Ashes to Dust (Las Vegas Mystery)

trouble with the men she’s dated. I don’t know where she meets these guys, but they’re all losers. Well, I should talk. I’ve never gotten past a second date. I’ve met some on the Internet who wanted to meet me at a Starbucks. They walked up to me, took one look, and turned around and left. Without a word. Talk about rejection.”
    “I’ve heard worse stories,” Snow said. “I knew a guy who would tell the women what they could expect he would be wearing. He always wore something different. He’d even comb his hair a different way. If he didn’t like the way she looked when she walked in, he’d get up and leave without a word. If she looked okay, he’d tell her he spilled something on his clothes and had to change. And then there’s the other side of it. I got into an e-mail exchange with a woman one time whose photos looked like Jennifer Lopez. She turned out to be a drag queen.”
    “I’m hoping the story ends there,” Alice said.
    Charity giggled.
    Alice turned to her. “Charity, did you know Laura Roberts?”
    “Yes,” she said. “She was a regular also.”
    “What was your impression of her?”
    “I would say that she was the Evel Knievel of intercourse. That was all she ever talked about. The way she talked, it sounded like she enjoyed the risk of getting caught.”
    “Getting caught how?”
    “Any way possible. In public places. With strangers she’d just met.”
    “How about with someone’s fiancé?”
    “Is there anyone in particular you had in mind?” Charity asked.
    “Andrew Tully.”
    “Crystal’s fiancé.”
    “Do you know Crystal too?” Alice said.
    “Yes,” Charity said. “She’s also a customer of mine. In answer to your question, I never heard anything about Laura and Andrew. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. That doesn’t seem like something Laura would have wanted to divulge to me.”
    “What do you think of Crystal?” Alice said.
    “I don’t know what to think of Crystal,” Charity said. “She hardly ever talks. When she does, it’s usually just small talk. She keeps most of her thoughts to herself.”
    Snow had just finished chewing a mouthful of pie. He swallowed the last of it and reached for his coffee cup. “You’ve never socialized with any of these women?”
    Charity shook her head. “I have a small number of close friends, but Erin and Crystal aren’t included. Nor was Laura. They’re not the sort I would be interested in getting together with.”
    “How do you know so much about them,” Snow asked, “if all you do is style their hair?”
    Charity smiled and sat back in her chair. “Most people, it seems, like to talk about themselves. When they encounter someone willing to listen, who shows a genuine interest in them—they’ll tell you practically anything you’re willing to hear. All you have to do is ask. And it doesn’t seem like it’s important how well they know you. As long as they feel comfortable with you.”
    “All of your customers are like that?” Snow said.
    She nodded. “Pretty much. Except for the ones like Crystal. And I must say, she is the biggest mystery of all.”

    “It looks like your theory is beginning to show promise,” Alice said, climbing into the passenger side of Snow’s car.
    “Yeah,” Snow agreed. “What’s the next step?”
    Alice snapped her seatbelt into place. “I think we need to dig deeper into Crystal’s past. See if we can find an old high school friend—one who doesn’t have an aversion to telling the truth.”
    Snow slid into the driver’s seat and shut his door. “Somebody like Charity,” he said. “What a refreshing change that was. If I’d had any sense when I was younger, I would have married someone like her instead of the two beauty queens I got hitched up with. After the honeymoon, they all lose their looks anyway.”
    “Hmm,” Alice said. “Maybe you’ll begin to feel more strongly about me if I fill my refrigerator up with pies.”

“Hello. This is Holly.”
    “Holly Whitten?” Alice asked.
    “Yes.”
    “Hi, Holly,” Alice said. “This is Alice James and Jim Snow. We’re on the speakerphone together.”
    “Oh, yes,” Holly said. “How’s the weather down there in Las Vegas?”
    “It’s heating up,” Alice said.
    “Oh, it’s raining here.”
    “We get that too,” Alice said. “For ten minutes every six months.”
    Holly laughed.
    “So your softball game got rained out, then?”
    “It’s been raining all day,” Holly said.