FanStory.com - Vegas Mayhemby RodG
Excellent
Not yet exceptional. When the exceptional rating is reached this is highlighted
Disguise contest entry
Vegas Mayhem by RodG
Disguised writing prompt entry

     The men’s room near the Poker Studio in the Vacanza Hotel was lavish with lots of chrome and marble. And clean except for the large pool of blood under the dead hulk sprawled on the tile floor.

   Tony Siegle, a lean white-haired forensic specialist from LVPD, bent over the corpse, peering at the upturned face.

    “Seeing anything interesting, Tony?” asked Special Agent Rennie Domaszek, leader of an elite task force created by the Nevada Gaming Commission to keep the Mob out of Las Vegas.

    “Hi, Rennie, glad your crew’s here. I’m curious about this guy’s face. Take a look at it.”

    Domaszek used the magnifying glass offered him.

    “Hmmm . . . ,” he said after scrutinizing the body. “The victim stood near the sink and seeing his killer in the mirror raised a hand. The blade sliced a finger . . . then his throat.”

    Domaszek leaned closer. “But that’s not his face, is it?” he asked. “Looks like a molded rubber mask, the type Hollywood uses.”

    “Good eyes, Rennie. And he’s worn it awhile. Who is he?”

    “You find anything on him?”

    Tony handed him latex gloves, then a plastic bag,. “A wallet loaded with cash and a hotel key.”

    Domaszek opened the wallet and stared at a driver’s license. “Jacob Bourne. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

    Tony smiled. “Not too original. Let’s get him to my lab and yank that mask.”
***

    An hour later Tony and Rennie stood beside the gurney where “Bourne” lay sans mask. He’d already been photographed and finger- printed.

    The two men studied the file just faxed from a government data base.

    “Aldo Borovino. Recognize him now, Rennie?”

    Domaszek nodded. “A senior statesman in the Chicago Outfit. Reputed hitman in his youth, charged but never convicted.”

    Tony stared at Borovino’s true face. Old, deeply-fissured, with scars across the nose and over both eyes. “That mask was good. Smooth skin, good nose, smaller chin, and no recognizable features. Helluva disguise!”

    “Yet . . .?” Domaszek smiled grimly at his lab cohort. “Someone recognized him, or Borovino wouldn’t be moldering here.”

    “I thought Mob guys who want to change their looks get plastic surgery,” Tony said.

    “Most do if they want a permanent change. But Aldo likely came to Vegas on holiday, and only wanted to go unrecognized here, especially by the OCTF, my team. After a day or two of high-stakes poker, he’d fly back home to his life of privilege and comfort with his trusted consorts.”

    “Are they all to be trusted, Rennie? Many of the old Chicago crowd live here now. Maybe an old nemesis got even.” 

    “Or there’s unrest back home, and Aldo’s head rolled first.”

    Domaszek continued to use the magnifying glass. “Look here, Tony,” he said, pointing at the left sleeve of Borovino’s suit coat. “Is that a hair?”

    Tony used tweezers. “Yes, but not real.”

    “Aldo wearing a hairpiece?”

    After a bit of probing, Tony nodded. “But this hair’s from another. A long wig.”

    Domaszek gaped.    “You’re saying the killer is--”

    “A woman.” 



Writing Prompt
Write a story where one of the characters is in a disguise.

Author Notes
Artwork is courtesy of Google images.

WORD COUNT: 500 exactly Apple Pages

     

© Copyright 2024. RodG All rights reserved.
RodG has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.




Be sure to go online at FanStory.com to comment on this.
© 2000-2024. FanStory.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Statement