Outrageous Vegas Vacation (An Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mystery Book 8)

by Madison Johns

  I snickered to myself since Sherry was deadly serious when she spoke to us. After I had picked all of the nearly nonexistent weeds, I strolled over to Sherry. “Are you the only one who works out here?”

  She smiled widely. “Yes. It appears that I’m the only one who has a green thumb.”

  “I have a beautiful garden at home when I have time to take care of it,” I said.

  “That’s fine, dear. It’s not like you can kill plants just by weeding them.”

  Eleanor finally put the watering can down. “What is a nice woman like you doing, living in a place like this?”

  “It’s better than my last place in Texas. My daughter Barbara brought me here a few years back and I haven’t left since.”

  “Wasn’t it hard to adjust to?”

  “At first, until they offered me a job in the greenhouse. Lana used to do it, but she moved to California with her daughter.”

  Could Barbara be Bambi? “What does your daughter do for a living?”

  Sherry’s face whitened. “Oh, she’s in the entertainment business. I told that girl not to be a showgirl, but would she listen to me, no. Now she has herself mixed up with a married man, but she’s been good to me.”

  “What’s her showgirl name?”

  “Bambi something or other. They were about to throw me out of this place until Bambi paid the bill in full just the other day.”

  “That was good,” Eleanor said. “Women our age don’t need to lose the roof over our head.”

  “How do you feel about your daughter’s occupation?”

  “I might not approve of her life, but I can’t push my views on her.”

  I nodded. A woman came to the door and informed Sherry that it was time for lunch. We were also invited and I declined, asking to speak with the woman privately.

  “Don’t mind me,” Sherry said. “You can’t call me late for lunch. I skipped breakfast to come out here to take care of my plants. Thanks, Gwen, for giving me the extra help today, but I think that one isn’t good at weeding,” she whispered.

  Instead of getting angry about it, I laughed. “You know, I think you might be right.”

  Sherry went off in the direction of what I thought might be the dining room. Thankfully, Gwen stayed behind with us.

  “I’d like to ask a few questions about Sherry, if you don’t mind.”

  “I’m sure you’ve realized by now that she lives in her own little world. That greenhouse is her life. I’m shocked that she even allowed you two to help.”

  “We know her daughter, Bambi,” I said, letting her know that I knew Bambi personally.

  “Strange girl, but she made good on back payments that was owed for her mother’s residency here.”

  “Showgirls can be that way.”

  “I’m sure, but she’s been good to her mother. I can’t say that for many of the family members of the other residents.”

  “How did she accumulate a fifty-thousand dollar back payment for her mother’s stay? It would seem that you’d have asked Sherry to leave earlier.”

  Gwen’s eyes were round now. “You must be mistaken. Only five thousand was needed to pay the bill.”

  “Oh, Bambi must have said that wrong. Has she ever brought anyone with her when she visited her mother?”

  Gwen’s hands slipped to her hips. “You don’t know Bambi, do you?”

  “No, but we’re looking into the death of a man at Caesars Palace.”

  “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to ask you to leave. I can’t be discussing the details of our residents’ families and there are privacy policies that protect our residents.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” I said. “We’ll be leaving now, after I call for a taxi. The one we came in with left.”

  “I’d be happy to have Don run you back to your hotel.”

  “Sounds, great.”

  Don took us back to the hotel in his SUV and was deadly silent.

  “What’s going on, Don?” I asked.

  “If Gwen found out that I told you anything about Sherry and her daughter Bambi, I’d be without a job.”

  “So, what is the scoop?”

  “I overheard Gwen tell you that five-thousand dollars was owed for her mother’s stay, but she told Bambi it was fifty thousand. Bambi paid up because she was promised that her mother wouldn’t ever be asked to leave.”

  “So instead of monthly payments?”

  “No, she still gets all of Sherry’s Social Security and pension.”

  “So Gwen might be running a scam?”

