He was looking suspicious. I had to give him something.
“A cop came to my shop looking for one of my workers. He said she was involved in an incident at a pawnshop; he wanted to talk to her.” I paused, then added, “She’s got derringer tattoos.” I pointed to my inner upper arms. “Here.”
He licked his lips. “Hot chick. Came in here this morning.”
“What happened?”
“Cop didn’t tell you?”
I shook my head.
“She came in asking about a pin I had. Fancy thing, rubies and diamonds. Like a queen-of-hearts card. I told her I didn’t have it anymore. Guy who pawned it bought it back.”
Charlotte already knew that. What was going on?
The guy wasn’t done yet, though.
“Funny about that pin.”
I frowned. “What?”
“Every week I get a list from the cops of things that are stolen. You know, like in robberies or stuff like that.” He paused. “Two days ago, I got the list. That pin was on it.”
I frowned. “Stolen?”
He nodded. “Guy who owns it comes in regular. But he hadn’t been in in a long time.”
“When did he buy the pin back?”
He grinned. “Great minds think alike.” He tapped the side of his head. I don’t think so. “It was reported stolen after he bought it back. Someone must have stolen it from him. I haven’t seen it since.”
But I had seen it. In Trevor’s makeup case last night. It certainly hadn’t been stolen. What was up with this?
“Did you tell the girl it was on your list?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Said if she saw it somewhere else she should call the cops. And then that guy came in.”
“What guy?”
He shrugged. “Some guy. Pushed her around a little, said he knew what she was up to. I told the guy to lay off her. Got the impression it was domestic.”
Charlotte wasn’t married. I didn’t even know whether she was dating anyone. “Did you call the cops?”
“I pushed the alarm button, but she ran out, and then he went after her. By the time the cops showed up, they were long gone.”
“What did he look like?”
He shook his head. “He kept his back to me, wore a big gray sweatshirt with a hood.”
Sounded like the guy who shot the cork at Trevor. But the sweatshirt had been found in the dressing room
I pulled the drawing of Rusty Abbott out of my bag and put it on the counter. “Was it him?”
He pushed the picture of Abbott right back at me and gave me a squirrelly look.
“I don’t know,” he said, looking away.
Now I knew how Tim probably felt when he was questioning reluctant witnesses. I decided not to push it.
“Do you know Wesley Lambert?” I asked.
He frowned and shook his head. “Should I?”
His reaction seemed genuine.
I’d been wondering how Frank DeBurra knew the woman who was in here was Charlotte, so I asked, “The girl who was in here this morning. Did you tell the police about her derringer tattoos?”
He nodded. “And the cool ivy and flower chain ink around her neck.”
The description fit. But still, how did DeBurra get her name?
“She never told you her name?” I asked.
“I asked her about the tats. Asked where she got them. Told me she worked at The Painted Lady.” He paused a second; then a wide grin spread across his face. “I know who you are now. I recognize you. Jeff told me about you.”
Of course he did.
“He said I should try your shop next time I want a tat,” he continued.
I was going to have to tell Jeff to stop talking up my shop. I didn’t need his help. I tried to smile as graciously as I could, considering I never wanted to see this guy in my shop. Ever. I gathered up my sketch and stuffed it back in my bag. I had to get out of here. “My rates start at five hundred,” I said.
I think the rest of his teeth almost fell out as I gave him a little wave and left the store.
My phone warbled “Born to Run” when I got back into the car. I flipped it open after seeing Ace’s number on the screen.
“Tell me you’re still with Charlotte,” I said without saying hello.
“I am.”
“This idiot detective is looking for her. I need to talk to her.”
I heard muffled talking, then, “Hello? Brett?”
“A cop came to the shop looking for you, something about an incident at this pawnshop.”
A long silence, then, “What of it?”
“I was just in the pawnshop. I talked to that creepy guy with no teeth. He said some guy came in and harassed you. He thought it was a domestic. What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing, really.”
“Then why are you hiding?”
Silence.
“It’s not like you did anything wrong,” I said after a few seconds. Although I was starting to think that there might be a bit more to this than what Mr. Pawned had described. “Why did you go there asking about Trevor’s pin? Did you know it had been reported stolen?”
“Trevor can explain.”
Trevor? “I talked to Trevor. He came by the shop looking for you. He didn’t know anything about you going to a pawnshop or that the cops want to question you. At least that’s what he said.” I paused. “Anyway, Trevor’s back in the hospital. He got really sick at the shop. We had to call the paramedics.”
“He’s sick?”
“Yeah, he was looking for you.”
“Is he going to be okay?”
“I don’t really know.”
“You have to go see him, find out. Tell him I’m okay. He can tell you about the pin, why I went there.”
And then the phone went dead.
I didn’t like visiting hospitals, but it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice. I had no idea where Charlotte was, so I decided to take her up on her advice and try to get some answers out of Trevor. Problem was, I didn’t know where they’d taken him. We’d just let the paramedics leave the shop with him and not asked. I called Bitsy and asked her whether she could call around, see if he had been admitted anywhere.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Charlotte tells me Trevor can explain what went down this morning at that pawnshop.”
“But he says he wasn’t with Charlotte. And why can’t she tell you?”
“She just won’t. I don’t know why. So I figure I’ll see if Trevor will be a little more forthcoming. Can you make some calls?”
Bitsy knew Las Vegas a lot better than I did. She’d lived here for most of her life, could remember when the Strip was just a shadow of what it was today.
I waited only about five minutes before my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID. Bitsy.
“That was fast.”
“UMC on West Charleston. University Medical Center.”
She told me how to get there from where I was, and I headed north.
