Hazy Grooms and Homicides (A Raina Sun Mystery #8)

by Anne R. Tan

  Po Po wiggled her eyebrows. “I can’t let you have all the fun. I followed you down here. We could have matching outfits and carry guitars.”

  The saleswoman nodded. “What size are you looking for?”

  Po Po rattled off their sizes, and the saleswoman looked through another rack.

  “Guitars? Aren’t they big and bulky?” Raina whispered to her grandma.

  Po Po shrugged. “Yeah, but they look cool. Besides, if we need to, we can hide a machine gun in the case.”

  Raina squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Now she remembered where she got the idea about the mob burying people out in the desert—her grandma’s wild imagination at work.

  The saleswoman reappeared and held up two costumes. One was a white polyester jumpsuit with gold trim and a gazillion crystals sown on the jacket. The other one was a red jumpsuit with golden sequins in the shape of pinwheels. “If you get both of them, I’ll throw in the wigs for free.”

  Po Po’s eyes glittered with excitement, and she reached for the red jumpsuit. “Oh, yeah. My day just keeps getting better.”

  As if sensing an imminent sale, the saleswoman said, “Why don’t you try it on? I have a dressing room in the corner.” She pulled back the curtain to a dressing booth with a full-length mirror. Her grandma disappeared behind the curtain without further urging.

  While her grandma dressed, Raina asked the saleswoman, “Do you know Claire Boucher? I’ve been looking for her all day. I’m having issues with my pass for the convention.”

  The saleswoman shook her head. “No, this is her first year putting together the show. Brian Anderson has been organizing the convention for over a decade, but he got pneumonia a few months ago. Claire was filling in for him. So I’m not surprised if there are issues. It seems like everyone is complaining about something this year.”

  Raina’s ears perked up. “I know there was something wrong with the breakfast in one of the convention rooms yesterday. What other issues are there?”

  “Some money from the ticket sales disappeared. No one knows what happened to it. That’s why there’s so much tension about the shortage of food and booze. As you know, the tickets for this event are not cheap.”

  “Did somebody embezzle funds?”

  The saleswoman shrugged. “Who knows? Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money. They had to raise the booth prices in the exhibit hall to make up for it. I paid an extra two hundred dollars this year. It soured the weeklong festivities for us old-timers. I’ve been coming to this convention with my husband for over ten years.”

  “Are people blaming Claire?”

  “I don’t know. No one has seen her since last night. We tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail. And someone said she lost her phone yesterday.” The saleswoman shrugged. “Who knows what’s going on? She could be on her way to Mexico with the money.”

  Raina’s eyes widened. Was Claire killed because she stole the money? “What about Brian Anderson? Is he at the convention? What does he say about all this?”

  “He’s around here somewhere,” the saleswoman said. “And of course he’s not happy with what’s happening. But there’s nothing he can do about it. Claire had access to all the accounts while he was in the hospital.”

  Po Po came out and whirled in front of them. “What do you think?”

  Raina wanted to push her grandma back into the dressing booth so she could continue her conversation.

  The saleswoman gave her grandma two thumbs-up. “It looks great on you. I even have a red cape to go with it.” She dug in a cardboard box underneath the display table and pulled out a mini cape. She draped it over Po Po’s shoulders. The bottom rested at her grandma’s waist.

  Po Po stroked the fabric of the cape. “Ohhh! It’s velvet. I like it.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe you should try the white jumpsuit,” Raina said, hoping her grandma would take the hint to go back into the dressing booth.

  The saleswoman shook her head. “The red looks good on your granny. You should try out the white jumpsuit. It’ll look smashing with your black hair.”

  Raina sighed. It looked like her info gathering session was over. She tried on the jumpsuit. When she turned her head, she had to do it slowly, or the big stiff collar might poke her eyes.

  When Raina came out of the dressing booth, Po Po clapped. “We’ll take them.”

