Ashes to Dust (Las Vegas Mystery)

your loss, Ms. Roberts. Sorry about what happened.”
    “Well, you’re not the one who should be sorry,” Elaine said. She paused and briefly looked around. “I’m going to sit down if nobody has an objection.” She started moving toward the closest chair and lowered herself slowly into it.
    “I’d better be taking off too,” Miller said.
    “Thanks for stopping by,” Snow said.
    Miller gave a wave and rushed out of the room. A few moments later they heard the front door open and shut behind him.
    “Can I get you anything to drink, Ms. Roberts?” Snow asked.
    She turned her head to him. “What do you have?”
    “There’s a coffee machine in the lobby. I could make a pot. We have water. Unfortunately, it’s from the tap—we keep forgetting to pick up bottled water and other stuff.”
    “Oh,” she said. “You don’t keep anything harder than that in your office?”
    “I could run and pick something up,” Snow said. “There’s a liquor store a little over a mile from here…”
    She waved him off. “No. Forget about it. I don’t want to make any trouble.”
    “It’s no trouble,” Alice said. “What would you like?”
    “Bourbon,” she said. “Just straight bourbon. No ice. I don’t need ice. I don’t like diluting my drinks.”
    Alice slid her bottom desk drawer open. She reached inside, gripped the bottle of whiskey around the neck, and set it on the desk with a resounding thud. Then she brought out a plastic cup and set that on the desk next to the bottle.
    Elaine gave Snow a sidelong look, shifted it to Alice, and then to the bottle of whiskey.
    “Old school,” she said. “I like it. This is the way a private eye firm should be run.”
    Alice poured a small amount into the cup and set the bottle back on the desk.
    Elaine Roberts stared at the cup. “That’s not even enough to bother with,” she said. “I’ll be happy to pay for it, if you want?”
    Alice poured more.
    “You two aren’t having any?” she said.
    “I’m not much of a drinker,” Alice said. “Jim?” She looked at him with raised eyebrows.
    “Sure,” Snow said. “What the hell.”
    Alice got an extra cup out. Snow poured it. He raised his glass to Elaine. She ignored the toast and drank hers down in one gulp, and then she set the cup back on the desk.
    “Mind if I have another?” she said.
    Alice poured it. She gulped that one down and set the cup on the desk.
    “Would you like another?” Alice asked.
    Elaine pursed her lips and exhaled. She shook her head. “That’s my allowance for the day. My chauffeur is off today, and I hate lying to my doctor about my intake. That does hit the spot though, I must say. Thank you. I was up early this morning, and I always tend to drink too much coffee when I’m on the road. When that happens, I need to counteract the caffeine with a little something to even out my nervous system.”
    Snow took a sip of bourbon and sat down in his swivel chair. He held the cup in his lap with both hands. He leveled his gaze at the woman. “Ms. Roberts, Alice and I would like express our deepest regrets for what happened to your son. We—”
    Elaine raised her hand. “That isn’t necessary. First of all, call me Elaine. I don’t like being formal, and I come from a long line of straight-talking folk. Now, I’ve been to the police station, and they told me, in detail, what happened. They let me read the police report—and I have to tell you it doesn’t surprise me one bit.” She sighed and looked at her empty cup. “I think I could use a little water, if you don’t mind.”
    Alice reached for the handle of the desk drawer to get a fresh cup. Elaine raised her hand again. “I don’t need a clean cup,” she said. “No sense wasting the one I got—you can use that. I don’t mind.”
    Snow got up. He left the room with the cup and came back a minute later with it full of water. He set it in front of her and sat down.
    Elaine drank some water, set it back down, and cleared her throat. Her eyes were beginning to dampen. She straightened in her chair and continued. “I sincerely believe,” she said, “that my son hired you to kill him. Maybe not consciously, but deep down inside his mind somewhere, I think that was the plan.” She hesitated and looked down at her hands, folded in her lap.
    Her eyes welling up, Alice pressed her lips firmly together and watched Elaine struggling with her composure. She said nothing.
    Snow felt his throat constricting. He sipped