Cruelest Month (6 page)

8

Ray waved his way past the greeter
and headed toward Bear River Casino’s security department. Passing through the central room in the building, he paused to take in the rows and rows of slots, the noise and confusion generated by flashing lights and the jingle-jangle of whirling cylinders and techno beat. The air was redolent with cigarette smoke. Occasionally there was a loud orgasmic cacophony celebrating a jackpot. He looked at his watch. It was only a few minutes after 10 a.m. and the place was already bustling. Most of the players appeared to be retirees.

A stainless keypad was mounted under the doorknob of the steel security office door and a
Non-Smoking Area
sign attached at eye level. Ray knocked, and, after a long moment, the door swung open. Donald Sterling, a former Chicago detective he had met during a prior case, stretched out his hand.

Sterling escorted Ray through a maze of surveillance tech screens monitoring different parts of the casino. “Like I told one of your dispatchers,” he said, pointing at a display away from the main action, “I saw Fox’s picture on early news this morning. I knew I’d seen him in the last few days. He’s a regular, not a daily like some of our guests, but at least once a week. And given that weird costume, he’s hard to miss.” Sterling chuckled. “Nice old guy, though. I’ve talked to him a few times over the years. Once he found out I had been a Chicago cop, I got a lot of Capone stories.” Sterling pointed at the screen, “Here he is coming in on Friday morning. He’s with a man and woman, the people I usually see him with. There used to be four or five in his group, but these seem to be the only ones left. And look at that old boy on the right, he’s carrying his oxygen bottle. Not long for the world. And that woman…”

“What about her?”

“A real character. She’s the driver—a scary thought. She’s got this big old Town Car, white, with suicide doors. When did they stop making those? I’m sure you’ve seen that vehicle around.”

“Mildred Hall,” said Ray. “She’s in her early 90s and keeps passing her driver’s test. ”

“She’s a character.”

“She used to teach math and physics at the high school. I don’t think she retired until she was about 75.”

“That explains a lot,” said Sterling. “We used to keep her under surveillance.”

“Mildred Hall?”

“Uh huh,” responded Sterling. “She was a regular for a while, three or four times a week. Always played blackjack and always won. Not a lot, but she’d get 50 or 100 bucks ahead and cash out. Obviously, she was counting or had some system. Some of the suits in the front office got excited, thought she should be banned.”

“But she wasn’t.”

“Nope. Like you said, she’s well known in town. They worried about bad PR. And then, the problem just went away. She stopped playing. My guess is that she wanted to see if she could beat the system, and once she did there wasn’t a challenge. But she still brings in her group of buddies. Seems to like the company. Only now there’s just the two: Fox and Tommy Fuller.” Sterling pointed to the screen again. “Fuller’s the guy with the World War II hat. If you talk to him for more than two minutes, you’ll learn that he was in the Battle of the Bulge. Nice old guy, but not long for the world. And a walking menace. I’m surprised all these smokers with their oxygen tanks haven’t blown the place up.”

Sterling let the video run briefly, then said, “I’ve collected other video with the three musketeers. All from Friday. Do you want to see it all, or do you just want a summary?”

“A summary would be fine,” Ray said, nodding.

“So, they come in around 10 a.m., play the slots until about 11:30, have lunch, and go back to the slots for half an hour or so. Then Fox hits a big jackpot.”

“How much?”

“Six grand. All the lights, bells, and whistles. The racket gives hope to the other folks in the place. Keeps them playing. Right after that, Fox cashes out and leaves. You’re not supposed to do that,” Sterling said in a mocking tone. “You’re supposed to stay around and reinvest in the company.”

“Anyone else with them, anyone tailing them?”

“I’ve got exit and parking lot video,” Sterling said, tapping the top of the monitor. “You’re welcome to view it yourself, but I didn’t see anything unusual; just the three of them leaving, going to the car, and, oh, so slowly, driving away.” He shook his head sadly. “Man, I hope nothing bad’s happened to Fox, but I don’t like the sound of it. My wife says all police officers are pessimists. I guess maybe that’s true. Can I buy you lunch, Ray? We’ve got a great new executive chef. He trained at the CIA, then studied in Paris, then went to Vegas and made a name for himself. I’m always amazed at what money can buy.”

