You Make Me Feel So Dead (22 page)

‘No.'

‘Neither did I.'

I opened the freezer and looked inside. Some frozen dinners, ice cubes, a bottle of vodka, and in the back a plastic baggie with a gun in it.

‘Got it,' I said. I took it out and showed it to him.

‘Has it been fired?'

‘Don't know, but it doesn't matter,' I said. ‘So far nobody's been shot with a thirty-two.'

‘I'm curious.'

I handed it to him. He opened the baggie, took out the gun, smelled it, and replaced it.

‘Ain't been fired.'

I put it back in the freezer.

He put the cereal boxes back in the cupboard.

‘So, nothing,' he said, facing me.

‘Nope. I checked his desk, here. Found his bills: phone, electric, credit cards, gym—'

‘Wait, gym?'

‘Yup. He works out.'

‘Then he's got a locker there.'

‘You're right,' I said. Yeah, I thought, I'm the smart one. ‘Let's check that out.'

‘You got the address?'

‘I'll get it off the bill.'

I did that, and we left, driving directly to the gym Danny owed his well-toned muscles to.

D
anny's gym was in a strip mall located halfway between his apartment and his office. Very handy. We went inside. I wondered if we were going to be allowed to search his locker.

A muscular, blond young man was manning the front desk. He was wearing some sort of Jack LaLanne looking leotard.

‘Hi,' I said, ‘is there a manager around I can talk to?'

He suddenly looked concerned.

‘Is there a problem with your membership, sir?'

‘I'm not a member,' I said. ‘I just want to talk to the manager.'

‘If you have a problem, I'm sure I can—'

‘Get the manager,' Jerry growled.

The young man, fit and about six feet tall, took one look into Jerry's eyes and said, ‘Yes, sir.'

As he walked away I turned and said to Jerry, ‘You scared him.'

‘I was tryin' to.'

‘Bully,' I said, shaking my head.

The guy came back with a clone, another guy in a leotard, this one dark-haired. He too looked to be in his twenties.

‘Hello, I'm Craig. Can I help you? Carl says you have a problem with your membership?'

‘Carl's wrong, Craig,' I said. ‘I told Carl I'm not a member.'

The manager looked past me to Jerry.

‘I ain't a member, either,' Jerry said, ‘and Carl's an idiot.'

‘Now look here—' the manager said, but Jerry decided to take matters into his own hands – literally.

He stepped forward and grabbed hold of the man's right arm, just above the bicep and squeezed.

‘We need to see the locker room,' he said, ‘now!'

‘Ow-wow,' the man said, getting up on his toes, ‘OK, OK, this way.'

Jerry loosened his hold on the guy's arm, but didn't let go.

‘Should I call the police?' Carl asked.

‘If he does,' Jerry said to Craig, ‘I'll tear your arm off.'

‘No police, Carl,' Craig said. ‘Just go back to work.'

‘The locker room,' Jerry reminded him.

‘Th-this way.'

He led us down a hall to a room full of lockers. There were a few guys, in various stages of dress and undress. One was pulling on a pair of shorts, another was wrapped in a towel. The third one had finished getting dressed and was on his way out.

‘We need to know which locker is Danny Bardini's,' Jerry said.

‘D-Danny?'

‘Come on,' I said. ‘Which one?'

‘I-I dunno, I swear … I'd have to look it up.'

‘Is Danny in trouble?'

I turned. The speaker was the guy in the towel. He had good shoulders and upper arms, but needed to do some more sit-ups.

‘He is,' I said. ‘I need to look in his locker.'

‘Who are you?'

‘Eddie Gianelli.'

‘Hey,' the guy said, ‘Danny's mentioned you. I'm Dwayne Brewster. He's got the locker next to mine. Right here.' Brewster pointed.

‘Thanks,' I said. I looked at Jerry. ‘Keep ahold of our friend, here.'

‘You got it.'

I took out Danny's key chain, hoping that the third key would open his locker. It did. I swung the door open and the smell of sweat wafted out. Danny needed to wash his gym shorts. The smell took me right back to my high school locker room.

