Deadly Disco in Las Vegas: A Humorous Tiffany Black Mystery (Tiffany Black Mysteries Book 6) (3 page)

I nodded. “But not you. You’ve been with your partner for twenty-five years.”

David grinned. “I’m lucky. And I guess my partner and I both wanted to settle down and be adults, you know? Keep house, have a family, that kind of thing.”

I nodded, thinking about my parents. They’ve been married for over thirty years now, and I’ve rarely ever seen them fight.

Ian said, “Some people just don’t want to settle down.”

“What about you?” said David.

Ian shrugged. “I’d love to settle down, but I just don’t meet the right women. They take off when they find out I can’t access all the money in my trust fund.”

David gave him a long look, and I tried to smile encouragingly at Ian. “I’m sure you’ll find someone nice soon.”

“Vegas attracts partiers,” said David flatly. “Those kind of women might not suit Ian, but they suited Josh.”

I nodded, focusing on our investigation again. “So, Josh hopped around from one girl to another. Mostly tourists, I guess?”

“A lot of tourists,” said David. “The occasional local.”

“And Chloe was a local?”

David nodded. “She was a stripper over at the Peacock Bar. They actually met at a grocery store, and I think they got along well.”

“Did Chloe know about Josh’s extra affairs?”

“I think so,” said David. “I don’t think she cared too much. She knew what she was getting into.”

Ian said, “And she was a stripper. So technically, Josh was kind of sharing a bit of her.”

David shrugged. “Depends how you look at it. Chloe wasn’t sleeping with her clients.”

“What about the assistant?” I said. “Amelia?”

David sighed. “She worked for both of us, and we had to let her go after David’s death. She found his body, you know. Said she was too spooked to work in here anymore.”

“It must be tough for her,” said Ian. “If I found a dead body in the hallway of my building, I wouldn’t want to live in my apartment anymore.”

I looked at Ian and frowned. I liked living down the hall from Ian and Snowflake, and I hoped he never did find a dead body in the hallway.
Note to self: if you ever see a dead body in the hallway, hide it before Ian finds it.

“I understand how Amelia feels,” said David. “But now I have to look for a new assistant, and it’s not easy finding someone good. And so on top of Josh’s work, I need to do her work. It’s not easy.”

“I heard Amelia was a good assistant,” I said.

David nodded. “She’s the best. Really efficient, really hard-working.”

“Where’d she go after she quit?”

David said, “Josh and I own a restaurant off-Strip. The Thai Lantern. It’s Thai fusion food, and the hostess quit a few weeks back. We’d hired a waitress temporarily, but now Amelia’s there. She’s a great hostess and it pays more than her assistant job, so I hope she stays on.”

“How did she get along with Josh?” asked Ian.

“She got along well with everyone here. Very friendly person, very professional. So glad she lives in Vegas.”

“Why does she live in Vegas?” I asked, curious. Nobody ever moved to Vegas for good. There were a handful of locals, and Vegas was like any other small town in America that way—it was a place you left, not a place you moved to.

David said, “She came out to Vegas to vacation with her girlfriends, and she used to be an assistant back East. She’d just broken up with her boyfriend and was looking for a change. We were hiring, she interviewed, and then she stayed on here. I think she’s been working for us three years now.”

I nodded. She was probably just transitioning, the way some people do when they live in Vegas for a few years, get whatever they wanted to do out of their systems, and then move back to a family-friendly suburb and raise their kids and act like an adult.

“Did she like living in Vegas?” I asked. “Was she much of a partier?”

“I don’t think so,” said David. “She worked nights, like the rest of us, but she usually started at six and left at three, before the club closed up. I think she was like me, preferring to stay home on her days off.”

“And what about Josh’s relationship with her?” I said. “Did they ever get together?”

David shook his head. “I don’t think so. Josh used to say, ‘I don’t shit where I eat,’ if you’ll excuse the adolescent expression. He’s never slept with anyone who’s worked for us, as far as I know. Not a waitress, bartender, accountant or assistant.”

