Furniture Fatality in Las Vegas

by A. R. Winters

  Just when I thought sleep would overpower me, my phone rang. It was Pearce.

  “Thanks so much for introducing me to Cecilia,” he said. “You’re right, she’s a hoot to be around. She even paid for my lunch, didn’t want to go Dutch. We spent all day together; she’s a cheap date, and she’s pretty. And she really seems to like me.”

  “I’m glad you’re having a good time. But when are you going to tell her the truth?”

  “What truth?”

  “That you don’t have a trust fund.”

  “That’s just a technicality,” Pearce said, sounding quite sure of himself.

  I shook my head disapprovingly, even though Pearce couldn’t see me over the phone. “The only reason I let you go ahead with this was so that we could get Cecilia out of our hair. But I don’t want you taking advantage of her—either you can tell her the truth, or I will.”

  “You’re not going to tell her anything,” said Pearce. His voice was thick with smugness, and I could just about imagine him smirking proudly. “If you tell Cecilia the truth, she’ll come back and hound Ian again. And I know you want to protect your friend.”

  “I can tell her the truth and make sure she doesn’t bother Ian.”

  “I don’t think you can,” said Pearce. “So I’ll just keep going out with her. She doesn’t need to know the truth.”

  I hung up, too tired to argue with Pearce, and drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty–Nine

  When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I did was to call Cecilia.

  She answered on the second ring, and when I told her who I was, she was only a little surprised.

  “Oh,” she said. “Is Ian all right? Did he want to talk to me?”

  “Ian’s fine,” I said. “And this isn’t about him. It’s about Pearce.”

  Cecilia’s exasperated sigh drifted down the phone line. “Let me guess, you don’t want me dating him either.”

  “On the contrary, you’re welcome to date him if you want. I just thought you should know the truth about him.”

  “What truth?”

  “He’s been telling you he’s got a trust fund, but really, he doesn’t. He’s broke. He lives in his mother’s basement, and he runs a weight loss blog—at least, that’s what he tells people. I don’t think he’s ever had a real job.”

  There was silence for a few seconds as Cecilia mulled over the facts. “Are you sure?” she said finally. “Maybe you’re just making the whole thing up.”

  “I don’t have any reason to make it up,” I said. “You should do a proper background check on guys before you date them. If you search for Ian’s trust fund online, you won’t find anything either.”

  That last bit was true; his lawyers had set up everything to be super–private and unsearchable.

  “But I searched for Ian online when I first met him, and I found out about that start–up he’d sold for millions of dollars.”

  “Why do you think he lives in a cheap, ugly apartment in Vegas? He probably went through all that money already.”

  “How am I supposed to find that out?”

  I shrugged, even though Cecilia couldn’t see me. “I’m not sure—but in my experience, really wealthy men like to spend their money. They live in nice places, and they buy their girlfriends jewelry and flowers and take them out to nice dinners.”

  Cecilia groaned. “I should’ve listened to my instincts.”

  “You’ve still got time,” I said. “You’re in Vegas for a few more days, aren’t you?”

  “But everyone here seems to be a weirdo. The rich men go straight to the high–stakes poker tables, and I don’t even get a chance to meet them.”

  “Maybe you should try online dating,” I said. “There are all kinds of men online.”

  “And all kinds of liars.”

  “There are liars everywhere,” I said sympathetically. “You’ll just have to be a bit more careful next time.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Ian and I pulled into the parking lot in front of Betta Furniture just after ten o’clock. There were only a few cars parked at this hour, and most of them seemed to belong to employees at the various stores.

  When we walked into Betta Furniture, the store was empty of customers. John and Irene were manning the floor, and when we entered, John walked forward to say hello.

  The three of us chatted about the weather and the lack of customers at the moment, and I told him that Ian and I were here to have a look around the store today.

  He nodded and let us do our own thing. I walked through the store slowly, glancing around at the furniture, but nothing jumped out at me. I walked past a door marked Staff Only and into the storeroom, with Ian following close by on my heels. The flat–packed furniture was stacked almost up to the ceiling, and we passed through the rows, over to the metal door that led to the outside.

  Ian and I stepped out, letting the door close behind us, and we stood in the back alley, blinking in the sunlight and looking around.

  When we’d come over to this area the night Harry had hired us, the place had been dark and empty. This morning, it was brightly lit and seemed like a reasonably safe place. There was the dumpster to our right, and next to it, in the parking spot reserved for the employee of the month, was a large white SUV.

  Ian and I walked down the alley slowly, but nothing unusual jumped out at us. There was a dumpster near the back door of the bank next door, but no special parking spot; the sporting goods store next door had its own dumpster as well, plus two parking spots; the clothing boutique after that didn’t have a dumpster, and it had only one parking spot.

  The pattern continued with each of the stores along the alley: some of them had their own dumpster and parking spots, and some of them had one or the other.

  Ian and I followed the alley around to the parking lot, and walked slowly back towards Betta Furniture.

