Chapter 3: A Fine Time

In chapter three, we are introduced to the fine time, a bar frequented by law enforcement lawyers and politicians.  We meet Carole Lombard, Ray Grandisha's girlfriend, as he turns to the comforts of smoke and drink after leaving the crime scene.  Carol is a waitress at the fine time.   At the end of the chapter, Ray Grandisha again reflects on the sense of evil that he felt at the crime scene. 

 Many Cones is a podcast novel based on true crime. The murders inspiring this crime fiction took place 30 miles from Chicago in Northwest Indiana, and captivated the area from the initial brutal crime scene all the way through and beyond discovery of a shockingly bizarre motive.  

The drive to the “Fine Time” took thirty minutes. The bar was a drinker’s joint. Waitresses and bartenders knew your name, but left you alone to imbibe, if that was your pressing desire. Detectives, lawyers, politicians, and judges populated the place. Professional drinkers. Twenty-seven stools fronting a three-quarter horseshoe bar. Twenty tables providing seating if you weren’t drinking alone. Nice atmosphere. Conducive to curing what ailed you. For a night, anyway.  

Ray Grandisha sat at the bar. It was after midnight and only about thirty patrons remained. Grandisha knew half of them and acknowledgements were exchanged. 


Ramon, the bartender, served Ray his scotch. No words, just facial expressions. Ramon knew when to serve and when to chatter. The look on Ray’s face told him no chatter. Plus, news of the double murder had reached the bar an hour earlier. 


Ray took a sip of his rocks chilled liquid and let it slowly trickle down his throat. Magic elixir. He set his glass down and subconsciously stirred the ice with his finger. Still robotic, he shook a Pall Mall up from the pack and took it with his lips. A battered zippo completed the task. Lungs inflated, Ray Grandisha was ready to re-enter reality. 


Attached to the bar area, but in a separate room, was the dining area. The kitchen closed at 11:30 but some parties remained. To most, after dinner drinks were considered part of the meal. 


Ray’s current girlfriend, Carol Lombard, was a waitress at the “Fine Time” and happened to be serving the diners. They were working on a two-week relationship. He saw her pass by and tried to catch her attention. She joined him at the bar, in the middle of his second scotch. 


“Hi baby,” she said as she sat. 


“Hey, Carol Lombard without the E.” 


Carol took her turn.  “You’re the only person I ever met who uses my full name. Tell me again....” 


Ray played on.  “I can’t believe Carole Lombarde is sitting next to me.” 


“And how come I don’t know who Carole Lombarde is?” 


Ray responded, “Because you’re thirty something.”


Carol accepted his explanation, again, and relaxed in her chair. “I heard about the killings; is that where you were?” 


Ray was finishing his drink. As he was setting the glass on the bar, he said, “Yeah, I was there.” 


Carol turned sideways and stared at him for a few seconds. “What happened?” 


“Two people were butchered. Husband and wife.” 


Carol asked, “Drug deal gone bad?”