The Princess of Las Vegas

Marisa notices that Betsy seems scared after learning that Yevgeny died at Red Rocks. She researches the Morley brothers and their deaths and realizes that she would be scared, too.

Betsy tells Crissy that she’s happy Crissy didn’t have to witness Yevgeny’s death, which bothers Crissy. Crissy asks Betsy where she was that afternoon, and she lies, saying she never went to Red Rocks and was only at the museum with Marisa. Crissy then asks where Frankie was, and Betsy says he was playing golf. Crissy brings up Cleo, asking if Frankie ever told Betsy about her. Betsy lies again, saying she doesn’t know who that is, and asks where Crissy learned about her.

When Crissy explains that she has been researching Futurium, Betsy tells her she sounds “a little bit crazy right now” (246). The two argue about Betsy’s involvement with the company. Betsy accuses Crissy of isolating herself due to her career, and Crissy berates Betsy for moving to Las Vegas. Crissy ends the call by suggesting she’ll encourage the police to come talk to Betsy and Futurium about Yevgeny’s death.

Marisa comes into Betsy’s bedroom to see what Betsy and Crissy are talking about. Betsy admits to fighting with Crissy a lot and then tells Marisa about her childhood. She says she got in trouble a lot and often committed crimes or did things that inconvenienced her mom and sister. She tells Marisa a story about the time her stepfather won her and Crissy dolls at the carnival. He was tricked into playing a carnival game under the guise that it would be free, but, once he won two dolls, the carnival worker asked him for an exorbitant amount of money. Their stepfather agrees to pay the man, but the dolls are ruined in Betsy’s mind.

Marisa admits to sometimes saying things just to make people uncomfortable. She realizes that Crissy enjoys her humor and the two bond over it.

The detectives return to see Crissy and give her some information. They inform her that her car was spotted on the cameras at the Red Rocks visitor center. Crissy goes to see if her spare key is missing and sees that it is. She insists to the detectives that she was not in Red Rocks with Yevgeny the day he died. However, the detectives then tell her that she was spotted on camera having a photo shoot.

Crissy denies that and reiterates that she was meeting with the reporter, but the detectives say they have not been able to confirm her alibi yet. Crissy suggests that the person doing the photo shoot at Red Rocks was most likely her sister. She quickly tells the detectives about her sister’s involvement in Futurium and insists that the Morleys did not die by suicide. She explains that her own stepfather died by suicide, and Artie and Richie were not depressed.

The detectives say they will have the people working that case come speak to her again. When asked if she believes Futurium is somehow involved in Yevgeny’s death, Crissy says it’s possible and tells the detective what she’s learned about Frankie and Cleo. Before leaving, the detectives tell her not to leave town.

Marisa is frustrated that Betsy believes she still needs a babysitter.

Betsy has her neighbor stay with Marisa so she can go confront Frankie. When she gets to Frankie’s house, she sees that Rory and Damon are already there. Frankie tries to pretend that the two men were already at the house working, but Betsy doesn’t believe him. She tries to convince him to talk in private, but he insists she hear what Damon and Rory have to say.

Betsy berates the men for having her do a Diana-themed photo shoot in Red Rocks and asks to know what happened to Yevgeny. Frankie and the men say they wish she hadn’t texted them about Yevgeny’s death since Tony Lombardo is probably reading her text messages and could misconstrue her meaning.

The men try to pretend that they don’t know Yevgeny, but Betsy tells them to stop lying. Rory admits that they had Yevgeny killed and that they have framed Crissy for his murder by having Betsy at Red Rocks and making sure Crissy’s car was in the parking lot. Rory then tells her that Yevgeny was an assassin and lobbyist who was responsible for killing Artie Morley. He was about to be wearing a wire for the FBI, which is why he was killed.

Frankie demands that Betsy tell them everything Crissy told her. She tells them that the detectives came to visit Crissy, which pleases Rory. When Betsy mentions Cleo, Rory confirms that Yevgeny killed her as well. Betsy tells the men that she will not pretend to be Diana or Crissy anymore, and Rory says that’s not possible because she has to go to a meet and greet the following night. Betsy repeats that she will not participate in their scheme anymore and is saddened that Frankie does not support her.

