"Oh, no trouble. I just got a little tip you might be interested in."
"Fire away."
"Well, the D.A. and some of his boys went into the Golden Casino about ten minutes ago, and now they're closin' up the place. Just for a little while, I understand. Hour, maybe. They're chasin' everyone out of the roulette room."
"Thanks, Benny," I said, "thanks a lot."
"Well, I knew you was working on that Howley case, and I thought this might be important, so I—"
"Sure, Benny. Come by my office this afternoon. And thanks again."
I hung up and started moving.
Within ten minutes, I was pulling up and parking across the street from the Golden Casino. I locked the car and dodged traffic to get across the street, as though I'd never heard of laws against jaywalking.
There were still plenty of people in the Casino. The bar was full, and the dice and card games were going full blast. The slot machines were jingling out their infernal din while fools fed coins into their insatiable innards.
But the roulette room was closed, and a couple of be-Stetsoned deputies were standing guard over the entrance. I headed straight for them.