Story by DANIEL MILLER

Illustrations by MORGAN SCHWEITZER

Photography by GINA FERAZZI

NOVEMBER 1, 2014, LA Times

http://graphics.latimes.com/finding-marlowe/?=hpt
It was hot and I was late for lunch. I was feeling mean, like I’d been left out in the sun too long.

We were meeting at a joint on La Brea, the kind of place where the booths have curtains you can pull shut if you need a little privacy. I slid across cool leather and got my first good look at Louise Ransil, a wisp of a redhead with high cheekbones and appraising eyes.

She sat with her hands folded on the worn table, a stack of old paperbacks next to her.

Ransil had a script she’d been peddling to the studios. I’d started reading it — a detective caper set in 1930s Los Angeles — and wanted to find out about the claim on the title page.

“BASED ON A TRUE STORY: From case files of P.I. Samuel B. Marlowe.”

Click the link for the full story: http://graphics.latimes.com/finding-marlowe/?=hpt

Includes: Video http://graphics.latimes.com/finding-marlowe-video/

Includes: Map of Samuel Marlowe’s LA http://guides.latimes.com/marlowes-l/