Fly Me to the Morgue (8 page)
âThat it?' I asked. âThe horse?'
âI don't know,' Bing said, looking unnerved. âCould be.'
âWhere is he, Jerry?'
âOver here.'
We started over and then I stopped.
âHow bad?'
âBad.'
âWhy don't you stay here, Bing?' I said.
âWhat, you think I'm squeamish?' he asked, already looking a little green around the gills.
âWhy take a chance?' I asked.
âGood point. I'll go and look at that horse.'
âGood idea.'
I followed Jerry to another, empty stall.
Empty except for a battered, bloody man.
âDo we know that's him?' I asked.
âNo.'
âYou go through his pockets?'
âNo, Mr G. I found him and went to tell you. Ya want me to?'
âWhy not?' I said. âLet's see if it's him before we call the cops.'
âWe gotta call the cops?'
I turned and looked at Bing, who was bent over, checking the horse's legs.
âLet'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.
âLicense, and credit cards in the name Christopher Arnold,' he said.
âPut it back.'
He did and stood up.
âWhat's it look like, Jerry?'
âLike somebody went at him with something,' he said. âA two-by-four, a baseball bat, a tire iron . . .'
âHey guys?' Bing called. We both looked over at him. âWhat's going on?'
âIt's him,' I said. âChris Arnold. Somebody beat him to death.'
âJesus.'
We backed away from the stall and joined Bing.
âWow,' Jerry said. âThat looks like a thoroughbred. Good formation, looks about three. You want to buy a three year old, Mr C?'
âI'd buy a horse who looked like he could win, no matter what age,' he said.
âThis one would never get you to the triple crown.'
âWhy not?' I asked.
âBecause they're over for this year. And next year this horse will be four.'
âThat doesn't matter,' Bing said. âIn fact, none of this really matters if that's Chris Arnold. What do we do now?'
âWe have two options,' I said.
âWhat are they?'
âWe can get in the car and get out of here, or we call the cops.'
âWhat do you suggest?' Bing asked.
âWe get outta here,' Jerry said.
âWe should call the cops,' I said.
âMr G.,' Jerry said. âThe car.'
âWhat about it? The tracks would be kinda hard to wipe out.'
âNo, not your car,' he said. âThe other car. The one that passed us.'
âOhhh, yeah.'
âYou mean, they saw us?' Bing asked.
âWell, they probably saw us the way we saw them,' I said. âBut I think what Jerry means is, somebody in that car could've been the killer.'
âOh.'
âBing, this is gonna be your call,' I said. âThere's bound to be publicity.'
âBut if we leave, there might be somebody who knows that we were supposed to meet today.'
I shrugged.
âWe can say you couldn't make it. You called to reschedule, and nobody answered.'
âBut they'd still want to question me, right?' He looked at Jerry. âRight?'
âMr C., if he's got your name in an appointment book or somethin', yeah, they'll still wanna talk to ya.'
âAnd I'd have to lie â I mean, if I didn't want them to know I was here.'
âWell, yeah,' Jerry said.
Bing rubbed his chin and said, âI don't know how good I'd be at that.'
âAin't you ever lied before?' Jerry asked.
âYeah, but not to the police. And you don't want to be here for the cops, right, Jerry?'
âI'd rather not, Mr C.'
âWe could just leave this poor joker here to be found by someone else,' I said.
âHave you boys done this sort of thing before?' Bing asked. âI 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.
âLet's just say we did whatever was necessary,' I said.
âOK,' Bing said, âI 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.
âBing,' I said, âthe fact is we haven't done anything wrong here.'
âThat's true.'
âThey'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.'
âWell, I don't want you boys to get into trouble.'
âDon't worry, Mr C.,' Jerry said. âWe can handle the cops.'
âWell, then . . . where should we do this from? Drive back to civilization? I mean, this being the scene of the crime and all.'
âI think we can risk calling the police from the house,' I said. âJerry, maybe you should wait here and . . . watch the body.'
âWouldn't want him to get up and walk away,' Jerry said. âWould 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 â by extension â us with respect.
âSo, Mr Crosby,' Detective Harry Lewis said, âyou didn't have a definite time for your appointment with Mr Arnold?'
âWe just said it would be this morning,' Bing said.
He gave us all a look.
âAnd none of you saw the driver of the car that sideswiped you?'
âIt didn't exactly sideswipe us,' I said, âbut no, there was too much dust and dirt bein' kicked around.'
âThat's right,' Bing said.
Jerry just nodded.
âYou don't say much, do you, Mr Epstein?' Detective Lewis said.
âI guess not.'
Lewis' partner, a man named Perry, came out of the barn and walked over to us.
âThe M.E. says he was bludgeoned to death,' he said. âAlso said the killer would have been covered with the victim's blood.'
Pointedly, the two detectives looked the three of us over.
âClean as a whistle,' Bing said.
