In The Company of Deceit

Chapter 22 - You Must Be Kidding

"She's had a massive heart attack and perhaps a concussion from the fall; I told the ambulance boys to get her to hospital fast."

"What about our trio in there?"

The coroner flexed his fat chest and snapped off his latex gloves, tossing them into a clear plastic bag along with other discarded wipes and papers.

"Best guess, the giant took one round square in the heart from at least eight feet away. The cowboy had a cut over one eye and the beginning of a bruise on his cheek from what I surmise was a fight with the other guy. He was shot in the neck from about five feet, and the last guy, also covered in bruises and scratches, from about the same distance. His was in the top of the chest. One shot each and both fatal. Gunshot residue on the last guy's hand, none on the others but . . ."

"Best for last, Ian?"

"Your elderly lady had residue on her glove."

"No shit!"

"I think you have quite a little puzzle here Detective."

"Once I get prints from these three I'll have a better chance of solving it I hope. All three are registered here and all on the same floor so checking them out should go quickly."

"Like I said." The coroner winked and patted his arm. "See you back at the morgue later." He started to go and then turned back. "By the way, Ted, how's your young partner workin' out?"

"You mean, Bruce the bon vivant? He's okay, a little big on himself, but I guess we all were when we first got our shields."

"Here he comes now. I leave you to it then, detective."

The young detective came up to his partner and flipped open his book. "I've covered all one side of the hall at that end. Nothing to help. Some of the rooms are empty."

"And the rest?"

"I thought you'd be doing some."

"You thought wrong, partner, and three should be empty since they belong to two of the victims and the old lady." Bruce pulled a sour face. "Keep going, I'm waiting for our victim's registration cards from the desk clerk." Bruce extended the disgusted look, closed his book with emphasis and stalked off down the hall.

"Welcome to the glamorous world of homicide, partner," Ted muttered after him.

He took out his cell phone and called a number, speaking quickly and then ending the call, and dialling another.

******

When the surgeon saw the stretcher with Belinda on it, he blanched. He had the chart for her daughter and was about to make a call informing her that the surgery on her injuries was successful, but her cancer had advanced faster than expected, and it left little possibility for a happy prognosis. He stood back while the emergency team frantically worked on Belinda with injections, drips electronics, and a flurry of medical jargon that stopped with the ER doctor stating time of death as 2:27 pm. The surgeon dropped his arms to his sides and slumped back to the administrator's office.

******

Two days after the hotel killings, Ian McCormick pushed his glasses up onto his forehead and leaned on the metal table holding the autopsied body of Mookie Washington. The bright light made sinister shadows on his face as he looked up at the detective watching him.

"All this muscle and bone, enough to build two or three of us, felled by that tiny piece of lead in the tray." His voice was filled with resignation.

"All that muscle and bone was a hired goon who worked for a pimp and drug dealer in LA named High Hat. It seems that one," Ted Faulkner pointed to the table behind the coroner, "ripped Mister High Hat off for a large sum of money and left town. He was travelling on the bus that crashed outside of Levan."

"And this one was sent to get it back?"

"That's my reading." Ted walked around to another table. "Now this one is Ralph Kew, enforcer for hire currently in the employ of King Braddock, casino owner in Las Vegas. He was after a different guy who ripped off the casino and who was also on the bus that crashed."

"Too convenient."

"You're telling me. Everybody used the same bus for a getaway! How weird is that?"

"But the old woman, where did she fit in?"

"It gets even better. From what we learned from Braddock's security tapes, who by the way denies even knowing Kew, the casino robber, a guy named Del Darrigo, stole a half a million dollars from the casino money room, split off a large portion to an accomplice while still inside the casino, then left.

"The accomplice was disguised as a cleaner who moved the money from a washroom into a cleaning cart and then from the cleaning cart to a pull along luggage cart. Vegas police sent us pictures of people moving around the area at the time Del Darrigo left, and guess who was photographed with a pull along?"

"You're kidding." Ian bounced his hands off the table.

"Nope. Our elderly lady and her daughter. The Ashbury-Starks. And to top it off they were on the bus that crashed as well. The daughter is in hospital not expected to be around too long because of an advanced cancer."

"So where is all this money?"

"That has now become the big mystery. That and how the old lady came to be in a gun fight with these three stooges."

"Obviously you've searched the hotel."

"There are still a couple of rooms on the floor that gave no response. Bruce is back there trying again. Oh, and the rooms belong to the other bus passengers."

No way! This is- there's something wrong with this whole picture."

"Be happy you don't have my job on this one, Ian." Ted felt his phone vibrate and he answered immediately.

"Can it get any more complicated? Jesus!" Ted closed his phone and shook his head.

"Now what?"

"Another body turned up in the hospital... our Mister Del Darrigo."

"Get outta here, Faulkner."

The phone went again and Ted made a smiling face that belied his concern as he answered.

"That was Bruce, he says I need to get to the hotel to see what he found; it's too bizarre to tell me over the phone."

"This is better than HBO. You gotta keep me posted, Ted."

"Just check your coincidence button, Ian."