Ashes to Dust (Las Vegas Mystery)

call?”
    “Who am I gonna call?” Ricky said. “Jack ran the place by himself. I don’t know what to do. How are me and Hector gonna get paid?”
    “I don’t know what to tell you, Ricky,” Alice said. “I imagine Jack’s mother will want to take it over. Or she may at least be able to tell you what to do. Why don’t you call her?”
    “I don’t have her phone number,” Ricky said. “Can you give it to me?”
    “I’m sorry, I can’t give out information like that, but we’ll call her and explain the situation and tell her you’d like her to call you.”
    Ricky’s voice began to rise again. “What if she doesn’t call me?”
    “I can’t advise you about that,” Alice said. “But if it were me, I would just lock the store up and go home. Wait for someone to call you. It’s possible you may need to look for another job.”
    “Shit,” Ricky said. “There ain’t no jobs in Barstow.”
    Alice sighed. “Well, whatever you do, Ricky—don’t move to Detroit. I’ll try to get Jack’s mother to call you.”
    He thanked her, and she disconnected the call.
    Alice sat back in her swivel chair and rotated it toward Jim. “That lets Jack Roberts off the hook.”
    “I’m sure he’ll be relieved,” Snow said. “Should help him to rest in peace. Who’s left?”
    Alice spread her hands. “Crystal Olson, Kevin Miller, or someone we haven’t thought of.”
    Snow nodded. “I agree. Now here’s the morning line, the way I see it: Kevin Miller, eleven-to-one; someone else, six-toone; Crystal Olson, odds-on favorite.”
    “I like the six-to-one odds,” Alice said. “That’s the type of horse I’d like to bet on. But we can’t investigate someone we can’t think of.”
    “That makes sense to me,” Snow said. “So, we focus on the heavy favorite—but at the same time it would be nice to able to scratch the long shot from the race. Less competition for our attention.”
    “That’s true,” Alice agreed. “My mind does tend to wander back to Kevin Miller periodically. The slight possibility that he could have done it bothers my concentration. But he doesn’t have an alibi, so how do you suggest we cut his odds to zero?”
    “Lie detector test,” Snow suggested.
    “You think he’ll agree to that?”
    “From what I know about him, I’m sure of it,” Snow said. “Let’s call and get his approval. While we’re waiting for that to happen, I think we should have another talk with Erin Potter to find out why she lied to us about Crystal.”
    “Maybe she’ll agree to a lie detector test.”
    “I think we’d have a better chance of convincing Crystal to take one.”
    “The way her mother watches over her,” Alice said, “I doubt she’d approve of that.”

“Kevin, this is Alice James. Jim and I are calling to thank you again for the lovely gift you brought by our office. That was very thoughtful of you—but also, Jim and I came up with an idea we’d like to run by you.”
    “Sure,” Miller said. “Glad to hear it.”
    “Well, we were just sitting here discussing the case—”
    “I thought your investigation was terminated along with Jack Roberts.”
    “It was,” Alice said. “But Jack’s mother reopened it.”
    “Oh.”
    “Now, although you still fulfill the basic requirements to be considered a possible suspect—you did have means, motive, and opportunity—the motive part of the equation seems quite weak at this point. It’s almost fragile enough to collapse the entire tripod.”
    “Oh, that’s good to hear,” Miller said.
    “Yes, it is,” Alice agreed. “And Jim and I are trying to come up with a way to simplify our investigation by crossing you off completely. We think the best way to accomplish that will be with a lie detector test. What do you think?”
    There was silence for a moment. Finally Miller spoke. “I don’t know. What if I flunk it even though I’m telling the truth?”
    “Chances of that are slim,” Alice insisted. “But if it were to happen, we would only be out the cost of the test. Lie detector test results can’t be used in court, and we wouldn’t be any more suspicious of you than we already are.”
    “I don’t know,” Miller said. “I find that hard to believe. I expect that if I flunked the test, you would begin to think I killed her. Besides, the homicide detectives don’t think I need to take a lie detector test.”
    “Why not?”
    “Mel Harris—he told me he’s sure I’m innocent.”
    “What makes him so