Ashes to Dust (Las Vegas Mystery)

remember the last time there was a rescheduling.”
    “Did the doctor have a problem at home or something?” Snow asked.
    “No, nothing like that,” she said. “He’s not married. In fact, he’s engaged, and I shouldn’t say this, but it probably had something to do with that.”
    “In what way?” Snow asked.
    “When he left,” she said, “he seemed really happy and invigorated. Full of nervous energy. You know what I mean? I think he was off to meet his fiancée.”
    “I see,” Snow said.
    “I shouldn’t have said anything,” she said. “But I think when two people are in love like that, and they’re just starting out their new life together, it’s good to make allowances for them. I hope that if it ever happens to me, people would feel that way. Don’t you think?”
    “Yes,” Snow agreed. “I think that’s a good idea. Love is, after all, a many-splendored thing.”
    She giggled. “Yes, it is. Okay,” she said, “so when would you like to come in for your first visit?”
    “Hmm,” Snow said. “That’s a good question. I’m looking at my schedule, and I don’t see an opening anywhere for the next couple weeks. I think there may be a possibility the following week on that Thursday…”
    “Is that October seventh?”
    “Yes. Yes, it is.”
    “What time would be convenient for you?”
    “The problem is,” Snow said, “now that I look at it, I’m pretty sure I scheduled a meeting for that day and neglected to enter it in my planner. I’ll have to call the gentleman and find out which day the meeting is scheduled for and get back to you.”
    “Okay, you can call me back. That’s fine.”
    “The problem is,” Snow said, “he’s in Bangladesh, and it’s getting late there. I have a policy never to call anyone after nine p.m.—but I’ll shoot him an e-mail and find out as soon as he replies.”
    “Okay,” she said. “Call back when you find out.”
    “I’ll do that,” Snow said. “Hopefully I’ll figure out where I put his e-mail address and phone number.”
    “And may I have you name?” She said.
    “Definitely,” Snow said. “It’s Hubert Hatchway. It’s spelled just like it sounds.”

“We need more chairs.”
    Snow surveyed the office. He was sitting in his swivel chair at the end of Alice’s desk. His elbows were positioned on the arm rests, his fingers interlocked in front of his chest. “It looks to me like this office is full of chairs.”
    “Every chair in the suite is in here,” Alice said. “What’s in your office? Just an empty desk and a phone. We should have two client chairs in each office and four chairs in the reception area.”
    “We aren’t even using the reception area,” Snow argued. “We don’t have a receptionist. Why would anyone be sitting in the reception area? It’s not likely there will ever be a line of people waiting to get in here to see us. And I don’t even use my office. I’ve only been in there three times: the first time to look at it; the second time to plug in the phone and put my two chairs in there; the third time to get the chairs and put them in here. In fact, I’m not even sure what use I could make of my office. I’m always in here with you.”
    “We need to give the impression that there’s a lot going on here,” Alice said. “People walk in and see an empty reception area, and they’ll think we don’t get many cases.”
    “They’d be right,” Snow said. He lifted his commuter mug from her desk and took a sip of coffee. “But I see your point. When we get a chance, we could go to Costco and pick up more chairs, a small end table to put magazines on. And maybe we should get a mannequin.”
    “For what?”
    “We could put it behind the counter and dress it really nice—give the impression we have a receptionist.”
    Alice laughed. “We should get three. Two of them could be sitting in the chairs, reading magazines.”
    Snow nodded and took another sip of coffee. “Now you’re talking.”
    “What did you find out about Andrew Tully?” Alice said.
    Snow set his mug on the desk and settled back in his chair. “I called his office. Found out he cancelled all of his appointments for the afternoon and left around noon on Tuesday. His receptionist said he was zipping around, full of glee before he left. She assumed he was heading off to a romantic encounter with his fiancée. But Crystal never mentioned seeing him that day.”
    Alice opened her top desk drawer, took out a thin stack of