“There’s always an exception,” suggested Ian.

“Not with Josh,” said David. “He’s been with too many women to be anything less than jaded. He told me once that he couldn’t have a long-term relationship because at the end of the day, women are psychotic. Clingy, and never leave you alone.” He looked at me apologetically. “Josh’s words, not mine. Anyway, that’s why he wouldn’t risk sleeping with anyone at work. He didn’t want them harassing him all the time, even during his office hours.”

“But he got married once,” said Ian. “What was that about?”

David shrugged. “I guess he fell in love. It happens.”

“And he really thought it would work out?” I said.

“I think he knew at the back of his mind that it wouldn’t. But he also really wanted to have a family. And when they broke up, Josh helped Mary out as much as he could. She was a good woman, too, didn’t want his money. She could’ve fleeced him if she’d wanted.”

I thought back to Mary, talking about how grateful she was that Josh had helped her start her business and had been a good father. “I guess she wanted more than money.”

David nodded, understanding what I meant. “There’s more to life than cash.”

The three of us were reflective for a few moments, and then Ian said, “What about you? How close were you and Josh?”

David crossed two of his fingers together and held them up. “Like this. I guess we made quite a pair in college, but afterwards… anyway, I ran into Josh in Vegas after a few years at my job. It was great to see him, and I’d been looking for an out. Josh and I—we had a good business together. We worked well as a team.” David sighed, his eyes looking more tired than usual. “I’ll miss that guy.”

Ian and I exchanged a glance.

“I hate to ask this,” I said, “but you understand that I have to. Where were you when Josh died?”

David said, “I was home, sleeping in. I got a phone call from Amelia just before one o’clock. She was calling from the hospital. They’d brought Josh in. She’d panicked and cried for a while and then called Mary and me.”

I nodded. He was at home, alone, which meant that if Josh had been murdered, David was a suspect. He had no alibi. And he’d inherited a third of Josh’s estate. While David claimed that Josh had been a good friend of his, murders have been committed for much less money. So I had to keep in mind that David might have played a part in Josh’s death.

“What was Josh doing here at midday, anyway?” said Ian. “Don’t you guys start work later?”

“It varies,” said David. “We’ve got flexible hours. Sometimes, Josh tried to work days. He said that the quiet helped him think, and it was easier to communicate with some of the suppliers who kept business hours.”

“And was Amelia here?”

David shook his head. “The way it played out was this. Josh must’ve come in early to work. At twelve thirty-five, Amelia got a text saying it was an emergency, she needed to come into the office. When she got here, she found Josh lying on the floor. No one else was in here.”

I nodded. “How did Amelia get into the building?”

“We use the staff entrance on the side,” said David. “There’s a keypad on the outside. During the night, it’s unlocked, and we have a bouncer warding off smart alecks. If there’s someone who wants the VIP treatment, we escort them in through the back. Sometimes we do that with large groups, too, to keep them from crowding the main entrance.”

I nodded. “So Amelia must’ve come in through the side entrance.”

David said, “Yeah, it’s easier for us staff to use, and we don’t have to cross the dance floor every time.”

“And she used the keypad.”

“She must’ve.”

“Who else knows the code?”

David said, “Just, me, Josh and Amelia. No one else.”

“So if someone else was here with Josh when he died…”

David said, “They don’t need to have known the keypad code to get in. They might’ve called or texted Josh, asking him to open the door.”

“Then it’d be on his cell phone record,” I said. “I didn’t see any landlines in Josh’s room.”

“We don’t have landline service anymore,” said David. “It’s unnecessary.”

“So the phone records might have a key,” I mused. “We can get them from the cops.”

David nodded. “Exactly. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Ian and I exchanged a glance. We seemed to have run out of questions. Before we left, I gave David my card and said, “One more thing. Was Josh acting differently in any way before he died?”

David shook his head no. “Not that I can remember.”

