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“What’s wrong with the lemon meringue?”
“It smells like cat pee,” Lula said.
I went to the fridge and pulled out a chocolate pudding pie and extra whipped cream.
“Bring two forks,” Lula said.
We dug into the pie, and I looked over at Lula.
“What’s going on here? What’s the motive? What’s with the shoe?”
“Maniacs don’t always have motives,” Lula said. “At least none that make sense. Like maybe the devil told someone to snatch people and leave a shoe behind.”
“Suppose it wasn’t the devil. Suppose it was someone more normal. Why would someone want to take people associated with the management of the deli?”
“That’s a tough one,” Lula said. “And why did they snatch Hal? He wasn’t a manager.”
“Maybe Hal was a mistake.”
“Okay, so who would benefit from having bad things happening at the deli?” Lula asked. “There’s Ernie Sitz, but he’s supposed to be on the moon or something. I don’t see how this would do him any good. Except maybe he would be looking for revenge. Like if he couldn’t have the deli then no one could have it.”
“If that was the motive he could just torch it.”
“Yeah, but that wouldn’t be as much fun,” Lula said.
I hadn’t thought of this in terms of fun, but I suppose it was as good a motive as any.
“What about the bodies?” I asked. “Where are they?”
“That’s got about a million answers,” Lula said. “They could be on a hook in the deep freeze of a butcher shop. Or they could be in a shallow grave in the Pine Barrens. Or they could be still alive and chained up in someone’s cellar. I don’t think they got thrown in the Delaware, because one of them would have floated up by now.”
I didn’t like any of those answers. I put my head down and forked into the pie.
* * *
¦ ¦ ¦
One of the Rangeman guys took Lula home. I went home with Morelli. Bob danced around us when we entered. Morelli ruffled Bob’s ears and locked the door.
“Now what?” he asked. “Television? Glass of wine? Frozen waffle? Bed?”
“Bed. I just worked my way through half a pudding pie, and I’m done.”
“Only half a pie?”
“Lula ate the other half.”
“Works for me. Bed was my choice too.”
“What do you think happened to Hal?”
“I don’t know. He’s a big guy. He’s strong. He was wearing a sidearm. Whatever happened to him was unexpected. He didn’t feel threatened when he walked out of
camera range. It was as if he was going to see someone he knew or someone who couldn’t possibly harm him. The shoe was thrown in three minutes later. It was a fast takedown.”
“Tranquilizer dart?”
“It’s a possibility,” Morelli said.
