roulette ball. I suggested it to Judd and he bought it.â She drank a bit of the tonic water. âWhatâs your name?â
âMinnie Brewer. And no jokes about a short beer. Iâve heard them all.â
Wanda chuckled. âDo you come here a lot?â
âThis is my first time. I heard about your performance and I had to see it for myself.â
âWell, Iâm on again in a few minutes. Good luck with your betting.â
This time she had to slide a few inches to hit the proper color, but it was hardly noticeable. By midnight when it was time for the five thousand dollar limit, she didnât see Minnie at all. But Dole was in the front row of bettors, looking pleasantly surprised when thirty-six red came up. It had been a good night for them both.
On the way out she saw the reporter, Rick Dodson, lingering at the bar. âWhenâs the story running?â she called over to him.
âSoon as I can get a good angle,â he told her. âMy editor was hoping for something a bit sexier.â
âIâll perform nude next week if itâll help,â she said and kept on walking.
She slept late on Thursday morning and woke up remembering she had to meet Dole that night. For a few minutes she considered forgetting about the whole thing,letting him keep all the money. But sheâd earned her part of it, why not collect? Driving out to the Landing Strip a little before midnight she decided sheâd take the money this one time and give him back the blindfold. Sheâd experienced the rush of it and needed no more.
Doleâs car was parked near the back of the lot and she could see him seated behind the wheel. She opened the passenger door and slid in beside him. âIt went smoothly, but that was the last time. Pay me off and Iâll say goodbye.â
When Dole didnât answer she thought he had dozed off waiting for her. She gave him a jab to wake him up and that was when she felt the knife in his side, buried up to the hilt.
WANDA LEFT THE car quickly, pausing only to wipe her fingerprints from the door handle. If Judd had found out about the scheme, she could be next. She could be in big trouble. She drove to her apartment and went quickly inside, remembering to enter the code and disarm the security system.
They found his body about an hour later, and it was a story on the morning news even before theyâd announced his identity. Wanda spent most of Friday debating whether she should show up for her performance that night or hop the next plane back to New York. She wanted to get out of town fast and forget the whole thing, but fleeing might appear to be the action of a guilty person. And Judd paid her for the week on Fridays, when he could calculate the handle for the three nights she worked. She hated to leave without her weekâs pay.
So she showed up as usual on Friday at quarter to nine. For once Judd wasnât at the door to greet her, and the bartender pointed toward his office. âThe cops are questioning him about that killing.â
âWhat killing is that?â Wanda asked innocently.
âFellow named Sam Dole, a small-time operator from back east. He tried to shake down some Atlantic City casinos and they think he was trying something out here that got him killed.â
Wanda shrugged. âYou never know.â She hung up her coat and pulled the hood over her hair, then climbed up to the turntable with the real blindfold. In total darkness once more, she had no idea what number she hit until the croupier called out, âNineteen red.â Double zero came up the next time and it wasnât until nearly ten oâclock that Judd Franklyn reappeared with the two detectives.
One of them watched Wanda go through her performance and as she left the wheel he stopped her and asked to examine the blindfold. âSure,â she said and handed it over.
âFine,â he said after holding it to the light and poking at