{"id":14507,"date":"2026-01-15T15:26:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=14507"},"modified":"2026-01-15T15:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:35:09","slug":"black-dahlia-the-missing-week-january-9-january-15-1947","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=14507","title":{"rendered":"Black Dahlia: The Missing Week–January 9-January 15, 1947"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
After hours of small talk in the Biltmore Hotel lobby, Robert \u201cRed\u201d Manley finally left Beth Short. He had been out of touch with his wife, Harriet, for a few days. It was time to go home.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nBiltmore Hotel at 5th and Olive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
She told him she\u2019d be fine. Her sister was coming. A lie\u2014one of many she\u2019d told Red since December. At 6 p.m. on January 9, 1947, Beth left the Biltmore lobby, navigated her way through guests and luggage to Olive Street. She turned right. She turned right. Whatever money she had, none of it was going to public transit. Otherwise, she would have turned left and gone to the nearby Subway Terminal Building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Darkness had settled. Streetlights spilled pale circles across the pavement. Streetcars clanged. Buses sighed. Snatches of conversation carried further in the chill winter air. For the first block, she walked against pedestrian traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Office workers streamed out onto the sidewalk. Men with hats pulled low, coats buttoned tight, heading toward the Subway Terminal Building.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nSubway terminal, Los Angeles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
From 5th<\/sup> to 6th<\/sup> Streets, Beth encountered the usual post-war mix of bellmen, traveling salesmen, secretaries, and servicemen. The air smelled of diesel exhaust, coffee, diner food, damp concrete, and cigarette smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Few women walked along. Those who did moved with purpose. Beth had a destination in mind. Hollywood would be the best place for her to find an acquaintance who could put her up for the night, or suggest a place where she could find a bunk bed for a dollar a night. If she didn\u2019t have enough for more than a night or two, she could vanish down an exterior fire escape. She had done it before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Continuing down Olive Street, between 6th<\/sup> and 7th<\/sup>, she would pass professional buildings, insurance offices, and small law firms. Several luncheon cafes offered sandwiches, pie, and weak coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foot traffic thinned out past 7th<\/sup> . The quiet edge of the street, with anonymous storefronts and upper-floor offices. Several bars dotted the street. None were rowdy. Just quiet places to grab an end-of-the-day cocktail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did Beth stop in at the Crown Grill at 8th<\/sup> and Olive?<\/em> There have been no definitive sightings of her there on January 9th<\/sup>. She had lunched at the Grill with a friend and the friend\u2019s married lover a few times.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nCrown Grille at 8th & Olive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
It isn\u2019t unreasonable to assume she poked her head in, seeking a familiar face. One of the bartenders once drove Beth up to Mulholland, where they necked. Nothing more. If he had been behind the bar, she might have asked him for a dollar or two. Or a ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beth didn\u2019t walk eight miles to Hollywood. That much is certain.<\/p>\n\n\n
\nAI generated image of woman walking on Olive Street.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Did her killer encounter her at the Crown Grill? Or did he stop and offer her a ride as she walked along Olive?<\/em> Faced with a long cold walk, Beth would have accepted. She may have played it coy at first, just like she did with Red Manley when he approached her on a San Diego street corner. But in the end, if a man in uniform, or in a topcoat and tie, offered a warm ride to Hollywood\u2014she would have gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That, I believe, is how the missing week began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What followed, between January 9 and January 15, is the stuff of nightmares<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEXT TIME: <\/strong>After January 9, 1947, Elizabeth Short exists only in fragments. And fragments are where killers hide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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