'I've spoken to Sandeman. He has an attitude. Does a little recreational drug use.'
'You tight with him?'
'I'm not his favorite person.'
Spiro's gaze dropped to my feet. 'Maybe it's the shoes.' I wrenched the car door open. 'Anything else you want to comment on? Maybe you have a few words to say about my car?'
Spiro angled onto the seat. 'Hell, the car is awesome. At least you know how to pick out a car.'
I squired Spiro into the funeral parlor, where all security systems seemed intact. We did a superficial examination of his two customers and felt fairly certain no one had relieved them of any obvious body parts. I told Spiro I'd return for the night run and that he should beep me if he needed me sooner.
I would have liked to keep Spiro under surveillance. I figured he'd keep picking at the lead I'd given him, and who knows what he'd find? And even more important, if Spiro started moving around, maybe Kenny would move with him. Unfortunately, I couldn't conduct any meaningful surveillance in Big Blue. I'd have to find a different car if I wanted to tail Spiro. The half cup of coffee I'd gulped at breakfast was working its way through my system, so I decided to go back to my parents' house, where I could use the bathroom. I could take a shower and give some thought to my car problem. At ten I'd chauffeur Grandma Mazur over to Clara's for an overhaul.
When I got home my father was in the bathroom, and my mother was in the kitchen, cutting vegetables for minestrone.
'I have to use the bathroom,' I said. 'Do you think Daddy will be long?' My mother rolled her eyes. 'I don't know what he does in there. Takes the paper in with him, and we don't see him for hours.'
I snitched a chunk of carrot and a chunk of celery for Rex and hustled up the stairs. I knocked on the bathroom door. 'How much longer?' I yelled. There was no answer.
I knocked louder. 'Are you okay in there?'
'Christ,' was the muttered reply. 'A man can't even take a crap in this house . . .' I went back to my room. My mother had made my bed and folded all my clothes. I told myself it was nice to be back home and have someone doing little favors for me. I should be grateful. I should enjoy the luxury.
'Isn't this fun?' I said to a sleeping Rex. 'It's not every day we get to visit Grandmom and Grandpop.' I lifted the lid to give him his breakfast, but my eye was twitching so badly I missed the cage entirely and dropped his carrot chunk on the floor. By ten o'clock my father still hadn't come out of the bathroom, and I was dancing in the hall. 'Hurry up,' I said to Grandma Mazur. 'I'm going to explode if I don't get to a bathroom soon.'
'Clara has a nice bathroom. She keeps potpourri in it, and she's got a crocheted dol that sits on the extra roll of toilet paper. She'll let you use her bathroom.'
'I know, I know. Get a move on, will you?'
She was wearing her blue wool coat and had a gray wool scarf wrapped around her head.
'You're going to be hot in that coat,' I told her. 'It's not very cold out.'
'Haven't got anything else,' she said. 'Everything's gone to rags. I thought maybe after Clara's we could go shopping. I got my Social Security check.'
'You sure your hand feels okay to go shopping?'
She held her hand in front of her face and stared at the bandage. 'Feels okay so far. The hole wasn't real big. Tell you the truth, I didn't even know how deep it was until I got to the hospital. It happened so fast.
'I always thought I was pretty good at taking care of myself, but I don't know anymore. I don't move like I used to. I just stood there like a damn fool and let him stick me in the hand.'
'I'm sure there wasn't anything you could do, Grandma. Kenny's a lot bigger than you, and you were unarmed.'
Her eyes clouded behind a film of tears. 'He made me feel like a silly old woman.'
Morelli was slouched against the Buick when I came out of Clara's. 'Whose idea was it to talk to Cubby Delio?'
'Spiro's. And I don't think he's going to stop with Delio. He needs to find those guns so he can get Kenny off his back.'
