Well, the people have spoken.

Or not spoken.

A couple of weeks ago, I hinted that our story could benefit from the introduction of that film noir staple, the wiseguy P.I., to provide a foil for Mayor Napolitano and a vehicle to drive our plot in a straight line.

If such a character were to be introduced, it would naturally have come in one of the past two installments, shortly after Larry’s murder and before the end of Act One. But this morning, as I went over last week’s submissions, I realized no one, not a single contributor, had taken my suggestion and run with it.

Was my idea that bad? Were these most recent participants exercising their right to creative thought untainted by my input? Or is no one reading the Script Notes?

Who knows? What I do know and you are about to find out is that Russell Napolitano turns out to be a former high-ranking LAPD official and still a bit of a detective himself. And that along with a pal he has in the coroner’s office, and with or without the cooperation of two investigating police detectives, he is going to try to crack Larry’s murder while running this city and keeping his own backroom plans well hidden.

It’s a tall order, but if anyone can do it, Napolitano can. With your help.

See how he begins when I post the new pages tomorrow night.