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“You wish,” Lula said.
Andy grinned at her. “That’s the truth.”
“What about papers and plates?” I asked.
“They come with the car,” Andy said.
Steven Plover lived in a two-story white colonial with blue shutters. The lawn was excellent. There was a new Mercedes in the driveway. The neighborhood was extremely respectable. I did some background and found that his father was a doctor, and his mother was a Realtor.
I parked my gray Whatever in front of the neighbor’s house so I wouldn’t tarnish the Plover image, and Lula and I went to the front door.
Steven answered the doorbell. I knew him from his photo. Brown hair, cut by someone who knew what they were doing. Five feet ten inches. Medium build. Pleasant looking. Jeans and T-shirt. New and expensive.
I introduced myself and explained that he had to reschedule.
“Sure,” he said. “I haven’t got anything to do anyway. I guess I forgot about court.”
“I’m curious,” Lula said. “Why did you take the fire truck and crash it into the flower shop?”
“There’s this girl I really like, Jessica. She was in my art appreciation class at Rutgers, and she lives here in the neighborhood. She was home for the weekend, and I wanted to ask her out, but she doesn’t know I exist. So, I got this crazy idea that I’d show up at her house in the fire truck and ask her if she’d like to go for a ride. I mean, who could resist a ride in a fire truck.”
“You were high, right?” Lula asked.
“Yeah, maybe a little,” Steven said. “I’m almost always high. Anyway, it was easy to borrow the truck. They wash it in the morning and then they leave it out all day. They even leave the key in it.
“I took the truck and then I thought I should bring Jessica some flowers, so I drove to the flower shop. Only the truck wouldn’t stop fast enough, and I accidentally drove through the big window in the front of the store and took out the case with the orchids. It was pretty funny but sort of embarrassing.”
“Did Jessica ever go out with you?” Lula asked.
“No,” Steven said. “She thinks I’m an idiot.”
“Not much of a surprise there,” Lula said.
“Are your parents home?” I asked him.
“Negative. They’re never home. It’s just me.”
“Lock up the house, and I’ll drive you to the courthouse so you can reschedule.”
“Okay, I’ll get the back door,” Steven said.
He disappeared into the house and Lula and I exchanged glances.
“He’s gonna run,” Lula said.
“That would be my guess,” I said.
Seconds later we heard the garage door open on the side of the house. Lula and I took off and reached the garage just as Steven rocketed out in a red Tesla.
“That car’s got excellent acceleration,” Lula said. “And you can’t go wrong with red.”
“True and true,” I said, heading for my gray Whatever. “And red is going to make it easier to spot Steven.”
“He turned right when he went out of his driveway,” Lula said.
I went straight for three blocks until I got to Mulberry. Mulberry was the first road that wasn’t part of Steven’s neighborhood. There was a gas station on one corner and a convenience store next to it. The red Tesla was parked at the convenience store.
“This is too easy,” Lula said. “Kinda takes the fun out of it.”
