AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nothing worth repeating,” Grandma said. “This neighborhood is getting boring. Most of the mob has either died or moved away, and the young people just sit home frying their brains with their eyes glued to their smartphone screens. If you ask me, they’d be better off going out and stealing cars. At least they’d be learning a trade.”
“Do you remember Andy Manley?”
“Nutsy? Sure, I remember him,” Grandma said. “Double DareNutsy. He was a whack-a-doodle in school, but he turned out to have talent. He graduated with honors from clown school. His mother went to Florida for the graduation. She was real proud of him. It’s a shame it didn’t work out long-term. He had his heart set on traveling with a circus, but there’s not a lot of circuses anymore. I talked to his mother at bingo a while back, and she said the rent-a-clown job wasn’t emotionally rewarding to him.”
“So, he’s home now, right? He’s living with his parents?”
“Last I heard,” Grandma said. “Are you looking for him? I didn’t hear anything about him being arrested. Not lately anyway.”
“He was working as a security guard for Plover’s Jewelry and he disappeared after the robbery. Plover would like to talk to him, but he can’t find him.”
“And Plover hired you to find Nutsy?” Grandma asked.
I nodded.
“Hah!” Grandma said. “There’s a story here.” She leaned over the table at me and lowered her voice. “Are you going to come clean with me?”
“No,” I said.
“Well, that’s a bummer,” Grandma said. “I’m dying a slow death of boredom here.”
“Tell me about his parents.”
“Not much to tell. His father works at the personal products factory. Office job. Accounting or something. Isn’t Nutsy’s biggest fan. Didn’t go to his graduation in Florida. His mother, Celia, is sweet. She never wins at bingo, but you can’t hold that against her. It’s on account of she only plays two cards. She says she can’t keep track of more than that, but I think her husband is a cheapskate and has her on a tight budget.”
“Does she talk about Nutsy?”
“Not so much lately. I didn’t know he was working for Plover.”
“Does Nutsy have brothers or sisters?”
Grandma shook her head. “He’s an only child. It’s just him and the cats.”
“Cats?”
“Celia takes in cats. She fosters them from the shelter until they get forever homes.”
I took a plate of sausage and eggs from my mother. “And you haven’t heard anything about Nutsy going missing?”
“I didn’t hear anything about that,” Grandma said. “There’s been no talk at the bakery, and Celia hasn’t said anything at bingo. I imagine it isn’t unusual for Nutsy to go missing.”
My mother set her plate of eggs and sausage on the table and went to get coffee. Bob swooped in, snatched up the sausage, and ate it.
I snapped a leash to Bob’s collar and tied the leash to my chair. “Sorry,” I said to my mom. “You can have my sausage.”
“Not necessary,” she said. “There’s more in the fry pan, but honestly, he could use some table manners.”
“What are you doing today?” Grandma asked me. “Do you have any big-ticket bond jumpers?”
“Just Duncan Dugan. He’s the guy who held up Plover’s and got caught. He slipped and fell off a ledge yesterday and almost killed himself.”
“I saw it on the news last night,” Grandma said. “He crashed through the restaurant awning.”
“I’m going to check on him after breakfast. Is it okay if I leave Bob here for a few minutes while I go to the hospital? I don’twant to leave him in my apartment. Last time I did that he ate my couch.”
“I’ll keep my eye on him,” Grandma said. “I won’t let him near our couch.”
I finished breakfast and explained to Bob, who was still on the lookout for unattended sausages, that he had to be on his best behavior. I drove the short distance to the medical center, parked, and went to the front desk to get a status report on Duncan Dugan.
