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“Now you’re going to loo
k in his car to see if he’s asleep in there.”
Lula got out and looked in the car.
“Nobody here,” she said, “but this car is a mess. It’s full of crumpled-up beer cans and dirty clothes. And there’s a bunch of ratty magazines.”
“Porno?”
“Mostly Guns and Ammo and Food Network.” Lula got back into my CR-V. “You aren’t planning on another takedown attempt while he’s working the fry station, are you? I couldn’t come up with a lot of enthusiasm for that.”
“No. I want to get him after hours. I’ll have Connie do some research on his schedule and maybe she can find an address that isn’t a cemetery.”
“That leaves the butt guy,” Lula said. “It used to be that we went after carjackers and armed robbery guys, and now we got a bunch of creepers.”
I was with Lula. I couldn’t get excited about another face-to-face with Rodney Trotter. I had treasure on my mind.
“I say we go back to the office and see if anything good came in this morning,” Lula said. “A killer or a serial rapist. Something normal.”
* * *
“Sorry,” Connie said, “I haven’t got any new skips, but I made a couple phone calls while you were gone, and it looks like Charlie Shine is definitely in town. Marge Russo saw him yesterday. She said she was crossing the street and he drove past her. He was wearing a hat pulled down low and dark sunglasses but she was sure it was him. And Loretta Bettman saw him over the weekend. She said he was behind her at the Dunkin’ drive-thru. Both times he was alone and driving a white Kia.”
“Has anyone seen Salgusta?” I asked Connie.
“My mom and my aunt Cookie think he’s hanging out in the tunnel,” Connie said. “They said there are a bunch of exits, and one of the exits is at the Hotel Margo.”
“I know that hotel,” Lula said. “It’s got good hourly rates. When I was in the customer happiness business I frequented that hotel. It gave a special discount if the customer was mob.”
“Anything else?” I asked Connie.
“No,” Connie said. “That’s all of it.”
“Good enough,” I said. “I’m going to take a look at the Margo.”
“I guess I’ll tag along,” Lula said. “It’ll be like one of them nostalgia trips.”
CHAPTER NINE
The Margo was in a sketchy neighborhood four blocks from the Mole Hole. It was three floors with six cubbyhole bedrooms on each of the top two floors and five bedrooms and a minuscule lobby on the ground floor. There was on-street parking in front of the Margo and a small parking lot behind it. A white Kia was parked on the street two doors down. I took a photo of the plate and sent it to Connie.
“This could be your lucky day,” Lula said. “Or maybe not.”
I parked across the street from the Kia and Lula and I walked over to the Margo. The small lobby was dimly lit. It contained two worn-out armchairs and a reception desk. There was no one at the desk.
“You gotta push the buzzer on the desk,” Lula said. “And then Andy comes out. He’s got an office in a broom closet behind the desk.”
Lula pushed the buzzer and a small old man shuffled out of the broom closet.
“Hey,” he said to Lula. “Long time, no see.”
“Been busy,” Lula said. “I want to show my protégé around. Any rooms occupied?”
“Seven, nine, and twelve,” Andy said. “The rest are open.”
“How about Charlie Shine?” Lula asked. “Is he in one of them? I saw his car outside.”
“Haven’t seen him,” Andy said, “but you know how it is. Healthier not to look too hard.”
