“What are you doing, Wilson?” Andrew asked.
“I’m hot. I went into the tanner and I think I got a little too crispy. My blasted nose looks like a beet.”
When Wilson turned, I grimaced and Eleanor burst out laughing. “You’re right. Your nose is beet red and looks twice the normal size.”
“I hardly think the tanner could increase the size of his nose,” I said. “It probably is just more noticeable since it’s sunburned.”
“You’re probably right, Agnes,” Eleanor said. “Why on earth would you go to the tanner, dear?”
“Because I’m sick of people poking me to see if I’m breathing. It’s like everyone has a tan.”
“I don’t,” I said. “Neither does Andrew, and Eleanor is the fairest woman I know.”
“Thanks, Agnes. It’s about time you finally admit to it.” She chuckled.
“What Mr. Wilson needs is good ol’ Calamine lotion,” I said. “Not sure how we’ll be able to get that, though.”
“We can slap on some cold cream,” Eleanor suggested.
“I suppose we’ll need to do something to relieve the pain he’s in. Sunburns hurt.”
Eleanor went into the bathroom and returned with a container of lotion, quickly disappearing into her room to change clothes, presumably. I followed her lead and went into my room, pulling out a hanger that had a cover with a zipper. I put on the velvety black pants and white silk blouse, slipping on flats. I even curled my hair and slapped on a little makeup before turning to a smiling Andrew, who was adjusting the red tie he wore. He had on a blue suit and gazing over to him caused my heart to skip a beat.
“Y-You look great,” we both said at the same time and then laughed.
“I had no idea we were so in-tune with one another,” I said.
“That’s what makes us such a great couple.” He winked.
“Yeah, yeah,” came Eleanor’s voice from the door. “Can we get moving or will we be leaving without you? I have a dessert table with my name on it.”
I led the way out the door and noticed that Mr. Wilson had lotion smeared on his nose to the point where it was dripping off. “I think Wilson might have a tad too much lotion on that nose of his.”
“I told him, but he won’t listen.”
“Hey, Wilson,” Andrew said. “You don’t want people laughing at you downstairs, do you?”
“I’m fine with it,” Mr. Wilson said, climbing aboard his electric chair. “I’ll be glad when we get back home. I hate riding this contraption, not that I have any choice in the matter when going anywhere here would require walking. I’d hate to be losing my mobility. I should see if the hotel has a masseuse.”
“Absolutely not,” Eleanor shouted. “I won’t have any husband of mine getting a massage by a strange woman.”
“I can’t say I blame Eleanor there,” I said.
“Wilson has a point and I’m sure he’ll behave himself. He’s happily married now,” Andrew said.
“I suppose,” Eleanor admitted. “We’ll be busy later tonight investigating.”
“See, so that’s a plan. Are you with me Andrew?”
“You can keep me out of it,” Andrew said. “I wouldn’t mind checking out the Mirage.”
“How are you going to check out something you can’t even see? You can’t see a mirage, you imagine one,” Wilson said with a straight face, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he was kidding.
“He means another casino,” Eleanor said.
“Oh, I see, but I’d rather have the massage.” When Eleanor gave him a dirty look, he said, “Of course, checking out the Mirage might be safer for me.”
Andrew led the way outside and I complimented Eleanor on her sparkly full-length gown.
“Thanks, Agnes. Wilson said it’s too fancy, but a girl needs to dress up every so often. It’s not like I have anywhere fancy to wear this in Tawas.”
“You could wear it to one of Elsie’s card parties. I bet you’d be the highlight of the night and I don’t mean because of all the sequins on that dress.”
We had no more gotten into the elevator when my phone rang, but when I answered it, all I heard was static. I checked the number, but it was a private one.
Eleanor made a beeline out of the elevator and she sighed when we made it to the buffet restaurant, as it had a massive line.
“What did you expect?” I said. “Who wouldn’t want to come to eat here? It’s gotten awards for being one of the best in Vegas, or was it the best dessert bar in Vegas?”
I mulled over what or how I’d go about questioning the president of the Foxworth Agency, but then my phone rang again and this time when I answered it, someone was actually on the line.
“C-Can you come backstage?” Kayla said. “I really need your help.”
“I’ll be right there.” I hung up the phone and said, “I need to go backstage and check on Kayla. Something is up.”
“Now?” Eleanor said.
“Yes, now, but the men can stay in line and when they’re seated, they can call us.”
“You promise we’ll be able to come back?”
“Of course. I can’t imagine that Kayla needs anything that important.”
“Sure, we’ll wait in line,” Andrew said. “But please hurry. I have hardly spoken to you all day.”
I nodded and Eleanor joined me, heading in the direction of the backstage, where our passes were checked. “Kayla told me that she wanted to see us right away,” I informed the security guard, who merely nodded.
Chapter Twelve
We were led into Kayla’s dressing room and she was sitting on her makeup chair, rocking back and forth. When she looked up, her bottom lip trembled. “I-I … someone called me and told me that if I went on stage tonight, I’d be just as dead as Malcolm.”
“What phone did the call come in to?”
