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“Yes. He was working as the security guard when the robbery went down. Short story is that Nutsy left after the robbery and hasn’t been seen since. When Plover opened the shop the morning after the robbery he was missing a tray of diamonds that had been left in the safe. He thinks Nutsy took them.”
“Nutsy did some weird stuff,” Connie said, “but I can’t see him stealing diamonds.”
“He might if someone dared him,” I said.
“That was high school,” Connie said. “Did Plover report it to the police?”
“Yep. So far, they haven’t had any results.”
“That’s a real bummer to get robbed twice on the same day,” Lula said. “What are the chances?”
“Maybe the robberies were connected,” Connie said.
“Who’s this Nutsy guy?” Lula asked.
“I went to school with him,” I said. “He would do anything on a dare. He went to clown school after graduating. He wanted to travel the country with a circus, but it turned out there aren’t very many traveling circuses anymore.”
“Was he a happy clown or a creepy clown?” Lula asked. “It makes a big difference in my opinion of a clown. I wouldn’t mind talking to him. I’ve got a bunch of clown questions. Like, can they breathe through that big red clown nose? And what kind of makeup remover do they use? I think we should go find this guy.”
“He lives with his parents. I thought that would be a place to start.”
“I’m all about it,” Lula said. “We don’t get a lot of chances to go hunting down clowns.”
“What’s happening with Duncan Dugan?” Connie asked. “Has he been transferred to the prison ward?”
“He’s sort of missing,” I said. “He disappeared this morning and the hospital hasn’t been able to locate him.”
“Say what?” Lula said. “How’d he go missing? He must have broken every bone in his body.”
I shrugged. “He left a note saying he felt better and he was going home.”
“He had to have help,” Lula said. “I bet it was that woman who tried to talk him down.”
“What about medical?” Connie asked. “Can he manage without nursing care?”
“Mary Jane Sokolowski was the charge nurse on Dugan’s floor. She said Dugan’s leg was in a cast, and he had a couple cracked ribs. He was on painkillers and antibiotics.”
“I guess you could manage that at home,” Lula said. “These days they don’t keep you in the hospital very long anyway.”
“Can we hack into the hospital’s security cameras?” I asked Connie.
“I don’t have that ability,” Connie said, “but you know someone who can hack into anything.”
Ranger. If I couldn’t get a lead on Dugan by the end of the day, I’d ask Ranger for help. And I wanted to talk to him about Nutsy Manley, anyway. Bonus.
“What are we doing first?” Lula asked. “I’ve got an interest in both these cases.”
“I’m starting with Nutsy. His parents are only five minutes away. We can do a fast stop, talk to his mom, and move on to Duncan Dugan.”
Lula stood and hiked her massive tote bag purse onto her shoulder. “That’s a good choice. What are you going to do with Bob?”
“Bob is going with us.”
“Like he’s a K-9 bounty hunter,” Lula said. “This would be a good television show. Two badass women and a killer dog. I bet Netflix would snap it up in a second. It could be a reality show and we could star in it.”
This was wrong on several levels, not the least of which was that Lula and I weren’t badass, and Bob wasn’t a killer dog. Bob was a goofus.
We walked to my car, Lula opened the front passenger-side door, and Bob pushed past her and jumped in.