Ray joined in the joke and took a long moment to decide, considering Sue’s comments on having a life. “I’d love to,” he said, finally, “but you know how it is. Can’t take the time right now.”

“Been there, done that,” said Sterling, slapping him on the back. “You walk the walk and talk the talk. Duty calls.”

9

The ordinary two-story frame home
dating back to the lumbering days sat on a quiet street four blocks away from the bay. Mildred Hall had been born in the house a few years after the end of WWI, one of the several hundred home deliveries performed by Old Doc Wade over his long career. It was one of the oldest houses in the village.

Ray pulled into the drive, parking behind the Lincoln. He knocked, using the bronze ring in a bronze lion’s mouth. Classical music blasted from the interior. He knocked again more vigorously. The volume dropped and shortly after, the door swung open.

Mildred Hall, in jeans and a blue sweater, was smaller than he remembered, but surprisingly wiry and vital for her years. “Ray Elkins, what brings you to my house? Come in, come in. I’ve just made some tea. Will you have a cup?” Hall didn’t wait for an answer. She just marched off to the kitchen. Ray followed her through the living room and dining room. With the exception of a television, the home was furnished in antiques, mostly original to the house he guessed. The smell of lemon and lavender hung in the air.

“Sit here,” Hall ordered as she placed a second saucer and cup on the kitchen table.” She pulled a knitted rooster off the teapot and filled both cups. “Sugar, honey, a little milk?”

“I’m fine,” said Ray.

“The honey is local. Raw. It’s got pollen in it. Keeps your immune system tuned up. Helps with allergies and hay fever.” Hall halted her rapid-fire delivery and examined Ray for a long moment. “I’m not used to visits from the local constabulary.”

“Vincent Fox,” said Ray, “He’s been missing for several days. Reports of his disappearance ran last night and this morning on the local television news.”

“Oh my, oh my, oh my.” she said, her hands rising to her cheeks. “I don’t have a TV anymore. I just didn’t know. Well, I have one; I mean I keep some African violets on it. When the television people made that change…. Tell me about Vincent. What’s happened to him, do you think?”

“You were with him on Friday, at the casino?”

“That’s true, Saturday too, not at the casino, but I was with him.”

“We need to establish when he was last seen. I think you can help me with that. Tell me your history with Vincent. Then focus on the time you spent with him in recent days. What you did, where you went.” Ray took out a notebook from his coat pocket and flipped the pages slowly until reaching a blank one. Mildred Hall was staring into space. “Start at the beginning, Ms. Hall,” he urged her.

“Well, I met Vincent Fox five or six years ago at the Friends of the Library book sale. I was in charge of the cash box, and he was assigned to help me. After that he called me a couple of times. I think he sort of invited me out. I certainly wasn’t interested. Then he called and wanted to know if I would go to the casino with him. Well, Ray, it’s just up the road, been there for decades, but I’d never made a visit. Turns out, what Vincent really wanted was for me to drive him. Seems his kids had taken his car away, much like mine would like to do,” she said with a scowl. “But, I ended up taking Vincent and his cronies to the casino. Those old boys just loved it, especially the slots. Just toss the chip in and push the button. I tried to explain to them about B.F. Skinner and how they would assuredly never win anything. They weren’t interested. They were paying for the entertainment. I just don’t understand how losing money is entertainment.”

Hall attempted to refill their teacups, but the pot was empty. She went to the sink to fill the kettle, then set it on the stove, a curvy model with chrome, probably one of the first electrics made.

“I can’t say I liked it, though—too much smoke and noise. But I got to wandering around the place and found the blackjack tables. They were off to the side in their own room. It was so much quieter in there. The first few times, I watched. Then, I got a book on how to win at blackjack at the library. It was decent, but it was too sketchy for my taste, so I ordered some others through an interlibrary loan. I spent weeks figuring out the system.”

She turned around to check the kettle. “Oh my, I forgot to turn it on. Let’s see. At first I lost money. Never more than 10 bucks; that was my limit. Boy do I hate to waste money. And then I started winning. Not much. I read about how they keep an eye on you. If you win too much, they ban you. Anyway, after a while it wasn’t fun anymore. But I’d gotten to like spending time with the boys. And they have uncommonly good food there, cheap too. So it just became my social outing of the week. Alas, there are only three of us left now, and I don’t think Tommy Fuller has got much time. Now you say Vincent is missing. I don’t quite understand. What does that mean?”