  “An effective one. I believe she’s pocketing all the money. If residents didn’t have enough to pay the monthly fee, they wouldn’t be allowed to stay here.”

  “Thanks, Don and I’ll keep your name out of this.”

  “Please do, because I’ll deny I ever said a word to you, even if the police come asking.”

  That stopped any further discussion about the Sherwood Oak Retirement Home. What I had learned today I’d have to take action on. I’d be calling Detective McCullum and Mader, but this time it would be about fraud at the Sherwood.

  I didn’t want to alert Don what I was going to do, so I let him drop us off at Caesars. We waved to Don and I pulled out my cell phone until I saw the detectives coming out of the hotel. Then I flagged them down and they joined us.

  “Did you find the killer yet?” McCullum asked.

  “No, but I learned about something else you might want to look into.”

  “How is that?” Mader asked.

  “Should we discuss this somewhere else?” I asked, glancing around at the crowds coming in and out of the hotel.

  “Come along then,” McCullum said.

  We sat in the backseat of the detective’s car and I leaned up on the cage that separated us from them.

  “Eleanor and I stopped by the Sherwood Oaks Retirement Home today and we ran across what looks like fraud.”

  “How so?”

  “The showgirl Bambi Baboom’s mother Sherry Trey lives there and apparently, Bambi was told that she had to pay off her mother’s past due payments or she’d be asked to leave.”

  “How is that fraud?”

  “I was under the impression that Bambi paid Gwen, Sherwood’s administrator, fifty-thousand dollars, but Gwen told us only five thousand was owed. I’m not sure, but that sounds like something that needs looked into.”

  “Where do you suppose Bambi got the money from, her boyfriend Michael?”

  “No, from Malcolm. He was skimming Kayla’s money and Bambi was also involved with him.”

  “So you think Bambi might have murdered Malcolm?”

  “No, but there is wrongdoing at Sherwood. Can’t you at least look into it?”

  “I’ll mention it to our sergeant, but it will be up to him if he’ll proceed.”

  “If Bambi was given some of Kayla’s money, she’d have no reason to want him dead,” I said.

  “Her boyfriend might have done it, but he told us his flight was just coming into Vegas that day,” Eleanor told them.

  “And Bambi has an alibi that we’ll be checking out later,” I said.

  “Perhaps you should leave the investigating up to us. We’d be happy to check it out.”

  “Oh, but I thought you believed Mark was guilty of murdering Malcolm?”

  “No, his fingerprints weren’t on the handle of the knife that was used to kill Malcolm after all. Actually, there is a witness that can prove Mark was elsewhere at the time of Malcolm’s death.”

  “That’s why we’re here,” Mader said. “Yvonne came clean and admitted that Mark was with her. He was released an hour ago and Kayla had a car pick him up.”

  “That’s sure a development, but so far today we’ve come up empty, other than the fraud case at Sherwood.”

  “I’d love to see that investigated, but there’d have to be some kind of paper trail,” Mader said. He hopped out of the car and opened our door so he could get rid of us. “Good luck finding the killer. I’m beginning to
think he can’t be caught.”

  I sighed as we dragged our feet inside. “I just don’t think this case can be solved, Eleanor.”

  “Don’t you dare ever say that. We’ll find the killer, don’t we always?”

  I gave that some thought and nodded. “You’re right. Let’s grab a sandwich and head over to Bally’s.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ted met us halfway on our way back out the door. “So, did you catch up with Bambi’s mother?”

  “Oh, yes. She’s a real gem, and what a green thumb.”

  “That’s a good thing to be. How is the investigation going?”

  “It’s not,” I said.

  “But we’re no quitters,” Eleanor added.

  We excused ourselves and found our way out the door and into a taxi, heading for Bally’s. Vegas was a wonderful place to visit. Even during the day, it was eventful. Well, it certainly never sleeps as the casinos were open twenty-four hours. There were also a good number of persons of a certain age, like us.

