“Okay,” Grandma said, “how about this? How about, if you don't give me a job I'll sit on that couch over there until I starve to death.”
Lula sucked in a breath. “Whoah, hardball.”
“I'll think about it,” Vinnie said. “I'm not promising anything, but maybe if the right thing comes in . . .” He ducked back into his office and closed and relocked the door.
“Well, that's a start,” Grandma said. “I gotta go now and see how Melvina's doing. We have a big afternoon planned. We have some apartments to look at and then we're going to stop in for Stiva's afternoon viewing. Madeline Krutchman just got laid out, and I hear she looks real good. Dolly did her hair, and she said she gave her a tint to add some color around her face. She said if I like it, she could do it for me too.”
“Rock on,” Lula said.
Grandma and Lula did one of those complicated handshakes, and Grandma left.
“Anything new on Ranger or Homer Ramos?” I asked Connie.
Connie opened a bottle of top coat for her nails. “Ramos was popped at close range. Some people are saying it smells like an execution.”
Connie comes from a family that knows a lot about executions. Jimmy Curtains is her uncle. I don't know his real last name.
All I know is if Jimmy is looking for you . . . it's curtains. I grew up hearing stories about Jimmy Curtains like other kids heard stories about Peter Pan. Jimmy Curtains is famous in my neighborhood.
“How about the police? What's their angle today?” I asked.
“They're looking for Ranger, big time.”
“As a witness?”
“As far as I can tell, as an anything.”
Connie and Lula looked at me.
“Well?” Lula asked.
“Well, what?”
“You know well, what.”
“I'm not sure, but I don't think he's dead,” I said. “Just a feeling I've got.”
“Hah!” Lula said. “I knew it! Were you naked when you got this feeling?”
“No!”
“Too bad,” Lula said. “I would have been naked.”
“I have to go,” I said. “I need to give Mooner the bad news about the wind machine.”
THE GOOD THING about the Mooner is that he's almost always home. The bad thing is that, while his house is occupied, his head is frequently vacant.
“Oh, wow,” he said, answering the door. “Did I forget my court date again?”
“Your court date is two weeks from tomorrow.”
“Cool.”
“I need to talk to you about the wind machine. It's sort of dented. And it's missing a rear light. But I'll fix it.”
“Hey, don't worry about it, dude. These things happen.”
“Maybe I should talk to the owner.”