  Chapter Thirty–One

  I decided we might as well stop at the bank next door and see if Brett would be willing to tell us anything new. Ian and I stepped in through the sliding glass doors into the cold air–conditioned office.

  The plush gray carpet was soft under our feet. The place seemed eerily quiet; a split second later, Ian and I both realized why.

  There was nobody inside the main banking area. No security guard, no tellers, no customers.

  A muffled yell reached our ears.

  “The manager’s office,” said Ian, taking large, brisk steps forward.

  When we entered the small room, we saw four chairs lining the far wall. The manager, Jared; the brunette teller, Eva; Brett; and a man in a security guard’s uniform whom we’d never met before, all sitting on the chairs. Their mouths were covered with duct tape, their hands bound behind their backs, their ankles tied together.

  Everyone’s eyes were wild and panicked. Ian and I went over to them and ripped the duct tape off their mouths, and they all began talking at once.

  “Two people in black jumpsuits and ski masks walked in—” said Brett.

  “One of them pointed a gun at me and told me to drop my weapon,” said the security guard, “and the other went over to the teller windows, where Jared was talking to Brett.”

  “Brett had asked me to come in to take a look at his system, which had gotten screwed up,” said Jared, “and then these two walked in—”

  “They told us not to press the alarm,” said Brett. “They took all the money from the drawers, and then one of them gave me a drill and made me walk over to the lockers and open some of them.”

  “The other one tied us all up and made us wait in this room,” said Eva.

  “They emptied out a couple of lockers,” said Brett, “and then they left.”

  “One of them made me lock the doors,” said the security guard, “to make sure no customers walked in. They unlocked it before they left.”

  Ian and I tried to listen to everything that was being said, tried to make sense of it all, when I remembered to call 911.<
br />
  Within a minute or two, the cops arrived at the bank.

  Ryan was on the team, and he nodded at me, businesslike, not seeming surprised to see me at the scene of the crime. “What happened here?”

  “Broad daylight bank robbery,” I said. I looked at Ian incredulously, not entirely sure what had happened. “It sounds like some kind of heist movie. I can’t believe people get away with robbing banks nowadays.”

  “You’ll be surprised what people get away with,” said Ryan grimly. “Did you and Ian see anything interesting?”

  I shook my head. “We walked in a few minutes ago, and I guess the robbers had been gone for a while.”

  Ryan nodded at one of the uniformed officers who was with him. “Why don’t you two give your statements, and then you can come around to the precinct later on, if you need to.”

  Ian and I spent a few minutes talking to the officers, and then we were free to go.

  “Something feels off,” said Ian as he stepped into the car.

  “What’s off is that the bank robbery seems to have been successful,” I said. “And pretty much every successful crime involves an inside job.”

  The two of us exchanged a glance.

  “Emily and Eric both have the day off today,” said Ian. “That’s why there was a new guard on duty, substituting for him. D’you think those two have something to do with it?”

  “Eric must know the bank pretty well,” I said thoughtfully. “I’m not sure where Emily comes into this.”

  “Maybe Eric just needed a partner. Maybe she’s his alibi.”

  I shook my head. “I’m sure there’s more to it. Let’s go find out.”

  When we got to Emily and Eric’s apartment, nobody seemed to be at home. We knocked for what felt like a minute straight, but there was no answer.

  Finally, one of their neighbors from a few doors down walked past us on her way out.

  “Have you seen Emily or Eric today?” I asked her desperately.

  The woman looked at me curiously. “You’re the investigator who came around a few days ago.”

  I nodded. “Yes, and I’m trying to get in touch with them, but I can’t find them.”

  The woman nodded. “I ran into them earlier this morning, a couple of hours ago. They said they were going for a hike in the desert.”

  Ian and I raised our eyebrows at each other.

  “A few hours ago?” I looked at the woman thoughtfully. “Isn’t that a bit late to be going on a hike? It gets far too hot and sunny by then.”

  “That’s what I thought, too. But there’s no accounting for taste.”

  We watched as she turned and walked away, and then Ian and I stared at each other glumly.

  “Do you really think they’ve gone for a hike?” said Ian. “Emily did say she’d spend her day off going for a hike and then heading to the casinos.”

  “I’m not sure what I think,” I said. “But I do know that we need to wait here for them to come back.”

  “What if they never come back? What if they just take their loot and run off somewhere?”

  I shook my head. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Maybe you could call Detective Ryan and give him a heads–up.”

  I looked at Ian doubtfully. “All we’ve got is our suspicions.”

  But Ian was insistent, and in the end, I wound up giving Ryan a call.

  “Did you find out anything about the robbery?” I asked once he’d answered. “Maybe traffic cams tracked the getaway vehicle.”

  “We tried that,” said Ryan. “And I shouldn’t be talking about an open case, but traffic cams tracked the car driving into a private, unmonitored parking lot. Nobody saw it leaving, and the car was found parked there. The robbers must’ve switched cars.”

  “That’s pretty good planning on their part.”

  Ryan made a noncommittal noise, and I told him that I suspected Emily and Eric of being involved in the robbery somehow.

