Bing looked at me.
‘Jerry’s had a run in or two with the law in the past.’
‘Well, I haven’t,’ Bing said. He reached for the knob and turned it. ‘Huh, it’s unlocked. Whataya think about that?’
‘We should keep knockin’,’ Jerry said. ‘Or check the barn.’
‘Jerry, you check the barn,’ I suggested. ‘I’ll go into the house with Bing.’
‘Suits me,’ Jerry said.
He went down the stairs and walked toward the barn. I pushed the door open and Bing and I stepped inside.
It was a ranch-style house, all on one level, pretty big by my standards, but not by Bing Crosby standards.
‘Jerry’s been in trouble with the law?’ Bing asked.
‘Let’s say he’s had . . . experience with them,’ I said.
‘That how you met him?’
‘How do you mean?’
He looked at me thoughtfully, then said, ‘Never mind.’ He raised his chin and called out, ‘Hello? Chris?’
We stood there a moment and got nothing.
‘Maybe he’s in the shower?’ I suggested. ‘Or out back, barbecuing something.’
‘Damn it,’ Bing said. ‘We drove all the way out here and the guy isn’t even around.’
‘Well, let’s look around.’
‘I see a kitchen,’ Bing said, pointing.
‘I’ll look for a bedroom.’
We split up. I walked through the dining room and found the bedroom. The bed was unmade. I went into the master bath and found wet towels. He’d been around earlier in the day.
I went back to the front door, found Bing standing there.
‘Dishes in the sink,’ he said.
‘How many?’
‘Just breakfast for one,’ he said. ‘A small plate, one cup.’
‘I got an unmade bed and wet towels. He was here. So where is he?’
‘In the barn.’
We turned and looked at Jerry, who had slipped in through the open door. I knew something was up because he had his .45 in his hand.
‘What?’ I asked.
‘He’s in the barn.’
‘What the hell is he doin’?’ Bing asked. ‘Why didn’t he hear us yelling for him.’
‘Because,’ Jerry said, ‘he’s dead.’
SEVENTEEN
Jerry led us over to the barn. But first I blocked Bing’s view and said to Jerry, ‘Stow the piece, will ya?’
‘Sorry, Mr G.’ He put it away.
‘Where’d you find him?’ Bing asked, as we walked.
‘I had to poke around a bit, but I found him in one of the stalls. They covered him with hay, but they didn’t do a good job.’
‘They wanted him to be found?’ I asked.
‘Maybe.’
We entered. There was a horse standing in a stall, staring balefully at us. No other horses were around. This one was bigger than the ones in the corral.
‘That it?’ I asked. ‘The horse?’
‘I don’t know,’ Bing said, looking unnerved. ‘Could be.’
‘Where is he, Jerry?’
‘Over here.’
We started over and then I stopped.
‘How bad?’
‘Bad.’
‘Why don’t you stay here, Bing?’ I said.
‘What, you think I’m squeamish?’ he asked, already looking a little green around the gills.
‘Why take a chance?’ I asked.
‘Good point. I’ll go and look at that horse.’
‘Good idea.’
I followed Jerry to another, empty stall.
Empty except for a battered, bloody man.
‘Do we know that’s him?’ I asked.
‘No.’
‘You go through his pockets?’
‘No, Mr G. I found him and went to tell you. Ya want me to?’
‘Why not?’ I said. ‘Let’s see if it’s him before we call the cops.’
‘We gotta call the cops?’
I turned and looked at Bing, who was bent over, checking the horse’s legs.
‘Let’s talk about that later, too.’
Jerry bent over the body. The man was lying face down in the hay. Jerry went into his jeans, came out with a wallet.
‘License, and credit cards in the name Christopher Arnold,’ he said.
‘Put it back.’
He did and stood up.
‘What’s it look like, Jerry?’
‘Like somebody went at him with something,’ he said. ‘A two-by-four, a baseball bat, a tire iron . . .’
‘Hey guys?’ Bing called. We both looked over at him. ‘What’s going on?’
‘It’s him,’ I said. ‘Chris Arnold. Somebody beat him to death.’
