That’s funny, I thought the most exciting night of his life was-
Never mind.
As soon as Peter was gone, Jim came over and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“Everything all right?” he asked.
“It will be when we get out of here. And if…” I glanced toward the poker game. There were seats for nine, and Eve had taken the one on Victor’s right. “If she can stay in the game long enough. And if she can get him to talk.”
“I WISH WE COULD SEE THE CARDS EVERYONE WAS holding.”
For about the hundredth time since the card play started, Peter stood in the doorway of the hospitality room and craned his neck for a better look into the card room. He moved to his left. He moved to his right. “If I knew what Pasqual’s pocket cards were-”
“I’m sure that’s why they have the rooms set up this way.” I poked Peter in the ribs to stop him from dancing around and looking too anxious. “If we could see the cards, we might signal the players.”
“I know, I know.” He scraped a hand through his hair the way he always did when he was antsy. “But I can’t stand the suspense. And Eve-!” When Eve tossed in another red chip, Peter groaned. I didn’t know how much the red chips were worth. I didn’t want to know. “She’s not listening to anything I told her. She shouldn’t be grinning and chatting and acting so girlie. She’s giving too much away.”
“Or not!” Eve reached to the middle of the table and scooped all the chips to her pile and I poked Peter in the ribs again, telling him without a word that he didn’t know everything there was to know about Texas Hold’em. Apparently, a grinning, chatty, girlie girl could do pretty well at the game. “Look.” I pointed when Pasqual stood up from the table. “They’re taking a break.”
Two of the card players who’d started the night had already run out of chips and when the door to the card room opened, one of the men stalked to the elevator and left. The other didn’t look nearly as upset by his losses. He stuck around to say good-bye to his fellow players before he came into the hospitality room for a glass of Scotch.
When she sauntered out of the card room, I closed in on Eve.
“So?” I tried not to sound too anxious, but really, how could I help myself? “You’re talking to Pasqual. I’ve seen you talking to him. Did you find out anything?”
How she managed, I don’t know, but Eve looked as fresh and perky as she had when the night started. She looped an arm through mine and together we walked to the refreshment table. She pointed at a pricey bottle of sparkling water and a waiting server opened it for her and poured it into a crystal glass. “Vic’s favorite color is blue,” she said. “His favorite holiday is Christmas. He lives alone, but he talks to his mama every day. Isn’t that nice? He’s never been married and those tabloid stories we’ve read linking him to all those Hollywood starlets…” She tossed her head and laughed. “Why, don’t you just know it, gossipmongers have a way of getting carried away. Is that what you were hoping to find out, Annie?”
It wasn’t, and Eve knew it. Which was why she grinned when Pasqual approached the refreshment table.
“Vic, honey…” I didn’t imagine many people were so forward as to grab Victor Pasqual’s hand, but when Eve did, he sure didn’t object. She piloted him my way. “This is my friend Annie. The one I told you I wanted you to meet. Annie is just the cleverest thing. She’s a detective, you know.”
“A detective!” Pasqual was anything but subtle. His words boomed through the room. He wiggled his eyebrows. “Holy smokes, little lady, you’re not going to cuff me and drag me off somewhere private, are you?”
I smiled and pretended he was funny while I extended my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Pasqual.”
As he’d done with Eve, he grabbed my hand and gave it a sloppy kiss. I resisted the urge to wipe my hand against my black skirt.
“So…” There was a crystal punch bowl nearby, filled with ice and brimming with bottles of a cheap, off-brand beer that was apparently Pasqual’s favorite. When he looked that way, a waiter made a move to get him a bottle, but Victor was too quick. He grabbed a bottle, twisted off the cap, and took a glug. When the waiter looked disappointed at not being able to help, Pasqual handed the man a one-hundred-dollar bill. “Thanks for trying,” he said, before he turned his attention back to me. “What do you detect?”
“Oh, this and that.” I didn’t do well at being coy, and I knew I wasn’t there just to make small talk, but it was hard not to be at a loss for words. Did I say that Victor Pasqual was larger than life? I’m not sure even that hyperbole describes him. He was bigger than that. Louder. Merrier. He reminded me of a New Jersey Santa Claus. Well, except for the loud sport coat and the beer.
“One of the cases I’m working on now involves someone you might know,” I said, finding my voice just as the dealer inside the card room called out that play would begin again in five minutes. I watched Pasqual carefully, gauging his reaction when I said, “Norman Applebaum.”
“Who?” Pasqual finished the rest of his beer in one swallow and reached for another. “Never heard of the guy.”
“I thought you might remember him, seeing that he won three hundred thousand dollars from you in a poker game.”
“Three hundred thousand? Really?” Pasqual’s eyes bulged, and he laughed. “Oh, heck. That’s pocket change.” He grabbed Eve’s arm. “Come on, honey. Let’s see if you can play the rest of the game as well as you played the start. You are going to sit right next to me again, aren’t you?”
As he pulled her away, Eve looked over her shoulder at me and shrugged.
And me?
I watched and waited and wondered.
Could anyone pretend to be as clueless as Pasqual did when I mentioned Norman ’s name? And if he really didn’t know Norman, did that mean he didn’t hold a grudge against the man who’d won so much money from him?
Honestly, I didn’t know. But I knew one thing for sure: If Victor Paqual was the killer we were looking for, he sure wasn’t acting very guilty.
THE FIRST THING I DID WHEN EVE AND VICTOR LEFT the hospitality room was look toward Norman, who was squirreled away behind a potted palm.
“Well?” I mouthed the word, glancing toward Pasqual and raising my eyebrows as if to ask, Is he the guy?
Norman ’s only response was a shrug.
It was not what I was hoping for.
Discouraged, and wondering what on earth to do next, I dropped into a nearby armchair. Jim had been outside with Doc, and when the elevator across the lobby opened, he and the dog stepped out. He gave me a look. I answered with a shrug.
And we were right back where we started.
That’s where we stayed, too, until the wee hours of the morning when-finally-the game was over.
As soon as I saw it was, I popped out of the chair where I’d spent part of the last hour dozing and the other part worrying. I was waiting outside the card room door when Eve walked out.
“Well?”
She ignored me. Which was just as well. I wasn’t sure if I was asking if she’d won enough to get Doc’s collar out of hock, or if she’d found out anything useful from Victor Pasqual.
Eve, though, didn’t miss a beat. I saw her glance around just long enough to make sure Norman was within earshot, then give Victor that teasing little half smile of hers. The one that never fails to make the male of the species melt into a pile of mush.
“It’s payback time, Norman,” Victor said.
And with that, he was gone, headed over toward his private elevator.
It took me a moment to find my voice. “What…?” From the elevator, I saw Victor wave at Eve and Eve wave back. “What was that all about?”