Tricky Twenty-Two (Stephanie Plum 22)

Even as I said it I felt like an idiot. I mean, the whole thing was too bizarre and hard to believe.

“Was that a serious question?” I asked Morelli.

“I think so, but it’s so far-fetched I’m almost embarrassed I asked it.”

“The fireworks Pooka was building have a place to put a little canister of something or other,” I said. “Originally it was supposed to be a stink bomb, but the plan might have gotten changed, and maybe he was planning on exploding fleas over the campus at homecoming.”

“Oh boy.”

“Why else would he be raising fleas?”

“No clue,” Morelli said. “Maybe there’s a market for fleas, and he’s selling them on eBay. Maybe they’re pets. Maybe they’re used for scientific experiments.”

Morelli examined the shells that were lined up on the table.

“There are two different setups here,” he said. “I can see where one has a place for a canister. I don’t know about exploding fleas, but at the very least this is illegal. You can’t manufacture, store, or transport fireworks in New Jersey without a permit. And I don’t see any permits displayed. I’m shutting this down, and I’ll bring someone in to take a look at it, and clean it out.”

&n

bsp; A half hour later, the area was secured by two uniforms, and a munitions guy was at work.

“Are you going to take a look at his apartment?” I asked Morelli.

“I’m going to question him and list him as a person of interest, but I can’t go into his apartment. It’s not like I’m a bounty hunter with blanket permission. I have to go to a judge before I can get in.”

“Would you like me to go back in?”

“No! I have enough problems. I’m drinking Prilosec by the gallons. You’re like Calamity Jane. I’m afraid you’ll come out of there with the plague.”

“So you think he might be harboring plague-infected fleas?”

“No. I was making a point.” He checked his watch. “You want to go to lunch?”

“Sure.”

We went to a deli that was a block from the school and sat at one of the small outside tables.

“You look nice,” Morelli said. “Are you going someplace special?”

“Turning over a new leaf.”

“I thought the old leaf was pretty good.”

“Thanks. I’ll probably be back to the old leaf tomorrow.”

I ordered a ham and cheese panini, and Morelli ordered cottage cheese.

“You’re going to get kicked out of Trenton for ordering cottage cheese,” I said.

“I don’t know what to eat. Everything bothers me.”

“Have you seen a doctor?”

“Yeah. He has stomach problems, too. So what are you going to do about Globovic? I get the feeling you’re not working too hard to bring him in.”

“There’s a complication. Globovic was working with a guy named Becker to make fireworks for homecoming. They ran into some problems and asked Pooka to help them, and Pooka took over. Globovic got arrested and shortly after that Becker went missing and hasn’t been seen since. Globovic is FTA because he’s trying to find Becker.”

“Why hasn’t anyone reported this to the police?”