“Most of us, no. But Amira wasn’t like most of us. The first thing she did was have an affair with Moose, and he put her in his show. That gave her an audience. From there, her sex appeal carried her.”
“How did she get involved with Moose?”
Helen laughed. “Moose wasn’t exactly playing hard to get in those days. He told me later that Amira was the greatest fuck he ever had. Of course, he didn’t realize the little bitch would turn around and put a knife in his back. Take over his show.”
“He must have been angry,” Stride said.
“Furious. Which for Moose is saying a lot. He trashed his dressing room when Boni told him he wouldn’t have his own show anymore and would be a variety performer in Flame. Boni had to have Leo talk to him.”
“Leo?” Serena asked.
“Leo Rucci. Boni’s right-hand man. He ran the day-today operations at the casino.”
“What do you think Leo said to Moose?”
“I think Leo told him he’d be out on the street with a rearranged face if he didn’t shut up.”
“So Moose was nursing a major grudge against Amira,” Stride said.
“Sure. Most of us were. Amira didn’t care who she trashed to get what she wanted.”
“Did Amira have a boyfriend?” Stride asked. “After Moose, that is.”
“Not that I ever saw. In fact, I don’t really think she had many friends at all. Amira rarely hung out in the casino when she wasn’t onstage. The rest of us liked to gamble and drink with the other stars. Amira did her act and disappeared. I think that was part of how she cultivated her image. She was unapproachable. It made men want her.”
“Tell us about Walker Lane,” Stride said. “We heard he wanted Amira, too.”
Helen’s eyes twinkled. “Well, he wanted me first.”
“You slept with him?” Serena asked.
“Once. He was filming his Vegas movie that spring. Neon Nights. Remember that one? Well, it was forgotten quickly, but it made a lot of money at the time. A few scenes were filmed at the Sheherezade, and I got to know him when he came to the show. Over the course of about three months, I think he fucked all the dancers.”
“Was Amira one of them?”
Helen shook her head. “She wasn’t back from Paris at that point. But when Flame started up that summer, Walker fell for her hard. Every weekend, he flew in from L.A. and was in the front row. Like a puppy dog. But as far as we could tell, Amira didn’t give him the time of day.”
“It’s a long way from unrequited love to murder,” Serena said. “Sounds like Moose had a better motive. Or you, for that matter.”
“That’s true,” Helen acknowledged. “Then again, we didn’t leave town right after the murder. Why else do you think the word went out that Walker wasn’t in Vegas that night? Boni was covering for his whale. Walker was there. I saw him at the first show.”
“Tell us what happened that night,” Stride said.
“I don’t know, not really. We did our two performances of Flame that evening, at eight o’clock and then eleven o’clock. Amira was in both shows. She left around one in the morning. I saw her leave the backstage area. There was nothing unusual about it. By the next morning, the word was all over the casino that she had been killed.”
“Did you see Walker at the second show?” Stride asked.
“No. He usually attended both shows when he was in town, but he was only at the first show that night.”
“Did you see him in the casino at all after the first show?”
“I never saw him again, period. Ever.” Helen raised her eyebrows as if to say, That’s what I’ve been telling you.
“What did you do after the last show?” Serena asked.
“I went to one of the hotel rooms. Leo met me there, and we sweated up the sheets for an hour.”
“Leo Rucci? The casino manager?”
Helen nodded. “That was what he called himself, a manager. He was mostly just dumb muscle for Boni. He managed people by bullying and threatening and beating them up when he needed to.”
“So why sleep with him?”
Helen seemed amused at their naïveté. “Well, first, I was ambitious, like Amira. I knew whenever she decided she wanted more money somewhere else, I’d have a shot at the lead role. I thought Leo could put in a good word for me with Boni, and he did.” She winked. “But it wasn’t just that Leo also had the biggest cock I’d ever seen. Nine inches and fat like a sausage. I could only do him after a show, because there was no way I could dance after having that thing inside me.” She said it matter-of-factly. Stride got the feeling that Helen liked being outrageous. He tried not to blush but felt his face growing hot.
“How long was Leo with you?” Serena asked, coming to his rescue.
“About an hour. That was about two o’clock in the morning. Normally, I could count on Leo for a couple of go-rounds, but he had to leave.”
“Why?” Serena asked.
“Mickey called him. There was a problem outside.”
“Who’s Mickey?”
Helen shrugged. “One of the lifeguards. There were always students who took summer jobs to make money and screw some of the wives while their husbands were at the tables. Mickey told Leo some guy was drunk near the pool and trying to start a fight Leo went outside to break the guy’s nose.”
“That was how Leo solved most of his problems?” Stride asked.
“Oh, yeah. He was a vicious son of a bitch. Huge, like a linebacker. He slapped me a couple times, too, and that was the end of it for me.”
“Did you hear anything more about the fight?” Serena asked.
“Not a word. I assume it was some nobody. If it was Dean or Shecky, that would have been news. As it was, the next day, all the talk was about Amira.”
“And you didn’t see Leo again that night?”
“No, not until the next day.”
“Did he tell you anything about the murder?” Stride asked.
Helen smiled. “Only that I should keep my mouth shut and not ask any questions. The other girls got the same story. If anybody asked, we didn’t know a damn thing.”
“What about the detective who was investigating? His name was Nicholas Humphrey. Did you ever speak to him?”
“Sure. He interviewed all of us together, and Leo was there, too. No one said a thing. If you ask me, Nick didn’t look too disappointed. I’m not sure he was all that interested in the truth.”
“Nick?” Stride asked. “You knew him?”
“He was a regular at the Sheherezade,” Helen replied. “Sometimes he had private security gigs for the stars.”
Stride began to think that maybe Rex Terrell was right and the fix was in. “Did Nick Humphrey ever provide security for Walker Lane?” he asked.
“Well, it’s possible Nick helped him out on Neon Nights. I’m not sure.” Helen leaned closer to them. “Can I ask you something? How does this involve me? Or Peter?”
“Our first thought was that someone was trying to keep you quiet,” Serena said.
“But no one threatened me,” Helen insisted.
Stride watched her closely. He could see age there, no matter how much she tried to hide it with plastic surgery and makeup. He saw vice, too, plenty of it. But not deceit. Not fear. She wasn’t hiding from anyone or covering up the truth.
“Right now, we don’t know who’s doing this or why,” Stride admitted. “So please be careful. Until we know what game this person is playing, we don’t know his next move.”
SIXTEEN
Being up here, Stride thought, was like being on top of the world, staring down. Jagged, barren mountaintops of red-orange rock were set against a blue sky that seemed as tall as heaven. Streaks of erosion on the cliffs looked like grooves that had been carved into the hills with a knife. It was stark, surpassing beauty, ringing the valley.
The late afternoon weather was warm but not hot, although he could feel even in the waning glow of the sun how easily it could turn ferocious. He remembered the summer and how he had baked then, barely able to take a breath, feeling superheated grit clog his lungs. There were none of the lake breezes or storms from Minnesota, no electrical shows of thunder and lightning, no cool dampness. Just an oven, set on broil and left to cook for three months.