‘Jesus.’
We backed away from the stall and joined Bing.
‘Wow,’ Jerry said. ‘That looks like a thoroughbred. Good formation, looks about three. You want to buy a three year old, Mr C?’
‘I’d buy a horse who looked like he could win, no matter what age,’ he said.
‘This one would never get you to the triple crown.’
‘Why not?’ I asked.
‘Because they’re over for this year. And next year this horse will be four.’
‘That doesn’t matter,’ Bing said. ‘In fact, none of this really matters if that’s Chris Arnold. What do we do now?’
‘We have two options,’ I said.
‘What are they?’
‘We can get in the car and get out of here, or we call the cops.’
‘What do you suggest?’ Bing asked.
‘We get outta here,’ Jerry said.
‘We should call the cops,’ I said.
‘Mr G.,’ Jerry said. ‘The car.’
‘What about it? The tracks would be kinda hard to wipe out.’
‘No, not your car,’ he said. ‘The other car. The one that passed us.’
‘Ohhh, yeah.’
‘You mean, they saw us?’ Bing asked.
‘Well, they probably saw us the way we saw them,’ I said. ‘But I think what Jerry means is, somebody in that car could’ve been the killer.’
‘Oh.’
‘Bing, this is gonna be your call,’ I said. ‘There’s bound to be publicity.’
‘But if we leave, there might be somebody who knows that we were supposed to meet today.’
I shrugged.
‘We can say you couldn’t make it. You called to reschedule, and nobody answered.’
‘But they’d still want to question me, right?’ He looked at Jerry. ‘Right?’
‘Mr C., if he’s got your name in an appointment book or somethin’, yeah, they’ll still wanna talk to ya.’
‘And I’d have to lie – I mean, if I didn’t want them to know I was here.’
‘Well, yeah,’ Jerry said.
Bing rubbed his chin and said, ‘I don’t know how good I’d be at that.’
‘Ain’t you ever lied before?’ Jerry asked.
‘Yeah, but not to the police. And you don’t want to be here for the cops, right, Jerry?’
‘I’d rather not, Mr C.’
‘We could just leave this poor joker here to be found by someone else,’ I said.
‘Have you boys done this sort of thing before?’ Bing asked. ‘I mean, with some of the stuff you’ve done for Dino and Frank?’
Jerry and I exchanged a glance. I knew he was wondering, like I was, how much Bing knew, and who had told him.
‘Let’s just say we did whatever was necessary,’ I said.
‘OK,’ Bing said, ‘I shouldn’t’ve asked. Forget it. Let’s just decide what we’re going to do in this instance.’
If it had been just Jerry and me there would have been no problem. We’d walked away from dead bodies before. But with Bing Crosby involved, we had to do the right thing. Keep everything on the up-and-up.
‘Bing,’ I said, ‘the fact is we haven’t done anything wrong here.’
‘That’s true.’
> ‘They’ll talk to you, they’ll question me and Jerry a little more because we’ve been through this before. But you, they’ll probably just let you go back to the hotel.’
‘Well, I don’t want you boys to get into trouble.’
‘Don’t worry, Mr C.,’ Jerry said. ‘We can handle the cops.’
‘Well, then . . . where should we do this from? Drive back to civilization? I mean, this being the scene of the crime and all.’
‘I think we can risk calling the police from the house,’ I said. ‘Jerry, maybe you should wait here and . . . watch the body.’
‘Wouldn’t want him to get up and walk away,’ Jerry said. ‘Would we?’
EIGHTEEN
Bing and I walked to the house and called the police. It took a while but eventually some deputies arrived, and then they called for two detectives from the Sheriff’s Department. Thankfully, we weren’t in the city limits, so Jerry and I wouldn’t be seeing any familiar faces. It would take the detectives some time before they found out our history.
As it was they seemed impressed by Bing Crosby, and treated him and – by extension – us with respect.
‘So, Mr Crosby,’ Detective Harry Lewis said, ‘you didn’t have a definite time for your appointment with Mr Arnold?’
