“Las Vegas never closes,” Lula said. “Can you believe it? And I haven’t been out of the hotel yet, but there’s supposed to be an Eiffel Tower out there and the Brooklyn Bridge and all kinds of shit.”

“What did you do all night?”

“I started with the slots,” Lula said, “but I wasn’t having any luck there, so I went over to the blackjack tables. I did pretty good and then I did really bad. And here I am . . . broke. Good thing Vinnie’s buying me breakfast.”

Connie had her head down on the table. “I lost all my money. I drank too much. And I lost my shoes.”

We all looked under the table. Sure enough, Connie didn’t have any shoes.

“I left them someplace,” Connie said. “I don’t know where.”

“That’s not even the best part,” Lula said to me. “Ask Connie about the photograph.”

Connie pulled a cardboard framed photo out of her big leather shoulder bag. It was a picture of Connie and a short guy in a powder blue tuxedo. The short guy had sideburns and an Elvis hairdo. Connie was holding a bouquet of flowers. “I think I might have gotten married to an Elvis impersonator,” Connie said, dragging herself to her feet. “I’m going to bed. Wake me up when you get Singh and I’ll do the paperwork for the locals.”

Lula watched Connie stagger away. “I wouldn’t hardly recognize her without lipstick,” Lula said. “She sat down and I didn’t know who she was at first.”

“We have to snatch Singh today,” I said to Lula. “Are you going to be up for it?”

“Damn straight I’m up for it. I’m just getting started. I’m like that Energizer Rabbit dude. How we gonna get this guy?”

“Singh applied for a job at a small casino downtown. My contact’s name is Louis Califonte. He’s the casino manager. Cone said I should call Califonte at nine o’clock. I’m hoping we can get Singh to come into the casino. It’ll be easier to apprehend him there.”

“Get Singh to come in tonight so I can have the day to go shopping. I gotta see the talking statues at Caesars. And we gotta stay to see the fountains at the Bellagio. It wouldn’t be right if we left before we saw the fountains.”

Shopping would be fun, but there were other things on my mind. Photos of dead people. Carl Rosen missing. Red roses and white carnations. Plus I’ve never made an out-of-state apprehension and I was counting on Tank’s help.

I ate a second sausage and I punched Ranger’s number into my phone.

“Have you heard from Tank?” I asked Ranger.

“Tank’s here. By the time he got security straight he couldn’t get a flight out. The earliest flight we could get him on is today’s four o’clock.”

“Probably we don’t need him. Connie has me on a seven-thirty out of Vegas. I don’t expect problems. Connie will get me the paperwork necessary to bring Singh back restrained and she’ll make the arrangements with the local police.” Now if I just felt half as confident as I sounded, I’d be in good shape. “Unfortunately the hardware’s packed in Lula’s suitcase. And the airlines lost both her bags.”