  “Anything seems possible,” said Ryan, “and we’ll talk to them.”

  “What if they come back with the loot now? And decide to stash it in their apartment?”

  “We can’t go through their apartment without a warrant,” said Ryan. “But thanks for the heads–up.”

  “I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”

  “What you mean, find out anything? You’re not supposed to be investigating.”

  “I have to talk to them anyway, because of Janice’s death.”

  I could sense Ryan’s disapproval over the phone. Finally, he said, “I’d rather you didn’t meddle with this robbery investigation.”

  “I won’t,” I said before hanging up.

  Except, that was a lie; the robbery had gotten tangled up with Janice’s death, and there was no way I could stop investigating now.

  Chapter Thirty–Two

  A few minutes later, Ian and I heard footsteps approaching and turned around in time to see Emily and Eric walking toward us. Eric was carrying a backpack, the type that hikers wear, and both of them were wearing cargo pants and light–colored shirts.

  “It’s nice to see you two again,” I said with a smile.

  They looked at us suspiciously, their eyes not giving anything away.

  “What are you doing here?” said Emily finally.

  She pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the apartment door.

  “We came to talk to you two,” I said, following them in uninvited.

  Inside, the apartment was old and run–down. The carpet had a garish floral print, and the walls were a faded yellowish–cream. The front door opened onto the living room, which was furnished with a sofa and two chairs, and a small kitchen was set against the opposite wall. A hallway ran down from one side of the living room, and I guessed it led to two bedrooms and a bathroom.

  “We’re kind of busy right now,” said Emily.

  “Really?” I looked from her to Eric. They both looked flustered and tired, but neither of them had the sweaty, sunburned look that hikers get. “Where did you two get back from?”

  “If you must know,” said Emily, sounding exasperated, “we just got back from a hike.”

  I looked at them both carefully, but their expressions were unflinching.

  “You don’t look like you got back from a hike,” said Ian.

  “Well, we can’t help that,” Emily snapped at him. “Anyway, I need to go take a shower.”

  Emily disappeared down the hallway, obviously heading into her room to get fresh clothes. Eric disappeared for a moment, and we heard him toss the backpack away into his room.

  The backpack only made a soft “thud” when it landed, but I couldn’t shake the suspicion that perhaps it contained the contents of the bank lockers. Too bad I had no idea what had been in the lockers. On the other hand, Ryan would know.

  “Excuse us for a moment,” I said to Eric when he got back to the living room. “Ian and I need to step out for a moment.”

  “What’s this about?” said Ian once Eric closed the door behind us and we were standing in the hallway again.

  “I need to call Detective Ryan.”

  “Why did I have to come out here with you?”

  “I didn’t want you saying anything that might tip Eric off.”

  “You don’t think he’s already tipped off?”

  Ian had a point, but I decided not to think about that and called Ryan again.

  “What was stolen from those lockers?” I asked him.

  There was a moment’s silence as Ryan obviously considered whether he should keep the details secret.

  “It’ll be public knowledge soon enough,” I reminded him.

  “You’re right,” said Ryan. “Only three lockers were broken into. I guess it takes time to drill into them, and the robbers didn’t want to waste too much time and risk someone walking in on them. One locker had a copy of a screenplay; another locker had photocopies of some legal documents.”

  “And the third locker?”

&
nbsp; Ryan sighed. “Mrs. Hahn, an elderly client of the bank, went on a cruise last month. Before she left Vegas, she stored all her jewelry in the locker.”

  A sudden rush of air entered my lungs. “Oh no! What terrible timing!”

  “She’ll get everything back from her insurance,” said Ryan reassuringly.

  I pressed my lips together and nodded. “When did she leave for this cruise?”

  “Just under a month ago. She’s due back in Vegas in two days.”

  I nodded, feeling the wheels turning in my head. I could see the dim outline of a picture, but I wasn’t entirely sure what it was.

  I thanked Ryan for his help, and then Ian and I headed back into Eric and Emily’s apartment.

  Eric wasn’t too thrilled to see us. “I thought you might have left for good.”

  “And I thought you might not open the door,” said Ian. “You could’ve just left us waiting out there.”

  “I could have just done that, couldn’t I?” said Eric, looking at me and Ian speculatively.

  “But that would just have made you look more guilty,” I reminded him.

  “Guilty of what?” said Eric, staring at me.

  “You tell me.”

  The two of us continued to stare at each other until Emily reappeared, her hair wet from the shower. “What’s going on?”

  She glanced from me to Eric. A flicker of worry passed over her eyes, and Eric looked at her and smiled reassuringly.

  “Nothing,” he said.

  Emily turned to Ian and me again. “This is a really bad time for us. Perhaps you two could come back another day?”

  I shook my head. “This is a really bad time for us too. We need to do this now.”

  “You know what?” said Eric. “I just remembered that I need to get back that thing I left at Tom’s house.”

  “What thing?” said Emily sharply.

  Eric looked at her apologetically. “You know how we went over to his house for dinner last night? Well, I left something behind. I better go get it now.”