  As Po Po paid for the outfits, Raina studied the program. Tomorrow morning, Brian Anderson would be hosting guitar troubleshooting lessons in the Sunset Room. It looked like her grandma might have her wish after all.

  “Where can we rent guitars around here?” Raina asked, glancing up from the program.

  Po Po did a fist pump. “Oh, yeah.”

  The saleswoman handed back Po Po’s credit card. “Go straight to the front, the third booth on your left has instrument rentals. We get a lot of new guitar players in these events. The minimum rental period is three days.”

  They thanked the woman and made their way to the instrument booth. Raina told Po Po a summary of her conversation with the saleswoman and her plan to look for Brian in the morning.

  “Yikes, it sounds like there is more afoot than just the missing money,” Po Po said. “I wonder if she hid the money in your room.”

  Raina considered the idea and dismissed it. “I would have noticed a wad of cash around the entertainment unit. Tomorrow will be interesting. The police might start questioning the convention attendees. Claire Boucher’s death will be public knowledge by then. I wonder how Brian will react to the news.”

  “Then we better get to the seminar bright and early with a bowl of popcorn to watch the show,” Po Po said.

  They passed several booths selling authentic rock-and-roll memorabilia. Po Po almost made a detour inside a booth, but Raina held onto her grandma’s arm. “We’re here to work, not load up our suitcases.”

  Po Po harrumphed. “I don’t have time at my age to work anymore. Everything I do is for pleasure.”

  Raina rolled her eyes. “I thought you were sixty this week. You still have plenty of time to become a hoarder. Come on.”

  At the instrument booth, her grandma put down a deposit and her credit card information. Luckily, Raina was able to convince her grandma to rent one guitar instead of two. As she lugged all the purchases to the elevator a few minutes later, she wondered if seeking out Brian Anderson in the morning was a good idea. After all, if the police showed up when Raina was at the seminar, the detective might want to question her too.

  5

  Kissing the Toilet Brush

  After a restless night, Raina took Poe out for a jog the next morning. The Strip was relatively safe enough, and a big black Labrador retriever running full tilt on a leash was a deterrent for most criminals. By the time she got back to the hotel-casino, the service dog was ready for his breakfast.

  She returned to her suite for a shower and had scones and coffee with the grandmas at the café. They discussed their plans for the day, and once again, Maggie opted to stay in the suite to watch Chinese shows. Since her future grandma-in-law was listening to the shows rather than staring at the screen, Raina didn’t object to the plan. It couldn’t be any worse than listening to the radio all day. Maggie’s hearing was sharper than ever, so no one could complain the retiree was ruining her ears.

  An hour later, Raina was in the hallway outside their room synchronizing her watch with Po Po so they could rendezvous in half an hour. She returned to her suite to change into her white jumpsuit costume. She was inside the bathroom stuffing her hair into the wig when someone knocked on the door.

  “Housekeeping,” came the muffled voice on the other side of the door.

  Raina came out of the bathroom. The door opened a crack, and a stout Hispanic woman popped her head into the room. When she saw Raina, she asked, “Housekeeping?”

  Raina nodded. “Go ahead. There’s no need to make the bed.” She never understood the logic of why someone needed to make the bed in
the morning only to return to it at night.

  She grabbed her purse and decided to clean it out while she waited for her grandma. She tossed out meal receipts, inkless pens, and half-eaten granola bars she meant to save for later.

  “Excuse me?” The maid held out a USB memory stick. “This yours?”

  Raina frowned. “Where did you find this?” She didn’t recognize the memory stick, but it could belong to Matthew.

  The maid pointed at the entertainment unit. “I found it…” She made a dusting motion with her hand.

  Raina glanced at the dresser drawer. Could the USB stick belong to Claire? Her pulse jumped at the thought. There was still a chance the memory stick had belonged to a previous guest. She slipped the memory stick into her purse. “Thank you.”

  The maid returned to the bathroom and continued cleaning.

  Raina should probably leave the maid alone, but there weren’t many opportunities to talk to the staff without a crowd waiting for their turn. She followed the maid to the bathroom and leaned casually against the doorframe.

