“Did your Daddy or Mommy win a lot of money in the casino?” Charlie asked.
“Probably not,” Laura said. “Daddy promised Mommy that he would only gamble with nickels and dimes. They’re on a budget. I don’t think you can win a lot of money with nickels and dimes.”
“I think your Mommy and Daddy should call the police, anyway,” Charlie said.
Laura started to worry when Charlie said that. If he told her to call the police, he must think that something was really wrong. She wondered if it was like one of the mysteries in the books she had read. A robbery, maybe, or a murder.
Laura decided that she would have to be like Nancy Drew or Miss Marple, even though Miss Marple was very, very old, and that she would be the one to find her sister. Or maybe she’d try to think like Hercule Poirot with his little grey cells, even if he was a man and had a mustache. Much as Julie annoyed her at times, at least Julie had been nice enough to give her one of the teddy bears that she won at Circus Circus. Laura wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to her.
But she didn’t know how to start. Maybe she should just walk around the hotel and look for Julie.
The security guard was yelling at Brenda and Jeff when Laura went to ask them whether she should go back to the room and see whether Julie had returned.
“You let a minor gamble? Don’t you know it’s against the law? I should have you both arrested,” he screamed. His voice was quite high-pitched for such a large man.
“We can talk about that after you find our daughter,” Jeff said. “Right now that’s our main priority.”
“If anything bad happened to her, I’m going to hold you responsible,” the security guard said.
Brenda began to cry. “What do you think could have happened?” she asked.
“Maybe she was kidnapped,” said the security guard. His name, Jerry, was embroidered above his pocket, just like Charlie’s was.
Brenda cried louder.
“And you don’t belong in the lobby in your bathing suits,” Jerry added.
“Look, our daughter is missing and all you care about is that we gambled a few coins for her and dress codes,” Jeff shouted. “I want you to find her. Right now. Do you hear me?”
All the people waiting on line for the buffet turned to stare at them.
Laura tugged at Jeff’s arm. “Charlie says we should call the police,” she said.
“Who’s Charlie?” Jeff asked.
“That bastard,” Jerry said. “First he steals my girl, and now he’s trying to do my job for me.” He rushed over to Charlie’s post and grabbed him by the collar.
“Let him go, Jerry.” Ken, the lifeguard, walked up to Jerry and pulled him away.
At first, Laura hadn’t recognized Ken because he was wearing clothes. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a red plaid shirt. He looked different than he had when he was half naked. He wasn’t as good looking either.
“Call the police,” Charlie said. “Maybe your daughter was kidnapped, just like the other girl, Amy, the one who was murdered.”
“Shut up,” Jerry said. “This is my job, not yours.” He tried to punch Charlie, but Ken pinned his arms behind his back.
“Murdered?” Brenda cried louder.
“A girl was murdered?” Jeff said. He glared at Jerry. “When? Where? Why didn’t you tell me to call the police right away?” He put his arm around Brenda’s shoulder.
Rosa, having heard the commotion, walked from the dessert table, carrying a chocolate cream pie, which she shoved into Jerry’s face. “Don’t you dare talk to Charlie like that. I love him. We’re going to get married. You leave him alone, you creep.”
Then Rosa picked up the phone from Charlie’s workstation and called the police herself.
Charlie looked at Jeff. “Did you win a lot of money in the casino?” he asked.
Jeff squeezed Brenda’s shoulder. He shook his head. “No. Of course not. Why?”
“Because if you did, that may be why your daughter has disappeared. The other girl, Amy, was kidnapped because her father won a jackpot.”
“Oh, Jeff. I’m so scared,” Brenda said.
Jeff’s hands dropped to his side. He couldn’t look Brenda in the eyes. He looked sheepish as he muttered, “Well, uh, I did win a thousand dollars. I didn’t want to tell you. I thought you’d be mad at me.”
“Playing nickels and dimes?” Brenda asked. “A thousand dollars, playing nickels and dimes?”
“Well, no,” Jeff said. “I played silver dollars.”
Brenda stopped crying. “You bastard,” she said. She slapped Jeff across his face. She wiped her eyes with the side of her hand. She sniffled.
Ken reached into his pocket and handed Brenda a handkerchief.
Brenda wiped her nose.
Laura sneezed.
Brenda handed Laura the handkerchief. Laura blew her nose. She sneezed again and again.
The handkerchief smelled of lavender.
Laura looked at the handkerchief. It was small and one corner of it was embroidered with violets. It was Julie’s handkerchief.
Laura pointed to Ken. “He’s the one. He’s the one who kidnapped Julie.” She sneezed again. “This is Julie’s handkerchief, the one that Grandma Helen gave her, the last time she visited. Mine had pansies on it.”
Ken dropped his hold on Jerry. He started to run.
Jerry, his face covered with chocolate cream pie, turned and ran after Ken.
He tackled him, just as the police marched in.
After questioning Ken, the police located Julie tied to a chair in small shed behind the hotel. It wasn’t air-conditioned. Julie was all sweaty and had wet her pants. Her hands were tied behind her back and she had a red bandana wrapped around her mouth. When the policeman removed it, she began to sob.
They brought Julie to her parents who were waiting in the lobby. Brenda rushed up to Julie, gathered her in her arms, hugged her, held her close and rocked her. Julie began to cry.
“I’m the one that found out that Ken was the killer,” Laura said.
“Who found out, not, that found out,” Brenda said.
“Killer? Who did he kill?” Julie asked, and began to cry harder.
“We’re going to have to take you down to police headquarters,” one of the policemen said. “But you’d all better get dressed first.”
Julie snuggled against Brenda’s breast.
Jeff patted Laura on the head. “I’ m very proud of you,” he said.
After a long afternoon at police headquarters, they returned to the hotel. The management offered them a free dinner and refused to charge them for their room. The police said they could leave Las Vegas, but that Julie would have to return to testify when Ken went to trial.
Brenda and Jeff decided to leave Las Vegas the next morning, but to continue on their trip to Los Angeles. They wanted to make life for Julie seem as normal as possible. They left Las Vegas early and spent two days at Disneyland before visiting Uncle Phil and Aunt Miriam. Uncle Phil and Aunt Miriam had a dog, a golden retriever named Harley. At first Laura was apprehensive, but when Harley put his head on her lap, she pet his soft fur and her eyes didn’t itch and she didn’t sneeze. “I don’t think I’m allergic to dogs,” she said. “Just to cats.”
Julie ended up returning to Las Vegas, way before she was an adult. She had to testify at Ken’s trial. Jeff took time off from his job to be with her. Neither of them had any desire to gamble.When they got home, Julie read all of Laura’s hand-me-down Nancy Drew books. And Brenda bought Julie a dog, a female basset hound that they named Lavender.
Ken was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Amy, and to twenty additional years for kidnapping Julie.
Now, while remembering the names of Uncle Phil and Aunt Miriam and the cousins Jon and Karen is not important to the story, I thought you might want to know what happened to the rest of the cast, over the years.
Jerry left his job at the hotel and became chief of security at a house of prostitution. He married a five-foot-eleven, dark-haired prostitute who kind of looked like a much taller version of Rosa and had been a showgirl when she was younger.