to her computer and typed. “Here. This is Brandon.” She swiveled the monitor so Casey could see the photo, which was taken in a weight room—not the Flamingo’s. He stood sideways, smiling and holding a huge barbell, his biceps bulging more than seemed natural.
Casey wrinkled her nose. What a letdown. He was huge, yeah, but with one of those wrestler necks that sort of merged his head with his shoulders in a weird, alien-like way. He was both young and blond, which would be selling points, but his nose was weirdly small, and his eyes a bit too close together. You’d think if he was so attractive to all those ladies he would be a lot better looking. “I guess it was his personality?” Casey said.
Maria sniffed. “He did have an…aura. If you like that sort of thing.”
“How about Richie? Any photos of him?”
Maria looked uncertain.
“From when he applied, maybe?”
Maria swiveled the monitor back her way and typed for a bit, paging up and down. “Here.” She glanced again at Sissy’s door, and kept her hand on the monitor, like she was ready to spin it back around at a moment’s notice.
Casey smiled. Now this guy was more like it. She was surprised the women hadn’t gone for him. He looked as nice as they’d all said, with sandy brown hair and an easy smile. He wasn’t nearly the size of Brandon, but Casey thought he looked better. More like a normal person. “Now he’s cute,” Casey said. “Much more worth getting to know, don’t you think?”
Maria sniffed again. Was she allergic to these photos? She turned the monitor back toward herself again and clicked out of the picture.
“From what I hear, Sissy pretty much told him if she ever saw him again she’d slap a lawsuit on him.”
Maria’s nostrils flared. “Yes, that’s correct.”
“Was he really that bad?”
Maria rested her elbow on the desk and kneaded her forehead. “I think he bit off more than he could chew here, but that he was really a good person at heart. Many of the things that happened were not his fault, but Mrs. Williams needed someone to blame, and he was convenient. It’s much easier to fire someone who’s only been with you a little while than to lose residents who bring in money.”
“Yes. That’s what I thought. Everyone else seemed to really like him. Andrea included. I really wonder if there wasn’t more to him than people realized. You seem to realize it. Were you and Richie close?”
Maria jerked her elbow off the desk. “I have to go. It’s the beginning of the weekend, and I need to get home. You can let yourself into Mrs. Williams’ office when she’s ready.”
“Oh. Of course. That’s no problem.”
Maria yanked her purse out of her desk, dropped it, picked it up, and grabbed her jacket, buttoning it wrong and re-doing it. “Goodnight, Ms. Gray.”
“Goodnight, Maria.”
Casey watched her go, startled at her sudden departure. As soon as she’d gone, Sissy’s door opened. She came out holding some papers, and jumped when she saw Casey.
Casey smiled. “Sorry to startle you.”
Sissy fanned herself. “Don’t mind me. I just wanted… Where’s Maria?”
“She left. Said she was headed home for the weekend.”
Sissy frowned. “It’s not even five yet.”
“I think I made her nervous, sitting here.”
“Yes, I can see that. She doesn’t like to be watched over.”
“Who does?”
“Speaking of watching over, did you go up to see the Parkers?”
“Yes. They’re wondering when they can take Andrea’s body home.”
Sissy’s face fell. “What did you tell them?”
“I don’t know why they were asking me. But I said when the cops were ready for them to take her, they could.”
“You don’t know more specifically than that?”
“How would I?”
“Well, you seem to be chummy with the cops.”
“I’m not.”
“But you want to be,” Death said.
Casey spun around, heart in her throat.
Death was in the other chair, one leg flung over the arm, back to wearing the cop uniform. “Or were you just flushed from the heat in the pool room the last time Gomez came around?”
“Everything okay, Daisy?” Sissy stood frozen, one arm extended over Maria’s desk as she held the papers.
“Yes, I’m fine. And I’m not involved with any cops.”
Death chuckled.
“They only talk to me because I’m the one who found Andrea. Really.”
Sissy took a step back toward her office. “Of course. Um, I have some more things to do. I’ll be in here.” She backed into her office and shut the door.