“Okay, loaded.”
He released my neck. “Sweet dreams.”
I ran into the building and up the stairs, rushed into my apartment, and dialed Mary Lou.
“I need help with a stakeout tonight,” I told Mary Lou. “Can Lenny sit with the kids?”
Lenny is Mary Lou's husband. He's a nice guy, but he hasn't got much upstairs. That's fine with Mary Lou because she's more interested in what's downstairs, anyway.
“Who are we staking out?”
“Morelli.”
“Oh, honey, you heard!”
“I heard what?”
“Uh-?oh. You didn't hear?”
“What? What?”
“Terry Gilman.”
Argh. Direct shot to the heart. “What about Terry?”
“The rumor is she's been seen with Joe late at night.”
Man, you can't get away with anything in the Burg. “I know about the late-?night stuff. Anything else?”
“That's it.”
“Besides seeing Terry, he's also involved in a project that ties in with Uncle Fred's disappearance, and he won't tell me anything.”
“Asshole.”
“Yeah. And after I gave him some of the best weeks of my life. Anyway, it seems like he works nights, so I thought I'd see what he was up to.”
“You going to pick me up in the Porsche?”
“The Porsche is out of commission. I was hoping you could drive,” I said. “I'm afraid Morelli might recognize the Buick.”
“No problemo.”
“And wear sneakers and something dark.”
Last time we went snooping together Mary Lou wore ankle boots with spike heels and gold earrings the size of dinner plates. Not exactly the invisible snooper.
Briggs was standing behind me. “You're going to spy on Morelli? This should be good.”
“He's leaving me no choice.”
“I bet you five dollars he spots you.”
“Deal.”
“THERE COULD BE a perfectly good explanation for the Terry thing,” I said to Mary Lou.
“Yeah, like he's a prick?”