  The taxi screeched to a stop and out we went, heading for the door. This casino had a much different layout, but all I was interested in was verifying Bambi’s alibi. I looked at the marque as we passed it by and Bambi’s name certainly wasn’t on it! Why did she tell us that it was? Perhaps it was all in her head.

  We walked into the room where the Jubilee show was. On the stage were showgirls going over their singing routine. We watched for a few minutes and I clapped silently when they went through their line kicks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a fabulous thing before. Every girl was lithe and tall, but it might be the heels they wore. When I stared at their headpieces, I just couldn’t imagine what it would be like to wear one. It seemed like it would be awkward even just to walk around with one.

  A woman said “Cut,” and told the girls that they could take a break. After they had formed a line and disappeared backstage, a tall thin woman with black hair strutted over to us.

  “This is a closed rehearsal,” she said.

  “Oh, we’re not here to watch that, we have a few questions we’d like to ask.”

  “We’re not doing interviews at this time.”

  “Not here for that either,” Eleanor said.

  “Okay, so how about you tell me exactly why you are here?”

  “We’re here to talk about Bambi Baboom. She told us she was at rehearsals all day on Tuesday and I just need to verify that if I could.”

  The woman sighed. “I don’t suppose you’d tell me why you’d want to know?”

  “We just need to know.”

  “Fine. She was here all day, since she seems to have two left feet at times. Our choreographer worked with her while the other showgirls were at a photo shoot.”

  “And is the choreographer here now?”

  “Paul, I need a minute, please.”

  The flamboyant man sashayed over to them. “Hello, Paul. I was just wondering if Bambi Baboom was here all day Tuesday practicing for a show?”

  “Oh, she was here all right, part of her, anyway. Ever since she’s been seeing that Michael, she’s changed. I’ve warned her if she doesn’t straighten up, I’ll have to let her go.”

  “She’s been dealing with some issues with her mother. As you can imagine, that’s a recipe for distress.”

  “Well, perhaps you should speak with Bambi. I’m at my wits end with her.”

  “I’ll try,” I said. So, Bambi wasn’t nearly as important a showgirl as she thought.

  We wandered into the casino, playing a few slots. Eleanor put a twenty into a dollar slot machine and on the second turn, three red sevens came up. “I think I won,” she said.

  “Yes, like three hundred dollars!”

  “Should I cash it out?”

  “Take a few more turns and see what happens.”

  Eleanor hit the spin button a few more times, but when she didn’t win, she cashed out. I was impressed. “Congrats, Eleanor.”

  “What?” said a woman passing by. “I’ve been playing that machine all day and never won much at all.”

  “Perhaps you should have changed machines,” I suggested.

  “I did, and this witch won on my machine.”

  “It’s not yours or mine,” Eleanor said. “This machine doesn’t belong to anyone other than the casino.” Her eyes narrowed.

  “I’d highly recommend you not call my friend a witch. Those be hurting words. She gets upset when people call her names, or flirts with her husband, or … just about any other reason. She’s flunked anger management three times.” I laughed.

  “And you might not know it by looking at my friend here, but she just got out of the loony bin. She’s a habitual liar and offed a few of her husbands, but they deemed her criminally insane and after a few years, they let her out since they thought she was better. Now, if she doesn’t take her medication, she starts to think bad thoughts. Hey, Aggie, I don’t remember you taking your medication today.”

  I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks and the woman raced away from us with her arms held high. “You two are crazy!”

  “Now see what you’ve gone and done,” Eleanor said. “Teach you to talk like that about me.”

  “Me, how about you?”

  I noticed Bambi was strutting through the casino, but she wasn’t dressed in the showgirl garb. I followed her and Eleanor asked me, “Where are we going now?”

  “Shh,” is all I could say.

  Bambi made a turn into the lounge and smiled as she sat next to a man at the bar, a man I didn’t recognize. “I wonder who that is?” I whispered to Eleanor.

  “It’s certainly not Michael.”

