kitchen for a broom and dustpan. I handed him the broom, dropped the dustpan on the floor, and crunched my way over glass, back to the bedroom. I exchanged my flannel nightgown for sweatpants arid sweatshirt and almost screamed out loud when I caught sight of myself in the oval mirror above my dresser. No makeup, bags under my eyes, hair out to here. I wasn't sure brushing would make much of a difference, so I slapped on my Rangers hat.
When I got back to the foyer the glass was gone, and Morelli was in the kitchen making coffee.
'You ever think of knocking?' I asked him.
'I did knock. You didn't answer.'
'You should have knocked louder.'
'And disturb Mr. Wolesky?'
I stuck my head in the refrigerator and pulled out the remains of the leftover cake, then divided it up. Half for me. Half for Morelli. We stood at the kitchen counter and ate our cake while we waited on the coffee.
'You're not doing too good here, babe,' Morelli said. 'You've had your car stolen, your apartment vandalized, and someone tried to snuff your hamster. Maybe you should drop back and punt.'
'You're worried about me.'
'Yeah.'
We both shuffled our feet some at this.
'Awkward,' I said.
'Tell me about it.'
'Hear anything about my Jeep?'
'No.' He pulled some folded papers from his inside jacket pocket. 'This is the report of theft. Look it over and sign it.'
I did a fast read-through, added my name to the bottom, and returned it to Morelli.
'Thanks. I appreciate the help.'
Morelli stuffed the papers in his pocket. 'I need to get back downtown. Do you have a plan for the day?'
'Fix my door.'
'Are you going to report the break-in and vandalism?'
'I'm going to make repairs and pretend it didn't happen.' Morelli acknowledged this and stared down at his shoes, making no move to leave.
'Something wrong?' I asked.
'Lots of things.' He blew out a long breath. 'About this case I'm working on . . .'
'The big top-secret one?'
'Yeah.'
'If you tell me about it, I won't tell a soul. I swear!'
'Right,' Morelli said. 'Only Mary Lou.'
'Why would I tell Mary Lou?'
'Mary Lou is your best friend. Women always blab everything to their best friend.' I slapped my forehead. 'Unh. That is stupid and sexist.'
'So sue me,' Morelli said.