Ian had wanted to take another stab at baking some cupcakes, but I was exhausted and went straight to bed for a few hours of sleep. All too soon, I was up again, and heading out.

It was early afternoon, and I had a few hours before my shift. I decided to use my time wisely, and found myself at the Las Vegas police station.

From the outside, the LVMPD building is bland and boring. The inside is just as bland. It’s a fifties-style brick monstrosity that must’ve been renovated sometime in the last five years, because these days, the air filtering system is quite good, and you can hardly smell the gun oil and cigarette smoke that lingers on the cops’ clothes.

Once inside, I asked to see Detective Elwood.

“You again,” Elwood growled when he saw me.

Detective Elwood was a short, chubby man with a perpetual scowl on his face. He and I have run into each other quite a bit on various cases, and while we’re not fond of each other, we’ve grown accustomed to each other’s presence.

“It’s good to see you again, too,” I replied to Elwood.

He glanced around me hopefully. “Where are the cupcakes?”

I smiled and shook my head. The last time I’d come to see him, I’d brought over some cupcakes. “None today, I’m afraid.”

He scowled again and let me follow him over to a small conference room. “This just gets better,” he grumbled. “At least last time there was something in it for me.”

“I’ll try to remember next time,” I said. “I had no idea you were so fond of cupcakes.”

“Well, I am now,” he said. “There’s something addictive about them.”

I nodded. Nobody knew that better than me. “And how’s your wife?” I asked.

Elwood’s scowl deepened. “I’m pretty sure she’s cheating on me,” he said. “She gets calls sometimes at night and she goes to the other room to take them.”

“Well, why don’t you ask her?” I said. “Don’t you want to know what’s going on?”

“What’s the point?” grumbled Elwood. “I love her, and I can’t live without her. I’d rather not know if she
is
having an affair. As long as I don’t know, I don’t have to face it.”

“Don’t you want to know the truth?” I said.

Elwood shook his head. “The truth doesn’t matter as much as being happy. I’d rather not think about the future and just live like this.”

“I can see your point,” I said slowly. “The future is uncertain. Why deal with it now?”

Elwood nodded. “Exactly. Now, what can I help you with?”

I told him about Josh Cadogan’s death. “His ex-wife hired me to look into it.”

Just then, a familiar face walked past the conference room, did a double take and walked inside.

“Hello, Tiffany,” said Detective Ryan Dimitriou. His grayish eyes glittered softly, and the light bounced off his dark, wavy hair. He was wearing a light-colored shirt that set off his tan skin and broad shoulders. “Fancy seeing you here.”

I smiled and tried to ignore the butterflies that were suddenly fluttering around in my stomach, threatening to leave me in a lump of nerves. “Hi,” I said shyly.

“Is this another case?” asked Detective Dimitriou.

I nodded. “Josh Cadogan.”

“It was my case,” said Elwood, from across the table. “I’ll get you the files.”

When Elwood left, Detective Dimitriou sat down opposite me and said, “So, how’ve you been?”

His gray eyes smiled at me, and I said, “Not too bad, Detective.”

“Call me Ryan.”

“Ryan.” I said the word slowly, getting used to it. “How are you?”

“Not bad. You know, I haven’t seen you since that incident with Lana Fierst, where you caught that stalker.”

“I know,” I said, thinking back to the reality TV star and her stalker. “I’m glad it ended well.”

“Me too,” said Ryan as Detective Elwood came back. “I guess you need to get to work.”

“Here are the files,” said Elwood, handing them over to me. He glanced over at Ryan. “You coming?”

Ryan got up and said, “Yeah.” He looked down at me and said, “I’ll see you around. Maybe we’ll even get to chase the same psychopaths sometime.”

“Maybe,” I said, smiling as he left. I wondered if we would be working on the same case again, anytime in the future. That might be nice.

But then, I pushed the thought from my mind and focused on the files in front of me. These papers contained information about Josh’s death, and if his death really had been due to foul play, the clues would be in this file.