'Probably I shouldn't divulge my professional secrets.'
'Probably you should.'
Okay, public relations time. Time to appease Morelli by giving him some worthless information. With the added advantage of implicating him in an illegal activity. 'I broke into Spiro's apartment and went through his trash. I found some phone numbers, ran them down, and came up with the motel.'
Morelli stopped for a light and turned his face to me. His expression was unreadable in the dark. 'You broke into Spiro's apartment? Was this by way of an accidentally unlocked door?'
'It was by way of a window that managed to get broken by a pocketbook.'
'Shit, Stephanie, that's breaking and entering. People get arrested for that kind of stuff. They go to jail.'
'I was careful.'
'That makes me feel a lot better.'
'I figure Spiro will think it was Kenny and not report it.'
'So Spiro knew where Kenny was staying. I'm surprised Kenny wasn't more cautious.'
'Spiro has a caller ID device on his phone at the funeral parlor. Maybe Kenny didn't realize he could be picked up like that.'
The light changed, Morelli moved forward, and we rode in silence for the rest of the trip. He swung into the lot, parked and cut his lights.
'Do you want to come in, or would you prefer to be left out of the loop?' he wanted to know.
'I'd rather be left out of the loop. I'll wait here.'
He took the envelope with the penis, and he took a bag of food. 'I'll do this as fast as I can.'
I gave him the paper with the guns and ammo information from Spiro's apartment. 'I found some hardware in Spiro's bedroom. You might want to check to see if it came from Braddock.' I wasn't enamored with the idea of helping Morelli when he was still holding back on me, but I had no way of tracing the guns down on my own, and besides, if the stuff was stolen, Morelli'd owe me.
I watched him jog to the side door. The door opened, showing a fleeting rectangle of light in the otherwise dark brick facade. The door closed, and I unwrapped my cheeseburger, wondering if Morelli would have to bring someone in to identify the evidence. Louie Moon or Mrs. Loosey. I hoped he had the sense to remove the hat pin before lifting the lid for Mrs. Loosey.
I scarfed down my cheeseburger and fries and worked at the milk shake. There was no activity in the lot or on the street, and the silence in the truck was deafening. I listened to myself breathe for a while. I snooped in the glove compartment and map pockets. I found nothing interesting. According to Morelli's dashboard clock he'd been gone for ten minutes. I finished the milk shake and crammed all the wrappers back in the bag. Now what?
It was almost seven. Visiting hours for Spiro. The perfect time to tell him about Loosey's dick. Unfortunately, I was stuck twiddling my thumbs in Morelli's truck. The glint of keys dangling from the ignition caught my eye. Maybe I should borrow the truck and slip over to the funeral parlor. Take care of business. After all, who knows how long it would take Morelli to do the paperwork? I could be stuck here for hours! Morelli would probably be grateful to me for getting the job done. On the other hand, if he came out and found his truck missing it could get ugly.
I dug around in my pocketbook and came up with a black Magic Marker. I couldn't find paper, so I wrote a note on the side of the food bag. I backed the truck up a few feet, deposited the bag in the empty space, jumped back in the truck, and took off. Lights were blazing from Stiva's, and a crowd of people milled about on the front porch. Stiva always got a big draw on Saturdays. The lot was ful and there were no parking places for two blocks down on the street, so I zoomed into the driveway reserved for
'funeral cars only.' I would only be a few minutes, and besides, nobody was going to tow away a truck with a PBA shield in the back window.
Spiro did a double take when he saw me. The first reaction was relief; the second was reserved for my dress.
'Nice outfit,' he said. 'You look like you just got off the bus from Appalachia.'
'I've got news for you.'
'Yeah, well, I've got news for you, too.' He jerked his head in the direction of the office. 'In here.'
