The story you are about to hear is true. Nobody’s name has been changed to protect the innocent.The Black Dahlia — a.k.a Elizabeth “Betty Short” — the twenty-two-year-old aspiring actress who was tortured, murdered, and bisected on a cold winter day (January 15, 1947, to be precise) in Los Angeles — is back in the news, thanks to the new TNT limited series I Am the Dark, from producers Patty Jenkins, Chris Pine, and Sam Sheridan, plus the upcoming companion podcast, Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia.Steve Hodel is interviewed for the TNT podcast, but beyond that had no involvement with either project. Still, Hodel, a retired LAPD detective, has spent twenty years researching and writing about the Dahlia, and he is absolutely, totally, completely convinced of the identity of her killer: his own father, George Hodel, then a prominent LA doctor (though now deceased).Steve Hodel has authored numerous books on the Dahlia, including Black Dahlia Avenger III, and whether you agree with him or not — many people do, and many people don’t — you have to respect his skills as a researcher and storyteller.