  “I hate to bother you, but I sent my clothes down for laundry service yesterday, and I haven’t gotten them back yet,” Raina said. “Usually the service is very prompt with returning my clothes the next morning. Do you know what’s going on down there?”

  The maid froze, and her grip tightened on the toilet brush until white knuckles stood out in her hand.

  From the woman’s body language, Raina knew the maid had a visceral reaction to the question. She wondered if gossip exaggerated the horror downstairs. “Are you okay?” she asked softly.

  The maid stood up from the toilet and held the brush in front of her, pointing it at Raina. “No laundry room.” As she spoke, she shook her hands, and droplets of liquid from the toilet brush scattered in front of her.

  Raina jumped back but felt wet spots on her thighs. She didn’t stop to look at her pants. Her heart kicked up a notch at the unusual confrontation, but no one could win a fight with a toilet brush.

  “I told the policía everything. I not know how lady got in bag,” the maid said. Her Spanish accent grew stronger with each sentence.

  Raina continued to back away until the back of her thigh hit the corner of the sofa. “I’m going to wait for my grandma outside.” She opened the door, stepped out into the hallway, and closed it behind her.

  She glanced down at her pants. There were still several wet spots on the fabric. Fantastic. Now she could walk around smelling like a mountain spring.

  A door clicked open. Raina glanced up to see Po Po stepping into in the hallway from her room.

  “Rainy, you’re early. I thought we synchronized our watches,” Po Po said with disappointment.

  “I just got attacked by a maid brandishing a toilet brush,” Raina said. She explained what happened in her room. “I have a feeling she discovered the body. It’s too bad she has to come to work today. She could probably use a day at home.”

  “She probably needs the pay. I don’t see this place giving her a mental health day. Do you want me to go in there and talk to her?”

  “I don’t know. She seems mighty upset.”

  Po Po rolled her neck and cracked her knuckles. “Let me work my magic. I’m going in. Don’t worry, honey. I got this.”

  Raina suppressed a smile at the determined look on her grandma’s face. If Po Po wanted toilet water flung at her face, who was Raina to stop her? “Can I use your laptop?” Her grandma always traveled with her laptop. Sometimes Raina wondered what kind of business Po Po conducted while on the go.

  Po Po nodded. “It’s on my bed.”

  Raina opened the door to her room and held it open. Po Po disappeared into the suite. Raina used the spare key card and entered her grandma’s suite, calling out, “Maggie, it’s me. Just borrowing Po Po’s computer.”

  Maggie waved in greeting and returned to her conversation on her cell phone. Raina paused, studying the turned shoulder and cupped hands around the phone. It was obvious Maggie didn’t want eavesdroppers. While Matthew’s grandma was calmer than Po Po, they were best friends for a reason. Raina had a feeling the whispered conversation might come back to bite her in the rear.

  Raina went into the bedroom, dismissing the random thought. She didn’t have time to worry about Maggie at the moment. She grabbed Po Po’s laptop from the bed, entered the password, and inserted the USB stick.

  She held her breath, hoping the drive wouldn’t automatically run a program. She would hate to download a virus onto her grandma’s laptop, although Po Po had an entire club of high schoolers who could remove the virus for pizza and energy drinks.

  Raina clicked on the USB drive and a screen popped up asking for a password. She tried several common passwords. No dice. She pulled out the USB stick and powered down the laptop. It looked like they might need the high school students and their hacking skills after all.

  As she passed the living room, she called out, “I’m leaving.”

  Maggie was no longer on the phone and returned to her knitting. “Have fun sleuthing.”

  Raina paused again. Something in Maggie’s voice seemed off. “Is everything okay? I hope you’re not upset that we keep leaving you in the room.”

  “Everything is peachy.” Maggie made a shooing motion with her hands. “Now get out of here. You’re interrupting my show.”

