The Case of the Sin City Sister (17 page)

“You staying here?” Eve asked.

The woman turned back around. She peered at Eve over the thick glasses she was wearing. “Do I look like I could afford to stay here?”

Eve shrugged. “I don’t know. Yes.”

The woman coughed and wheezed. “I stay at the Gardens,” she answered Eve. “It’s an old folks’ home downtown. My grandson drives a cab, and he drops me off at the start of his shift. I go to all
the best places. Caesar’s, Treasure Island, Mirage, Paris. I do like he does and sleep in the day and come out at night. I like it that way. It’s quiet—I get the best machines. Don’t have to fight with all the cowboys and teenyboppers. And the drinks are better.”

Eve perked up. “You can drink here?”

The woman turned back again. “Can you drink here? Honey, what rock did you come out from under?”

Eve shrugged. “I thought you had to be at the tables or in a bar to be served,” she answered. “I didn’t know they served you if you were sitting at the machines.”

The old woman laughed, then coughed, then laughed again. “Well, I think they prefer that you’re actually playing a machine and not just sitting at it, but yeah, you can get a drink here.” She pushed the button again and this time three cherries lined up side by side. Alarms started blaring and lights started flashing and the old woman reached down, turned off her oxygen, pulled the tubing out of her nose, pulled out a lighter, and lit the cigarette that was hanging out of her mouth. She blew out a long trail of smoke.

“Darling, you sat at the right machine tonight. We’ll get us some drinks now for sure. Pauline will be here before you can shout hallelujah.”

And as soon as she said the familiar name, a waitress turned the corner, an empty tray in her hands. She looked first at the old woman and smiled. “Clara, you lucky dog! I didn’t know you were here tonight. I’ll bring you a beer right away.” And then she turned to look at Eve. “It’s you,” was all she said.

TWENTY-SEVEN

“Where’s the cop?” Pauline asked when she returned with the old woman’s drink. She set the plastic cup of frothy beer down next to the machine where Clara was still pushing buttons. She had finished her cigarette and reattached the oxygen.

“He’s back at the hotel, sleeping, I imagine,” Eve answered. She was still sitting at the machine behind Clara.

“I guess he doesn’t know you’re out here by yourself.” Pauline took the five-dollar bill Clara had fished out of her wad of money. “Thanks, doll,” she said. “I’ll check back on you in a bit.”

“Sure, Pauline,” Clara replied.

Eve jumped up. “Pauline, can we go somewhere and talk?” she asked.

Pauline glanced around. “It’s slow,” she explained. “Sit down at the last machine near the back door. It’s a penny slot. It’s the one place where we can stand and not get in trouble.” She looked at Eve. “But you got to play.” And she turned and walked away.

Eve looked first one way and then the other, trying to figure out where the back door was located.

Clara watched. “It’s that way.” She gestured to the right with her head. “Play the Princess. She’s the only loose one down there.”

“Thanks,” Eve responded, having no idea what a loose princess actually meant, and headed in the direction Clara had pointed out. She turned back. “Good luck, Clara,” she added with a smile.

“Honey, I’ll take all I can get.” And she pushed the button once more, picked up her drink, and took a long swallow.

Eve walked through the rows of slot machines, passing a few gamblers, and found her way to a rear wall. There was, however, no door. She glanced around and noticed a sign designating the machines in that area as penny slots. She followed the row of empty machines until she saw a swinging door.

She smiled when she saw a machine with a princess on the front about midway down the row. There was a dragon on one side and a kind of Prince Charming soldier on the other. Eve sat down and tried to figure out how the game worked. She reached for her wallet, realizing that she didn’t have change, but soon noticed that the machine didn’t take coins. She pulled out a one-dollar bill and tried to insert it just as she had seen Clara do it. In a matter of seconds, the machine lit up and she could see that she was ready to play. She pushed the big button on the right side and whirling images filled the screen. When the images stopped, it didn’t appear as if she had won. She pushed the button again.

“Okay, I got ten minutes for you,” came a woman’s voice from behind. “But keep playing so I don’t get in trouble.”

Eve turned to look at Pauline. She had done a good job with
the makeup covering the bruise under her eye. It was hardly noticeable, Eve thought. “Thanks,” she said, smiling.

“I don’t really know anything to tell you about Dorisanne,” she volunteered. “I told you what I knew at the apartment.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Eve responded. “So, you just said that Dorisanne and Robbie left last week and that it seemed like they were in a hurry, that Dorisanne told you that they were going on a trip and would be back soon.”

“That’s what she told me.”

“When was that? What day?”

Pauline shrugged. She was studying her fingernails, holding her tray under her right arm.

“Maybe Monday or Tuesday.” She looked at Eve. “I’m not sure. It may have even been the week before, now that I think about it.”

Eve waited. “It would really help if you could remember exactly what day.”

Pauline closed her eyes and seemed to be mouthing dates. It appeared as if she was trying to recall the day she spoke to Dorisanne based upon some schedule, some routine that Pauline kept.

“It was Friday, two weeks ago. I was coming back from pulling the graveyard. Kathy, the other slots waitress, wanted to go to some concert and I said I would cover for her, so I worked a double. I was exhausted. But I made good tips that night. There was some Vietnam Vets group from Madison, Wisconsin, staying here, and they were excellent tippers.” She played with her nails. “The men always tip better than the women,” she added.

