Buried In Buttercream

most innocent person she had ever known.
    “I really don’t,” he said. “I’ve thought about it a lot. I know Madeline has enemies. Her former lover and his wife. Her business partner. Some people whose parties and weddings she ruined. Honestly, the woman had way more enemies than friends. Everyone in my life told me for years to leave her, that she was no good.”
    “Is that why you left her?” Savannah asked.
    “No. I don’t care what other people think. Believe it or not, but I loved Maddy. We had some really good times in the beginning. And with our beautiful little Elizabeth.”
    He broke down in tears, bowed his head, and covered his face with his hands.
    Savannah looked around the room, spotted a nearby tissue box, and offered him a handful.
    “Thank you,” he said as he wiped his eyes and blew his nose. “The bottom line is: I finally wised up and realized that she didn’t love me. She never had. Maddy had something broken inside her. She wasn’t capable of love. And now”—his voice cracked again—“and now my little daughter has to grow up without a mother. It breaks my heart.”

    As Savannah and Dirk left the room and walked down the narrow, dark hallway with its bloodred carpet, Dirk asked her, “Do you believe him?”
    “About loving his daughter? About Madeline’s shortcomings and other enemies? Yes.”
    “Me, too. But about the brothel ... no way. He was lying like a rug about that.”
    “Absolutely. I could practically see the smoke curling up off the back of his pants when he was talking about that.”
    “But why do you suppose he’d set up an alibi and then not use it?”
    “I don’t know. And frankly, right now, I’m too hungry to give a hoot. My stomach thinks my throat’s been cut. Let’s go eat.”
    Savannah and Dirk collected Tammy and Waycross and showed the youngsters the “real” Las Vegas in all of its glorious, gaudy, way-over-the-top grandeur. The majestic, golden hotels reaching into the black, desert sky. The strange architectural wonders—gigantic roller coasters, replicas of the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, even a great pyramid, and a Roman palace. It was all simply too much to take in.
    Even Savannah, who tried hard not to be impressed, had to admit that the lights were truly beautiful. Sparkling, glowing, flowing, shooting, exploding everywhere. She couldn’t help but be completely dazzled.
    And to everyone’s delight, they had no problem at all finding wonderful food to satisfy everyone’s eclectic tastes, from Tammy’s organic vegetables to Waycross’s rib-sticking steak.
    They were a tired group when they finally returned to their hotel rooms.
    Savannah wasted no time hitting the sheets. But the excited, effervescent Tammy wasn’t about to let her get off that easily.
    “I had more fun today than I’ve had all the rest of my life put together!” she exclaimed as she practically danced out of the bathroom, having taken her shower and slipped into her pajamas. “It was wonderful! I got to do some real, live detecting and ... oh, that was so exciting! My heart was pounding when we followed our subject around, and surveilled his every movement!”
    “I’m happy for you, darlin’.” Savannah yawned. “You can tell me all about it in the morning.”
    Tammy ran over to the other bed and dove into it, headfirst. “Waycross is so funny!” she said, flouncing around like a hen making her nest. “And he’s so polite and sweet! I could tell he was worried that something bad might happen to me, and he was making sure I was safe every minute. Is that because he’s a Southerner? Are all men down South super gallant like him or is he special that way?”
    “Southern men are awesome. Waycross is awesome. Good night, honey bunny.”
    “And when we were driving around the city tonight, looking at all the stuff—can you believe that water fountain at the Bellagio or that volcano at The Mirage—he was holding my hand there in the backseat. Is that okay with you, if your brother and I like each other, because I like him a lot, and I’m pretty sure he likes me, too. You know him better than I do, Savannah. Do you think he likes me?”
    “Yep.”
    “And you’re okay with that? Like, if the two of us became a couple, you’d think that was a good thing? And you’d sort of support us if we were building some sort of relationship? You’d like that?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Wow.” Tammy laid down on her back, flung