âYes, it would seem,' Lewis said. He was the older of the two men â forties as opposed to thirties â and also seemed to be the man in charge.
âWell, we can reach all three of you at the Sands Hotel in Vegas?'
âThat's right,' Bing said.
âDid any of you touch the body?' Detective Perry asked.
âI looked at his wallet,' Jerry admitted.
âWhy?'
âWe wanted to be sure who he was,' Bing said. âI asked Jerry to look.'
Bing effectively took the pressure right off Jerry with that admission.
âNot exactly what you're supposed to do when faced with a body, Mr Crosby,' Lewis said. âWe prefer witnesses don't touch the victim.'
âWell,' Bing said, âwe didn't really witness anything, did we?'
âIt's . . . just a word we use,' Lewis said. âYou found the body, and saw the car hurrying away.'
âI see,' Bing said.
âAnd the house?' Perry asked.
âWhat about it?' Bing asked.
âDid anyone go in?'
âWell, yeah,' Bing said. âEddie and I went in to look for Mr Arnold. Jerry went to look in the barn.'
âTouch anything in the house?' Lewis asked.
âJust the front doorknob,' I said.
Lewis made a note.
âWe'll be bringing the body out in a few minutes,' Perry said. âIf you don't want to see it, you're free to go.'
âYou won't be leaving Vegas anytime soon, will you, Mr Crosby?'
âWe should be here a couple of more days,' Bing said. âIf there's family around I might still want to buy the horse.'
âI see,' Lewis said.
âIs that a little cold-blooded?' Bing asked.
âNot at all, sir,' Lewis said. âAfter all, you didn't know the man . . . did you?'
âNever met.'
âAll right, then,' Lewis said. âThe three of you can leave. We'll need to take formal statements from you at some point.'
âWe'll be available.'
We started for the car and then Lewis called, âMr Crosby?'
âYes?' We all turned.
âYou said you never met the deceased.'
âThat's right.'
âWhat about your trainer, Mr . . . Stanley?' he asked, referring to his notebook. âHad he ever met him?'
âThey spoke on the phone,' Bing said, âbut they never met.'
âWould I be able to question Mr Stanley about it?' Lewis asked.
âThat might be a problem,' Bing said.
âWhy's that?'
âWe don't know where he is,' Bing said. âHe was supposed to meet me at the Sands, but he never showed up. We're pretty worried.'
âI see. Have you made a report to the Vegas police?' Lewis asked.
âNo,' Bing said, âwe thought he might show up today. Still might, I guess.'
âAll right,' Lewis said. âWe'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, âThanks, Bing, for taking the lead.'
âI noticed how they reacted to me,' he said. âRespectful. Thought I might as well trade on that.'
âOnce they get back to their offices and check on us, they'll come around a little less respectfully,' I said.
âWell, if they do, let me know if I can help.'
âWhen they're less respectful,' I said, âit'll probably be best if you're not around.'
âI wonder,' Bing said, âif 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.
âWe gotta get your car cleaned,' Jerry said, in the lobby.
âWe can do that later,' I said. âI want to check and see if Danny called.'
âI'll go to my suite, then,' Jerry said. âI need a shower.'
âOK,' I said. âI'll call you later.'
âOK, Mr G.'
âJerry.'
âYeah?'
âI'll have one of the valets get the car washed,' I promised. âIt'll be clean next time we use it.'
He grinned and said, âOK.'
I went to the front desk and found a message there from Danny. I went to a phone and called his office. Penny answered.
âHe's been waiting for your call, Eddie,' she said. âI'll put you through.'
âEddie?'
âWhat's up, Danny?'
âHow was your meetin' with the horse guy?'
âNot good,' I said. âWhen we got there he was dead.'
âWhat? Tell me.'
I explained, told him we called the cops after a lot of procrastination, and then relayed to him our conversation with them.
âThey let you go?' he said, when I was done.
âYeah, they don't know our history, yet,' I said. âAnd they were pretty respectful to Bing.'
âThis isn't good, Eddie.'
âDon't I know it.'
âWell, you don't know the half of it.'
âWhataya mean?'
âI found your trainer, Red Stanley.'
âWhere?'
âIn a hotel room.'
âWhat the hellâ'
âHe's dead, Eddie,' Danny said. âHe'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.
âDid you call the cops?' I asked.
âOh, yeah,' he said. âI've got a license to protect.'
âOK,' I said, âtell 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.
âHe came out the front, carrying his suitcase,' the driver said. His name was Frankie. âI was next in line, but instead of coming to my cab he got into another car.'
âHe got in on his own?'
âNo,' the driver said. âAnother man came up alongside him, they talked for a minute, and then the sedan pulled up. And they both got in.'
âDid you see a gun?'
âA what?'
âCould the other man have had a gun?'
The driver thought then said, âI suppose he could have. Yeah, out of sight, like. Maybe jammed into the guy's side? Was it a kidnapping?' he asked. âDid I see a kidnapping?'
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