Murder or Bust (We're Not Dead Yet Club Book 3) Read online

  “I guess that solves that then…”

  “Not quite,” Clara replied. “Although we’re nearly there, I think…”

  She spun around, examining each of her companions in turn before finally settling on Hazel. She reached forward, grabbed Hazel’s hands and stared straight into her eyes.

  “Hazel, dear. I need you to do something for me…”

  “Anything…”

  “Go to the precinct. Fetch Detective Alaberky and bring him back here.”

  “Alright,” Hazel replied hesitantly, cocking her head to one side. “What shall I say if he asks why?”

  Clara let go of her hands a grinned happily at her. “Tell him we’ve found the murderer.”

  Hazel nodded eagerly and scampered away, barreling through the crowd like an out-of-control freight train. Clara watched her as she disappeared before turning back to the rest of them. Her eyes darted back and forth between them as her mind raced.

  “We need to have some way of covering ourselves on this one,” she mused, placing a thoughtful finger on her chin. “It’s not enough just to have the police involved…”

  An idea came to her in a flash. She turned on Cecil and with a great smile stretching across her face she bellowed:

  “Cecil!”

  Cecil nearly jumped out of his skin. “What? I didn’t do it…”

  “I need you to do something…”

  “Oh?” Cecil looked a little bemused.

  “Actually I need you to do two things for me.” Clara glanced quickly over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening in before leaning in a little closer. As she did so, Cecil, Ida May and Percy all did the same. “I need you to tell me where Robert is.”

  There was a brief pause before the surprise leapt across Cecil’s face – a short enough moment that told Clara straight away that his complete shock was nothing more than a façade for her benefit. Still, she allowed him to move through the obligatory protests of innocence before saying:

  “Cecil, you are Robert’s friend. There is no way you’d be sitting at a bar for the whole day when your friend was in jail. Hell – you’d be bailing him out yourself if you had the chance. Which means you already knew that he was not in jail anymore, which means you also probably know where he is…”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

  “Robert told you not to tell anyone, right? He told you to feign ignorance until all this mess was sorted out…”

  “Well I…” Cecil stuttered, his eyes darting this way and that. Finally he gulped and nodded his head very subtly.

  “Where is he right now?”

  Cecil shook his head. “I promised I wouldn’t tell if I was asked.”

  “Did you promise not to confirm it if I got it right?”

  Cecil thought about this for a moment before shaking his head.

  “Good…”

  Clara explained where she thought Robert was hiding. She even explained whom she thought he was with. As she recounted her theory, she could tell that she was right on the money as Cecil’s eyes grew wider with each passing syllable. By the time she’d finished talking, his mouth had dropped open and his eyes were so wide that they looked as though they might pop out of his skull.

  “How did you…?”

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Clara replied, turning quickly to Ida May. “There’s no time to lose. The moment Hazel gets back with the police, we need to head there straight away. The longer we wait, the more danger we’ll be in…”

  “And the second thing?”

  Clara turned back to Cecil. She quickly explained what she had in mind as he listened closely.

  “Can you do it?”

  “Of course,” Cecil replied proudly. “I’m not past it, you know. I just need to get him to agree…”

  “Then do it. It’s the only way to keep us safe…”

  “But what about…” Cecil paused. He seemed to drift off for a moment as some distant thought took control of his mind and guided it to a place he hadn’t thought to take it before. He patiently followed the threads of ideas and thoughts until he finally ended up in a place that made his blood run cold and his mind fill with fear. “Oh,” he muttered. “I think I understand now…”

  Clara smiled at him. “You see it now…”

  “Because Robert was the only thing…”

  “Exactly…”

  “And Ava…”

  “Precisely…”

  Ida May huffed loudly. “When you two have finished having your own private conversation, perhaps you can clue us in to what’s going on. We don’t all want to rely on you, you know…”

  Clara shrugged. “If he didn’t have to, this might never have happened…”

  “What?” Ida May’s eyes darted from Cecil to Clara. “What the hell has gotten into you two…?”