There was a T-shirt, the offending shorts, a pair of sneakers, a couple of towels – also smelly – some deodorant, a comb, a tube of Brylcreem. No gun, but of course I wasn't looking for a gun. Danny had already turned it over to the cops. I was just looking for … something helpful. Something to show me how easy it might have been for someone to take it from the locker, use it, and put it back.

‘Anything?' Jerry asked.

‘Nothing,' I said.

‘What are you guys lookin' for?' Brewster asked.

‘Somethin' to help Danny.'

‘What's he need?'

‘It's a little complicated.'

Brewster opened his own locker, reached in and brought out something shiny. It was a deputy sheriff's badge.

‘Try me,' he said. ‘I'm pretty good at complicated.'

‘Get dressed,' I said. ‘Meet us out front and we'll buy you a drink.'

‘Give me ten,' he said.

I looked at Craig, still wriggling in Jerry's grasp.

‘Don't worry about him,' Brewster said. ‘I'll make sure he doesn't call the cops.'

I nodded to Jerry and said, ‘Let him go.' I turned to Brewster. ‘See you in ten.' I slammed Danny's locker closed and locked it.

Out front Jerry turned to me and said, ‘Another cop?'

‘I don't think this one is like Hargrove,' I said. ‘Besides, he's with the sheriff's office.'

‘Ain't he out of his jurisdiction?' Jerry asked.

‘Probably,' I said, ‘but what have we got to lose?'

B
rewster came out, wearing a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and loafers. He had on a brown windbreaker, I assumed to hide the gun he was wearing under his arm. He was also wearing a cream colored felt cowboy hat.

‘There's a place around the corner,' he said. ‘Danny and I get a drink there, sometimes, after we work out.'

‘OK,' I said, ‘lead the way.'

As we walked I said, ‘This is Jerry.'

‘How you doin'?' Brewster asked. ‘I think Danny's mentioned you once or twice.'

‘He has?'

‘Nothing specific,' he promised.

Along the way he told us he was with the Sheriff's Department, but that he lived within the city limits. He and Danny only knew each other from the gym.

‘I mean, I know he's a PI and he knows I'm a deputy, but we've never done business.'

‘Until now,' I said.

‘We'll see,' he said. ‘If I can do something for him, maybe we'll just call it a favor.'

We stopped in front of a storefront.

‘This is it?' I asked.

‘This is it.'

Jerry and I both stared.

‘It's a juice bar,' Jerry said, accusingly.

‘I said we got drinks after we worked out,' he said. ‘I didn't say it was liquor. Come on.'

Inside Brewster got a glass of carrot juice. Jerry and I tried to find something less offensive. He ended up with pineapple. I got apple. We took our drinks to a small plastic table. The seat creaked beneath Jerry's weight, but held.

‘What's goin' on?' Brewster asked.

‘Danny's been arrested for murder.'

‘That's crazy. Danny's no killer.'

‘Well, the cops say different.'

‘Which cop?'

‘Hargrove.'

‘That prick?'

‘I like you better already, Brewster,' I said.

‘Me, too,' Jerry said.

‘Tell me about it.'

‘Before I do,' I said, ‘you mind if I see your ID?'

‘Of course not.'

He took out a leather folder which held his badge and ID. It said he was a detective with Clark County Sheriff's Department. I knew that the Sheriff's Department and the Las Vegas Police Department were not exactly a fraternity.

I handed it back, and told him the story.

‘So it looks like your only lead is this guy Scaffazza,' he said. ‘When is that gonna happen?'

‘Soon, I hope.'

‘Maybe there's something I can do,' Brewster said. ‘I can talk to my boss, Ralph Lamb.'

Lamb had been the sheriff for two years at that point, on his way to making a big reputation for himself as a law and order guy.

‘I don't think we want to get him involved at this point,' I said. ‘It would pit him directly against the Las Vegas Police. That wouldn't be fair to him.'

‘You're probably right.' He drank his carrot juice. ‘Well, if there's anything else I can do, let me know.' He took out a business card and handed it to me. ‘My home and work number are on there.'

I gave him my card, too.

‘I ain't got a card,' Jerry told him.

Brewster grinned and said. ‘That's OK. I wouldn't have one either, except the sheriff insists.'

I pushed my apple juice away. Jerry had actually finished his. We stood up, and the three of us walked out.

