Suicide Run

there?”
    Blitzstein didn’t even have to think about it.
    “Simple. She was followed home. She won a lot of money and somebody from that casino followed her home and killed her for it.”
    Bosch nodded like it all fit.
    “How do you know that she won a lot of money?”
    “Because she told me when she called me from the cage to tell me she was coming home.”
    “What cage?”
    “The cash cage. She was cashing in her chips and they let her use the phone because she’s a regular. She forgot her cell phone last night. She called me and said she was driving home.”
    “Was she scared carrying all of that cash?”
    “Not really. She won more often than she lost and knew to take precautions.”
    “Did she carry a weapon?”
    “No. Actually—I think she had like a little can of mace in her purse.”
    Bosch nodded.
    “We found that. But that’s it, just the pepper spray?”
    “Far as I know.”
    “Okay, then what about you? Did you play down there? Did you ever go with her?”
    “I used to. But not in about a year.”
    “How come?”
    “I’m sort of banned from that casino. There was a misunderstanding last year.”
    Bosch drank some more coffee and wondered if he should pursue this or if it was a misdirection Blitzstein was hoping he would pursue. He decided to proceed with caution.
    “What was the misunderstanding?”
    “It’s got nothing to do with this.”
    “If it has to do with that card room in Commerce, then it does have something to do with this. If you want to help me find your wife’s killer, then you have to answer my questions and let me decide what matters and what is important. What was the misunderstanding?”
    “All right, I’ll tell you if you have to know. They accused me of cheating and there’s nothing I could do to defend myself. I wasn’t cheating and it’s their interpretation against my word. End of story. They kicked me out and won’t let me back in. Banned for life.”
    “But they didn’t have a problem with your wife still coming?”
    Blitzstein shook his head angrily.
    “Of course not. She’s a draw, man. She brings business in over there. When she’s playing, you get all these guys coming out of the woodwork to play against the girl from the world series and the ESPN commercials. They all want to kick her ass. It’s a guy thing. It’s like marking their turf, coming in her face. It’s the same with all the women on the tour.”
    Bosch was silent for a moment. This was no misdirection by Blitzstein. Bosch was beginning to see at least part of the motivation for murder. Blitzstein knew that if the murder of his wife—a well-liked and well-known player—was attributed to a follow home from the casino in Commerce, then the card room would take a major public-relations hit that could impact its business and reputation. As if on cue, Blitzstein’s bile boiled up and added further to Bosch’s understanding of the crime.
    “You know what?” he said. “If this thing turns out that somebody followed her home, I am going to sue their asses over there. It will be the biggest goddamn jackpot I ever rake in.”
    Bosch simply nodded, hoping Blitzstein would say more. But he may have realized he had already said too much. He turned quiet and Bosch started off in a new direction.
    “How would you describe your relationship with your wife?”
    “How do you mean?”
    “You know, were you happy with each other, was it getting boring, were you upset that she was a poker celebrity and you weren’t?”
    Bosch stared pointedly at him while he said the last part. Blitzstein reacted immediately.
    “We were fine. We were still in love and I didn’t give a shit about who was a celebrity and who wasn’t. You know what poker comes down to? Twenty percent skill and eighty percent luck. Some people are more skilled than others but luck is always the thing.”
    Again Bosch waited a few moments to see if he would say more but he didn’t. Bosch continued.
    “All right, so the card room in Commerce is off-limits. Where then do you play? The Hustler or the card room at the Hollywood track?”
    “Nope, I don’t play anywhere. They’re all together on this. You get banned one place and they put your picture on the wall everyplace else. It’s fucking unconstitutional but nothing I can do anything about.”
    “So you play private games?”
    “When I can get them, yeah. Meantime, I was my wife’s manager.”
    Bosch thought about his ex-wife and the stories she told about