Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum 13)

Oh boy.

An hour later, I pushed my chair back. “I'm done,” I told Gobel. “If you want any more, you'll have to feed me.”

“The best I could do is a Snickers bar.”

“How many?”

Gobel closed his notepad. “I'm done anyway. You and Morelli aren't planning on going out of the country any time soon, are you?”

I slanted my eyes at him. “What are you saying?”

“Well, you know, you're kind of a suspect. Actually, you're our only suspect.”

“What's my motive?”

“You hated him.”

“Everybody hated him.”

“Not true. Not everybody. And you stand to inherit a lot of money. He had a will drawn up when you were married, and it never got changed. You get everything.”

“What?” I said it on a whoosh of air because it literally knocked the wind out of me.

“You didn't know?”

“I don't believe it.” This was the most contentious divorce in the history of the Burg. The shouting was heard for miles. We called each other names that didn't even exist.“Believe it,” Marty Gobel said.

“How do you know about the will? Aren't wills secret?”

“Not this one. His girlfriend has a copy. Joyce Barn-hardt. He was in the process of changing it, so she would be his sole heir, but he never signed it.”

“You're kidding again, right? This is another joke.”

“Swear to God. If they ever find his body you'll be rich. Of course, you might not be in a good position to enjoy it.”

I left Gobel, locked myself in the Cayenne, and called Morelli. “Did you know I was Dickie's sole heir?” I asked him.

“No. How did you find that out?”

“Gobel. Joyce told him. Apparently she has a copy of Dickie s will.”

“So you talked to Marty. How'd it go?”

“By the time we were done, I was sort of feeling I might have killed Dickie.”

There was a moment of silence. “You didn't, did you?”

“No! Yeesh. I'm going home. I'm all discombobulated.”

“Look in the freezer when you get home. I got you happy food.”

“How happy?”

“Stouffer's macaroni and cheese. The family size.”

“I love you!”

I could feel Morelli smile at the other end. “I own you now. I know where all the buttons are.”