Ashes to Dust (Las Vegas Mystery)

Snow. “Jimbo, how much did you get in advance for this case?”
    Snow looked at Alice.
    “A thousand,” she said. “Ten hours for the two of us.”
    Ellis grimaced. “Ouch. I learned a long time ago to ask for full payment up front. We let them pay what they want. But when the money’s used up, the investigation comes to a halt—until they pony up more funds. I don’t have time to be chasing clients around a small claims court. And if they end up in the graveyard—that’s a tough place to try and send an invoice.”
    Alice nodded. “That’s worth thinking about.”
    There was a knock at the front door.
    Snow got up from his swivel chair. “Let’s hope that’s a new client,” he said. “Otherwise, we’ll be sitting here playing cards all day.”
    Snow walked through the lobby to the front door. He opened it and found Kevin Miller standing there, holding a bottle of bourbon with a yellow ribbon tied around it.
    Miller smiled nervously. “Mr. Snow,” he said, “I’ve come to thank you for what you did.”
    He presented the bottle, and Snow took it from him, turning it in his hands, reading the label. “Old Whiskey River,” he said. “Never heard of this—nice looking bottle. Thanks.”
    “It’s not much,” Miller said. “I didn’t know what else to get, and I wanted to stop by to thank you—so I picked that up on the way.”
    He stuck his hand out. Snow shook it.
    Snow hooked his thumb in the direction of the back offices. “Why don’t you come inside. We’ve got the rest of the gang in there. Maybe we can try this stuff out, see if it’s any good.”
    Miller smiled and nodded. He followed Snow back to Alice’s office. Everyone turned and smiled at Miller.
    “I found this guy outside,” Snow said. “He’s got whiskey, so I invited him in.” Snow raised the bottle in front of him, then set it on Alice’s desk. “We don’t have any ice, but we’ve got plastic cups in my office and plenty of mixer from the faucet.”
    Snow left the office and reappeared a minute later with a stack of clear plastic cups. He removed one from the stack and set the rest on the table. Then he unscrewed the cap from the bottle, poured two fingers, and handed the cup to Miller.
    “Okay,” Snow said. “The bar’s open. Who’s thirsty?”
    Ellis nodded. Sally and Alice screwed their faces up in disgust.
    “It’s not even ten o’clock,” Alice said.
    “You couldn’t pour that stuff down my throat if I were drunk,” Sally added.
    Snow poured two more cups, gave one to Ellis, and kept one for himself. The three of them touched cups.
    “Here’s to the living,” Snow said.
    The three men drank.
    “Smooth,” Snow said. “Flavorful.”
    “Just enough bite,” Ellis said. He took another sip and set the cup on the desk, exhaling loudly. “You know what this reminds me of?” He looked around the office. “ The Wizard of Oz. At the end of the movie, when Dorothy was lying in bed and everybody showed up at the same time. Except nobody brought any whiskey.”
    “Which one of us is Dorothy?” Sally asked.
    “Jim,” Ellis said. “Jim is Dorothy.” He chuckled and reached for his cup. “Pour more whiskey, Dorothy. Please.”
    Grinning, Snow unscrewed the cap and poured. “Glad to oblige, Scarecrow.”
    He poured more for Miller and then himself. Setting the bottle back on the desk, Snow leaned back in his chair, with his cup resting on his thigh. “Alright,” he said. “Now let’s get the whole story. Starting from the beginning—what the hell happened yesterday?”
    “I can’t say,” Ellis declared. “I was watching the inside of my eyelids at the time.”
    Miller took a sip of his drink and cleared his throat. “Well, the doorbell rang. I went to answer it, thinking it was Duke wanting to use the bathroom again.”
    “Our black water tank is full,” Ellis explained. “You can’t just dump that thing into a storm drain.”
    “I thought you were just kidding when you mentioned using a five-gallon bucket,” Alice said.
    Sally cackled.
    “Anyway,” Miller continued, “I was getting ready to open the door. I had my hand on the deadbolt, looked through the peephole, and saw Jack standing there. I guess he heard me because he told me if I didn’t open it, he’d shoot me through the door. So I opened it.
    “We went into the living room. He sat down and called Jim. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang again. It was Duke and Sally.”
    “That’s right,” Duke said.