“My cell phone.”
“Is that how most of the threats have come in?”
“Yes, why?”
“Well,” Eleanor said. “I can’t imagine many people have your cell phone number. How many contacts do you have?”
“Too many to count, but the number said private.”
“I’d expect as much.”
Just then, Sue came into the room and took one look at Kayla and asked, “What happened?”
“Kayla received a threatening call. It seems that someone wants to keep her from preforming tonight.”
“I can’t imagine who would do such a thing,” Sue said. “If Kayla doesn’t go on stage tonight, she might lose her job.”
“She can’t risk it and there’s no keeping things quiet now. You’ll have to call the police and report the threatening phone calls.”
“But, Malcolm—”
“Malcolm is dead and whoever killed him might be the same person who is threatening you,” I said. “If you don’t call the police, I will.”
“Fine, but I’ll be ruined.”
“No, you won’t. It’s not your fault that you’re being threatened and I’m positive that your fans won’t think so, either.”
I was the one who made the call to McCullum and Mader, since I knew this had to be related to Malcolm’s death. I couldn’t imagine any other reason. Kayla wouldn’t like it, but it was time to tell the detectives everything that Kayla has been trying so hard to conceal. I couldn’t blame her. Her career was so fresh and new and since Malcolm was now dead, she had become even more vulnerable.
It didn’t take long for Detective McCullum and Mader to show up with a slew of other officers. There was also an older man with them, who turned out to be Ted, the same man we had seen on the patio the day Eleanor and I hit the stage during the wet T-shirt contest. That day he had claimed that his son was a manager at Caesars, but now I wondered how true that was.
“I’m sorry to hear about your threatening phone call, Kayla,” Ted said. “How long has his been going on?”
Detective McCullum said, “You took the words out of my mouth.”
“Go a
head, Kayla,” I coaxed her. “We’re all here to help you.”
“I’ve been getting threatening phone calls for a few months, but Malcolm told me not to worry, that he’d protect me.”
“Did they threaten to hurt you during your show?” Ted asked.
“Why are you concerned about this, Ted?” I asked. “Isn’t your son the one who’s a manager here?”
“Actually, no,” Ted said. “I’m the one who is the manager.”
“Why didn’t you tell us that when we met you?”
“I like to mingle amongst the guests without telling them who I really am. That way I can gauge how the staff really treats the patrons.”
“I can’t imagine that you’d get many complaints,” I said.
“Oh, you’d be surprised.” His face became serious now. “I can’t allow you to go on stage tonight, Kayla. Not with that threatening phone call coming in tonight. Were you the one threatened directly?”
“They said if I went on stage, I’d be as dead as Malcolm.”
“And since Mark is in jail, we know it can’t be him,” I said.
“That’s apparent, unless someone is doing this to try and clear his name,” Mader said.
“What is it with you? What do you have against Mark, besides his past?”
“Let’s get back to Kayla answering questions.”
I zipped my lip, for now.
“So Malcolm was the one who told you not to call the police?” McCullum asked.
“Yes. He said it would hurt my career.”
“And have the callers always threatened you personally?”
“Yes,” she whimpered. “That’s why I was so shocked when Malcolm was murdered.”
“And you might as well tell the detectives about what else has been going on.”
“Can I do that after Ted leaves? It’s personal.”
“She’s right, perhaps I should leave so you can question her in private. Come along ladies,” he said.
“They’re working for me and this is my mother,” Kayla said. She pointed out Sue.
“Okay. I’ll be announcing that the show tonight is cancelled.”
“I’d hate to do that,” Kayla said. “I don’t want to disappoint my fans.”
“We can make it up to them some way. I’ll give them some free meal coupons and we can reschedule your show for tomorrow night, since that was going to be an off night for you.”
Kayla smiled. “Thanks Ted.”
Ten nodded and off he went.
“So, what is the little secret Kayla has been holding back?” Detective McCullum asked.
“Go ahead, Kayla. You need to do this,” I said.
“O-Okay. Malcolm was making extra money by having fans pay to party with me in my hotel room.” When the detectives didn’t react, she continued. “That’s how my hotel room was really damaged.”
“So, it was never ransacked?” Mader asked.
“No. I mean, some of the guests might have gone through our things to steal, but I can’t say what is missing.”
“And were you injured?”
“No, not physically, anyway. I never spent more than ten minutes at those parties before I barricaded myself in my room. That one night did get out of hand and when I heard them trashing the room, I called downstairs for help. When security came up, Mark had already but gotten rid of all the partygoers.”
“Were you turning tricks in your room?” McCullum asked.
“That’s out of line,” Sue said. “My daughter isn’t like that.”
“Are you asking Kayla if she was prostituting herself?” I asked, although I did wonder how far Malcolm was willing to go in regards to Kayla. Would he actually ask her to do something like that?
“It happens,” McCullum said.
“Well, I’m not like that and Malcolm would never have asked me to do that,” Kayla shouted.
Although he certainly wasn’t above stealing from her. “Do you know any of the people that were in your room that night?”