‘We just said it would be this morning,’ Bing said.
He gave us all a look.
‘And none of you saw the driver of the car that sideswiped you?’
‘It didn’t exactly sideswipe us,’ I said, ‘but no, there was too much dust and dirt bein’ kicked around.’
‘That’s right,’ Bing said.
Jerry just nodded.
‘You don’t say much, do you, Mr Epstein?’ Detective Lewis said.
‘I guess not.’
Lewis’ partner, a man named Perry, came out of the barn and walked over to us.
‘The M.E. says he was bludgeoned to death,’ he said. ‘Also said the killer would have been covered with the victim’s blood.’
Pointedly, the two detectives looked the three of us over.
‘Clean as a whistle,’ Bing said.
‘Yes, it would seem,’ Lewis said. He was the older of the two men – forties as opposed to thirties – and also seemed to be the man in charge.
‘Well, we can reach all three of you at the Sands Hotel in Vegas?’
‘That’s right,’ Bing said.
‘Did any of you touch the body?’ Detective Perry asked.
‘I looked at his wallet,’ Jerry admitted.
‘Why?’
‘We wanted to be sure who he was,’ Bing said. ‘I asked Jerry to look.’
Bing effectively took the pressure right off Jerry with that admission.
‘Not exactly what you’re supposed to do when faced with a body, Mr Crosby,’ Lewis said. ‘We prefer witnesses don’t touch the victim.’
‘Well,’ Bing said, ‘we didn’t really witness anything, did we?’
‘It’s . . . just a word we use,’ Lewis said. ‘You found the body, and saw the car hurrying away.’
‘I see,’ Bing said.
‘And the house?’ Perry asked.
‘What about it?’ Bing asked.
‘Did anyone go in?’
‘Well, yeah,’ Bing said. ‘Eddie and I went in to look for Mr Arnold. Jerry went to look in the barn.’
‘Touch anything in the house?’ Lewis asked.
‘Just the front doorknob,’ I said.
Lewis made a note.
‘We’ll be bringing the body out in a few minutes,’ Perry said. ‘If you don’t want to see it, you’re free to go.’
‘You won’t be leaving Vegas anytime soon, will you, Mr Crosby?’
‘We should be here a couple of more days,’ Bing said. ‘If there’s family around I might still want to buy the horse.’
‘I see,’ Lewis said.
‘Is that a little cold-blooded?’ Bing asked.
‘Not at all, sir,’ Lewis said. ‘After all, you didn’t know the man . . . did you?’
‘Never met.’
‘All right, then,’ Lewis said. ‘The three of you can leave. We’ll need to take formal statements from you at some point.’
‘We’ll be available.’
We started for the car and then Lewis called, ‘Mr Crosby?’
‘Yes?’ We all turned.
‘You said you never met the deceased.’
‘That’s right.’
‘What about your trainer, Mr . . . Stanley?’ he asked, referring to his notebook. ‘Had he ever met him?’
‘They spoke on the phone,’ Bing said, ‘but they never met.’
‘Would I be able to question Mr Stanley about it?’ Lewis asked.
‘That might be a problem,’ Bing said.
‘Why’s that?’
‘We don’t know where he is,’ Bing said. ‘He was supposed to meet me at the Sands, but he never showed up. We’re pretty worried.’
‘I see. Have you made a report to the Vegas police?’ Lewis asked.
‘No,’ Bing said, ‘we thought he might show up today. Still might, I guess.’
‘All right,’ Lewis said. ‘We’ll be in touch.’
We got in the car with Jerry behind the wheel. And drove away.
We rode a while in silence and then I said, ‘Thanks, Bing, for taking the lead.’
‘I noticed how they reacted to me,’ he said. ‘Respectful. Thought I might as well trade on that.’
‘Once they get back to their offices and check on us, they’ll come around a little less respectfully,’ I said.
‘Well, if they do, let me know if I can help.’
‘When they’re less respectful,’ I said, ‘it’ll probably be best if you’re not around.’
‘I wonder,’ Bing said, ‘if Red Stanley showed up, yet?’
