Albert Simon - For Sale in Palm Springs

For Sale in Palm Springs

a Henry Wright Mystery

by

Albert Simon

Published byDesertDreaming.com at Smashwords

ISBN0-976200-34-1

All RightsReserved

Copyright 2004 by AlbertSimon

This book may not bereproduced in whole or in part without writtenpermission.

The characters and events inthis book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living ordead is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Discover other books byAlbert Simon at Smashwords.com:

The Henry Wright MysterySeries:

Springtime inSonora

Mystery on theTramway

Drama in the MotherLode

Coachella Valley TrafficJam

This book is forBerlynn

Chapter 1

Wednesday, April12

He loved the feeling ofacceleration as he guided the big English car into the turn ontoSunrise Way from Highway one-eleven. The luscious Jaguar XJ12 andits velvety twelve cylinder engine purred as nicely as his mothersold sewing machine as he put his foot on the accelerator. He letthe steering wheel roll back through his hands as he finishedturning. He enjoyed the feel of the smooth leather on his palms. Hewas really glad that he bought this model Jaguar before Ford Motorgot their designers hands on it and ruined the way the carfelt.

The smooth acceleration andgetting lost in the feelings that the car brought him made himexceed the speed limit ever so slightly after rounding the corner.He slowed it down and settled back into the big overstuffed LazyBoy like seat as he headed for his appointment in the older part ofPalm Springs. Sunrise Ways straight four lanes stretched out infront of him, it was only mid-April but already he could see theshimmering heat waves rising off the asphalt in the distance fromthe mid-day heat.

He stopped at the trafficlight at Ramon Road and motioned at two teenage boys to finishcrossing the street as his light turned green. They must have beenlate for class at Palm Springs High. The packs on their backsbounced as they ran, one of them smiled and waved thanks to him.Ah, he wasnt sure who said it, but youth truly was wasted on theyoung.

He was brought out of hisdaydream when the car behind him honked. He accelerated slowly thistime. The gas station at the corner had left the sprinklers runningand the water flooded into the intersection. The Jag was clean, hehad it washed yesterday and he didnt want to splash the water onit, he wanted it to look good so that his customer would beimpressed. Besides, he had plenty of time, in fact, he was a littleearly, but that would give him time to open the house up, turn onthe air and the lights. A bright house looked larger and hopefullyhis client would think it was bigger than the little cracker box itactually was. Yes, sir, after six years in the real estatebusiness, Rex Thornbird was at the top of his game. One of the mostsuccessful agents in the entire Palm Springs area, Rex had thenice, showcase house up on the hill that he just finishedrefurbishing, the big imported cars and he was the envy of everyonein the Coachella Real Estate office. If only his wife hadnt lefttwo years ago with half of what he had then, he could have retiredby now. Her greed slowed him down some, but after she took her halfof the nest egg he carefully built up, and the divorce was final,he worked even harder to get it all back, and then some. This time,the houses, the cars, bank accounts and toys were his and his aloneand he intended to keep it that way.

But, even with enough moneyand toys, Rex wasnt sure he wanted to retire. He was the topproducing agent in his office, month after month. His picture wasprinted on For Sale signs on practically every block in this partof Palm Springs. Around town, he was known as the mid-centuryspecialist, a reputation that he enjoyed and quietly encouraged.He grinned as he thought of the allure the local real estateindustry had created with these so-called mid-Century homes.Anywhere else in the country, these would be described as olderhouses built in the 50s, or fixer-uppers or starter homes.But here in Palm Springs, that 50s style reigned supreme, and manybuyers paid well to get to buy one of these houses. It was too badthat most of them were built quickly and cheaply and were certainlynot up to todays standards.

Hed made a nice business ofselling the little cracker boxes though; it was amazing whatprospective buyers would overlook after he had his paint crew slapa fresh coat of white paint on the walls covering up tacky outdatedwallpaper, or years of grime. He also had a carpet cleaning crewthat he used all the time, they worked wonders with worn out wallto wall. All of the houses he sold looked great, but their beautywas only skin deep. Their typical 50s style gently sloping roofs,covered with tar and gravel, didnt allow for the insulation thatwas required in the heat of the Sonoran Desert. His prospectsdidnt need to know that the air conditioner that they were goingto install would run all day. Single pane windows in cheap aluminumframes did nothing to keep the desert heat out, or cool air in. Theflimsy thin glass certainly wouldnt block out the noise of theever increasing traffic at the Palm Springs Airport. Rex made it apoint to never show houses to prospective buyers while American andAlaska airlines were flying their jets in and out of the littleairport.

Yet, of all the propertieshe had ever sold, only a couple of buyers complained to himafterwards. The continuously rising price of real estate and theirinvestments quickly increasing value was a big part of that. Rexwas convinced that some of these buyers were too embarrassed tocome back and complain that they had received less than they paidfor.

Four years ago he startedselling locally well-known architect designed houses. There are alot of homes in the Palm Springs area designed by famous architectssuch as Richard Neutra. Some of these homes were built ascommissions for famous celebrities or business moguls; others wereexpressions in Modernism by the architects, built by them on purespeculation of a buyer coming along. Rexs first architecturallisting was a small seventeen room motel on Farrell Street near theairport that was designed by another Modernist architect. He soldit to a young couple who wanted to turn it into a resorthotel.

After the hotel he sold acouple of Alexander tract homes, and got lucky when he listed aRichard Neutra designed estate. When Rex discovered the premiumprices these designer homes commanded, he started getting creativewith the architectural attribution. He would casually mention anarchitects name while showing a house to a potential buyer, andsoon he knew that he could ask for a hundred thousand more than thetrue value of the house. His tactics paid off handsomely, but itcouldnt last and it had run its course about the time his wifefiled the divorce papers.

Then, about two years ago,when there was a small slump in sales, he discovered that many ofhis potential buyers were intrigued by Palm Springs history as agetaway for entertainers and film stars and the legacy they leftbehind. Since the famous architect designed ruse was more or lesspass, Rex moved quickly to make the most of his newfound marketingniche.

In its heyday, in the 1930sand 40s, Palm Springs was the place where many of the Hollywoodmovie stars slipped away to for rest, relaxation, drying out,cosmetic surgery or illicit affairs. Most of these celebritieswouldnt stay in a hotel with its public rooms and possibility ofbeing recognized by vacationing fans. Instead, they bought a house,or borrowed one from one of their costars. These celebrity homeswere now much sought after by older people wanting some of theluster of the golden age of Hollywood to rub off on them, or by thenouveau rich, who were trying to associate themselves with oldmoney.

Earlier this year he sold ahouse that once belonged to Bette Davis to a young entrepreneur whohad flown down from Silicon Valley with IPO cash and was a BetteDavis fanatic. The young man had obviously overpaid, the house wassmall, had the original kitchen, was on a busy corner and didnteven have a pool. Although, as Rex had pointed out to the kid withstars in his eyes, there was room to have a pool installed. Hegrinned as he thought about it; sure there was room for a pool, aslong as you bought it in the toy section of Wal-Mart. Bette Davishad never ever owned that house. Hed made it up, he knew thatBette visited Palm Springs, but she certainly never even saw thatlittle house. Stretching the truth to make a sale didnt matter toRex and the buyer took his word for it, anxious to have somethingthat had belonged to his idol.