Inez Burns was the first to admit that she was not a businesswoman. But she did accumulate more cash than she knew what to do with–and because hers was an illegal business–she was unwilling to use the banks.
She hid cash in the hems of the brocade curtains, in the baseboards and inside the bannisters of her Guerrero Street home. A “big black safe” was also installed in Inez’s favorite “hat room” located just off the bedroom where she slept in a luxurious “Hollywood bed” featuring an upholestered headboard.
While playing with a glass globe filled with fake snow, Caroline Carlisle recalls her grandmother surprising her at age seven with a “real pirate’s treasure chest” stuffed with neat stacks of cash (hiding $750,000 in the wine cellar turned out to be a bad decision as Inez discovered termites had consumed the small fortune, leaving only a pile of dust).
…To Be Continued…