EIGHT

Didi turned and caught her breath as Bing approached us.

‘Hey, Eddie,’ he said, putting his hand out long before he got to me. ‘Thanks so much for meetin’ me.’

‘Sure thing, Bing,’ I said. ‘Oh, this is Didi. She’s a big fan of yours.’

‘Didi,’ Bing said. He took her hand and held it gently. ‘I’m always happy to meet a fan, especially one so pretty.’

‘Oh my God!’ Didi said.

‘Didi,’ I said, ‘say hello to Bing.’

He still held her right hand so she put her left hand over her mouth and said, ‘Oh my God!’

Bing threw me an amused look and released Didi’s hand.

‘OK, Didi,’ I said, ‘you’ve got some customers lookin’ for you.’

Didi looked at me, then at Bing and said, ‘Oh my God.’

I grabbed her tray from the bar, handed it to her, then turned her around and patted her on the butt.

Bing got up on a stool and looked toward the bartender.

‘Drink?’ I asked.

‘A cup of coffee, I think.’ He took out his pipe and gestured to me. ‘Do you mind?’

‘No, go ahead.’

He got the pipe going and the bartender brought him a cup of coffee and served him as if he was Joe Blow from Kokomo on vacation in Sin City.

‘Frank Junior had a good show,’ I said, as an icebreaker. Bing seemed to have settled into puffing on his pipe and gone away to a place all by himself.

‘Hmm? Oh, yeah,’ Bing said. ‘He’s got to develop, but he’s got some talent. He has a lot to live up to, though, with Frank as a father. It’s not easy, you know, being a famous father and trying to raise sons.’

He had sons of his own, but I didn’t know anything about Bing Crosby as a father. Not then.

‘Well, maybe I should get to the point,’ he said, finally. ‘My wife is waiting for me upstairs.’

‘OK.’

‘Aside from singing and my wife,’ he said, ‘I have two loves. Golf and horses. You’ve seen me around both.’

I nodded.

‘One of the reasons I came to see Frankie’s show was because I was also coming out here to look at a horse. I may not own Del Mar anymore, but I still like to own thoroughbreds.’

‘Dino mentioned something about Red Rock Canyon,’ I offered, to help him along.

‘Yes, I’m supposed to go out to where this fella has a ranch.’

‘Is there a problem gettin’ out there?’ I asked. ‘Transportation? The Sands can provide . . . or I can drive you . . .’

‘I appreciate the offer, Eddie, but my problem is this: my trainer hasn’t shown up. He was supposed to meet me here today. Then we were supposed to go out and look at the horse tomorrow.’

‘I see.’ I didn’t see, but I didn’t know what else to say. ‘You want me to check around, see what I can find out?’

‘Actually, that wasn’t what I was gonna ask, but maybe that would be a good idea. What I wanted to ask you was about your friend.’

‘My friend?’

‘The big fella who was with you at Del Mar last year.’

‘Jerry?’

He pointed with his pipe and said, ‘That’s him.’

‘What about him?’

‘He seemed to know a lot about horses.’

‘I suppose.’

‘I mean, he picked winners, but he also went to the paddock to look them over. Seemed to me he knew what he was doin’.’

‘He did.’

‘Do you think he’d go with me to Red Rock to look at this horse? I always like to have a second opinion – a professional opinion.’

‘Jerry’s not a professional, but I suppose he has a certain amount of expertise . . .’

‘Would you ask him for me?’

‘Well, sure, but he lives in New York, Bing.’

‘I’ll fly him out,’ Bing said. ‘That’s no problem. If he says yes I can have a plane bring him here tomorrow. I’ll cover all his expenses, too.’

I nodded and said, ‘I’ll call him in the mornin’.’

‘Great! I appreciate it. And if you could find out something about my trainer . . . he was supposed to fly in this morning. I called him at home and there was no answer. Nobody at his barn seems to know where he is.’

I pulled a notepad from my pocket and asked, ‘What’s his name?’

‘Fred Stanley. Also goes by the name of ‘Red’. Don’t know why. There’s nothin’ red about him.’

He gave me his address in San Diego, phone number, and the same information for his barn.

He got down off his stool then and said, ‘Goodnight, Eddie. I appreciate your help with this.’

‘That’s OK, Bing. That’s what I’m here for. The Sands does its best for its guests.’

‘No,’ Bing said, gripping my arm and shaking my hand, ‘I’m gonna consider this a personal favor from a friend, if you don’t mind.’

‘I don’t mind at all, Bing.’

He nodded, turned and left, being nice enough to throw a wave at Didi on his way out.

I stuck the notepad back into my jacket pocket and looked up at Didi, who came over to me, shaking her pretty head.

‘Oh my God!’ she said.

I looked at my watch. It wasn’t late, but I didn’t really feel like driving home.

‘Didi,’ I asked, ‘what time do you get off?’