  “Oh, that one?” asked a cocktail waitress in short-shorts and corset-looking top. “She’s in here with a different man every day.”

  “Oh?” I asked, acting confused. “So, who is that?”

  “Bambi Baboom, she goes by. She’s a showgirl in the Jubilee show, but not for much longer, the way I hear it. I wonder who she slept with to get her spot, because she certainly can’t dance worth snuff.”

  “I heard her tell someone at Caesars that she was a headliner for the show,” Eleanor said.

  “Now that’s a laugh. Would you ladies like a table? You can sit anywhere you’d like.”

  “Thanks, we’ll sit over there,” I said. I then made way to a wall where there were square tables as opposed to the round ones that were between the bar and our table. It was also darker in the corner so hopefully Bambi wouldn’t notice us. “I wonder what she’s doing here.”

  “Beats me, but I sure would love to know. What now?” Eleanor asked.

  “We’ll just observe from here.”

  “I just don’t know what we’ll be able to learn about her with just watching her.”

  I had to agree, but I didn’t know what else I could do. It’s not like I could go up to them, asking Bambi what she was doing here with that man.

  The cocktail waitress sashayed over to our table with a basket of peanuts. “What would you like to drink?”

  “Sex on the beach,” Eleanor said, all animated-like.

  “Oh, why not.”

  “Good choice, our bartender specializes in tropical drinks.”

  She whizzed away and returned five minutes later with the drinks. “Wow, that was quick,” Eleanor remarked.

  “We aim to please and as you can see, it’s not all that busy.”

  “I noticed that. Is that normal?”

  “It is around here. Most people in Vegas sleep long into the afternoon.”

  “Do you happen to know that man Bambi is speaking with? I’ll understand if you don’t want to divulge his name, even if you know it.”

  “I don’t mind, but he seems like a high-roller from the sounds of it. She likes men with money.”

  “I thought she had a boyfriend?”

  “Which one?”

  “Michael D’Anna.”

  “You might not want to mention that man around here. The owners and him had an altercation a
nd he’s no longer allowed here.”

  “What about?”

  “Bambi, what else. You can’t come in here in a jealous fit over a showgirl. It’s bad for business.”

  “Were you aware that Bambi knew the murdered man at Caesars, Malcolm Banktop?”

  “I’m sure she did. She gets a little star struck at times and who wouldn’t want to party with Kayla White, but from the sounds of it, you have to pay to party with her, or so I’ve heard. The music artists these days sure know how to make a buck.”

  “Oh, so you know who Malcolm worked for?” Eleanor said.

  “Malcolm is pretty well known around Vegas and everyone knows he’s Kayla White’s manager. His death is too big a story to keep quiet.”

  “So you think she was only around Malcolm to be around Kayla?” I asked.

  “I’m sure of it.”

  “And here I heard that Malcolm gave Bambi quite a sum of money.”

  “I can’t see him giving her more than what a night would pay her. Some girls don’t mind picking up a little extra cash, if you get my drift.”

  “Thanks for your help.” I raised my glass. “To you.”

  I was confused, did Malcolm actually give Bambi the money she says he did or not? Could any of this have anything to do with Malcolm? Right now, all I could think about was that we needed to look further into Bambi’s activities.

  “Before you leave,” Eleanor said, “have you ever heard of a rapper by the name of Master Vejay?”

  She laughed. “Is that even a real name? It sure sounds made up.”

  I had to agree with that. Could that be why Yvonne had finally come clean with the police about Mark’s alibi? We could speak to Yvonne about this just to clear the air and rule her out as a suspect.

  Bambi slid off her barstool and Eleanor and I quickly downed out drinks, leaving money on the table to pay for them, and followed Bambi from a safe distance. She walked down a corridor and we were hot on her tail, cornering her before she went through a door marked director.

  “Not so fast, Bambi,” I said.

  “Wh-Where did you two come from?”

  “We had to check out your alibi, of course. Fortunately for you, the choreographer gave us the information about why you were here all day.”