Silke was still better. She had an eidetic memory, which meant she remembered every card played. She had a mental notebook where she jotted down everything she saw, and she could flip back a few pages in her mind and look at what she’d noted.
Carleen was fine as a spotter, but she got nervous and overbet. She seemed to like Elliott, and Silke and Raj kept throwing them together.
They held his first session at Circus Circus in Reno, Silke signaling him to an uncrowded table just past a set of progressive slots. A hundred-dollar minimum, and he had been provided with a stake of ten thousand dollars. He got to work.
The dealer, quick-handed and ready with a smile, dealt from a six-deck shoe that had already been played by Silke down to four decks.
She said from somewhere behind him, “I think I’ll get something to eat, a bagel or something.” The word
The rest of the team met him in the parking lot and they went somewhere-some other casino on the downtown Reno strip-to celebrate. Elliott got drunk and didn’t play any more. He was drained like a marathoner, and had to be helped to his motel room.
The next night he played for a longer time, with less money, and made $12,500. Raj, playing at another table with Carleen looking on, picked up $18,000.
They flew home with $45,500 in cash, carried by Silke and Carleen in plastic bags under their jackets. Airport security scared Elliott, but apparently the Reno screeners were used to seeing large amounts of cash on money belts. To draw notice to a tourist’s stash wouldn’t be good for Reno.
The girls had no problem.
Elliott’s share was $10,500 after expenses. He gave himself $500 for some books he needed and sent the rest to his father in Seattle, writing that he had been asked to do some consulting.
He went again in May and June, to the Mohawk casino in upstate New York, and to Loughlin, Nevada. Both times he came back with more than $10,000.
Raj became a friend. He was reliable and funny, impossible to dislike. Carleen hung around, sulky, right on the money with her job, though. The only problem was with Silke. He was in love for the first time in his life, and considering his personality, he thought maybe it would be the last time, too. But she and Raj were in love with each other, in a way he could only respect. Respect and suffer over.
Elliott picked up the phone again, wanting to hear Silke’s voice. The rain flowed down his window, and the calculations in front of him looked as blurry as the view. But he didn’t dare call her for the third time in three days. She’d be irritated. Raj would be irritated. They would be in touch when they had some information about the man in the mask.
Meantime, college had been over for two years, and Raj and Silke were still together. They would always be together, and Elliott’s job as third wheel was to avoid being a pudgy pest.
10
WISH SHOWED UP AT THE OFFICE on Monday afternoon, wearing his sunglasses and Paul’s old leather jacket, as Nina was ushering out her four o’clock.
“Coffee first,” Nina said. They went into the conference room next to her office and Wish pulled out his usual chair, next to where Paul used to sit. Sandy came in and shut the door. They all fixed espressos on the new machine standing in the corner. The windows streetside let in a fresh breeze and the sound of traffic stopping and starting at the light.
Wish passed out his report. He had his own new letterhead: “Whitefeather Investigations.” Naturally, a white feather was drawn under the new firm’s name.
“You’re the first people to see it. What do you think, Mom?”
Sandy said, “I never thought I’d see the day.” The side of her mouth twitched. She was thrilled.
“Are you going to rent an office?” Nina asked.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Wish said. “And you know, you don’t use this room much, and I’ll be in the field a lot. So just as a temporary move I, er, put down your address.” Now she saw it, just under the white feather.
Nina had to think about this. Wish wasn’t presumptuous, so why had he jumped ahead like that? Then she thought, He’s only twenty-five, he’s just gotten his license, and he needs to stay close to us. This conference room was the only office Wish had ever worked in, except for Paul’s in Carmel.
“You should have asked first,” Sandy said.
“It’s fine, Wish,” Nina said. “We just have to stay at arm’s length. We’ll do a written rent agreement and I’ll talk to the Starlake Building landlord.”
“Great! How much shall I pay a month?”
“ Sandy?” Nina said.
“Three-fifty,” Sandy said. Nina’s rent had recently gone up to twelve hundred dollars a month, not bad for a reception room, private office, and conference room in a small town.
“Let’s start at two hundred,” Nina said. “For the first six months.” Wish’s face broke into a big smile, and she saw how nervous he had been about his proposal.
“You’re the best,” he said. “And I’m going to give your work top priority. As soon as I get some other clients.”
“I’ll expect that. So-report.”
“I talked to Sergeant Cheney, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, Sunday. He was surprised the civil case was still pending. He said to say hi. The police report, the autopsy report, the coroner’s findings on the Hanna shooting are all attached.”
“That’ll help a lot. Did you notice anything of interest?”