“Fox has a daughter in Traverse City. You probably know that.”

“Yes.”

“She talks to her father almost every day on the phone. When she was unable to reach him, she drove up to his home. Not finding him, she contacted us.” He paused to make a note. “So you were with Vincent on Friday, and you also saw him on Saturday?”

“Yes, I picked him and Tommy up at the library about 9:45; that’s our usual meeting time. We were at the casino by 10 o’clock. The boys played the slots for a while and then we went to lunch. I told them at lunch I couldn’t stand the place much longer and gave them a half an hour more. Just about the time we were leaving, Vincent hit a big pot. He wanted to stay around and play some more, saying his luck had just changed. I told him not to be a damn fool. He should take his money and get out of there. He wasn’t too happy, but he did what I told him. That was it. I drove them back to the library.”

“How much money did he win?” asked Ray.

“Six thousand dollars in that one pot. I don’t know what he might have won or lost before that.” When the kettle began to whine, she lifted it off the stove and poured the contents over the old tea leaves. “But you know,” she said, “the strangest thing happened. I’d completely forgotten. On the way back Tommy said he wished he had won that big pot. Vincent asked him why and Tommy says he has a friend outside of Miami, one of his war buddies. He says he’d like to see the guy while there was still time. Vincent asked if $4000 would be enough. Tommy said that would be more than enough. So Vincent, who was sitting next to me, counted out four grand and passed the money back to him. Isn’t that extraordinary?”

“Then I asked Tommy how he was going to get to Miami. He said he thought he should fly, but he had no idea how to make a reservation or anything. We went into the library and I used the computer to make a reservation for the next day, Saturday. I used my credit card, and Tommy gave me cash. The next day we met at the library again, and…this is the part I shouldn’t tell you, I drove Tommy and Vincent to the airport.”

Ray looked up. “Why shouldn’t you tell me that?”

“I’ve promised my kids I’d only drive around the village—just to the grocery store, the library, church, and the doctor’s office. They don’t know about the casino, but that’s only up the road a bit. I never get to go to Traverse City. And they’ve got a beautiful new terminal at the airport. After we dropped Tommy off, Vincent and I went to the mall and had some lunch. I tried to do a little shopping at Macy’s, but it’s not the store that Hudson’s was.”

“Then what did you do?”

“We drove home. I took back roads. People drive too fast on M-22, even in the winter.” Hall poured tea into both their cups. It was the color of a sandy lake bottom.

“So when did you last see Vincent Fox?”

“It was some time after 3 o’clock. I dropped him off near the library.”

“Did you see him go into the library?”

“No.”

“Did you know where he was going next?”

“No.”

“Why didn’t you drop him off at his home?”

“I never do that,” she said firmly. “I never go to their houses, never let them come to mine. We always meet at the library. This is a small town. I didn’t want to start any talk. And I certainly didn’t want to start running a taxi service for a bunch of geezers.”

“So you didn’t see him or talk to him again after about 3 o’clock on Saturday?”

“That’s right.”

“When you were at the casino, did you notice anyone hanging about? Was there anyone who seemed to take special interest in Vincent’s winnings?”

“I don’t remember that. Nothing comes to mind.”

“Do you stay in contact with Fox on the phone?”

“I talk to him occasionally. I don’t really know him well, not really. We’ve just had conversations over lunch.”

“Was he carrying a lot of cash on Saturday?”

“I don’t know. If he was, he wasn’t flashing it around. But he wouldn’t have anyway. That wasn’t like him.”

“How about his mental state?”

“What are you asking? Do I think Fox was going a bit dotty?”

“Essentially, yes.”

“No. He’s still all there. He has some trouble with names, but don’t we all? And he told a lot of stories that were awfully far-fetched, but I think he was just having fun. I can’t imagine that he would suddenly wander away, not knowing who or where he was. Not unless, of course, he had a stroke or something. When you get to be our age, all the statistics are running against you.”

Ray closed his notebook and slipped it into his coat. “I’m surprised no one called you about his disappearance. It’s gotten a lot of coverage on the news.”

“There’s no one left to call, Ray. The lights of my generation have almost all gone out.”