“No, but they weren’t the usual crowd. Many of them were men and they looked on the rough side. I didn’t stay but five minutes with them before I went into my room.”
“I can see what happened, then. They probably felt cheated and decided to trash your room,” I said.
“Malcolm certainly wasn’t looking after you the way you thought,” Eleanor said. “If he was going to do something like that, he should have only allowed more respectable people to meet you after-hours and it certainly shouldn’t have been in your hotel room,” Eleanor said.
“How long did Malcolm ask you to do that, before or after you began getting threatening calls?” Mader asked.
“About the same time. It took him a while to convince me before I agreed to do it. At first, it didn’t seem to be all that bad, but after awhile it became very tiresome. After shows, I’m quite exhausted.”
“I can understand why you wouldn’t want the hotel’s management to know about the activities in your room, but I do hope that you’ve decided not to do that anymore,” McCullum said. “Are you sure you don’t know the names of anyone that you partied with?”
“Oh, no. There have been way too many faces to remember. It gets hard when you see new ones night after night.”
“We’ll be checking your phone for threats,” Mader said.
“Please, I can’t simply hand my phone over to you. I’d be lost without it.”
“She can show you that the threat came in from a private number,” Sue said.
Kayla handed her phone over to McCullum and he flipped through the incoming calls, then handed it back to her. “Not much to go on here. Have you thought about changing your number?”
“That might just set someone off to do something desperate,” I said.
“Well, it appears it’s already out of hand. We could tap your phone line.”
“Absolutely not,” Sue said. “That’s an invasion of her privacy.”
“Fine, but have you at least asked the person why they’re threatening you?” McCullum asked. “Is the person male or female, young or old?”
Kayla sighed, gripping her phone tightly. “It must be a man, or a hoarse-sounding woman.”
‘There are certainly women like that,” I said. “Is there anyone who would have an interest in ruining your Vegas run?”
“I can’t think of anyone.”
“And how old do you think he or she is?”
“It’s hard to tell, but I thought older, with how the voice sounded. I wish I had asked the person why they were threatening me, but I was just so scared that I hung up the phone.”
“That much I can tell,” McCullum said. “We’ll look over the area and see if anything looks out of order, any unattended packages or devices attached under seats.”
“They’re threatening her, not the audience.”
“I’d rather check out everything before we make a final decision, but next time, keep the person on the phone longer. I still think you need a device on your phone.”
“What kind of device?”
“It connects to your phone digitally, but we’ll be monitoring all of your calls. With you permission of course, Kayla.”
“Just like the government has been doing for years?” I remarked. When everyone stared at me, I said, “What?”
“How long will that take?” Kayla asked. “I’d really like to relax upstairs after this ordeal. I could use a drink now.”
“Go on upstairs after you give Mader your phone number, so we can begin the phone surveillance,” McCullum said. “All we’ll have to do is call it in for the phone surveillance to start.”
“Whatever it takes to find out who is doing this,” Kayla said.
“Come along, dear,” Sue said. “You need to relax.”
My cell phone rang and Andrew informed me that we now had a table. “We’ll be right there,” I said. When I hung up, I asked the detectives, “Do you need us for anything else?”
“Do you have any idea who might be doing thi
s to Kayla?” McCullum asked.
“In your investigation, he means,” Mader said.
“No. I mean, I’ve known that Kayla’s been getting threatening phone calls, just haven’t investigated it. I wasn’t sure at first if they were related and now I wonder if there might be a connection to Malcolm’s death and what it might be.”
“Good observation. It’s certainly something we need to look into,” McCullum said.
We excused ourselves and I called Andrew when we got to the restaurant and he met us at the door, leading us inside.
“Why do they get right in?” a woman with glasses asked.
“Because my husband waited in line and called us when our table was ready,” I informed her.
“Oh, that’s actually a good idea,” another woman said.
“Of course you could always make a reservation,” the man at the door said. “That way you can get right in.”
“I know what we’ll be doing the next time,” Eleanor said.
We followed Andrew inside and we had a seat close to the buffet. “Wow, what a great seat,” I said, as Eleanor and I sat.
“More or less. As you look around the room, you’ll see different parts of the buffet in different places.”
He was right. There was on area that was labeled steak, another chicken and fish, and the most crowded of them was the seafood bar.
A waitress came over and took our drink orders and off we went in search of food. Wilson tooled ahead and maneuvered his way to the front of the steak line. When grumbling could be heard from the other customers, he said, “I’m handicapped, can’t you see?”
“Well, I use a walker, can’t you see?” a woman said.
“And I’m an amputee,” an old man said. “You don’t see me using one of those new-fangled contraptions.”
“And I have a crick in my neck,” a young man said with a snicker.
“I’m certainly not getting any younger in this line,” a young lady said. “Get a move on, Gramps.”
The crowd turned on her about then, since most of the crowd consisted of senior citizens. “Smart talk from a woman barely out of her knickers,” said a woman with silver hair. “Just you wait and see. You won’t stay young forever you know.”
Outrageous Vegas Vacation (An Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mystery Book 8) Page 10