High Stakes and Hazelnut Cupcakes in Las Vegas Read online

  I nodded. “The cops always suspect the spouse or partner, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they had anything to do with the death. Do you really think Richard had something to do with April’s death?”

  “I don’t know. I’d only met the guy once. April claimed they weren’t that serious yet, and I knew my sister well enough—she doesn’t settle down quickly. But that’s what the cops told me, that Richard was the main suspect, and I didn’t see them doing anything about it.”

  “Sounds like you don’t really suspect Richard,” Ian said.

  Dave shook his head. “I don’t know what to believe. I don’t know what’s going on.”

  “And your sister never complained about Richard? The two of them seemed happy together?”

  Dave shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “April never complained about Richard, but she wasn’t very serious about him. She’s not—I loved my sister, but I knew what she was like. She mentioned that she’d see someone named Adrian once in a while; I don’t know if there was any other man in her life. I’m not sure she was mature enough to believe in monogamy, and if you ever asked her about seeing two guys at the same time, she’d say something about not having the monogamy talk yet.”

  Ian nodded. “I know guys like that. They think it’s okay to date multiple women, until they commit to one.”

  “That’s exactly what April would say,” said Dave.

  “But did Richard know that she was seeing other men?” I said.

  “I don’t know,” said Dave, “I never asked.”

  “Had you ever met this Adrian?”

  Dave shook his head. “I think he was someone who worked with her at the café.”

  “He shouldn’t be too hard to find,” I said. “What café did she work at?”

  “The Café Allegro.”

  Ian and I shared a glance. The Café Allegro was owned by a man we’d run into on previous investigations, and I knew that he would be happy to help us out.

  “Were there any other men in her life?” I said.

  “I don’t know if she was seeing anyone,” said Dave, “but she’s got an ex-boyfriend, Vince, who I thought was a bit too obsessed with her. A few months after April moved to Vegas, Vince moved down here as well. He’s a bouncer at Deadly Disco, that nightclub just west of the Strip.”

  “An obsessed ex-boyfriend?” said Ian. “That sounds like someone with motive to me.”

  “The cops said he had an airtight alibi,” said Dave. “And I’ve met Vince, I don’t think he’s the kind of person who would want to hurt April.”

  “Do you know anyone who might actually want to hurt her? Did April have any enemies at all?”

  Dave shook his head. “Not that I know of. She was always very friendly and sweet—she might have been a bit immature and flighty, but she was a lovely person. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt her.”

  “And what about her friends here?”

  “I don’t think she had that many,” said Dave. “She’d sometimes hang out with the other staff at the Café Allegro, and she and Ruby were quite close. But I don’t think she’d met anyone else.”

  I nodded. “When was the last time you talked to her? Did you notice anything odd about her behavior before she died?”

  Dave shook his head. “She seemed perfectly normal to me. I talked to her around lunchtime on the day she died. Just for a few minutes—she was on her break at work, and I’d just gotten up. We didn’t discuss anything important—I asked her how things were going, how work was. She seemed happy. Everything seemed normal.”

  I nodded and looked at Snowflake, who blinked at me sleepily. “We might not be able to find anything new,” I warned Dave.

  He shook his head. “I’ve heard that you can find out all kinds of things. I don’t know if you’ll be able to find out who killed April, but I’d really like you to look into this.”

  I glanced at Ian, who nodded encouragingly, and then I found my PI contract for Dave to sign.

  “We’ll do our best,” I said to Dave. “And we’ll start right away.”

  Chapter 3

  Ian and I headed straight over to the police station, a red brick building that was bland and boring on the outside, and just as bland and boring, with nondescript white walls and gray carpet, on the inside.

  I’d visited the precinct so many times by now that many of the officers knew me, and I made my way through to the bullpen, where most of the detectives’ desks were.

  Ian and I had stepped just a few paces inside when we ran into Detective Elwood, a balding middle-aged man whose diet of sweet pastries and stale coffee is reflected in his stout physique.

  Elwood and I have met each other on quite a few occasions, and though our relationship got off to a rocky start, I’d like to think that he has a begrudging respect for me by now.

  He scowled when he saw me and Ian and said, “You haven’t come to see me, have you?”

  I shook my head. “But it’s still nice to run into you. How’ve you been?”

  “Same old, same old. You’re here to see that boyfriend of yours, Detective Ryan, right?”

  I nodded, not wanting to disclose the fact that Ian and I were going to look into a case that was still technically being investigated by the LVMPD. “A social visit.”

  Elwood raised one skeptical eyebrow. “With your schmucky friend in tow?”

  “I’m not schmucky,” said Ian. “And I like hanging out with Ryan. And he likes hanging out with me too.”

  “Let me guess,” said Elwood, “you’ve got no life of your own, so you even tag along on their dates.”

  “Not always,” said Ian, “but I went once, and we all had a good time, didn’t we?”

  He looked at me, and I forced myself not to grimace. That one date had been quite memorable and had involved Ian filling Ryan in on his woeful love life and the stalker that he was dealing with at that time.

  But I didn’t need to bother to think up a reply, because Elwood said, “I’m not convinced this is a social visit, and I don’t care. I’ve had enough of you two harassing me for details of cases you want to look into.”

