'I called you first, didn't I?'
'So?'
'It's your collar,' Valentine mumbled.
'My collar?' Higgins laughed derisively. 'I can't take this in front of a judge without a story to go with it. It's nobody's collar until you explain to me what's going on.'
Rising on shaky legs, Valentine went to the window behind Nick's desk and stared down. Eight police cruisers jammed the Acropolis's front entrance, their bubbles throwing an eerie red light onto the gawking crowd pushing at the wooden sawhorses. Three thousand miles away, he imagined another crowd was gathered, staring at a body lying beneath a sheet. His son's.
Valentine felt the pain well up in his chest. He needed to be alone for a while, to stare into the darkness. But if he didn't explain to Bill what had happened, Fontaine and his gang might walk. And no matter how bad he felt, he was not about to let that happen.
'How about I start at the beginning?' Valentine said.
'You mean when you rode into town?'
'No, I mean when this really started.'
'I'm all ears,' Higgins said.
'Ten years ago, Nick fell in love with Nola,' Valentine began. 'One night, they go on the catwalk and start screwing. A fight breaks out below. The guard who baby-sits One-Armed Billy comes running, and Nick goes ballistic. Nola's not stupid and she makes the connection. The guard beside Billy isn't for show. He's for real.'
'The flaw Sherry Solomon was taking about.'
'Right.'
'Why did Sammy Mann say it didn't exist?'
Valentine shrugged. 'Nick probably swore Sammy to secrecy- didn't want to risk losing his license.'
'Okay.'
'Jump to six months ago. Nola goes to Mexico, falls back in love with Sonny. She tells Sonny about the flaw, and they decide to rip Nick off.
'Nola leaves Mexico. Sonny thinks it through, realizes the scam is flawed. Nola knows too much; she'll never pass a polygraph. So Sonny changes the plan. He gets plastic surgery, then finds a look-alike and sends him to Tahoe.'
'And that's who Little Hands whacked.'
Valentine nodded. 'Sonny, aka Frank Fontaine, moves to Vegas. He scouts the Acropolis and hears about Roxanne's ritual of playing Billy every day. He also learns that Roxanne hates Nick. Seems they had an affair-'
'Who told you that?'
'I saw an album that Nick keeps of all the ladies he's slept with. Roxanne was in it.'
Higgins shot him an angry look. 'Why didn't you tell me?'
Valentine shrugged.
'You fell for her.'
Valentine shrugged again.
'You sly dog.'
Old blind dog was more like it, Valentine thought.
'Roxanne joins the team,' he went on. 'They rehearse, then try their scam last week. Fontaine beats the house silly, hoping he'll get barred so he can start a fight. It's all a ruse to get Joe Smith out of his chair so Roxanne can rob Billy. On the third night, Fontaine gets his wish, and Sammy Mann bars him. Fontaine starts brawling, but Joe Smith stays put. The whole thing's a dud.'
'I'm with you so far,' Higgins said.
All the talking was giving Valentine a headache. They were up high enough to see behind Caesars, and he watched a legion of shirtless men dismantle the canvas ring where Holyfield had beaten his unworthy opponent. In a week, they'd show a replay on TV, and he'd make it a point not to watch it. It was never the same after it was over.
'Go on,' Higgins prodded him.
'Nola gets arrested. Fontaine springs her, brings her into the gang. Then hatches a new plan. He puts Nola in a motel. She calls Nick, who rescues her and takes her back to the Acropolis. Nola fingers the gang to Nick. Nick sends his men into the casino, not realizing it's a ruse to get Joe Smith out of his chair.'
'You're saying Fontaine set himself up,' Higgins said.
'Uh-huh.'
'But we arrested him. What kind of plan is that?'
'He'll be out of jail in a few hours,' Valentine said.
'How can you be so sure?'
'Because he didn't break any law,' Valentine said, wishing Bill would wisen up so he could go find Gerry's body. 'Reading a blackjack dealer isn't illegal. And you can't prove Fontaine grabbed Nola at the house.'
'But Nola fingered him.'
'To Nick. I'm sure her story will change when she talks to the police.'
'But Fontaine started a brawl in the casino.'
'Nick's men started the brawl. Look at the video. The only thing Fontaine's gang did was resist Nick's men. And Fontaine didn't even do that. The only law he broke was stepping foot in Nevada, which you can only fine him for.'
Higgins considered Valentine's point. 'Jesus,' he muttered.
'Am I right?'
'Of course you're right. Stop rubbing it in.'
'Sorry.'
Higgins made a face. 'When I brought you the hangers, you realized Nola had been planning this a long time, didn't you?'
Valentine nodded.
'Why didn't you tell me?'
'I was afraid you'd tell Roxanne.'
'You suspected her?'
Valentine nodded again.
'Why?'
'Because I'm sixty-two and she's thirty-eight,' he blurted out, his eyes fixed on the sea of flashing neon that defined the Vegas skyline. 'I wanted to believe she liked me, but deep down I knew it wasn't real.'
Higgins heard something in Valentine's voice that made his own soften. He put his hand on Valentine's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
'Hey, it really happens sometimes,' he consoled him.
'Only in the movies,' Valentine replied.
Higgins dropped his hand. 'So how do I go about prosecuting these people?'
'Put the screws to Roxanne,' Valentine said. 'Threaten her with hard time, then offer to cut her a deal.'
'You think she'll squawk?'
'Like a chicken with its head on the block.' Valentine turned from the window. 'Look, Bill, I need to beat it.'
'Longo's going to want to talk to you some more,' Higgins said.
'Think you can explain it to him?'
'Why? Where are you going?'
'To New York.'
'Something wrong?'
'Family emergency.'
Higgins looked hard and saw the grief balled up behind his friend's face. 'You got a flight to catch, then go.'
The truth was, Valentine didn't have a flight to catch, but he figured he could talk his way onto one. Higgins walked him to the elevator. Valentine had run out of things to say and so he stared at the hideous carpet. Pushing
