“Let me guess . . . you're on the rag, right?”
Good thing I didn't have my gun with me, because I might have shot him.
“There are a lot of people who wouldn't pay you anything for finding burned-up stuff,” Spiro said, “but because I'm such a good guy I'm going to write you a check. We could consider it like a retainer. I could see where it'd be handy to have a chick like you around.”
I took the check and left. I didn't see the value in talking any further since there clearly wasn't anyone home. I stopped to get gas and Morelli pulled in behind me.
“This is getting strange,” I said to Morelli. “I think Kenny's gone over the edge.”
“Now what?”
I told him about Mr. Loosey and his mishap, and about the phone call.
“You should be giving this car high-test,” Morelli said. “You're going to get engine knock.”
“God forbid I'd get engine knock.”
Morelli looked disgusted. “Shit,” he said.
I thought this seemed like a strong reaction to my lack of automotive maintenance. “Is engine knock that bad?”
He leaned against the fender. “A cop was killed in New Brunswick last night. Took two hits through his vest.”
“Army ammo?”
“Yeah.” He raised his eyes to me. “I have to find this stuff. It's right under my nose.”
“You think Kenny could be right about Spiro? You think Spiro could have emptied the caskets and hired me to cover his ass?”
“I don't know. Doesn't feel right. My gut instinct is that this started off with Kenny, Moogey, and Spiro, and somehow a fourth player came in and screwed everything up. I think someone snatched the stuff out from under Kenny, Moogey, and Spiro and started them fighting among themselves. And it's probably not someone from Braddock, because it's being sold piecemeal in Jersey and Philly.”
“It would have to be someone close to one of those three. A confidant . . . like a girlfriend.”
“It could be someone who found out by accident,” Morelli said. “Someone who overheard a conversation.”
“Like Louie Moon.”
“Yeah. Like Louie Moon,” Morelli said.
“And it would have to be someone who had access to the locker key. Like Louie Moon.”
“There are probably lots of people Spiro could have talked to and who would have had access to his key. Everyone from his cleaning lady to Clara. Same with Moogey. Just because Spiro told you no one but him had a key doesn't mean it's true. Probably all three of them had keys.”
“If that's the case, then what about Moogey's key? Has that been accounted for? Was it on his key chain when he was killed?”
"His key chain was never found. It was assumed that he left his keys somewhere in the garage and sooner or later they'd turn up. It didn't seem like an important issue at the time. His parents came with an extra key and drove his car home.
“Now that the caskets have surfaced I have some cause to harass Spiro. I think I'll go back and lean on him. And I want to talk to Louie Moon. Can you keep out of trouble for a while?”
“Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I thought maybe I'd go shopping. See if I could find a dress to go with the purple shoes.”
The line of Morelli's mouth tightened. “You're lying. You're going to do something stupid, aren't you?”
“Boy, that really hurts. I thought you'd be excited about a purple dress with the purple shoes. I was going to look for spandex, too. A short spandex dress with bugle beads and sequins.”
“I know you, and I know you're not going shopping.”
“Cross my heart and hope to die. I'm going shopping. I swear to you.”