  Raina grabbed the guitar next to the door and left the suite, feeling unsatisfied. Was Maggie acting strangely because she had heard from Matthew? But why would Matthew only call his grandma? She pulled out her cell phone, and there was a voicemail message. It was from an unfamiliar number in Las Vegas. She listened to the message. It was from Hendricks.

  “Miss Sun, please call me back. Willie said you wanted to review the surveillance video outside of your room. I checked out the video this morning…” His voice trailed off, and there was a long pause. “We need to talk before I turn this over to the police.”

  Raina’s heart sank. Hendricks must have seen Raina chasing Claire out of her room. This was going to make her look bad. She hoped Claire didn’t die when Raina was alone and couldn’t produce an alibi.

  “What’s going on? Cat got your tongue?” Po Po asked, stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind her. She glanced at her smartwatch. “Let’s walk and chat. We’ll be late for the guitar seminar.”

  Raina trailed off after her grandma, holding onto the guitar case. It was big and bulky enough that holding it by the handle made her feel lopsided, but she also could not hold it in front of her with two hands. Lugging this thing around for more than a short trip downstairs could be a pain.

  “I think trouble just found me.” Raina told her grandma the message from Hendricks.

  Po Po stabbed the call button for the elevator, poking it several times as if this would make the elevator come faster. “Do you want to split up?”

  Raina hesitated. She would love to split up and get more done. She didn’t want to wait too long because Hendricks might get antsy and call the police. But neither did she want her grandma to interview Brian Anderson by herself. As much as she loved Po Po, her grandma was a loose cannon. She would think nothing of accusing Brian Anderson of being a murderer in front of everyone and browbeating him into a confession.

  “Here’s the plan,” Raina said. “You go ahead to the guitar seminar and follow Brian around incognito. I’ll talk to Hendricks, and I’ll try to make it back before the seminar ends. But if I don’t, you’ll have him under surveillance until I show up. Do not approach the mark without me. You’ll need backup in case everything goes up in flames.”

  Po Po saluted. “I got your back, Sherlock.”

  Raina smiled inwardly. She had used all the right words— incognito, surveillance, mark, and flames—so her grandma thought she was on a spy mission. This should keep Po Po from approaching Brian Anderson until Raina got back.

  The elevator came, and they got into the empty car.

  “Did you get any information from the
maid?” Raina asked.

  “The maid came in at seven o’clock to start her shift. After putting her purse in the locker, she went upstairs with the other maids to start their housekeeping duties. When she came back downstairs to the laundry room at about eight thirty there were already several bags of laundry waiting for her,” Po Po said.

  “Where did the laundry come from?”

  “The maids drop them off when they fill up their linen bag. It was our maid’s turn to do the laundry this week. She loaded up the two machines. And then another group of maids came down to drop off their full bags. She went with them across the hall to the storage room. When the maids went back upstairs, she started her second load of laundry. And that’s when she discovered the body.”

  “What time did she start the second load?” Raina said.

  “She doesn’t know.”

  Raina frowned. “A load of laundry wouldn’t take more than thirty-five or forty minutes in the industrial machines downstairs. Even if you add in gabbing time with the other women, the maid probably started the second load about an hour after she came downstairs.”

  They stepped out of the elevator and headed toward the Sunset Room. The casino floor was crowded with rock star impersonators mingling with the regular folks. If only Raina had more time to appreciate the spectacle.

  “So nine thirty-ish?” Po Po asked.

  “The killer probably dumped Claire’s body in the laundry room sometime between seven fifteen-ish and nine thirty am.”

  Po Po’s eyes widened. “We didn’t go downstairs for breakfast until nine.”

  “And I was seen chasing her a few hours before.” Raina swallowed uneasily. She had no alibi.

  “You’re overthinking this. You have no motive for killing Claire. The police could not seriously consider you a suspect.”

  Raina wasn’t so sure. What if instead of doing a slapdash investigation, the police looked for a scapegoat? A young out-of-towner scraping by on two part-time jobs. Yeah, she would make the perfect scapegoat.