“It says on the arrest sheet that DeChooch was alone when he was picked up. Hard to believe he didn't have a partner.”
“From what I know he was on his own. He set the deal up, rented a truck, and drove to Richmond.”
“Blind old dude drives to Richmond to heist some cigs.”
“You got it.”
I had Metallica wailing away. Bob was riding shotgun next to me, digging Lars on the drums. The Burg was conducting business behind closed doors. And I suddenly had a disturbing thought.
“DeChooch was arrested between here and New York?”
“Yeah, the rest stop in Edison.”
“Do you think he could have dropped some cigarettes off in the Burg?”
There was a moment of silence. “You're thinking of Dougie Kruper,” Connie said.
I snapped the phone closed, put the car in gear, and headed for Dougie's house. I didn't bother knocking when I got there. Bob and I barged right in.
“Hey,” Mooner said, ambling out of the kitchen, spoon in one hand, opened can in the other, “I'm having lunch here. You want some orange and brown stuff in a can? I got extra. Shop & Bag was having a two-for-one sale on cans without labels.”
I was halfway up the stairs. “No thanks. I want to take another look at Dougie's inventory. He get anything other than that one shipment?”
“Yeah, some old guy dropped a couple boxes off a couple days ago. Wasn't much to it, though. Just a couple boxes.”
“Do you know what's in those boxes?”
“First-quality ciggies. You want some?”
I pushed my way through the merchandise in the third bedroom and found the cartons of cigarettes. Damn.
“This isn't good,” I said to Mooner.
“I know. They'll kill you, dude. Better off with weed.”
“Superheroes don't do weed,” I said.
“No way!”
“It's true. You can't be a superhero if you do drugs.”
“Next thing you'll be telling me they don't drink beer.”
Hard call. “I don't actually know about beer.”
“Bummer.”
I tried to imagine Mooner when he wasn't high, but I couldn't get a picture. Would he suddenly start wearing three-piece suits? Would he become a Republican?
“You need to get rid of this stuff,” I said.
“You mean like sell it?”
“No. Get rid of it. If the police come in here you'll be charged with possession of stolen property.”
“The police are here all the time, dude. They're some of Dougie's best customers.”
“I mean officially. Like if they're investigating Dougie's disappearance.”