“You went home, and what, you ran into Dorisanne and Robbie as they were leaving?” Eve asked.

Pauline shook her head. “No, I saw that their door was open, so I thought I would just peek my head in and say hello.” She smiled. “I like your sister. We’ve done some things together,” she said and then seemed nervous about the comment.

Eve didn’t ask what kind of things. She didn’t really think it mattered. “And she was packing?”

Pauline nodded. “A small bag, throwing things in it, like she was in a hurry.”

“Where was Robbie?”

“She said he had gone to get some gas and was on his way back.”

“And then they were heading out?”

Another nod.

“And she didn’t say where.”

Pauline glanced up when a man started walking in their direction. “You got money in there?” she asked.

Eve looked back at the machine. “Yeah,” she answered.

“Then you need to push the button,” Pauline said. “It’s the floor manager, and I’m taking your order.”

Eve turned back to the machine and took another turn. Images of a palace and a princess, a gold chalice, and a white horse spun around.

“What do you drink?” Pauline asked.

“Just water,” she replied.

“Okay, I’ll be back. Keep playing.”

And before Eve could reply, Pauline had headed through the swinging door at the end of the row of machines. She hit the button again.

The man Pauline had mentioned, a short guy wearing a dark
suit and a silver tie, followed her through the swinging door, smiling at Eve as he passed.

She threw up her hand in greeting and glanced at her watch. It was almost 3:00 a.m.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Eve waited for ten minutes. The dollar was spent, and she looked in her wallet to discover that the next-smallest bill she had was a five. She hated using it—it was like paying to sit on a stool. But she pulled it out and inserted it into the princess machine anyway. She sat, watching the door where Pauline had exited. When it swung open and the manager walked out, she pushed the button for a spin. In a few minutes Pauline was back.

“Everything okay?” she asked the waitress.

Pauline placed a bottle of water next to Eve. “It’s fine,” she answered, not sounding very convincing.

Eve pushed the button again while Pauline glanced around and then leaned back against the machine beside Eve. “This job,” Pauline said, blowing out a long breath. She shook her head.

“How long you been doing it?” Eve asked.

“What? Waitressing? Here?”

Eve nodded.

She hesitated, appeared to be counting up the years. “I’m coming up on my six-month anniversary here. They keep telling me I’ll move into the poker rooms or over to the tables when there’s an opening.” She slid the tray beneath her arm. “But so far, it’s just been the graveyard slots. There’s not a lot of movement right now.”

“What’s that mean?” Eve asked.

“It means girls aren’t leaving their jobs. It means it ain’t so easy anymore to make a lot of money like it used to be.”

“How long have you been in Vegas?” Eve swiveled in her chair to face the waitress.

Pauline shrugged. “I don’t know. Nine or ten years. I came out here to dance.” She looked at Eve. “Dorisanne and I had that in common. And neither one of us ever got much of a shot. We had that in common too.”

“But you stayed,” Eve said.

“Yeah, well, where else you going to go?” She sounded tired. Her voice was flat, defeated.

Eve studied her and wondered if Dorisanne sounded the same. She wondered if her sister was working the same kind of late-night shifts, still dreaming of making it as a showgirl. They spoke so seldom about life in Las Vegas. She didn’t know whether her sister was happy or not.

“Did you and Dorisanne spend a lot of time together?”

Pauline looked at Eve. “Some, I guess,” she replied. “We aren’t best friends or anything like that. Steve doesn’t like Robbie all that much, so he doesn’t want me over there.”

“Is Steve your husband?”

Pauline gave a short laugh. “Boyfriend,” she answered.

Eve nodded.

“Steve’s not the marrying kind,” she added.

Eve didn’t know what to say.

“But that’s okay. I don’t really want to be married again anyway.”

Eve nodded, acting as if she understood.

“You ever miss dating or having a boyfriend?” Pauline asked. “I always wondered about that with nuns.”

Eve thought about the question. “I don’t think so,” she replied. “I really never dated much in high school, and then in college I was trying to decide about the convent. I just never gave it much thought.”

“Dorisanne said you had a boyfriend once.”

That bit of news surprised Eve. She had not talked about David in a long time. She hadn’t even known that Dorisanne remembered their relationship.

“Once,” she responded, hoping not to have to say more. She turned back to the machine and pushed the button.

There was a lull in the conversation, and Eve suddenly remembered something. She turned to Pauline. “You said that Dorisanne told you something else when you saw her.”

Pauline waited.

“You said that she told you not to let anybody in her apartment.” Eve was recalling the earlier conversation. “Why did she say that?”

Pauline thought about the question. “I don’t know.”

“Did she think somebody might try to get into her place?” Somehow, this information seemed important, Eve thought. This might be a clue as to why Dorisanne had left so abruptly.

“There were these two guys one time,” Pauline recalled.

“What two guys?”

“I don’t know. They weren’t all that social, if you know what I mean.”

Eve nodded, even though she really didn’t know. “Do you think they were trying to collect money?”

Pauline watched Eve. She paused. “You know about that?”

“I know Robbie had some debts, and I know he sometimes couldn’t pay them. Is that who you think those two guys were?”

Pauline shrugged. “I try to stay out of people’s business,” she said. “Steve tells me that I’m too nosy.”

“But you do, don’t you?” Eve pushed. “You think those two guys were trying to get money from Robbie.”