I couldn’t take it. “Did what to him?”
The gleam in her eyes told me she was about to give us the nugget we’d been waiting for. “The ME noted the puncture marks, but Lou was a diabetic, so none of those raised any red flags. And the ketamine wouldn’t have been noticed at all if I hadn’t asked for the autopsy.”
She paused. “I’m ninety-nine percent sure that someone injected him with a large amount of ketamine, which sent him into a state of hypoglycemia that no doubt contributed to his already strained heart being overstressed until it quit.”
Sin’s dad stopped leaning. “Lou was murdered?”
She nodded. “Looks very much like it.”
“Who would do that?” Sin asked. “And why? Tony was about to leave him, so there’s no motive there.”
I was fixated on the drug itself. “Birdie, who would have access to ketamine? You said it’s not used for humans anymore. Would someone have to be a doctor to get it?”
“Not necessarily. It is a club drug. Maybe not the most popular one, but this is Vegas, and there are a lot of clubs in this town. I’m guessing you can pretty much get anything you want to around here.”
Anson nodded. “Sad but true.”
“So that’s it? Anyone could have gotten some?” I shook my head. “That’s not helpful.”
“Well, it’s also an anesthetic and a pain reliever, but it has some hallucinogenic qualities too. That’s what makes it a popular recreational drug. However, its most common uses these days are in the veterinarian field. It’s used in all kinds of animals. From cats to horses.”
I sighed. “Did Lou make a veterinarian mad?”
“Who would want to kill Lou?” Anson shook his head. “It makes no sense.”
Jack and Aunt Zinnia came in. Both looked a little perplexed by the conversation, but neither said a word. Jack went into the kitchen, presumably for coffee. Aunt Zinnia followed behind him but got a green juice from the fridge.
Birdie sat back. “There are a lot of reasons for killing someone. This was premeditated, so that eliminates some of them, like a crime of passion. Most likely he knew something someone was afraid might get out.”
Things started to click in my brain. “Tony was supposed to have lunch with Lou the same day he died. Not long after you guys found him.”
More of what Birdie had said filtered into my thought process. I stood up, too antsy to sit, and began to walk around the room. “Cats to horses,” I repeated.
I’d been in Lou’s house and Carrie’s house. Neither one had had a cat. And there’d been no cat hair on any of Tony’s stuff. I noticed that kind of thing. No sign he’d had a cat from the outside of his house either.
That left horses. Or some other animal.
It hit me like a bolt of lightning. I stopped walking in front of Anson. “Son of a nutcracker. I know where Lila is. I know who has her. And I’m pretty sure Tony’s going to be the next one murdered.”
Sin jumped up. “Where? Who?”
I turned to face him. “She’s at the ranch that Tony owns. Remember he said Gabrielle was staying out there? He specifically said a ranch.”
“Right, but I thought we decided Tony wasn’t the one who’d taken my mom?”
Birdie was tapping away at her keyboard.
“He isn’t.” I took a moment, trying to keep my words from jumbling up. “Gabrielle is. But she’s been working really hard to make Tony look guilty. The cologne, the Crystal Palace stationery, the pasta.”
Sin put a hand on his head like it had all just become obvious. “And Gabrielle used to work at the Oasis.”
I thought back to the article I’d read. “That’s right. A Pussycat in Paris was the Oasis’s last showgirl review.”
“As the principal dancer, she’d have to know about the secret tunnel,” Sin said. “But I still don’t get why she’d kill Lou?”
“He must have found out what she was up to. Tony told us Lou was instrumental in getting them back together. Which means Lou and Gabrielle had to have been in contact recently. Maybe so recently that Lou figured out she’d kidnapped your mom. And Tony was supposed to meet with Lou the same day he died, remember?” I glanced at Anson, who nodded. “She must have visited Lou at his office and jabbed him with a syringe full of ketamine in the hopes of keeping him from telling Tony what she was up to. She might not have meant to kill him. Was there any sign of struggle?”
“No,” Anson said. “But why would there have been? He knew her. And considered her a friend.”
Birdie was typing away like mad on her laptop.
Sin made a disgusted noise. “Her photo hung in his home office.”
I nodded. “And don’t ranches have horses?”
“Yes.” Birdie sucked in a breath. “Good job, Jayne.”
“I know for a fact Tony has horses out there. The day he bought Crimson Dancer, he practically issued a press release announcing he owned the winningest horse in the United States.” Anson’s eyes were wide. “Tony’s headed for the ranch right now. Said Gabrielle asked him to come. That she was desperate to see him.”
Birdie looked up from her laptop. “Gabrielle’s maiden name is Fine. The screenname of the person Xavier bought the magic book from, the book that started all this, was Superfine. That can’t just be a coincidence.” She got up. “We need to go now.”
“I don’t know why Gabi would kidnap Lila, but I’m convinced,” Anson said. “Two cars. Birdie and Jack in one, Sin, Jayne, and me in another. Aunt Z, you’d best stay here.”
She nodded. “Yes, of course. Be safe. And bring our Lila home.”
Anson was already headed for the door. “We will.”
We didn’t drive so much as speed. We were in Anson’s Maserati sedan while Jack and Birdie followed in their rental car. Thankfully, it was still early, and traffic was fairly light.
Anson tried to reach Tony three times, but every time it went to voice mail. “She must have him on the phone to keep him from talking to anyone else. Because there’s no way he’s there yet.”
Anson glanced at the time. “Although he could be, I guess. I don’t know when he left.” He shook his head. “I bet that book Gabrielle sold to Xavier came from Tony’s library. Probably one more way of getting her screws into him. He’d never have given up a book like that on purpose.”
Nerves made me chew my bottom lip. “I bet she’s not really pregnant. I bet she found out about Tony’s affair with Carrie and decided enough was enough.”
Sin glanced over his shoulder at me. “But why kidnap my mom?”
I leaned forward a bit. “Because she was an easy way to make Tony look guilty. It’s a known fact that he’s envious of Dead Sexy’s success. That he’d love to be the headliner at the Oasis, right?”
“Right,” Anson said.
“Look,” I continued. “It worked. We thought Tony was behind it. Making your parents breach their contract really seemed like something he’d love to see happen. She probably figured the police would hound him for a few days, ruin his life and reputation and then she’d return Lila, having gotten her revenge on her cheating husband.”