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“We think she might have gone off with someone,” I said.
“A friend?”
“Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe someone who was unhappy with her.”
“Oh gosh,” Jeanine said.
“Did you see anyone who might fall into either of those categories?” I asked her.
“There were a lot of people there. There was a late Mass and then the bake sale. There were certainly some people who could be considered friends. A bunch of the women from bingo. I don’t know about the people who might want to harm her.”
“Any La-Z-Boys?”
Jeanine looked over at her mom. “Did you see any?”
“No,” Barbara said, “but one of Benny’s wiseguy caregivers was there. He bought a coffee cake.”
“I guess you know that one of the men who tried to kidnap Grandma was a trainer at Miracle Fitness,” I said.
“Of course,” Jeanine said. “What happens in the Burg is instantly known by everyone in the Burg.”
“I know you both take classes there. Did you ever hear anything that would make you suspicious? Was Lucca ever especially friendly with anyone who might be interested in the keys?”
“Sidney DeSalle, the gym owner, is a little sketchy,” Jeanine said. “I didn’t take any of Lucca’s classes. I couldn’t keep up. He was hard-core. Bernie took some of Lucca’s classes, but Bernie hasn’t been there lately. Things got too busy at the concrete plant. He’s there now. Some sort of a breakdown.”
We left Barbara’s house and sat in the Cayenne for a couple minutes.
“What do you think?” I asked Ranger.
“Barbara didn’t say much.”
“Does that mean something?”
“Just that she strikes me as the sort of person who would dominate a conversation. And Jeanine, not so much.”
“Jeanine can be very chatty.”
“Her husband works at a concrete plant?”
“I think that might be the name of it, the Concrete Plant. It’s a family business. Bernie’s father started it, and when he retired Bernie’s brother took over. Bernie works there too, but I’m not sure what he does. Some sort of managerial thing. Word in the neighborhood is that he isn’t real bright. I don’t know if that’s true. I’ve always found him to be a nice guy. He’s not Italian, and I don’t think he was ever accepted by Jimmy and the rest of the Rosollis.”
“Do they have kids?”
“Adults. Living out of state.”
“Next up, Sidney DeSalle,” Ranger said.
“I have multiple choices for him. He has an office at Miracle Fitness, an office in a building downtown, and a house in Hamilton Township. He has three adult children. They all live out of state. He’s divorced. Ten years ago.”
“It’s Saturday. Let’s try his house.”
“It’s north of town, toward Pennington. And I hate to say this, but I’m starving. I need lunch. Go back to my parents’ house, and I’ll get some fast food.”
I called my mom and asked her to pack us lunch. When we pulled to the curb five minutes later, she was at the door with a grocery bag. I ran up and got the bag from her. Her eyes were red as if she’d been crying, and she looked exhausted.
“You need to iron,” I told her. “Everything is going to be fine.”
Back in the car, Ranger glanced at the bag as we drove away. “I have a feeling this is going to be good.”
