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I made sure the office phone was forwarded to my cell, Lula took the box of doughnuts, and we went out the front door and locked the office. I took a moment to look up and down the street for Ranger’s man. I didn’t see anyone loitering in doorways or hiding behind shrubbery. There was a panel van parked in front of a house across the street. It was a possibility.
I drove to Beedle’s house and parked at the curb. No Sentra in the driveway. We went to the door and knocked, and Mrs. Beedle answered.
“Is Carpenter here?” I asked her.
“No,” she said. “But I did hear from him. He said he was thinking he needed a change in scenery, and he would let me know when he settled somewhere.”
“When did you talk to him?” I asked.
“This morning. He called about an hour ago and said he didn’t want me to worry. And that he was fine. He’s very resourceful.”
I drove to the Trenton Transit Center and parked in a no-parking zone. Lula jumped out and looked around the bus stop area. She returned to the car and said there was no sign of Beedle. I drove into the downtown area and came up empty after an hour of cruising.
“This is disturbing,” Lula said. “I bonded that man out and this is the thanks. Vinnie’s surety company isn’t going to be happy about this.”
No kidding. Vinnie could be out of business, and we could all be unemployed. Comic Book Benji was next on my list. He was the middleman. I didn’t think he would have much to contribute but I was going to talk to him anyway.
I took Maymount to Chambers and cut across town to Benji’s store. Lights were off and a sign in the window said it was closed.
“It should be open,” Lula said. “This is regular business hours.”
I hadn’t been paying attention when Ranger drove to Benji’s apartment, so I typed “Benji Crup” into an app on my phone and got his address. His apartment was on the second floor of a neglected three-floor row house. One of his roommates answered my knock.
“Yuh,” he said.
I looked past him into the room. There were boxes of comic books stacked against the wall, a mattress on the floor, a sad couch that had a tan slipcover on it, a large flat-screen TV on the wall in front of the couch. That was as far as I could see.
“I’m looking for Benji,” I said.
“Dude’s not here.”
“I went to the store and there’s a Closed sign in the window.”
“Dude’s off on a wander.”
“What’s a wander?” Lula asked.
“It’s when you wander,” the roommate said.
“Like a drugged-out trip?”
“No, like a vacation.”
“Do you know where he went?” I asked.
“Not exactly. He said something about buying a car, or maybe he was going to Hawaii. And he was gonna hang out with Aquaman. He’s like total Justice League.”
“When did he leave?”
“About an hour ago. What are you, preggers or something?”
“Looking to buy a comic,” I said.
“Or an action figure,” Lula said.
“We got comics here if you want to look through,” he said. “Discount price.”
“Some other time,” I told him.
