Ashes to Dust (Las Vegas Mystery)

police?” Snow said.
    “Not likely,” Crystal said. “He’s not the type to want to get involved. And I know he cares about me. I don’t think he’d want to see me go to prison.”
    No one spoke for a moment.
    Then Kathy ended the silence. “So what do we do now? We’ve told you everything. As you can see, this was a horrible thing, but it wasn’t planned. There is nothing evil about it. Is there any chance of just keeping this to yourselves? You could report to your client that you weren’t able to uncover anything. I could pay you double or even triple what you’ll earn from your client. What purpose will it serve for me to go to prison?”
    “I’m sorry,” Snow said. “But we don’t work that way. We need to stay within the law. We can’t cover up evidence.”
    “If you don’t say anything,” Kathy insisted, “that’s not covering anything up.”
    “It is,” Snow said. “But I’m not going to argue that issue. Here’s what we’ll do. Tomorrow afternoon at two p.m. we’ll call the lead homicide investigator to check on his progress in the case. If he tells us that you turned yourself in, we’ll congratulate him on resolving the case, and we’ll issue a report to our client based on what he tells us. Nothing more. That will be the end of it. This should give you enough time to contact an attorney and tell him that you’ve decided to do the right thing.”
    “What will happen to Crystal?” Kathy asked.
    “I can’t say,” Snow replied. “But my guess is that the DA won’t bother with charges against her. And your charges will be greatly reduced once your lawyer has a chance to negotiate the sentence.”
    “I don’t have a lawyer,” Kathy said.
    “I can give you a short list,” Snow said. “Alright? How does that sound to you?”
    The women nodded solemnly. Tears ran down Crystal’s cheeks.
    “Okay,” Snow said. “Good luck to you.”
    They got up slowly. Alice and Snow escorted them to the front door. They watched the women climb into Crystal’s car. She backed it out of the parking space and slowly drove away.
    Standing in the open doorway, Alice said, “What are you thinking, Jim?”
    Snow sighed. “You’re always asking me that. I think this profession reminds me a lot of playing poker for a living.”
    “In what way?”
    “We make our money,” Snow said, “at the expense of other people.”
    “Not always,” Alice said. “But I was thinking how easy it would be to ruin your entire life with one moment of bad judgment.”
    “You still want to smack me on the head?” Snow asked.
    “Yes,” Alice said. “I do.”
    She turned toward him and kissed him on the jaw.
    “That wasn’t so bad,” Snow said.

“What are you going to have?” Alice said.
    “What do I always have?” Snow said.
    “Ham, eggs, white toast, and waffles,” Alice said.
    “Well,” Snow said, “this time I’m having something different. I’ve been giving it some thought, ever since our encounter with that psychologist.”
    Alice took a sip of coffee. “Really. That’s encouraging. What sort of changes did you have in mind?”
    Snow set his menu down on the table in front of him and leaned back in his chair. “First of all, I’m going to try very hard to get us some new business.”
    “And what will that entail?”
    “I don’t know,” Snow said. “You’ve already sent out marketing letters to every lawyer in Clark County. Maybe I’ll get some T-shirts and caps printed up.”
    Alice chuckled. “What else?”
    “Furthermore,” Snow said, “I plan to dress better from now on. You may have noticed today my shirt is tucked in.”
    “I did notice,” Alice said. “That’s commendable. I’m impressed. So what are you having to eat?”
    “Steak, eggs, wheat toast, and waffles.”
    “This is exciting,” Alice said. “I’ll have to make an entry in my diary.”
    Out of the corner of his eye, Snow noticed the owner of the restaurant approaching their table. He was a gangly Norwegian in his mid-forties with a full head of thick brown hair. He wore gray slacks, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a burgundy tie.
    “Eddie,” Snow said. “How’s business?”
    Eddie stopped in front of their window booth. He grinned. “Good,” he said. “I haven’t seen you two in here for a while. I was afraid something happened to you.”
    “Something happened to us all right,” Snow said. “I don’t know if it’s the recession or my lack of business sense.