Chapter XII
Putting Two and Two Together...Doesn't Always Equal Four
The team discarded the idea of meeting in the conference room... The conference room chairs were damn uncomfortable and the coffee machine was in the break room. So they all flocked to the break room. Catherine threw her notebook on the table. "I want this guy." The rest of them nodded in agreement. Greg threw himself onto the couch. "Well Taylor's wife, who by the way is not up for any personality awards, gave us Jack and Crap...and Jack left town some time ago."
Catherine wearily ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "Yeah, the Wendell family was torn up...so was the boyfriend...it's a damn shame."
Sara took a sip of coffee, heavy on the sugar, and leaned against the counter. "Tell me about it...Kent's foster son worshiped him...the kid thought he was the greatest guy in the world because he chaperoned a school trip out to the Neon Sign Museum."
Nick looked up, "The one off of Freemont?" Sara nodded, "Yeah and something called the 'Boneyard Tour'...why?" Nick flipped through his own notes. "Guess where Gene Taylor worked as a handy-man for three days?"
Catherine's eyebrows winged up... "And Melody Wendell and her finance took his nephews out there..." Warrick looked up, "I remember that place, I went there like twenty times as a kid, it's a cheap field trip...but other then schools...the only other people who go there are tourists...and all of our vics are locals." Sofia nodded, "Well, if it makes sense or not...it's the only lead we've got."
Sofia peered at the refurbished signs of Freemont Street. She lowered her dark aviator sun glasses a fraction and looked at Warrick. "Let me get this strait...people actually pay to see old Vegas signs?" He shook his head, "No the restored ones are free to view...the Bone Yard, the unrestored signs are the ones you have to pay to see." She shook her head, "That makes no sense at all." Warrick shrugged one shoulder, "It's Vegas." Sofia wondered if "It's Vegas" would ever stop being an acceptable excuse for some of the stuff she put up with.
They went to the main office, where the gift shop was doing busy business to find out who was in charge. The air conditioning hit her and Sofia let out a sigh. She looked around, brochures and photos of old Vegas decorated the walls. "Right." They looked around, but the only employee they saw was an acne-afflicted teenager with bright pink hair and a nose ring. Small children ran around, followed by chaperones who were trying their best to keep smudged fingers off of clean glass. An old woman stood off to the side, gazing at the old photos nostalgically. She smiled at Warrick and Sofia. "Oh hello." Sofia inclined her head and Warrick gave a polite smile. The woman, though, was one of those old chatty grandmother types. "Are you two tourists?" Warrick shook his head, chuckling, "I was born and raised here." The woman caught sight of the gold ring on his finger, and looked at Sofia, whose arms were crossed. "Are you here with the children's group?" They shook their heads. The old woman smiled, "Well it's never too early to start thinking about little ones...and I don't care what any one says, you two make a lovely couple." They moved to let a janitor go around them, and Sofia sputtered out a jumbled, "We-just-work-together!" The old woman had the good grace to turn bright tomato red. "Oh, well, forgive a silly old woman...James Timothy you put that down!" A small freckled boy immediately put down a scale model of the colorful Excalibur castle. The woman smiled, "My grandson. I have to bring him here every time his parents bring him to see me. Bless him, he loves all the lights...but I hardly notice them anymore. I've lived here my entire life and it's all background." They moved again for the obviously grumpy janitor to pass them. Sofia looked at him, "Um, excuse me, I'm Detective Curtis with the LVPD, I need to speak with the manager of this establishment please." When she flashed her badge, the old woman's eyes went wide.
A few minutes later, the manager came out from whatever back office he'd been hiding in. Sofia had never been so happy to get away from a little old lady in her entire life. Though, since they went right into the hands of a crotchety old man... As they walked back through the tiny hallway that lead to the manager's, or curator as he preferred to referred to, office, she gave Warrick a look. "Let's pretend that never happened." Despite himself, Warrick grinned, "Am I that bad, Detective?" Sofia hooked her glasses on her collar, "Let's just say you're not my type, and leave it at that."
The manager...curator...whatever was less help then a deaf man at a rock and roll concert. Percival McQueen had missed the normal train a long time ago and was not all that interested in catching up with the group. His small office was full of Vegas paraphernalia from the 1940s on. Sofia felt...creeped out. He wore a plaid sports coat that had come off the rack some time in the sixties and the man rolled his own cigarettes and lit them with old matches, the combination of sulfur and tobacco made Sofia's eyes water.
"Residents always look over the majesty that is Vegas. They pass by it everyday. Here at the Neon Museum, we strive to remind Vegas of it's glorious past and preserve it for future generations." The man took off his round spectacles and cleaned them. "Now the names you mentioned aren't familiar, nor are the faces...but I will show them to our tour guides..." Their conversations was interrupted by the janitor. "Hey, Mr. McQueen..." The man scowled, "Allen, you know better then to interrupt me when I have guests." The janitor shrugged his thin shoulders. "Sorry, but..." McQueen held up his hand, "Later, Allen." The man shut the door behind him. "Sorry, my son, Allen...I try me best with him."
They left with no leads, but both Warrick and Sofia had an eerie feeling...like the answer to all of their problems had just brushed past them...a sort of two ships in the night feeling.
Author's Note: I don't know why...but I had to put that in there...I couldn't help myself!
Yes, there is a real Vegas Neon Museum that displays old signs of Vegas. The refurbished ones are on permanent display on Freemont Street and the ones that have, for whatever reason, not been repaired and restored sit on a seven acre lot, called the Boneyard. All of that information is very real. The organization is a member of the Allied Arts and the a couple of Nevada Historical Societies. Obviously that is the last bit of real information I used. I have never been there, I do not own the museum or any of it's subsidiaries or names. All characters used in connection with the Museum are fictional and any similarities to existing or deceased (or other fictional) persons is completely coincidental and no harm is meant.