  “Ah.” It was now Percy’s turn to be enlightened. He turned to Clara, a strange smile stretching across his face as his eyes sparkled with delight. “The photograph…”

  “Oh, don’t you start,” grunted Ida May, stamping her feet hard on the floor as she crossed her arms defiantly. “This is getting intolerable.”

  “What’s wrong, Ida May?” Cecil asked. “Concerned that the boys got there before you did?”

  She shot him a fierce glare that would have made even the bravest man run for the hills. “Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?”

  Clara stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on Ida May’s shoulder. “We can do more than that, Ida May. In fact, I think we can just about put this whole ordeal to rest…”

  Chapter Eighteen – The Scene is Set

  Detective Alaberky did not seem too impressed at being summoned by Hazel. He strode quickly across the hotel towards Clara and the rest of the group, shoved his hands in his pockets and glared down at them.

  “This had better be good.”

  Clara smiled sweetly back at him. “Oh, don’t worry, Detective. I’m sure you’ll appreciate what we have for you. This way, please.”

  She led the group off towards the main staircase and slowly climbed the stairs up to the second floor. This took a little longer than expected because Percy, being the man that he was, insisted on waiting for the elevator and the rest of the group had to wait at the top of the stairs until he’d arrived. When he finally did, Clara led them down the long corridor until they reached a set of double doors at the far end, which bore a great, brass plate with the word “PRIVATE” written across it.

  Clara stepped up smartly and, without knocking, pushed the door open.

  The activity on the other side of the door was instant and chaotic. As the door swung open, the two men inside the lavishly decorated office jumped up off the green, leather sofa and instantly stared at the intruders as they walked in through the door. They glared viciously at them, but their eyes settled a little as they rested on Detective Alaberky.

  Robert and Don Cardello stared dumbstruck back at them.

  “Detective,” Cardello muttered, stepping out from behind the sofa. “What is the meaning of this visit?”

  The way he spoke to Alaberky seemed a little strange; there was a hint of anger and distress in his voice, and when Alaberky spoke back it was no longer with his commanding tones, but felt more like a small child being dressed down by an angry adult.

  “I’m not sure, Mr. Cardello…”

  “You are all here to witness us solving the case,” announced Clara, stepping into the room and smiling sweetly at Robert. “And to see Robert’s name cleared.”

  “Oh?” Cardello replied, a coy expression of enjoyment creeping into those dull eyes. “Well, this is exciting news. The We’re Not Dead Yet Club have managed to find themselves a solution. Please, do tell…”

  He returned back to the sofa and took a seat, gesturing for Robert to do the same. Reluctantly, the lounge singer fell back into his seat from where his eyes finally landed on Cecil, who was busy playing with a smart phone.

  “Cecil? What’s th
is all about?”

  Cecil looked up from the device and smiled. “It’s alright, Bobby,” he replied calmly. “These are my friends. They’re here to help…”

  “Hmmm,” Robert replied, a hint of scowl flickering across his face. “As long as they do a better job than you did. What was it you said you were?”

  “It’s not really important…”

  “A lawyer called Percy?” Robert chuckled to himself. “I mean really. A lawyer called Percy. You could’ve at least picked a better name…”

  Cecil looked sheepishly at Percy, who stared back at him with furious eyes and a scowling face. “What kind of idiot pretends to be someone else? That’s what you said to me!”

  Cecil shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t say I wasn’t an idiot…”

  “Can we get on?” Alaberky asked, crossing the room and settling his bottom down on the edge of a nearby desk. A quick glare from Cardello caused him to immediately jump back off it and loiter uncomfortably in the middle of the room.

  “Just one moment,” Clara replied, turning to Cecil. “Are we ready?”

  Cecil nodded confidently, trying his best to ignore Percy’s steely gaze. “Ready.”

