High Stakes and Hazelnut Cupcakes in Las Vegas

by WINTERS, A. R.

  “Did you know Richard very well?” I said.

  Ruby nodded. “Yeah, I’ve known him for longer than April. And it’s silly now, to think that I believed he killed her. I mean, it was all so unexpected and sudden, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “How did you know Richard?”

  For the first time during our conversation, Ruby smiled. “About two years ago, I dated his cousin, who was living in Vegas at the time. Jaden. That’s how I met Richard. Of course, three months later, Jaden decided to move to Minnesota, and we broke up, but Richard and I stayed in touch. I guess we shared a sense of humor, and it can be hard to make friends in Vegas.”

  “Did things ever get romantic between the two of you?”

  April laughed. “No, he wasn’t my type. And I probably wasn’t his. We were just friends, and neither of us was interested in taking things any further.”

  “And April met Richard through you?”

  Ruby nodded. “Yes. And at first I thought they made a good couple.”

  “At first?”

  Ruby shrugged. “They’d been dating for a little while, and I guess April’s love life was her own business. But I know that she was also seeing a barista at the café where she worked, and she was in touch with her ex-boyfriend, who’d followed her over to Vegas. She might even have been seeing other men at the same time—I didn’t ask, because I didn’t want to know.”

  “And you didn’t approve?”

  Ruby shook her head slowly. “I tried not to think about it too much. Perhaps they had an open relationship, or perhaps they’d never had the monogamy talk. It was none of my business.”

  “But you didn’t approve.”

  Ruby smiled again. “No, I suppose I’m old-fashioned that way. But it was April’s life, and she could do whatever she wanted.”

  “And did you tell Richard about these other men?”

  Ruby’s eyes widened in horror. “Of course not! Women stick together, men come and go.”

  I smiled, wishing I had a girlfriend who felt that strongly about me and our friendship. “But you’d been friends with Richard for longer.”

  Ruby looked off to one side and tilted her head. “That’s true. And I liked Richard. But I’m not about to get involved in someone else’s love life, you know what I mean? Maybe if Richard had come up to me and said that they’d promised to be monogamous, but he thought April was cheating on her, did I know anything—then I would have told him. That’s the only time I’d do something like that.”

  I glanced at Ian, who was looking at Ruby skeptically.

  “I don’t really believe you,” he said. “If it were me, I would have told my friend that his girlfriend was seeing other men.”

  Ruby refused to be frazzled by Ian’s comment. “That’s because you’re a guy,” she said with a smile. “Men stick together. Women should do the same.”

  Ian made a face and shrugged. “Maybe you’re right.”

  Ruby looked at me again. “You know what I mean, right?”

  “I suppose so. But you still believe that Richard killed April?”

  “Only at first—like I said, it was the most obvious thing that jumped to mind. But afterward, I figured that maybe someone had broken in, or maybe April had gone out by herself after Richard left.”

  “Do you think Richard and April were happy together?”

  “I’m not sure,” said Ruby. “In some ways, I wasn’t sure why April would go out with Richard, if she was going to see other men on the side. Richard isn’t too good looking, and maybe April was just with him because she thought she should date a rich guy—and then on the side, she met up with better-looking men. Trophy wives do that all the time. Other than that, I guess they were happy enough. They’d fight once in a while, but every couple does.”

  “And what about that barista, Adrian? And her ex, Vince?”

  Ruby shook her head. “I didn’t want to know about them, and April didn’t talk to me much about them. I just knew that sometimes she’d be on the phone with Vince, and sometimes she’d make plans to meet up with Adrian. I never went out of my way to find out more.”

  “And you don’t know about any other men?”

  “Not for sure.”

  “And what about her friends? Who else did April hang out with in Vegas?”

  “As far as I could tell, she didn’t have too many friends. Sometimes she’d hang out with the other staff from the café, and sometimes she’d go hang around at a casino by herself. I don’t know that she had close friends in Vegas.”

  “And what about any enemies? Did you know of anyone who might have wanted to hurt April?”

  “No,” said Ruby. “Maybe she knew more people than she let on, but I didn’t know about any enemies.”

  “And had she been acting any different in the days before she died?”

  Ruby shook her head. “This whole thing is just so strange and sudden. I had no idea that… when the cops showed up at the hospital, I was so shocked.”

  I nodded sympathetically and asked her a few more questions about her work at the hospital and how she liked living in Vegas. But I didn’t learn anything new about April, so finally, I handed her my business card and told her to call me if she thought of anything else, and then Ian and I said our goodbyes and left.

  I started up the engine and began to head out of the parking lot. “You’ve been awfully quiet,” I said to Ian.

  “I thought you didn’t want me saying irreverent things and getting people all worked up.”

  “That’s true. But I feel like you don’t like Ruby very much.”

  Ian shook his head. “I can’t help thinking that if I were her, I would be interested in Richard. The guy’s quite rich—surely they must’ve been more than friends.”

  “Not everything is a love triangle,” I said as I drove over to Richard’s house. “You can be friends with a guy without being romantically interested in him. And some women don’t want to date a guy just because he’s rich.”

