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I crashed into bed, chanting Stupid, stupid, stupid to myself. The phone rang after I’d thrashed around for fifteen minutes.
“Babe,” Ranger said, “I’m not going to get to you tonight. I have a client with a major security breach and a missing fifteen-hundred-pound safe.”
“No problem,” I said. “I have my own issues.”
TWENTY
I LOOKED AT my reflection in the bathroom mirror at eight A.M. and couldn’t believe what I saw. A Bingo addict was holding my toothbrush. I’d maxed out my credit card playing a game I didn’t even like. What the heck was I thinking?
I rolled into the office a little before nine. Vinnie’s car wasn’t parked behind the office, and his door was closed. Connie was busy on her computer. Lula’s car was parked outside, but she wasn’t in the office.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
“First thing this morning Vinnie got a threatening message from Harry about Sunucchi,” Connie told me. “Harry’s accountant was going over the books, and he wasn’t happy. So Vinnie took a mental health day and went underground.”
“Where’s Lula?”
“She’s taking inventory in the storeroom.”
“Have you ever played Bingo online?”
“No, but I know lots of people who do. I’m more into poker.”
“What happens if you gamble more money than you have?” I asked Connie. “Would the site put you into collection?”
“I guess they could, but I don’t think that happens. Your credit card would just get declined.”
I called Morelli at work.
“The women who were murdered and tossed into the Dumpsters,” I said to Morelli. “Their bank accounts were cleaned out, right?”
“Right.”
“Are we talking about a lot of money?”
“It ranged from fifteen hundred dollars to just under thirty thousand.”
“Do you suppose they could have been paying off gambling debts?”
“Why were they killed if they were paying off debts? Usually you get killed if you don’t pay off.”
“I haven’t got that part figured out.”
“Do you want to do something tonight?” Morelli asked.
“What did you have in mind?”
“Depends. Do we need to have the aborted relationship discussion?”
“No. I had the discussion all by myself and got it all straight.”
“Did you reach any conclusions I should know about?”
“Nope. It’s all good.”
“So I should stop at the drugstore on the way over?”
“Sure, and pick up some ice cream.”
