Ashes to Dust (Las Vegas Mystery)

makes me wonder why he isn’t married. A dentist with a beautiful home, expensive furniture, and paintings. Probably a Mercedes in the garage.”
    Snow was studying the painting of the flower. “It’s possible he’s gay,” he suggested.
    “You aren’t partial to flowers? I bet a lot of men can appreciate the beauty of a flower,” Alice said.
    “Maybe, if it’s sticking out of a cactus,” Snow suggested.
    “Or a woman’s cleavage?” Alice countered, giving him a look.
    Tully appeared from behind the wall leading into the family room, carrying a tray of drinks. He set the tray on the coffee table and handed them out.
    After seating himself at the end of the sectional sofa, Tully took a swallow, crossed his legs, and rested the glass on his knee. “This has been a rough week for me,” he said, gazing at his cocktail.
    Alice took a sip of her drink and placed it on a wooden coaster on the coffee table. “Business is good then, I take it,” she said.
    “Not really. It’s actually been pretty slow for the last few years, but I’ve only been practicing as a dentist for a little over four, so I’m still trying to acquire new patients. And it’s tough right now because very few people in Las Vegas seem to have money for routine exams and cleaning. They wait until they’re in pain, or crack a tooth, or their gums are swollen and bleeding. Some of the people who come into my office haven’t seen a dentist in five to ten years.”
    Alice winced. “That’s awful.”
    “It is horrible,” Tully agreed. “I feel sorry for these people. But it’s tough on me too, because I’m not making much money, and I’m dealing with one emergency after another. It’s rare that anyone makes an appointment ahead of time, and when they do come in and I get a look inside their mouths, I feel like I need to call in a wrecking crew to deal with it.”
    “I’m curious,” Snow said, “why you chose Las Vegas to establish your practice.”
    “I love the desert,” Tully said, appearing to warm to the conversation. “Especially Las Vegas. I had considered Phoenix, but it’s too big, and it doesn’t have the glitz of this city. I’m originally from San Francisco…”
    Snow nodded and nudged Alice with his elbow.
    Tully took a sip of his drink and continued. “And I love that city, but it’s very expensive, and it would be extremely difficult to set up a practice there without a lot of money.”
    “Your parents…?” Alice asked.
    “My parents have money, but I wanted to get started on my own without their financial help. I mean, they put me through school, of course, but once that was over, I wanted to start the next chapter with a feeling of independence and self-reliance.”
    “That’s admirable,” Alice said.
    “Plus, I was exiting a bad relationship, and I felt I needed a clean break and a fresh start in a new city. It was very difficult because we were engaged to be married, and she and I had been together since we were twelve.”
    Alice nodded and nudged Snow. “Not to pry, Andrew, but I’m surprised you haven’t met anyone else here in Las Vegas.”
    His face twisted into a lopsided grin. “Actually, I have. And we’re engaged.”
    “Congratulations. Is she…one of your patients?”
    “Yes, in fact, that’s how I met her. I don’t go out much, and I’m not comfortable with Internet dating sites.”
    “Give my best wishes to your fiancée,” Snow said. “And on the subject of patients, we understand you provided the dental X-rays to the police to identify the remains of Laura Roberts.”
    Tully’s face lost more color. “Yes, that was a hard thing for me. That’s what I was referring to when I mentioned this being a rough week.”
    “Of course,” Snow agreed. “Also we noticed a lot of phone calls to you from Laura on her cell phone record during the last couple weeks before her death. Naturally, we’re curious about that since we’re investigating her murder.”
    Tully’s mouth dropped open. “Her phone record. How did you manage to get her phone records? I thought you had to have a subpoena or something.”
    “Oh, we got them legally, not to worry about that. Was Laura a friend, or maybe she had a lot of questions about her teeth?”
    Tully frowned and took a swallow of his drink. “The truth is we were close friends. I had known her for years. She was to be the maid of honor at our…our…wedding. I’m engaged to her best friend.”
    Alice thought about this for a