  “Sure,” said Ian. “But I get the feeling that Ruby’s hiding something about her relationship with Richard.”

  “Well, Richard texted me to say that he can talk to us today after all, so we can ask Richard himself about his relationship with Ruby. If there was anything going on between the two of them, I’m sure we’ll find out.”

  Chapter 6

  Richard lived in Henderson, an affluent suburb in Las Vegas. Since I already knew that he was CEO of a tech firm, I wasn’t too surprised when the address we pulled up to turned out to be large and impressive.

  We walked down the small but tidy front yard, up three steps and over to the wide front door. Within seconds of ringing the bell, the door was opened by a no-nonsense type woman in her early forties.

  Her auburn hair was parted in the middle and pulled back, her face had no trace of makeup, and she wore a pale gray suit and low heels.

  “You must be Tiffany and Ian,” she said politely, extending a hand towards me. “I’m Serena Dove, the housekeeper.”

  I tried to hide my surprise. Serena Dove didn’t look like any housekeeper I’d met before, and since most of my clients tend to be on the wealthier side, I’ve met quite a few housekeepers.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I managed to say, masking my surprise. As she shook hands with Ian, I said, “We’re mainly here to talk to Richard, but we’ll have to talk to you as well.”

  “About April’s death? Certainly. The police have already talked to me, and there’s not much else I can say, but I don’t mind having the same conversations over and over again.”

  We followed her into a large lobby and down a wide hallway as she spoke, and I thought I detected a hint of sarcasm in her last sentence. Ian and I exchanged a glance, but I decided not to say anything.

  “Here we are,” said Serena, stopping at a small formal living room. “Richard will be down shortly.”

  The living room was decorated in shades of gray—pale gray walls, dark gray upholstered sofas,
a black-and-white abstract-patterned rug on the floor. There was a large abstract painting on one wall, done in shades of red—a jarring contrast to the rest of the room.

  I assumed that an expensive interior designer had put the whole room together, and I had to admire his or her taste. The place smelled faintly of something citrusy and uncommon—probably grapefruit mixed with amber, or some other exotic scent. I couldn’t imagine Serena vacuuming the room and dusting the furniture, but whatever she did, Richard’s place looked amazing.

  Before I meet suspects in a case, I like to look them up online and do a bit of research, but because of our rushed start, I hadn’t gotten a chance to do that with Richard.

  Ian had looked up Richard on his smartphone while I’d driven, and tried to fill me in on the details.

  “He’s a brilliant tech guy,” Ian had said, “and he started his current company a few years ago. Before that, he worked at a couple of start-ups and they all did really well. He must’ve made money off those companies and reinvested it.”

  Richard Baxter turned out to be a heavyset, shortish man with thick, wavy black hair. He wore horn-rimmed glasses, probably in an attempt to look cool and fashionable, but the glasses merely made him look more nerdish.

  His skin was ruddy and uneven, and his dark brown eyes seemed intelligent and appraising. He wore gray slacks and a green-and-white checked shirt that I assumed was from some expensive designer label, and as we introduced ourselves and shook hands all around, I caught a whiff of some expensive cologne. A heavy silver watch glinted on his wrist, and I got the impression that despite his lack of conventional good looks, Richard was trying very hard to convey the impression of a successful CEO.

  “Thank you for meeting us on such short notice,” I said. “I know this must be very difficult for you, to keep talking about April’s death.”

  Richard nodded and sat down opposite us. “The cops acted like I’d killed her, but no one was more heartbroken by her death than me. And I can’t believe they kept going on and on, even though I happen to have an alibi.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” I murmured, “and we really do appreciate you talking to us.”

  Richard nodded curtly. “I’m happy to help out, if it means that we find out who did this to April.”

  There was an air of cockiness to Richard’s manner, but I thought I caught a hint of insecurity as well. Richard seemed to be truly upset by April’s death, and Ian said, “We’re asking everyone to tell us what happened on the day that April died.”

  “Sure,” said Richard. “I can tell you what happened that evening—I went over to see April at her apartment, we chatted for some time, and then I left to come home—alone.

  “The next thing I knew, early the next morning, the cops were over at my place telling me that April’s body had been found, and that they think I killed her.” Richard smiled sardonically and shook his head in disbelief. “I was devastated. I really liked April, and even though she didn’t seem that serious about me, I could see a future for the two of us. And here I was, in mourning, and dealing with the cops, who thought that I killed my girlfriend.”

  “And you didn’t? Kill April, I mean?” said Ian.

  Richards’s thick, dark brows drew together, and he glared at Ian. “Of course not! I’m so sick of hearing people think that! I loved April—and I can’t believe anyone would do this to her.”

  “I’m sorry about Ian,” I said apologetically. “He has a tendency to speak first and think second.”

  “It’s true,” said Ian. “I do just blurt things out. But everyone seems to think you killed her—so I thought I might as well ask you upfront.”

  Richard seemed to be somewhat mollified by our joint apology, but there was still a crease between his eyebrows, and his eyes were dark and brooding. “Yes, I know that’s what everyone thinks. Even though I have a perfectly good alibi. I was home the entire time—Serena saw me come in, and she can vouch for my whereabouts.