  I smiled wryly. “I’d think you’d miss me, especially since I’ve been bringing you cupcakes the last few times we talked.”

  Elwood’s scowl deepened. “Well, I do miss the cupcakes. Just because you’re dating Detective Ryan, you’re going to deprive your old friend Elwood of cupcakes?”

  “Of course not,” I said quickly. I knew I needed to keep Elwood on my good side—he was someone I’d had to turn to frequently for help or information on a case. “Ian was just talking about how much he wanted to start baking again. He’s planning to bake a batch of hazelnut cupcakes, and I’m sure he’d be happy to bring you some.”

  Elwood’s brow cleared, and Ian looked at me in consternation.

  “When did I say I’d bake cupcakes?” said Ian.

  “Just this morning,” I reminded him. “You said we needed to practice our baking. But I don’t have time because of all my work, so you can bake some on your own.”

  Anxiety clouded over Ian’s face. “I do want to bake, and I’d like to make those hazelnut cupcakes. But I’m not sure I can—”

  “You’ll be great at it,” I said enthusiastically. “We’ve made cupcakes together before, and I’m sure Elwood wouldn’t mind if your batch turns out to be too sugary or too hazelnut-ey.”

  Elwood smiled and nodded brightly. “Sure, I’d be happy to try Ian’s cupcakes.”

  As we watched Elwood disappear out the door, Ian muttered something under his breath, and I turned to him inquisitively. “You did say you wanted to bake hazelnut cupcakes.”

  “Why do I have to bake them for Elwood?”

  I smiled. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

  ***

  When Detective Ryan saw me, his eyes lit up with a smile, and my heart skipped a beat.

  I resisted the urge to run my hands through his wavy, tousled brown hair, and instead leaned forward to giv
e him a quick kiss on his cheek.

  “Hi, gorgeous,” he said, his gray eyes gazing into mine. “It’s good to see you. And you, too, Ian,” he added quickly, turning to Ian, who murmured a polite response.

  Although Ryan and I haven’t been dating for too long, our relationship has always been quite laid-back and casual. I’ve never asked him for a work-related favor before, but I did help him nab some bank robbers while I was working on my latest case. So I figured that he would be happy to help us out this once.

  Because the case was still open, I wasn’t too surprised when Ryan suggested we head out of the precinct and over to a café a few doors down.

  “I ran into Elwood on the way,” I told him. “How’s he doing these days?”

  “He seems the same to me,” said Ryan. “Always grumpy, always unhappy with life.”

  I nodded. “And how about you?”

  “I’m quite happy,” Ryan said softly. “But then again, I’m seeing the most wonderful woman.”

  His words made me feel all tingly and happy inside, and when we reached the café and grabbed a table near the back, I looked at him and said softly, “I wish we weren’t here on work. I feel like I haven’t seen you in a while.”

  Ryan reached across the table to squeeze my hand. “First you were busy with late shifts, and then I was busy with that double homicide we only just managed to crack.”

  “Shouldn’t we order something?” said Ian, interrupting us.

  I nodded and looked around. At this hour, the café was half-empty; it seemed like the kind of place that catered to Vegas locals, mostly those who worked nearby.

  The walls were painted a grayish white, and the floors were industrial white tile. The small tables and chairs were made of some kind of nondescript dark wood, and a few abstract prints hung on the wall.

  I could see the counter with its display of cakes and pastries from where I sat, and I said, “Their cakes look pretty good.”

  “I can get coffees for all of us, and maybe a large slice of cake to share?”

  I looked at Ryan, who said, “I won’t have any cake, but I wouldn’t mind an Americano.”

  “And I’ll have a cappuccino, and we’ll share whatever cake you pick out.”

  Ian headed over to the counter to place our orders, and Ryan said, “Why don’t we make time to meet up for dinner this week? Maybe tomorrow, or the day after?”

  I shook my head. “I’m afraid I can’t…”

  Ryan smiled wryly. “Working late at the casino again?”

  “Actually, it’s a case.”

  Ryan raised one eyebrow inquisitively. “The case you’re just about to start working on? April Wilkins?”

  I shook my head and looked off into the distance. “This is different. It’s something I committed to a while ago. It shouldn’t be more than a day or two, at most.”

  I felt a tiny bit guilty for hiding the fact that I was working for Stone, even though he and I were no more than good friends.

  Ryan didn’t know that Stone and I had ever had any kind of history, and to be honest, whatever “history” we had didn’t seem very significant at this stage.

  Stone had always told me that he couldn’t have a proper relationship, and when I’d met Stone’s mentor, Johnson, the older man had told me the same thing. I had no reason to think that anything would ever happen between Stone and me, and perhaps telling Ryan that Stone and I might have been anything beyond friends was just putting a good relationship in danger for no reason.

  “And you can’t tell me about this case?” said Ryan gently.

  I shook my head. “I’m afraid not. I promised the clients absolute confidentiality.”

  That much was true. It had taken me a huge amount of effort to track Stone down and convince him to let me help him out; I didn’t want to jeopardize the work I’d be doing by letting someone else know about it.

