Ashes to Dust (Las Vegas Mystery)

“Just the name: Dallas Houston. My middle name is where I’m from. Dallas Denver Houston. When I was in high school, they called me ‘Bus,’ because when you say my full name, it sounds like an announcement in a bus terminal.”
    Alice smiled. “That’s quite extraordinary.”
    Tex nodded. “My folks thought so. They were a couple of druggies, in the middle of a binge, I think, when they came up with it. They used to trot me out of my bedroom when they had company over and instruct me to tell them what my name was.
    “I’d stand there like a talent show contestant and recite my full name, and they’d all toke up and laugh and congratulate my parents for being geniuses.” He laughed.
    “It is pretty clever, I think,” Alice said. “At least they cared enough to take the time to think about it, instead of just picking something out of a short list.”
    “Yeah, I’ll give them that,” Tex said. “They weren’t bad parents, I guess. They were never arrested after I was born, and my mother told me she cut way back on her drug intake while she was carrying me.
    “My younger brother got a simpler name, and he got the shortened version of both of his names. On his birth certificate it says, ‘Joe Sam Houston.’ But he’s happy with it.”
    “Denver’s a nice city,” Snow said. “I had considered moving there while I was still living up in Minnesota, but chose Las Vegas instead.”
    Tex smiled. “That’s funny, because while I was living in Denver, I had considered moving to Minnesota. We spent our vacations up there, fishing—my ex-wife and I—back when we were still married. I finally decided I couldn’t handle the winters.”
    Snow nodded. “The summers aren’t all that spectacular either—unless you’re a mosquito.”
    Tex laughed.
    “You do any fishing down here?” Snow asked.
    He shook his head. “I don’t have a boat. I started saving for one when I got here, seven years ago. I got the kitty up to seventeen hundred dollars in the first three months. Now it’s at thirteen hundred. I’ve got seven years’ worth of boat research under my belt, but can’t raise the down payment.” He put his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers. “I keep hoping I’ll meet a woman someday who has a boat—but not much chance of that working in a place like this. I’ve never met a cocktail waitress yet who’s even slightly interested in a boat.”
    “You’ve met a lot of them, I gather,” Snow said.
    “Cocktail waitresses? Sure. Who else but a bartender can fill their empty drink trays?” He laughed.
    Snow smiled and nodded. “Speaking of cocktail waitresses, you say you worked quite a bit with Laura Roberts.”
    Tex’s smile faded. “Yes. She filled her drink orders at this bar, and we worked the same shift most of the time.”
    “In the last year, do you ever remember her coming to work with a bruise on her face?”
    “Yes, she did. She had a fairly big one on the left side of her jaw.”
    “Her left side?”
    “Yep. Right here.” He pointed to the left side of his jawbone, below his cheek.
    “Do you remember when that was?”
    “I don’t remember exactly which day. But I remember it was a few days after Easter.”
    “So, that was a little over five months ago,” Alice said.
    Snow looked at her and nodded. “And if it was the left side of her face, Kevin Miller probably didn’t hit her with the back of his hand. He’s right handed. He could have hit with his left, but it’s more likely someone who’s right handed, who isn’t a boxer, would use their right hand.”
    “Kevin Miller?” Tex said. “He was Laura’s boyfriend, right?”
    Snow nodded. “Yes, he was—off and on. Do you know him?”
    “Not really,” Tex said. “He came in here quite a few times looking for Laura. But she never wanted to talk to him. I could tell they’d broken up.”
    “Did Laura tell you how she got the bruise?” Alice said.
    Tex shook his head. “Something like that—I’m not going to ask questions. I figure, if they want to tell me about it, they will. But she didn’t say a word about it, and I didn’t want to pry.”
    “Do you think Crystal Olson might have hit her?” Snow asked.
    Tex jerked his head back, his eyes widening. “Crystal? Whoa—I don’t think so. She’s a pretty sweet girl. I can’t imagine her hitting anyone.”
    “You know her pretty well?” Alice said.
    “Dated her a few times. That was some time ago. A little over a year ago. She was