'Traded it in,' she said. 'I never did like driving that big old boat.' She looked at her new car and smiled. 'What do you think? Isn't it zippy-looking?'
'Yeah,' I said. 'Zippy. I ran into someone today who said she might have seen Fred.'
'Oh, dear,' Mabel said. 'Don't tell me you've found him.'
I blinked twice because she hadn't sounded like that would be happy news. 'No.'
She put her hand to her heart. 'Thank goodness. I don't mean to sound uncaring, but you know, I just bought the car, and Fred wouldn't understand about the car.'
Okay, now we know where Fred stacks up against a Nissan Sentra. 'Anyway, this woman said she might have seen Fred on the day he disappeared. She said she thought she saw Fred talking to a man in a suit. Do you have any idea who the man might be?'
'No. Do you?'
Question number two. 'It's very important that I know everything Fred did the day before he disappeared.'
'It was just like all the other days,' Mabel said. 'He didn't do anything in the morning. Puttered around the house. Then we ate lunch, and he went out to the store.'
'Grand Union?'
'Yes. And he was only gone about an hour. We didn't need much. And then he worked in the yard, cleaning up the last of the leaves. That was all he did.'
'Did he go out at night?'
'No . . . wait, yes, he went out with the leaves. If you have too many bags of leaves, you have to pay extra to the garbage company. So whenever Fred had more than his allotted number of bags, he'd wait until it was dark, and then he'd drive one or two bags to Giovichinni's. He said it was the least Giovichinni could do for him being that he always overcharged on his meat.'
'When did Fred leave the house Friday morning?'
'Early. Around eight, I guess. When he came home he was complaining because he had to wait for RGC to open.'
'And when did he come back to the house?'
'I don't remember exactly. Maybe around eleven. He was home for lunch.'
'That's a long time just to go to RGC to complain about a bill.'
Mabel looked thoughtful. 'I didn't really pay much attention, but I guess you're right.'
He didn't go to Winnie's because he was there in the afternoon.
While I was in the neighborhood I cruised over to the Ruzicks'. The bakery was on the corner, and the rest of the houses on the street were duplexes. The Ruzick house was yellow brick with a yellow-brick stoop in front and a front yard that was three feet deep. Mrs. Ruzick kept her windows clean and her porch swept. There were no cars in front of the house. The backyard was long and narrow, leading to an alley that was one lane wide. The duplexes were divided by double driveways, at the end of which sat single-car garages.
I toyed with the idea of talking to Mrs. Ruzick, but gave it up. She had a reputation for being outspoken and had always been fiercely protective of her two worthless sons. I went to Sandy Polan instead.
'Wow, Stephanie!' Sandy said when she opened the door. 'I haven't seen you in a long time. What's up?'
'I need a snitch.'
'Let me guess. You're looking for Alphonse Ruzick.'
'Have you seen him?'
'No, but he'll be around. He always comes to eat Saturday dinner with Mama. He is such a loser.'
'Would you mind doing lookout for me? I'd do it myself, but I have to go to a wedding this afternoon.'
'Oh my God. You're going to Julie Morelli's wedding! It's true about you and Joe.'
'What about me and Joe?'
'I heard you were living with him.'
'I had a fire in my apartment, and I rented a room from him for a short time.'
Sandy's face scrunched up in disappointment. 'You mean you weren't sleeping with him?'
'Well, yeah, I guess I was sleeping with him.'
'Oh my God. I knew it! I just knew it! What's he like? Is he excellent? Is he . . . you know, big? He doesn't have a little twinkie, does he? Oh, God, don't tell me if he has a little twinkie.'
I looked at my watch. 'Gee, look at the time. I have to be going—'
'Oh, you've got to tell me or I'll die!' Sandy said. 'I had
'Okay, it's not a little twinkie.'
Sandy looked at me expectantly.
'That's it,' I said.