‘Dwayne, let me ask you this,' I said. ‘What are the chances somebody snuck into the locker room, got Danny's gun from his locker, killed Reynolds, and then returned the gun.'

‘He'd have to be pretty quick,' Brewster said. ‘Danny usually works out an hour, maybe an hour and a half. And he'd have to pick the lock, which wouldn't be hard on these lockers.'

‘An hour and a half to drive to Reynolds' house, kill him, and drive back,' I said. ‘Could be done. Was Danny at the gym the day of the murder?'

‘I don't know,' Brewster said. ‘I haven't been for a while. Today was actually my first day back.' He slapped his gut. ‘Gotta work this off, again.'

‘Well,' I said, ‘I'll ask Danny.' I shook the deputy's hand. ‘Thanks for your help up there.'

‘Sure.' He said. ‘Give Danny my best.' He reached past me to shake Jerry's hand.

‘Who's Ralph Lamb?' Jerry asked.

‘I'll explain on the way.'

‘To where?'

‘We have a show to go to.'

E
lvis' show was fantastic. He was the premier entertainer, not only with his singing and gyrating, but he had an endearing bond with his band, and with the audience. And he shocked everyone when he started singing ‘Viva Las Vegas', and Ann-Margret came out from the wings to join him. With both talents on the stage, and their obvious chemistry, I was surprised it didn't just burst into flames.

At one point in the show Elvis took the time to point out and introduce Frank and Dino to the crowd. They both stood momentarily and graciously waved, and then saluted the young entertainer.

After the show Jerry and I were able to ride Frank and Dean's coat-tails and with no problem got backstage to see Elvis. Ann-Margret was gone by that time but there was still a crush of people back there trying to get to Elvis, comprised of friends, fans and press.

Since we were with Vegas royalty, we were ushered into Elvis' dressing room. He had already changed from his glittery stage suit into a robe, and had a towel around his neck. His black hair was wet and unruly.

‘Kid,' Dean said, extending his hand, ‘that was amazing.'

‘Thank you, sir,' he said with his customary humility, ‘comin' from you, that's a great compliment.'

‘Yeah, Elvis,' Frank chimed in, ‘you had the crowd in the palm of your hand – including us.'

They shook hands and Elvis said, ‘I really appreciate that, sir.'

‘Frank,' Frank said, ‘just call me Frank.'

‘Yes, sir.'

Elvis shook hands with me and Jerry, and when Frank and Dean said they had to go he asked us to stay behind.

‘What's goin' on with the case?' he asked. I was surprised that he seemed more excited about that than his triumph on stage. Maybe he was just used to the adoration and success, but not to a murder investigation.

We told him what we'd been doing and he asked questions here and there. I didn't tell him about my meeting with Giancana. In fact, I hadn't even told Jerry.

‘What made you look in the cereal boxes?' he asked Jerry.

‘I knew a guy once who hid his drugs there,' Jerry said.

‘And the freezer?' he asked me.

I shrugged and said, ‘We'd looked everywhere else.'

‘Sure wish I'd met that sheriff's deputy,' he said. ‘He sounds like a good guy.'

‘He is.'

‘What about your friend, Danny?' he asked. ‘Is he gettin' out on bail?'

‘I talked with Kaminsky just before we came here,' I said. ‘Danny walks out tomorrow morning. We'll be there to pick him up.'

‘That's good,' he said. ‘Mind if I tag along?'

‘No, not at all,' I said, ‘if you really want to.'

‘I wanna meet your private eye buddy.'

‘What about your boys?' I asked. ‘And Red?'

‘The boys are havin' a great time,' Elvis said. ‘Red's a little pissed off, but I'll handle him. He just thinks it's his job to keep me safe.'

‘Ain't it?' Jerry asked.

‘It's not his job,' Elvis said, ‘more like his … calling, I guess.'

‘He loves you,' I said.

‘Yeah, he's my buddy,' Elvis said. ‘I love him, too.'

‘Bring him along,' Jerry said, and I looked at him, quickly.

I was relieved when Elvis said, ‘Naw, that's OK. He can hang around the hotel and relax.'

‘Well, OK,' I said. ‘How about we pick you up tomorrow morning at eight?'

‘In the back,' he said, as we all remembered the crowds in front of the hotel ever since his arrival.