Betsy flashes back to a childhood memory of playing in the woods with Crissy in Vermont. Betsy sees some mushrooms and pretends that they are skulls to scare Crissy, causing her sister to shriek and run away. Crissy gets lost in the woods and makes her way home very late. Later that night, Betsy catches their stepfather sexually abusing Crissy. After being caught, their stepfather went to the barn and died by hanging.

The next day, Betsy sees Marisa off to school and waits to be picked up by Frankie. She asks Frankie if she still has a job at Futurium, which he explains she does, but reiterates that she will need to go to the meet and greet dressed as Crissy that night. He explains that it’s a gathering for tribute performers. He tells her that after the meet and greet, she will need to meet Senator Aldred. Betsy is furious and says she wants to go back to Vermont, but Frankie tells her that’s not an option anymore. Betsy says she’s not going to work, which angers Frankie, who asks her how she’ll pay for her apartment. She tells him to leave and that she’s going to take the day to reassess her future at Futurium. Frankie tells her she’s making a big mistake, he cannot protect her from the Mastaba, and they will do what they want with her regardless of her wishes.

Marisa realizes she makes a huge mistake when she gets in Frankie’s car after school instead of taking the school bus like she was supposed to.

After the detectives leave, Crissy goes to tell Eddie Cantone what’s happened. He chastises her for not coming to talk to him sooner. Crissy begins to ask Eddie how involved he is in everything that’s going on and tells him that she called Congresswoman Schweiker as he asked. He pretends he has no idea what she’s talking about, but agrees that she needs a lawyer. He tells her he’s planning to leave Las Vegas to escape.

Crissy returns to her room to call her agent, Terrance. She then goes to drink with Nigel, where they discuss her situation and look for a potential lawyer. He suggests that she borrows his gun for a few days, but she declines his offer. He tells her that she needs to take the situation seriously because she might be in danger. To change the subject, Nigel asks Crissy to tell him about her experience during the “Route 91 Harvest Music Festival massacre” in 2017 (284). Crissy describes being in the middle of her show when the head of security interrupted to tell them to seek cover and then injured and scared people began flooding into the theater. She was horrified by the injuries she saw and shocked by how the shooting changed Las Vegas. While many people got a gun after the shooting, Crissy staunchly did not want to because she felt there were too many guns in the world.

Marisa notices that Frankie seems distracted as he drives her back to his house. He tells her that Betsy is helping Rory and Damon with something. At his home, the WiFi isn’t working, and, when Marisa goes to retrieve her phone from her backpack, the bag is gone.

Betsy spends her morning reflecting on Futurium’s criminal tendencies. She considers packing up and taking Marisa back to Vermont, and she fills up her car with gas in preparation. When she returns home, she waits by the pool for Marisa to get home from school. However, Marisa never shows up. Frankie calls her and says that he has Marisa, and she’s fine. He instructs an angry Betsy to go to the meet and greet at Fort Knocks that night and he’ll bring Marisa home after. Betsy threatens to go to the police, and Frankie tells her that while he won’t hurt Marisa, he can’t promise the others won’t. He reiterates that the police already want to talk to her about Yevgeny’s death because Crissy has accused her of being involved. Betsy agrees to go to the meet and greet as Diana but emphasizes that her relationship with Frankie is over. Frankie says that a stylist will get her ready for the party. Betsy is instructed to be especially charming to Oliver Davies. When Betsy mentions that she doesn’t “know Diana the way Crissy does” and that people might realize she’s a fraud (296), Frankie highlights that Crissy doesn’t have many friends in Las Vegas, so there will be no one to reveal that it’s Betsy instead of Crissy. Betsy also will have to meet with Senator Aldred, but Frankie doesn’t tell her why.

