He punched the phone button and smiled at Olivares. "Are you looking for a date?" he asked in Spanish.
"We need to talk to the girl you sent out to Eric Langsford's hotel room last Wednesday night," Robert said, speaking in English.
"What about?"
"Langsford is a murder suspect," Robert said.
"Here?" Humberto asked.
"In New Mexico."
"This has nothing to do with me?"
"Nothing."
"Brandy was his escort. She's in the green room," Humberto said, motioning the men inside.
"What's that?" Robert asked.
"It's a room where my girls check in before going out on a date. I gotta make sure they look good."
"And you call it the green room," Robert said, following Humberto through the house.
"Yeah, and it's not even green. I heard that actors stay in green rooms before a performance. I don't know why. Since my girls are like actors, I call it the same thing."
In a den filled with comfortable easy chairs and a big-screen television, Humberto took them through a side door to where Brandy stood in front of a full-length mirror adjusting the straps on a skimpy mini dress that barely covered her butt. In her early twenties, Brandy had long blond hair, baby-blue eyes, and a drop-dead body that would fulfill any man's fantasy of a California coed.
"Cops need to talk to you, babe," Humberto said.
"About?" Brandy said, turning around. Whatever she wore under the dress pushed her breasts up like round melons.
"Eric Langsford," Robert said.
"What a flake," Brandy said.
"He was your date last Wednesday night."
"Yeah."
"Did you go anywhere?"
"No, it was a room date. Lingerie modeling and lotion massage only."
"Did he do any talking about himself?"
"Not really."
"Or his immediate plans?"
"No."
"Why do you say he was a flake?"
"He liked the fact that I looked like his sister. Called me Linda. Wanted me to call him "Daddy." That's all. It wasn't scary or anything like that. Just flaky."
"Did he get physical with you?" Robert asked.
"No."
"Did you see him again, after Wednesday night?"
"No."
"How did he pay?"
"Cash," Brandy replied. "Did he give you any gifts?"
Brandy hesitated and cast a furtive glance at Humberto before answering "Why are you asking me about him?"
"He's a possible murder suspect," Robert replied, reading her uneasiness. "Six people were killed and robbed. What did he give you, Brandy?"
Her voice lowered to a whisper as Humberto scowled at her.
"Nothing."
"Let's go down to the police station."
"You can't do that," Humberto said. "She's working."
"Why do I have to go with you?" Brandy asked, keeping her gaze on Humberto.
"Because I think you're lying, and we need to get this straightened out."
Brandy's pretty face lost color. "He didn't give me anything the night I was with him. But he sent me something in the mail. It came two days ago."
She got her purse from the makeup table and handed Robert a ruby ring surrounded by a cluster of diamonds in a gold setting. Humberto's scowl turned mean.
"I have to take this into evidence," Robert said. "If it was stolen, you won't get it back."
"Give her a receipt," Humberto said, eyeing the treasure.
"Sure thing. Did a note come with the ring?"
"Yeah," Brandy said. "Do you have it?"
"What did it say?"
Brandy thought about her answer before replying. "Something like thanks for a nice time."
Doubting Langsford's note had been so prosaic, Robert scribbled a receipt for the ring. The two cops left Humberto and Brandy in the green room-which was really soft peach in color-and walked outside.
"Brandy's in some deep shit with Humberto," Olivares said.
"It's not smart to hold goodies back from your boss," Robert said. "No sympathy?"
"I doubt Humberto is going to damage his merchandise."
"Not so it shows, anyway," Olivares said. "You think the ring is real?"
"It sure looks it to me. Can I use your office phone?"
"You bet," Olivares said.
When Robert Duran reached him by phone in his Alamogordo motel room, Lee Sedillo immediately started taking notes.
"Get up here as soon as you can with that ring," Lee said. "I need to get it photographed and faxed to all the victims' families for an ID. You may have busted this case wide open."
"We can drive a tank through the holes in Langsford's alibi," Robert noted. "Tell Chief Kerney he's got probable cause to book him on multiple murder-one counts."
"I'm sure the chief will do that, as soon as we find Eric Langsford," Lee replied.
"Langsford's not in jail?"
"He got bailed out by his sister and ran off," Lee explained. "That sucks," Robert said.
"Did Langsford use a credit card to book his hotel room?" Sedillo asked.
"Nope."
"Too bad. We would have a tighter case if he'd used one of the victims' charge cards."
"I'll see you in a little while, LT," Robert said.
"Good job, Bobby."
Lee walked down the corridor and knocked on Kerney's door. "We've got some good news, Chief," he said, when Kerney opened up.
Kerney heard Sedillo out and shook his head. "I'm losing my touch, Lee. I didn't think Eric Langsford had the chutzpah to pull off the murders, let alone the capacity to do it."
"It's looking more likely all the time," Lee said.
"Did Duran tell you everything he learned?"
"Just the highlights. I told him to get back here fast."
"Do you have a good description of the ruby ring?"
"Yep. It's an oval ruby lady's ring, about a carat in size, surrounded by diamonds, with a gold band."
"That will do. Let's call the victims' families. You take three, and I'll do the others."
Lee went back to his room to make his calls while Kerney pulled out a list of phone numbers and started dialing. He struck out on the first two and punched in Linda Langsford's number.
"Did you find Eric?" she asked, after he identified himself.
"No, but we may have recovered a piece of jewelry taken during the crime spree."
He described the ring and listened to Linda's sudden intake of breath.
"My father gave my mother a ring just like that on their twentieth wedding anniversary."
"Do you have a fax machine at home?"
"I do." She gave Kerney the number.
"I'll fax a photo of the ring to you for confirmation."
On the way to Lee Sedillo's room, Kerney thought about Eric's rip-off of his father four years ago. He wondered if Kay Murray would be able to ID the ring as one of the items Vernon had turned over to Eric. If not, a reasonable assumption would be that Eric had taken the ring from the motor coach after the murder.
That would simplify Kerney's life, let him pull the pin on his shield, and finally get out of the cop game for good. He stopped at Lee's door. He was good at his job and he liked the work.
Did he really want to quit just because he was about to become rich enough to buy a ranch? Or was the Shockley shooting making him feel like he had to bail out?
Kerney checked by phone with Linda Langsford after faxing a picture of the ring to her. She positively identified it as once belonging to her mother, said it had been promised to her, and wanted it returned as soon as possible. She hung up without waiting for a response.
The agent who'd showed a photograph of the ring to Kay Murray reported back that Eric had taken the item from his father during his staged robbery. That cooled Kerney's hopes for conclusive evidence needed to link Eric to the murders.
Eric still remained the only viable suspect in the case, so Kerney decided an early morning trip to El Paso was in order to meet with Brandy Wine and see what more he could learn about Langsford.