NINETEEN
When we got back to the Sands Bing went straight up to his suite. It had seemed like a long day already, but it was only early evening. There was plenty of day left, by Vegas standards.
‘We gotta get your car cleaned,’ Jerry said, in the lobby.
‘We can do that later,’ I said. ‘I want to check and see if Danny called.’
‘I’ll go to my suite, then,’ Jerry said. ‘I need a shower.’
‘OK,’ I said. ‘I’ll call you later.’
‘OK, Mr G.’
‘Jerry.’
‘Yeah?’
‘I’ll have one of the valets get the car washed,’ I promised. ‘It’ll be clean next time we use it.’
He grinned and said, ‘OK.’
I went to the front desk and found a message there from Danny. I went to a phone and called his office. Penny answered.
‘He’s been waiting for your call, Eddie,’ she said. ‘I’ll put you through.’
‘Eddie?’
‘What’s up, Danny?’
‘How was your meetin’ with the horse guy?’
‘Not good,’ I said. ‘When we got there he was dead.’
‘What? Tell me.’
I explained, told him we called the cops after a lot of procrastination, and then relayed to him our conversation with them.
‘They let you go?’ he said, when I was done.
‘Yeah, they don’t know our history, yet,’ I said. ‘And they were pretty respectful to Bing.’
‘This isn’t good, Eddie.’
‘Don’t I know it.’
‘Well, you don’t know the half of it.’
‘Whataya mean?’
‘I found your trainer, Red Stanley.’
‘Where?’
‘In a hotel room.’
‘What the hell—’
‘He’s dead, Eddie,’ Danny said. ‘He’s dead, too.’
Danny came to the Sands so we could talk face-to-face. We decided on drinks in the lounge.
We sat at the bar and each had a beer.
‘Did you call the cops?’ I asked.
‘Oh, yeah,’ he said. ‘I’ve got a license to protect.’
‘OK,’ I said, ‘tell it to me from the beginning . . .’
Danny started at the airport.
He found what flight Red Stanley came in on, what gate the passengers would have disembarked through, then talked to ticket agents, flight attendants, baggage handlers, security people, other than Ted Silver. Outside he talked to cab drivers, and one of them said he saw a man who matched Stanley’s description.
‘He came out the front, carrying his suitcase,’ the driver said. His name was Frankie. ‘I was next in line, but instead of coming to my cab he got into another car.’
‘He got in on his own?’
‘No,’ the driver said. ‘Another man came up alongside him, they talked for a minute, and then the sedan pulled up. And they both got in.’
‘Did you see a gun?’
‘A what?’
‘Could the other man have had a gun?’
The driver thought then said, ‘I suppose he could have. Yeah, out of sight, like. Maybe jammed into the guy’s side? Was it a kidnapping?’ he asked. ‘Did I see a kidnapping?’
‘Maybe,’ Danny said. ‘Did you see which way the sedan went?’
‘It just pulled away from the curb and kept going.’
‘Toward town?’
‘That’s what it looked like.’
Danny handed the man a fiver and said, ‘Thanks. Could you pass the word to other drivers? Maybe somebody saw the sedan arrive at its destination, saw the two men get out? Funny lookin’ little guy with big ears? Fiver in it for them, too.’
‘I’ll pass the word,’ the driver said. ‘You ain’t a cop, are ya? You’re private.’
‘That’s right.’
‘I’ll pass the word.’
‘If I get somethin’ today, there’ll be a ten in it for them and for you.’
‘Right, boss.’
Danny gave the cab driver his number, then drove to his office to tell Penny not to leave.
‘We’ve got cab drivers all over the city lookin’ for this guy,’ he told her. ‘If he went to a hotel – willingly or unwillingly – we’ll find out.’
‘You think he was taken?’
‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘The Sands didn’t send a car for him. And he’s a stranger in town. The only reason he wouldn’t take a cab is if he couldn’t.’
‘What if he’s a regular at one of the other casinos and they sent a car for him? Do you know for certain he’s a stranger to Vegas?’
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