  He turned the phone around to face the rest of the room. On it was the face of a man that neither Robert, Cardello nor Alaberky had ever seen before, but it was a face that the We’re Not Dead Yet Club knew all too well. Jasper’s eyes quickly scanned the scene before him before settling back in his office chair.

  “Alright, Clara,” he said. “I can see and hear everything loud and clear.”

  “What is this?” Cardello spluttered.

  “Jasper here is Cecil’s son,” Clara explained. “He’s here to ensure our safety…”

  “Safety?” Alaberky replied. “From what?”

  “From you, Detective,” Clara replied. “In case you are not what you seem to be…”

  Alaberky looked as though he might be offended, but his face quickly turned into a smile. He chuckled, turning to the others in the room to see if they too could see the funny side. When he met with Cardello’s eyes once again, he stopped immediately, but turned back to Clara and asked:

  “And why would he provide you protection?”

  “Cecil’s son is a detective,” replied Robert.

  “Correct, Robert,” Clara replied. “And if anything happens to us, he is in a place where no one in Vegas can get to him – not before he has a chance to report everything he’s seen, that is. Just call it our little insurance.”

  Cardello hummed to himself and nodded. “I assure you, you fine citizens have nothing to fear from us.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Clara replied. “So, now that we are all here and everything is in place. I suppose we’d better tell you who killed Ava Lemiux…”

  Chapter Nineteen – Who Killed Ava Lemiux

  Everyone waited for Clara to speak with baited breath. The room was so full of tension that they could feel it on their skin, creeping and crawling in between the tiny hair follicles that populated it, making them all feel nervous and anxious and yet eager for the truth to be revealed.

  Clara moved slowly around the room, glancing down at Robert and Cardello as they sat on the sofa. Robert seemed particularly nervous – his eyes followed Clara around the room, not deviating for even a second. Cardello, on the other hand, seemed like the model of calmness. He stared straight ahead, not even blinking or twitching, but obviously listening as Clara began her explanation.

  “There was something about this investigation that didn’t make sense from the start,” she said, circling around the room again for a second lap. “There were questions that needed answering, facts that had no explanations. Why, for example, would Robert kill Ava Lemiux? What did he have to gain from it? She was just a showgirl, so money obviously wasn’t a motive and, according to Robert himself, he loved her enough to want to get out of the show business. So, why should he kill her?”

  “Similarly,” continued Ida May, stepping forward to take over. “What possible reason did Ava’s ex-boyfriend Steve have to kill her?”

  “Well, that’s simple,” Cardello replied arrogantly. “He was mad that Robert here was making off with his girl. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out…”

  “Exactly,” Ida May replied, clicking her finger at Cardello and moving across to join him on the sofa. “That was my feeling too. Steve killed Ava as payback for her leaving him for Robert…”

  “Which explains why Robert’s trophy was the weapon of choice,” chipped in Hazel, nodding in agreement. “He wanted revenge, but he also wanted to make sure that he got revenge on Robert as well. By framing him for the murder, he kills two birds with one stone…”

  There was a moment of silence that fell on the room. From his position near the desk, Alaberky nodded his head in agreement and stretched himself out as he moved slowly towards the door.

  “It’s an interesting theory, ladies. I’ll be sure to look in to it…”

  As he moved across the room, Percy moved in front of him, barring the door from exit. “I’m afraid they’re not done yet,” he muttered.

  “Quite,” Ida May replied, turning to Cardello. “You see, it is a good theory – and we very nearly got sold on it as well…”

  “Got sold?” Cardello asked.

  Clara nodded in agreement. “Sold, Mr. Cardello. You see we already had Steve firmly in our sights. If we’d been left to it we would have probably found evidence to pin the crime to him and that would’ve been that…”

  Ida May tapped Cardello on the arm. “But somebody didn’t trust we’d get the right answer.”

  “So, some heavies were sent in to make sure we kept out of what didn’t concern us…”

  Cardello glanced between Ida May and Clara, his face tinged with unconvincing confusion. “I’m not sure what you mean…”

  “Come now, Don,” Ida May replied. “It was clear from the beginning that you weren’t sure we could do the job properly. Why trust the amateur detectives when you have the real deal, eh?”

