“It’s huge, Hannah. And it looks nice.” Lisa eyed the flashing neon signs as they walked up to the entrance, and there was a childlike wonder on her face. “I’m glad you asked me to come with you. I’ve never been inside a casino before.”

A bouncer was stationed at a spot just inside the front door and Hannah held her breath. She hoped that Lisa was old enough to gamble. Then she noticed a sign that read: “YOU MUST BE 18 OR OLDER TO GAMBLE.” She breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to look back at the bouncer again. His face was free of scratches and bruises and he certainly didn’t have a black eye. There was no way that he’d been the recipient of Ron’s punches, and Hannah decided to wait until they’d eaten before she asked any questions about the bouncer who’d been on duty Tuesday night.

“What a nice restaurant!” Lisa smiled happily as a waitress led them to a wooden booth in the rustic-looking dining room. “Just look at those Indian blankets on the wall. They’re gorgeous.”

“Yes, they are.” Hannah glanced at the vividly colored blankets. Though they added coziness to the cavernous wood-paneled room, their woven designs didn’t look anything like the Sioux blankets she’d seen on her trip to the museum. Perhaps authenticity didn’t really matter to a gambler.

“Do you think we should take Herb’s suggestion and try the ribs?” Lisa looked up from her menu. It was printed on a type of plastic that resembled birch bark and there was a stick drawing of a teepee on the front.

“That sounds good to me. If Herb recommended them, they must be good. He always had a knack for ferreting out the best item on a menu when we were classmates in high school.”

When the ribs came, they were tender and juicy, slathered with a sauce that reminded Hannah of aromatic wood smoke and sweet vine-ripened tomatoes. As they ate, occasionally wiping their hands on the wet napkins the waitress had provided, Hannah thought about the best way to identify the bouncer who’d fought with Ron. If she asked the management, they’d be paranoid about possible lawsuits. She had to think of some nonthreatening excuse to convince them that she needed the bouncer’s name.

By the time they’d wiped their hands the final time and shared an excellent cranberry cobbler, Hannah knew exactly how to proceed. She paid their tab, got Lisa settled in front of a quarter slot machine with the change from The Cookie Jar, and set out to find the manager.

After being referred to several employees, Hannah finally found a security guard who agreed to escort her to the manager’s office. The guard was tall, broad-shouldered, and perfectly impassive as he blocked a lighted security panel with his body and punched numbers on a keypad that opened the door to an inside corridor.

Hannah gave him a friendly smile as he motioned her through the door, but he didn’t smile back. It was obvious that a stern demeanor topped the list of requirements for casino security guards.