beyond recognition. The scorch trail suggested flamethrower.'
'The accelerant was gasoline,' Roiker said. 'We found the cans.'
'Do you know how it was ignited?' Ranger asked.
'Both times it started in a kitchen. In the case of the warehouse, it was a corner set aside for a cooler and a microwave and a toaster. The lab guys are still working, but it looks like someone rammed something that would burn into the toaster… Hell, it could have been one of those breakfast tart things. The pop-up mechanism was disabled and the toaster was wired with an interior timer. We suspect the toaster was fitted with a fuse to make sure the flames reached the accelerant, but there was no evidence of it.'
'The flaming toaster bomb,' Marty Gobel said. 'We see a lot of them.'
Morelli cracked a smile and Ranger nudged my knee with his.
'Have you identified the victims from the apartment fire?' Ranger asked.
'Working on it. Not a lot left of them. The explosion was set closer and the fire burned hotter.'
'We saw Rufus Caine enter the building. And we believe he was meeting Victor Gorvich,' Ranger said. 'Tank was watching, and he didn't see either man come out the front of the building. Someone rappelled out a back window.'
Ranger didn't share information on the drug connection or the missing $40 million, and no one mentioned Dickie Orr.
Five minutes before the meeting closed, Morelli's phone buzzed and he went outside to take the call and never returned. At eleven o'clock, Ranger and I left the building and buckled ourselves into the Porsche.
'Do you think he was pulling our leg on the toaster?' I asked Ranger.
'No. He's not that clever. I did a fast run through the apartment, looking for an incendiary, and didn't see anything. Smullen's girlfriend had taken everything except the couch and the toaster. I saw the toaster and didn't give it a second look.'
'Next time we enter a building soaked in gasoline, we'll think to unplug the toaster.'
Ranger glanced in his rearview mirror when we were a block from RangeMan. 'It looks like Joyce got her Mercedes running.'
I turned and looked out the back window. Joyce was a car length behind us.
'I have to give her credit,' I said. 'She's good.'
'She's too good,' Ranger said. 'She's finding us on the road.'
He keyed himself into the underground garage and parked in his space in front of the elevator.
'Do you have plans for today?' he asked me. 'I can give you paperwork if you haven't anything better to do.'
'I have two skips I'm working on. I thought I'd check on them.'
'If you're going to leave your bag anywhere, please take the monitor with you. Put it in your pocket.'
'Is it okay if I only take one?'
'How many do you have?'
'Three.'
Ranger sat there for a beat. 'I only planted one.'
'Shit.'
We rode the elevator to Ranger's apartment, went inside, and I emptied my bag onto the kitchen counter.
Ranger picked a pen out of the mess. 'This is mine.'
I took it from him and put it into my pocket.
'This lipstick is another one,' I said, handing him the tube.
'I'm guessing this is from Joyce,' Ranger said. 'You can buy these in The Spy Store.'
'And the third.' I gave him what looked like a menthol cough drop in a paper wrapper.
'This is good,' Ranger said, examining the cough drop. 'Super small. Well disguised. How did you discover it?'
'I tried to eat it.'
'That's the flaw. You can write with my pen.'
'This is so creepy. Three people planted a transmitter on me, and I never knew they were doing it. What else am I missing? We know one of the transmitters belongs to you, and you planted it on me to protect me. We suspect the second belongs to Joyce, and she wanted me to lead her to Dickie. So what does this third one represent?'
'It could be as simple as one more person with the same agenda as Joyce. One of the partners who thought you might lead him to Dickie and the money. Maybe someone was casting a wide net. Maybe Joyce is walking around with a transmitter in her bag too.'
'You don't want me to freak over this.'
'I don't want you to get bogged down in negative emotion. And the truth is, we aren't sure what these toys do. I'm going to take them downstairs and give them to one of my tech guys.'
'Omigod, I just had a thought. I killed Rufus Caine! If the cough drop is a transmitter, the owner would have known we visited Rufus. He would have known we were at the club. And he would have known we followed Rufus to the apartment.'
'You didn't kill Rufus. And even if you did, it wouldn't be much of a loss.'
'Death by flamethrower is gruesome.'
'That's the appeal. The threat is demoralizing. It instills fear. And fear can be a controlling, paralyzing emotion. There are paramilitary groups that make good use of flamethrowers. It's not an especially effective way to kill a man, but it sends a message.'
'You think someone is sending a message here?'
'No. I think this killer is a freak. He has a reason for killing these people, but he's also getting off on the experience. He torches them, and then he sets a fire to hide his thrill kill. Problem is, both times you screwed things up. You saw the torched bodies before the fire. His secret is out.'
'He might not know that.'
'If he's the owner of the cough drop, he knows.'
'What about not wanting to scare me?'
'You asked,' Ranger said. 'Are you scared?'
'Big time.'
'You're safe here.'
'Yes, but I can't stay here forever. In fact, I can't stay here tonight. I think my free pass has expired.'
'I don't want to force you to leave and put you in harm's way,' Ranger said, 'but I have limits.'
'You need a larger apartment,' I told him. 'You need a guest room.'
'I don't know why I put up with you,' Ranger said. 'You're a real pain in the ass.'
'You put up with me because I'm amusing, and you love me, and I pose no threat to your lifestyle because I'm involved with Morelli.'
'That's all true,' Ranger said. 'But it doesn't make you any less of a pain in the ass.'
I shoved my stuff back into my bag. 'I'm heading out. I need to check on Rex, and then I'm going to the office.'
'I need to stay here, but I can give you one of my men.'
'Not necessary. I'm okay.'
'I thought you were scared.'
'It's a way of life.'
'WHAT THE HECK is this?' Lula asked when I walked into the office. 'You're all in RangeMan black. Are you working for RangeMan again?'
'I ran out of clean clothes, and this was available. I'm going to try to talk to Coglin. Want to ride along?'
'Sure. Maybe we could stop at the video store. Tank's coming over tonight, and I'm gonna rent a movie. I need something to put him in the mood. I was thinking one of them Lethal Weapon movies. Or maybe Transporter.'
'What kind of mood were you aiming for?'
'Man mood. In all my years of being a 'ho, I learned blood is better than sex if you want to get a man stirred up for action. You let a man watch someone getting his face mashed in, and you got a horny guy. It's the beast
