Morelli turned the engine over and chugged out of the lot. 'I'll take you back to the office so you can get your car. I have paperwork to do at the station. If I'm not home by five-thirty, go to dinner without me. I'll catch up with you as soon as I can.'
LULA AND CONNIE weren't looking happy when I got to the office.
'We only have a couple days left before everyone finds out Singh's skipped,' Connie said. 'Vinnie's freaking. He's locked in his office with a bottle of gin and the real estate section from the Scottsdale paper.'
'I don't need this cranky shit he's pulling, either,' Lula said. 'I had a bad day. I didn't lose any weight and the guy we wanted to talk to got dead. And every time I think about poor ol' Howie I get hungry on account of I'm a comfort eater. I relieve my stress with comfort food.'
'You've eaten everything but the desk,' Connie said. 'It'd be cheaper to get you addicted to drugs.'
Vinnie stuck his head out his office door. 'You get one crappy lead and he gets himself killed,' Vinnie yelled at me. 'What's with that?' And he pulled his head back into his office and slammed the door shut.
'See, that's what I mean,' Lula said. 'Makes me want some macaroni and cheese.'
Vinnie stuck his head out of his office again. 'Sorry,' he said. 'I didn't mean to say that. I meant to say… uh, I'm glad you're not hurt.'
We all went silent, thinking about how awful it actually had been. And how it could have been worse.
'The world's a crazy place,' Lula finally said.
I needed to get out and do something to take my mind off Howie. My car keys were lying on Connie's desk. I pocketed the keys and gave my shoulder bag a hitch up. 'I'm heading out to talk to the Apusenjas. Nonnie should be getting home from work soon.'
'I'll go with you,' Lula said. 'I'm not letting you go out alone.'
Nonnie was home when I arrived. She answered the door on my second knock and peered out at me, first surprised, then cautiously happy. 'Did you find him?' she asked. 'Did you find Boo?'
'I haven't found him, but I have something I'd like to run by you. Did Samuel ever mention a man named Howie?'
'No. I've never heard him speak of Howie.'
'Samuel was on the computer all the time. Did you ever get a chance to see what he was doing? Did he get mail? Do you think he might have gotten email from Howie?'
'I saw a mail from work one time. Samuel was at the kitchen table. He sometimes preferred to sit there because his room was small. I came to the kitchen for a glass of tea and I passed behind him. He was typing a letter to someone named Susan. The letter was nothing, really. It only said thank you for the help. Samuel said it was work related. That is the only time I have seen any of his computer mails.'
'Did he ever get mail from the post office?'
'He received a few letters from his parents in India. My mother would know more of that. She collects the mail. Would you like to talk to my mother?'
'No!'
'Who is that?' Mrs. Apusenja called from the hall.
Lula and I put our heads down and took a deep breath.
'It is two women from the bonds agency,' Nonnie said.
Mrs. Apusenja rumbled to the door and elbowed Nonnie aside. 'What do you want? Have you found Samuel?'
'I had a couple questions to ask Nonnie,' I said.
'Where is the man named Ranger?' Mrs. Apusenja said. 'I can tell you are just his worthless assistant. And who is this fat woman with you?'
'Hunh,' Lula said. 'There was a time when I would have kicked your nasty ass for calling me fat, but I'm on a diet to be a supermodel and I'm above all that now.'
'Such language,' Mrs. Apusenja said. 'Just as I would expect from sluts.'
'Hey, watch who you're calling a slut,' Lula said. 'You're starting to get on my nerves.'
'Get off my porch,' Mrs. Apusenja said. And she shoved Lula.
'Hunh,' Lula said. And she gave Mrs. Apusenja a shot to the shoulder that rocked her back on her heels.
'Disrespectful whore,' Mrs. Apusenja said to Lula. And she slapped her.
This was where I took two steps back.
Lula grabbed Mrs. Apusenja by the hair and the two of them stumbled off the porch to the small front yard. There was a lot of bitch slapping and name calling and hair pulling. Nonnie was shouting for them to stop and I had my stun gun in my hand just in case it looked like Lula was going to lose.
An old lady tottered out of the house next door and turned her garden hose on Lula and Mrs. Apusenja. Lula and Mrs. Apusenja broke apart sputtering. Mrs. Apusenja turned tail and scuttled into her house, her soaked sari leaving a trail of water behind her that looked like slug slime.
The old lady shut the water off at the spigot on her front porch. 'That was fun,' she said. And she disappeared into her house.
Lula squished to the car and climbed in. 'I could have taken her if I'd had more time,' Lula said.