  “Plus, I was up into the wee hours of the morning sending time-stamped emails from my IP address. That should be enough, but just because they’ve got no other leads, the cops keep insisting on questioning me and trying to make me look guilty.”

  “It’s because you’re so rich,” said Ian sympathetically. “Everyone thinks rich people are evil.”

  Richard laughed bitterly. “I’m not even that rich! Bill Gates has—well, never mind. All I have is a small start-up.”

  “But you’ve got a significant amount of income,” I said gently. “Enough to hire several employees, right?”

  Richard shrugged. “You’ve got to hire employees if you want to run a business.”

  “Did April know any of your employees?”

  Richard narrowed his eyes at me. “Not that I know of. Why do you ask?”

  I was asking because I wondered if one of Richard’s employees might have lured April out of her apartment, taken her somewhere, and killed her at Richard’s command. But of course, I couldn’t say that aloud. Instead, I said, “I was just wondering. I’m sure you’ve got a couple of trusted employees who would do anything for you.”

  Richard shook his head. “I do have a couple of very good employees, but can you really trust anyone these days? Everyone’s out for themselves, trying to undercut and do whatever it takes to make an extra buck.”

  I thought back to the people I’d met over the past few months, during the course of my investigations. Many of them had been struggling, uncertain of their jobs, and wondering what it would take to get ahead in the world.

  “It’s a new economy,” I said. “Nobody looks out for anyone other than themselves, so can you blame people for trying to get ahead?”

  Richard shrugged. “I don’t blame them. But I can’t trust them either.”

  “And what about Serena Dove?” said Ian. “She has this totally professional, efficient vibe about her—I’m sure you trust her.”

  Richard shrugged. “Serena used to be an executive assistant for a casino head honcho before this job. She’s expensive, but she runs the household like a business. I never have to worry about hiring gardeners or maids or chefs—she arranges all that.”

  “Does she arrange anything else?” said Ian.

  Richard raised one quizzical eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not sure,” said Ian. “You’re just one man living by himself; you don’t need all this stuff. This huge house, all the staff.”

  Richard nodded. “I get what you mean. But people expect a man like me to project an image—that’s what this big house is all about. I could just live in one of those penthouse suites at a casino, but I don’t like living in a sterile box. At least Serena hired a designer who made this house seem kind of homey.”

  I wondered if Serena would lie for Richard—lie about his whereabouts, or the fact that she hadn’t seen him leave the house. But Richard’s alibi wasn’t just based on Serena’s word; he had those emails to back up his story as well.

  And in some ways, his grief and anger at being accused seemed genuine.

  “What was your relationship with April like?” I said.

  Richard smiled, obviously thinking back to the past. “She was great. We got along really well—except for when we fought, of course. Every couple fights. That’s part of being in a relationship.”

  “Of course,” I murmured.

  “She was young and ambitious, and she was intelligent and beautiful—the whole package, except she didn’t seem too serious about me.”

  “What makes you say that?” I said, exchanging a glance with Ian, and wondering if Ruby had told Richard about Adrian after all.

  “Well, of course I know now that she wasn’t too into me,” said Richard dryly. “But I always knew; I’ve dated women who really wanted to be with me, and they would always be calling and texting me, trying to make plans and see me more often. April was happy to do her own thing; we’d meet sometimes, and the rest of the time she wasn’t clingy. I appreciated that she wasn’t
always trying to be with me, and maybe I was a bit too attracted by the chase. I never even thought that she might be seeing other men.”

  I frowned. “What gave it away?”

  Richard smiled sadly and shook his head. “Nothing, just the cops trying to get me to admit how angry and jealous I was. After April died, they told me that her ex had followed her out to Vegas, and that she was seeing a barista at the café where she worked, and that she might even have been seeing other men.”

  “And you never knew about any of this?”

  Richard shook his head sadly. “I must seem like such an idiot. But I never asked her much about her exes, and I never suspected she was seeing other people. Of course, we never had the monogamy talk, and I could’ve seen other women if I wanted to. It’s just—it was all a big shock to me.”

  “And you never knew about these other men before April died?” I repeated.

  Richard rolled his eyes, looking half-amused. “The cops are convinced I knew, and that I got jealous, which is why killed April. None of that is true—I never knew, I never got to be jealous, and of course I didn’t kill April.”

  I wondered how to broach the topic of Ruby’s knowledge of April’s affairs, but Ian beat me to the punch. “And your friend Ruby never told you about April’s dalliances?”

  Richard looked at Ian and shook his head. “Ruby and I were good friends, and at first I thought that maybe she didn’t know. But the cops told me that she did know, and that she didn’t tell me out of loyalty to April.”

  “And that doesn’t make you angry?” said Ian.

  Richard shrugged. “At first it did. But I really liked April, and I can appreciate someone who was a good, loyal friend to her. April deserved that.”

  “So, you didn’t see it as Ruby betraying you?” Ian asked again.

  Richard shook his head. “No, I didn’t see it as some kind of betrayal.”