'I'm really sorry,' I said. 'This is my fault. I shouldn't have come here.'
'Don't worry about it,' Morelli said. 'Life was getting dull.'
'I could move out.'
Morelli grabbed me by the front of my shirt and pulled me to him. 'You're just afraid you're going to cave and have to pay me fifty dollars.'
I felt a smile come on. 'Thanks.'
Morelli leaned in and kissed me. He had his knee between my legs and his tongue in my mouth, and I got a hot rush that dropped my stomach about six inches.
He backed off and grinned at me. 'Good night.'
I blinked. 'G'nite.'
The grin widened. 'Gotcha.'
I grit my teeth. 'I'm going to bed.'
'I'll be down here if you get lonely. I'm going to sleep on the couch tonight just to make sure no one crawls through my window and walks off with my television.'
12
I WAS UP early, but Joe was up earlier. He'd cleaned the glass away and was eating lasagna for breakfast when I trooped into the kitchen.
I poured coffee and gave the lasagna a wistful glance.
'Go for it,' Morelli said.
If I ate the lasagna I'd have to do something physical, like jog a couple of miles. Not my favorite activity. I preferred to get my exercise by walking through a shopping mall. Okay, what the hell, I should probably go out for a run anyway. Keep in shape, and all that crap.
I sat across from him and dug in. 'You back on the mystery case today.'
'Surveillance.'
I hated surveillance. Surveillance meant you sat in a car all by yourself until your ass fell asleep. And if you left to go to the bathroom all hell broke loose and you missed it.
Morelli pushed his empty plate away. 'What are your plans?'
'Find Maxine.'
'And?'
'And that's it. I have no ideas. I'm out of leads. Everyone's disappeared. Eddie Kuntz's probably dead. For all I know Mrs. Nowicki, Margie and Maxine are dead. Dead and buried.'
'Boy, it's nice to see you so positive this morning.'
'I like to start out right.'
Morelli got up and rinsed his plate. 'I have to go to work. If you were an ordinary person I'd tell you to be careful. Since you are who you are, I'll just wish you good luck. Oh, yeah, and someone's supposed to show up at nine to fix the window. Can you hang around until he's done?'
'No problem.'
He kissed me on the top of the head and left.
I looked at Rex. 'This feels a little strange,' I said. 'I'm not used to being a housewife.'
Rex sat on his haunches and stared at me. At first glance you might think he was contemplating what I'd just said. More likely he wanted a grape.
For lack of something better to do I called Eddie Kuntz. No answer. 'Dead,' I said to Rex. I wanted to drive over and have another chat with Betty, but I had to wait for the glass to get fixed. I had a second cup of coffee. And then I had a second piece of lasagna. At nine o'clock the glazier arrived, and he was followed by yet another Italian lady bearing food. A chocolate cake this time. I ate half while I waited for the windows.
* * * * *
I DIDN'T HAVE TO KNOCK on the door to know Eddie Kuntz wasn't home. No car out front. No lights anywhere. Windows and doors closed up tight. The only thing missing was black crepe.
I knocked on Betty's door instead.
'What can I tell you?' Betty said. 'He's not home. Like I told you before, last I saw him was Saturday.'
She didn't look worried or confused. What she looked was pissed. Like I was bothering her.
'Does he do this a lot? Do you think we should notify the police?'
'He's on a bender,' Leo said from his chair in front of the TV. 'He picked up one of his trashy girlfriends, and they're shacked up somewhere. That's the end of it. He'll be home when he's home.'
'You're probably right,' I said. 'Still, it might not hurt to do a little investigating. Maybe it would be a good idea if we checked out his apartment. You have a key?'
Leo was more adamant this time. 'He's on a bender, I'm telling you. And you don't go snooping around in a