  Ryan nodded and didn’t push the issue, and I smiled at him gratefully.

  When Ian got back to our table, he didn’t pick up on the slight undercurrent of guilt that I was feeling. Instead, he beamed and said, “I’ve ordered us a huge slice of the black forest cake. It looks delicious!”

  “Sounds like you made a good choice.”

  “So, what did you want to know about the April Wilkins case?” said Ryan.

  “Everything,” I said. “Her brother’s hired us to look into the case, but from what he’s told us, the police have already been looking into it and come up with nothing.”

  Ryan nodded. “I looked through the case notes once I got your text saying you’d stop by to ask about it. And I don’t think any corners were cut on the case. April’s body was found out in the desert, where it was dumped after she’d been stabbed to death.”

  “And you’re sure she was just dumped there? Not killed there?”

  “There wasn’t any blood spatter or anything like that, and the lividity indicated that someone moved the body after death.”

  I narrowed my eyes in concentration. “Go on.”

  “A passing motorist saw the body early in the morning and called it in; she’d been dead at least five or so hours before we found her. We talked to everyone who knew her—the boyfriend, the brother, the ex-boyfriend, her friends. Nobody had any real motive, and most of them had alibis. It’s one of those cases that’s just not going anywhere.”

  We fell silent as a waitress appeared with our coffees and the slice of black forest cake; after she left, the only sound for a few long seconds was that of Ian and me chomping away at the delicious black forest cake. It was smooth, rich and chocolatey, with the perfect layer of cherries in between the chocolate.

  When we had made some serious headway into the cake, I turned to Ryan again and said, “What about the boyfriend, Richard? April’s brother says he was the main suspect.”

  Ryan nodded. “But probably only because he was the significant other. Richard’s a tech CEO, and he came across in interviews as the kind of guy who was always calm and logical—wouldn’t kill his girlfriend, wouldn’t get into a big fit of anger or anything like that. Besides, he has an airtight alibi. He was home during the time of death. The housekeeper saw him coming, and nobody saw him leave. And there are email records to show that Richard was home the entire time, working on his computer and sending emails.”

  “Technically,” Ian pointed out, “he could have snuck out of the house, without the housekeeper seeing, killed April, and then snuck back in and worked on his emails.”

  Ryan said, “I guess so, but in that case there would’ve been a big gap in the logs, and there isn’t anything like that. Besides, that’s far too complicated. If he had planned to kill April, he would probably dismiss the housekeeper so there would be no one to witness his coming and going, and then just use emails or phone calls, something like that, as an alibi.”

  I frowned quizzically. “And you said he has no motive? Nothing at all, no big fights with April or anything like that?”

  “Well, the roommate, Ruby, said she overheard them having a fight that evening. But Richard said it wasn’t a huge fight, just some minor disagreement. And he says he and April had always been happy together.”

  “It sounds like the roommate and Richard are saying two different things, then—one of them’s lying.”

  Ryan shrugged. “She says it was a fight, he says it was a disagreement. Potato, po-tah-toh.”

  “Dave said April and Ruby were good friends,” Ian pointed out.

  Ryan nodded. “That’s what he told us, too. And Ruby backs up the story. She and April always got along.”

  “And she was the last person to see April alive?” I said.

  Ryan shook his head. “That’s kind of tricky to say. According to the notes, Richard went over to see April. They were talking, having a heated discussion, when Ruby decided to pop out and give them some privacy. She said she walked for half an hour and then stopped at a nearby a café, where she had a coffee, and then walked back home. We asked around at the café, and her
story checks out. When she got back home, there was no Richard, and no April.”

  “And what does Richard say?”

  “He says he and April were having their discussion, and Ruby stepped out. A few minutes later, he left—leaving April in the apartment by herself.”

  “So either Ruby’s lying, or Richard’s lying,” I said.

  “Or they’re both telling the truth,” said Ian, “and someone else snuck into the apartment, killed April, and dumped her body in the desert.”

  Ryan nodded. “Exactly. And it’s hard to prove any of those three options.”

  “And what about the other suspects? Her friend Adrian, her ex-boyfriend, Vince? Or even her brother, Dave?”

  “Dave has an alibi,” said Ryan. “He was working the whole night at the Treasury, and Vince was at work too. Adrian doesn’t have an alibi, but he doesn’t have a motive either.”

  “Is there anything else we should know about this case?” I said. “It doesn’t sound too promising.”

  Ryan shook his head. “There’s not much more to it. The LVMPD’s been busy with a spate of robberies, and a couple of homicides in the last month. This case just isn’t going anywhere.”

  “Maybe it’s the perfect murder,” quipped Ian.

  As we talked, Ian and I had managed to finish off the cake, and I gulped down the last of my coffee.

  “It really was lovely to get to see you randomly like this,” I said softly to Ryan.

  He smiled gently and nodded. “Let me know when your cases finish, and we can do dinner again.”

  “Like a civilized couple,” I said with a smile.

  “Unless one of these maniac killers gets to us first,” Ian added.

  I glared at Ian for destroying the mood. “We’re not dealing with maniac killers,” I said. “I’m sure there’s nothing dangerous about this case.”