounding. He quickly took out a plastic bag and filled it with milk to calm his nerves.

He calmed himself down and drove to the Viper Bar on Sunset Boulevard, where his nightlife had just begun.

On the other side, Melissa asked the driver to wait for a while, and Barack Bernanke got into the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

The car started and the soundproofing panels rose.

Melissa asked directly: "It's been so long, and the person hasn't been found yet?"

"The heavy snow that day covered up too many traces." Barack said the same thing as before: "It is impossible for the local police to continuously invest in a case. You also know their efficiency in solving homicide cases. The case has been shelved."

That wasn't what Melissa wanted to hear.

Barack continued, "Our people expanded the scope of the search and found some traces in the northern town of Hailan. A supermarket owner said he had seen a similar person, but we didn't find his car in the area. We checked all the hostels and hotels, but we couldn't find any trace of him. The clues were cut off near Hailan."

“Just that?” Melissa said in a flat tone.

Barack said: "I hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency in the name of an overseas foundation to continue the investigation."

Melissa warned: "Don't make it public when you find someone, and keep them under control."

Barack wanted to ask why, but he 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.

A second-hand Mondeo stopped in front of the door. Hawke put on his camera bag, carried his dinner in one hand and held a newspaper in the other, and walked towards the house.

A fat old man was rummaging through bottles and cans near a nearby trash can. Seeing Hawke holding a pile of newspapers, he said, "Hey, man, let me help you deal with the waste newspapers."

Hawke found out that it was the guy who had raised his middle finger during the day, and wanted to give him one, but he couldn't raise it because he was holding things in both hands.

"I'll do it for you!" Frank gave himself a middle finger, then put it in his mouth, moved it back and forth a few times, licked his two black lips, and said, "Are you comfortable? Can you give it to me?"

Hawke marveled at his shamelessness and said casually, "Not now, let's talk about it tomorrow."

"Agreed!" Frank wiped the black off his mouth and staggered towards the park parking lot across the road.

Hawke entered the house and looked at the window.

The old man walked towards the RV, as if he lived in it.

Hawke had his meal first, then searched for news about Downey on the Internet, wrote down the places where he appeared, and flipped through the gossip and entertainment newspapers, finding the parts about Downey separately, and writing down the locations on the same paper.

He then counted the names that appeared most frequently and found four place names.

Brentwood, Tracy's Gym, The Viper, Eric O'Lang's Boxing Gym.

Hawke had just been to the first two places today, but had no results so far.

The Viper Bar is located on Sunset Boulevard. The owner behind the scenes, Johnny Depp, bought it and carefully built it. Now it is one of the favorite nightclubs for entertainment stars and sports stars.

In the last place, Hawke typed Donny and the name of the boxing gym into Google, and a blog post appeared.

A person claiming to be Eric's apprentice posted that Robert Downey Jr. wanted to learn Wing Chun from Eric Orlando.

Hawke carefully recalled the online news he had read in his previous life, and it seemed that Downey had really practiced Wing Chun.

In the related recommended column next to the blog post, there is also one about Downey, with the title "Downey's Love History".

Hawke clicked on it and saw a name: Sarah Parker!
This woman had a relationship with Donny for many years before marrying Bro Derick.

Hawke shook his head, but when he thought about the fact that these people were in the entertainment industry, he didn't find it strange anymore.

Hollywood stars, male or female, would feel embarrassed to go out if they don't have a dozen ex-boyfriends or girlfriends.

After finalizing the itinerary for tomorrow, Hawke set fire to the paper with the place names and burned it to ashes. He also put the newspapers back in place, and he focused on reading the four most popular entertainment gossip newspapers: "News of the World", "US Weekly", "National Enquirer" and "Hollywood Life".

They all have news hotlines and special telephone numbers for submissions.

Hawke's cameras and camcorders aren't just for Downey, they're also for making money.

As we all know, once a scandal breaks out, the first thing to do is to kill an entertainment star to divert attention.

For Hawke, entertainment stars have a wide audience, great influence, high income and low risk, and it does not conflict with working with Downey.

He entered the contact information of the four newspapers into his cell phone address book.

The next morning, Hawke got up on time, went to the park opposite for a morning run, and bought breakfast. When he came back, he found that the fat old man in the park was sitting on the side of the road, posing with a hat on, begging.

Occasionally, passers-by would put some money in.

Hawke went home for breakfast, put on his equipment bag, took a thick stack of newspapers, went out to the roadside, and put the useless newspapers next to the old man.

Frank picked up the newspaper and said, "Thank you."

Hawke didn't want to say more, so he nodded and left.

Frank flipped through the newspaper, glanced at the bag Hawke was carrying, and said, "Reporter? Freelance journalist? Or new to the industry?"

Hawke stopped and looked at the old man.

Frank showed off: "I just moved here, I'm carrying a camera bag, and I bought a bunch of entertainment gossip tabloids. It's so easy to guess." He laughed: "There are a lot of people in Los Angeles doing this business, and most of them are finished."

Hawke thought about it and deliberately asked, "Any suggestions?"

Frank shook the newspaper, as if he saw the money in it: "We found some big news and sold it to Channel 11. They were acquired by Fox News and can afford a big price."

Hawke made a note of it, got in his car and left.

Not long after, the Mondeo entered North Hollywood and parked in a street parking space on Victory Boulevard.

The nearby Eric Olang Boxing Gym has a sign in both Chinese and English.

Hawke entered the boxing gym and someone came to greet him immediately.

Upon learning that he wanted to learn Wing Chun, the man took him into the exhibition room and looked at the celebrity photos hanging on the wall one by one, trying to promote the course in every word.

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 very few Hollywood stars.

This boxing gym has yet to really make a name for itself.

Hawke asked for a quote and a schedule for private lessons and left the gym.

It's impossible to learn boxing, the fees are more expensive than Tracy's gym.

Hawke stood on the side of the road, looked around, crossed the road and came to the convenience store opposite the boxing gym.

A white woman in her thirties was standing behind the cash register, and a mixed-race black man was sorting the goods at the nearby shelves.

Hawke found Chinese ingredients and condiments in the sales area and took some of each.

The black man then 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, I can't sell them."

The black man asked back, "If you weren't going to sell it, why did you put it in the storage room? So you are wrong."

The white woman was a little angry: "Is your brain all down there? Or did you spray all your brains out last night? Take it back quickly."

The blacks had to move back.

Hawke saw that the blacks were bringing out some fireworks.

In California, it is illegal to sell or set off hazardous fireworks without a permit.

Of course, there are too many people who don't comply.

Hawke pretended not to notice and handed the woman a business card when paying the bill. He said, "I'm a reporter. I heard that celebrities often go to the boxing gym across the street. Next time you see them, you can call this number. There will be a cash reward."

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: "Our store has a delivery service. If the total amount is over $25, I will have the clerk deliver it to your door, but the tip and delivery fee will be calculated separately."

The black man was dissatisfied: "I'm your boyfriend, not your employee!"

Hawke casually stuffed the business card and brochure into his pocket and went out to hand out business cards elsewhere.

(End of this chapter)