As the Pig Turns - By M.C. Beaton Page 0,55

gave Agatha the finger and roared off. ‘You were quick.’

‘Got the first plane out, and you’re hours behind England here.’

Toni took Agatha’s bag from her. Agatha’s bearlike eyes surveyed the hotel. ‘I’ll see these detectives and then we’ll get out of this fleapit.’

‘But if Chelsea comes back, she’ll expect to find me here!’

‘We’ll leave her a note. We’ll book into that hotel where the casino is.’

Agatha was introduced to the detectives.

‘Your assistant has already explained everything to us,’ said Parry.

‘Is there any chance of getting some stills from the video of Chelsea being taken from the casino?’ asked Agatha.

‘We already have some. We’ll take you along to headquarters and you can have a look. Think you might recognize someone?’

‘It’s a slim hope,’ said Agatha. ‘Run and pack your bag, Toni. Do you need to settle your bill?’

‘I’ve just a bit of room service to pay for. The rest was part of a package deal.’

‘I’ll see to that. Get your case.’

Soon they were on their way to the Las Vegas Police Department on Sunrise Avenue. Agatha and Toni studied the still photographs. The man seemed to know where the cameras were because he kept his head bent down and the long peak of his baseball cap pulled over his eyes. Despite the fact that the images were very good, they could make out only the line of his mouth and the fact that he was wearing a light jacket over chinos and baseball boots.

‘May I keep one of these?’ asked Agatha.

‘Sure,’ said Parry. ‘We’ve e-mailed plenty to . . . where’s the damn place, Murchester?’

‘Mircester.’

‘Whatever. We found the Lexus abandoned. It had been stolen. We’ll phone you as soon as we hear anything. You’ll be staying at the Rio Grande?’

‘Yes,’ said Agatha.

‘Have a good one.’

‘As if we could,’ muttered Agatha in the back of the police car that was taking them to their hotel.

‘Agatha,’ said Toni suddenly, ‘I didn’t tell them, I took photographs while I was in the casino. I didn’t know whether it was legal or not.’

‘Is it that spy camera I gave you?’

‘Yes.’

‘Let’s keep that to ourselves. We’ll get your photos when we get home.’

They checked into a double room, ordered food from room service and waited, and waited.

Agatha, suffering from jet lag, fell asleep and jerked awake an hour later when the phone rang.

Toni answered it. Agatha heard her say, ‘What? . . . Where? . . . Is she all right? . . . We’ll be there directly.’

When she put the phone down, Toni’s face was glowing with relief. ‘A helicopter found her staggering around Death Valley and picked her up. She’s in the Lutheran hospital. Let’s go.’

Chelsea turned out to be suffering from heat exhaustion and sunburn. Agatha and Toni had to wait until the police had finished interrogating her. Then it was their turn.

Chelsea turned furious eyes on Toni out of her sun-scorched face. ‘It’s all your fault,’ she howled.

‘How on earth . . . ?’ began Toni.

‘He thought I was you, see? He drove out with a gun in my side, and then he said, “You had it coming to you, Toni Gilmour.” I screamed I wasn’t you and that my passport was in me bag. He stopped the car, told me to hand over my bag, fished out me passport and began to curse something awful. Then he says, “Get out, bitch.” I got out and ran and ran away from the road as fast as I could. I wandered around and around. I could see lights from cars away on the road, but I was frightened to go back in case he got me again. Then the helicopter picked me up. Let me tell you something, Tone. I never want to see you again. You can chase the bad guys as much as you want, but keep me out of it. You could have warned me.’

‘How could she have warned you?’ said Agatha. ‘She didn’t know there was any danger here. How could she?’

‘Bet she did. Piss off, both of you.’ Chelsea turned her face away.

After that visit, Chelsea refused to see them again. Her handbag had been found and her passport was still there, lying on the ground beside it. Parry told Agatha and Toni that Chelsea was leaving in two days’ time.

‘Did she say anything useful about the man?’ asked Agatha. ‘What sort of accent?’

‘She just said he had a growly voice and she thought he was foreign. She said he smelled of booze. That’s all she knows.’ He