“There’s plenty in there. Ballistics stuff. It was ruled a homicide by persons unknown. Mrs. Hanna was three months pregnant at the time. The best stuff is witness descriptions. The clerk, Meredith Assawaroj, had checked in this group of students who were the ones robbed. See the witness statement, right here.”
“Got it,” Nina said, thumbing through the pages.
“Meredith indicated that there were three people who checked in. A couple and a young man. The couple had one room and the man had a separate room.”
“Descriptions?”
“Pretty good ones. I think Meredith felt really bad about leaving her post at the desk that night. She still works at the Ace High, though.”
Nina was already reviewing the clerk’s description of the three witnesses.
“Sandy, let’s get this on a separate sheet,” she said. “The single one first. About five feet eleven, weight one-seventy, average build, blond hair, not too long, but hung in his eyes in front. No tattoos or piercings. White oxford shirt, jeans, hiking boots. Glasses. Backpack.”
“Generic kind of guy,” Sandy said. “Not conspicuous at all.”
“Wait till we get to the other two,” Wish said.
“She didn’t talk to the girl or her boyfriend at all, but Meredith heard this individual say something to one of the others. She thinks he said, ‘Professor Brown would love that.’ ”
“‘Professor Brown would love that,’ ” Sandy repeated thoughtfully. “So she decided they were students.”
“We’ll get to that. The couple was pretty conspicuous. Good-looking. The boyfriend did all the talking for the group. He paid cash for the two rooms. Meredith asked for a driver’s license and he gave her a fake ID. So did the other two. Meredith kept the copies and they’re attached.”
“It’s a New York license. The name is Mukul Dev,” Nina read. “Age is twenty-six. Address is-”
“Nonexistent,” Wish said. “Sergeant Cheney had it checked.”
“That’s an Indian name. East Indian, I mean.”
“We know what you mean,” Sandy said.
“Sergeant Cheney says it’s the name of a big star in Bollywood. The police checked him out, but he was in Mumbai working on the set of a musical that day.”
“Mumbai?” Sandy said.
Wish said, “ Bombay, Mom.”
“Then why not say so?”
“But our fake Indian actually was from India. At least, he looked that way to Meredith. I doubt she’s an expert.”
“Medium height, full lips, dark eyes, long eyelashes. Hmm. Gray slacks, black loafers. Blue dress shirt. Smiled a lot. Sort of British accent. She didn’t see his bag.”
“Doesn’t sound like a student to me,” Sandy said. “Now that first one, yes.”
“The Indian’s a standout individual,” Wish said. “He’s going to lead us to the rest of them.”
“And the girl?”
“On the next page. Five-five. Early twenties. Brown hair with a lot of curl. Not a lot of makeup. Trim shape. Wearing a pink tank top and jeans. High-heeled boots. And this one had a different accent,” Nina said, reading.
“Indian?” Sandy asked.
Wish answered, “German. Meredith said they used to get a lot of German tourists in her hometown in Thailand, and she’s pretty sure.”
Nina said, shaking her head, “It’s such a shame Dave Hanna let this drop. The three of them came to Tahoe two years ago. Somebody tried to rob them and they saw a woman get shot. Finding them isn’t going to be easy. They could have come from anywhere. What about the rental car?”
“Same fake ID and cash,” Wish said. “Dropped at the Reno airport Enterprise car-rental place at five A.M. There were several flights out early that morning and the sergeant checked the passenger manifests. United had three last-minute passengers to Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, on its six A.M. flight that morning with the same fake names.”
“What were they up to?” Sandy said. “They sound like crooks. Drug runners or something.”
“They didn’t want to be found after the shooting, that’s for sure,” Wish said. “And nobody did find them. The trail went cold in Boston.”
“I bet airport security would have a film,” Sandy said.
“The airport-security firm stonewalled the sergeant. He couldn’t even find out if there was a film.”
“All right,” Nina said. “You talked to the clerk?”
“Meredith. She really wanted to help. So she saw them when they checked in, and she’s told the police all she knows about that. But-this is good-when she heard the shots-two quick shots-she ran right out the door with the kid behind the counter of the Internet cafe, and across the parking lot toward the office. She said she never thought about getting shot herself.”
“What happened then?”
“It’s all in her statement. She heard yelling. Two of the students, the Indian and the girl, ran right past her, telling her to watch out, toward their rooms. Then the third student came running in the same direction. She looked around the corner of the office toward the vending machines and saw Dave Hanna coming down the steps yelling that his wife was shot. Up on the balcony of his room she saw a woman crumpled in a corner.”
“Do we have photos of the crime scene?”