The stylist, Rory, and Damon come to the apartment to get Betsy ready. Betsy will be wearing a replica of Princess Diana’s dress from her “1985 White House dinner” (297). Betsy admits that the dress is beautiful. Betsy makes small talk with the stylist and realizes the woman is scared of Rory and Damon. Soon, Betsy looks just like Diana.

Betsy goes to the meet and greet and is overwhelmed by how many impersonators are there. She makes small talk with the other performers, hearing their horror stories of trying to become a success in Las Vegas. Lara comes over to chat with Betsy and tells her how “uncanny” her appearance is. She asks Betsy to come out into the hall with her. She explains that they have created a replica of one of Diana’s tiaras that they want Betsy to give to Oliver Davies. Betsy returns to the other impersonators and realizes how much they respect and envy Crissy and her residency at Buckingham Palace Casino. Another impersonator brings up Richie Morley’s death by suicide at Red Rocks, which makes Crissy jumpy. The impersonators discuss the casino’s uncertain fate now that both Morley brothers are dead.

Rory comes to fetch Betsy so she can meet Oliver and Neri. They make small talk about Oliver and Neri’s business, and then Oliver reminisces on the time he met Diana. Betsy hands him the tiara. Rory then poses Betsy for a photo with Oliver and Neri. Before Oliver leaves, he mentions that he’s excited to see her in the Grand Cayman, and she lies and says she looks forward to it. Betsy returns to the other impersonators.

Damon stands up to welcome the impersonators to the meet and greet. He announces that Futurium will be buying Buckingham Palace Casino and is planning to have the “biggest all-star tribute in town” (311). The impersonators clap loudly and excitedly for the announcement.

Rory takes Betsy upstairs to a suite where the stylist from earlier and Senator Aldred are. The senator is very intoxicated; however, when he sees Betsy he calls her “Crissy” and appears excited to see her. The photographer from downstairs comes out, and Rory instructs everyone to move to the bedroom for pictures. Betsy refuses and Rory tells a security man to break her pinky, leading Betsy to lash out with an empty wine bottle. Eventually, she is subdued and goes into the bedroom as instructed.

On the way back to her apartment, Betsy asks Rory what he’ll do with the photos they took of her and the senator looking like they are in the middle of a sexual tryst. He says they’ll use the photo to encourage Aldred to drop out of the senate race. The reason they had Betsy take the picture with Oliver and Neri was so that the picture could be timestamped to that specific night instead of a previous night during the period when the senator hadn’t reconciled with his wife.

When they arrive at her apartment, Damon is waiting for them without Marisa. Damon explains that the police want to talk to her, and she won’t get Marisa back until she talks to them. She threatens to tell the police about how they have kidnapped Marisa. She then begins screaming and physically lashing out at Damon and Rory. After she bites Damon, Rory punches her in the jaw, causing her to fall to the ground. Unsatisfied, he begins kicking her in the ribs and stomach, until Damon pulls him away.

Marisa realizes she’s in trouble when Frankie lies to her about taking her phone. He tries to distract her by showing her pictures of Betsy dressed up as Diana under the guise of filling in for Crissy, but it makes her more suspicious because she knows Crissy would never want Betsy to fill in for her. When she goes to bed, she makes sure to lock the door and takes a knife from the kitchen with her for protection.

Crissy sees the pictures of Betsy pretending to be her at the meet and greet and sends her sister a text message to inquire about the night. Nigel comes to her cabana to talk about the photos and asks if she’s gotten the name of a lawyer from Terrance yet. The two discuss Yevgeny’s death and Crissy’s short-lived relationship with him.

Nigel then shows Crissy a photo from the meet and greet of Betsy with Oliver Davies and Neri Lombardo, two men with connections to the Mastaba. Crissy admits to knowing that Futurium had some ties to the Mastaba. She worries about the fact that Buckingham Palace Casino’s new owners will be responsible for killing the former owners. Nigel then gives Crissy a gun and some ammunition. He says they can start the paperwork for her to get a license the next day. Crissy hates the idea of having a gun but realizes she needs it for protection.