  Cardello nodded. “I agree, I was skeptical…”

  “And you sent men to make sure we saw the case you wanted us to see it, right?”

  Cardello turned back to Clara. “Look, I don’t know what you’re driving at, but there is nothing wrong with me using my security boys to keep an eye on you. I knew Robert was innocent, I just needed to make sure you came to same conclusion that I did…”

  “That Steve was the killer…”

  “Exactly. Steve killed Ava and tried to blame it on Robert. It’s a simple as that.”

  “That simple?”

  “That simple.”

  Clara nodded, her eyes turning towards Percy. “You put up the bail money for Robert, didn’t you Mr. Cardello?”

  “Naturally. Robert is a very close friend…”

  “And a star attraction, is he not? Without him you have no quality entertainment, right?”

  “Well…” Cardello stuttered. “Yes, I suppose. Without him, I’d be bust…”

  “Hmmm…” Clara moved over to Percy and stood right beside him. “You see there are three problems with this convenient story as you tell it, Mr. Cardello. First, the men who threatened me had no interest in pointing us in the right direction. If anything they seemed to be trying to stop us altogether. Secondly, Percy here was pretty much kidnapped by two fellows who seemed more likely to be the mob than local security…”

  “I’m not surprised,” Cardello replied. “The mob is pretty prevalent around here…”

  “But the mob seemed interested in our case as well. They questioned Percy for a good while before they let him go. And thirdly, when the mob did talk to Percy, he saw something that made the whole idea that Steve was the killer turn on its head.”

  She turned to Percy and clapped him on the shoulder, pushing him into the center of the room to take the stage. For a moment, he seemed to freeze to the spot. His words were caught in his mouth and his eyes danced about with fear.
He took one or two very deep breaths before finally, and with great difficulty, he began to speak:

  “You… ah… you see…” He swallowed hard. “When the men were questioning me… ah… I might have… ah… got a bit confused. I thought they were talking, eh, about these chaps I was playing poker with and… ah… well, it doesn’t really… umm… matter what I thought they said. But… ah… the point is… um… is that I saw a man outside the door who seemed… ah… to be telling the others what to do…”

  Clara stepped forward. “Percy later identified this man as Steve, which left us with a bit of a dilemma because – at the time that Percy was being questioned several blocks away – Steve was running off the stage here in the casino with very little by the way of clothes on.”

  “Hell of a dilemma,” muttered Ida May. “Because now it seems that our prime suspect is able to be in two places at the same time. What do you make of that?”

  Cardello shook his head, his eyes growing wider. “I… er… I don’t really…”

  “Well, we found out actually,” Clara replied. “Steve has a brother who is here, in Las Vegas, as we speak.”

  “An identical twin,” Hazel chipped in. “Looks exactly like Steve in every detail…”

  Clara nodded. “It was largely down to his brother, that the Bountiful Mounties got their gig here at the casino…”

  “Which suggests that Steve’s brother was working for the casino manager…”

  “That’s you, Mr. Cardello,” Hazel added unhelpfully.

  “And if the brother works for you, Mr. Cardello…”

  “But is also working for the mob…”

  “Then there’s only one person who could be running it all.”

  Cecil stepped forward. “And only one person who could possibly try to manipulate everyone into thinking Robert and Steve killed Ava…”

  Cardello sat perfectly still for a moment. Robert’s eyes were wide and staring blankly at the floor. With a slight movement, Cardello got to his feet and started to move across the room.

  “Very interesting,” he muttered. “But I’m afraid that’s utterly…”

  He bolted towards the door, shoving his way past Clara and Percy as he made his way out of the room and down the corridor. Everyone else turned as one towards Alaberky who didn’t seem at all eager to take up the chase. Instead he simply shrugged his shoulders and glared at each of them.