'We gonna start that again?'
'How'd you find me just now?'
'I was riding around, and I got lucky. How about you? You get lucky?'
'That's none of your damn business!'
His eyes crinkled with laughter. 'I was talking about Fred.'
'Oh. One step forward, two steps backward,' I said. 'I get things that seem like leads and then they go nowhere.'
'Like what?'
'I found a woman who saw Fred get into a car with another man the day he disappeared. Problem is, she can't describe the man or the car. And then something weird happened at the funeral home, and it feels to me like it might tie in, but I can't find any logical reason why.'
'What was the weird thing?'
'There was a woman at one of the viewings who seemed to have a similar problem to the one Fred was having with the garbage company. Only this woman had problems with her cable company.'
Bunchy looked interested. 'What kind of problems?'
'I don't know exactly. Grandma told me about it. She just said they were similar to Fred's.'
'I think we should talk to this woman.'
'We? There's no we.'
'I thought we were working together. You brought me lamb and everything.'
'I felt sorry for you. You were pathetic, sitting out there in your car.'
He wagged his finger at me. 'I don't think so. I think you're getting to like me.'
Like a stray dog. Maybe not that much. But he was right about talking to Margaret Burger. What was the harm? I had no idea where Margaret Burger lived, so I went back to my parents' house and asked Grandma.
'I can show you,' she said.
'Not necessary. Just tell me.'
'And miss all the action? No way!'
Why not? I had Bunchy tagging along. Maybe I should ask Mrs. Ciak and Mary Lou and my sister, Valerie. I took a deep breath. Sarcasm always made me feel better. 'Get in the car,' I said to Grandma.
I took Chambers to Liberty and turned onto Rusling.
'It's one of these houses,' Grandma said. 'I'll know it when I see it. I went to a get-together there once.' She looked over her shoulder. 'I think someone's following us. I bet it's one of them garbage people.'
'It's Bunchy,' I said. 'I'm sort of working with him.'
'No kidding? I didn't realize this had turned into such a big investigation. We've got a whole team here.'
I stopped at the house Grandma had described, and we all got out and collected together on the sidewalk. It had stopped raining, and the temperature had risen to pleasant.
'My granddaughter tells me you're working together,' Grandma said to Bunchy, looking him over. 'Are you a bounty hunter, too?'
'No, ma'am,' he said. 'I'm a bookie.'
'A bookie!' Grandma said. 'Isn't that something. I always wanted to meet a bookie.'
I knocked on Margaret Burger's door, and before I could introduce myself Grandma stepped forward.
'Hope we aren't disturbing you,' Grandma said. 'But we're conducting an important investigation. Stephanie and me and Mr. Bunchy.'
Bunchy elbowed me. '
'Not at all,' Margaret Burger said. 'I guess this is about poor Fred.'
'We can't find him no-how,' Grandma said. 'And my granddaughter thought your problem with that cable company sounded real similar. Except, of course, they gave Sol a heart attack instead of making him disappear.'
'They were awful people,' Margaret said. 'We paid our bills on time. We never missed a payment. And then when we had trouble with the cable box, they said they never heard of us. Can you imagine?'
'Just like Fred,' Grandma said. 'Isn't that right, Stephanie?'
'Uh, yeah, it sounds—'
'So then what?' Bunchy said. 'Did Sol complain?'
'He went down there in person and raised a big fuss. And that's when he had his heart attack.'
'What a shame,' Grandma said. 'Sol was only in his seventies, too.'
'Do you have any canceled checks from the cable company?' Bunchy asked Margaret. 'Something from before you had the problem?'
'I could look in my file,' Margaret said. 'I keep all my checks for a couple years. But I don't think I have any of
