Ashes to Dust (Las Vegas Mystery)

put her in the backyard. Anyway, when the performance concluded, I asked the woman if she had noticed whether Tyson Dole was home at all Tuesday night, and she didn’t know.
    “I had better luck at the house next to the Dole house. The man I talked to who lives there said he and his wife and kids could hear Tyson over there all night Tuesday night, hollering and banging things around, off and on, from the middle of the afternoon until ten o’clock.”
    “Didn’t that bother them?” Snow asked, turning onto the main thoroughfare.
    “He said they’re used to it. He told me that if they know he’s home and it’s quiet over there, they get nervous.”
    “They’ve never called the police?”
    “He told me the racket always stops by ten o’clock. And it never sounds like anyone is being hurt. What did you find out?”
    “Same thing, pretty much,” Snow said. “The neighbors I talked to said it stopped around nine. But that’s when they went to bed. At any rate, Crystal Olson discovered the disturbed furniture at eight thirty, so that puts Tyson Dole out of the picture.”
    “Thank God,” Alice said. “I wouldn’t want to have to go into that house again.”
    “The people I talked to say it’s possessed. That’s why Tyson Dole acts the way he does. And before the Doles lived there, everybody who set foot in there had it out with Laura Roberts—including Kevin Miller and Crystal Olson.”
    “That’s interesting,” Alice said. She turned to Snow and gave him a broad smile. “You want to hear something else interesting?”
    “What’s that?”
    “I got a call on my cell phone while I was talking to Tyson’s neighbor. And you’ll never guess who it was from.”
    “You’re right,” Snow said. “I’ll never guess.”
    “My half sister. My father’s daughter. Her name is Corina, and she’s a doctor in San Jose, California. She’s thirty-six, still single. She told me my father invited her to lunch today and told her everything about me, my mother, everything.
    “I asked her if he told her that I’m a woman of color, and she said yes. She’s excited to find out she has a half sister. I mean, she really sounded happy about it. She wants to come down here and meet me this weekend. I invited her to stay at my house—and she thought that would be great. We can stay up and talk all night if we want.”
    Snow chuckled. “That’s great news. Didn’t I tell you? What about Leon?”
    She touched him on the leg with her fingertips. “She said she tried to talk him into coming with her, but he’s leaving on travel tomorrow. He’ll be in Asia for two weeks. But she said he’d like to fly down here and see me as soon as possible after he gets back.”
    Snow glanced over at Alice. Her face was aglow. “That’s fantastic. Didn’t I tell you?”
    “Yes, you did. I guess I shouldn’t be so cynical. And thank you again for calling my father.” She kissed him on the cheek.
    “This calls for a celebration,” Snow said. “Someplace special.”
    “As long as it’s not a buffet.” Alice grinned.
    “Or lutefisk,” Snow added. He told her about the dinner invitation.
    She laughed.
    “Well,” Snow said. “How about we swing by Silvey’s Steakhouse. We can usually get in there on a Saturday night without a reservation.”
    “That sounds nice,” Alice said. “And after that?”
    “After that, I think we need to pay another visit to Kevin Miller. I’ve thought of more questions to ask him.”
    Alice nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”

    “Is he out there?” The words spilled out of Kevin Miller’s mouth in a thin rasp.
    He stood in the open doorway to his home, like a zombie, his color gone, his eyes appearing to have sunken deeper into his skull. Gripped firmly in his right hand, the barrel pointed at the floor, was a pump-action shotgun.
    “No,” Snow said. “Is Jack Roberts still bothering you?”
    “He’s getting worse,” Miller said. “He’s getting enjoyment out of watching me suffer with dread before he finally kills me. I’m certain of it.”
    Alice and Snow stepped inside. Miller rushed to the door, shut it, and threw the deadbolt.
    “I think you’re overreacting,” Snow said. “If he wanted to do anything that stupid, he’d have done it by now. He’s nowhere around now. Has he been back here?”
    “Off and on,” Miller said. “He sits out there staring at the house for a while; he leaves, comes back.”
    They made their way into the living room