“Not that Dickie don't deserve getting choked.”
“Dickie s scum.”
“Fuckin' A,” Lula said.
“Although it would appear I'm the sole beneficiary in his will.”
“Say what?”
“Apparently, he had a will drawn up when we were married, making me heir, and he never got around to changing it.”
“How do you know that?”
“Joyce has a copy. She told the police about it, and they brought me in for questioning.”
“Then it's Joyce that involved you in this murder.”
“Yes!”
“Bitch,” Lula said.
I drove up Hamilton and pointed the Porsche toward North Trenton. It was four o'clock, and another day was slipping by without a capture. If this continued, I'd have to scrounge around for another job. At least something part-time.
“What's the plan here?” Lula wanted to know.
“If he's home, we grab him and cuff him and drag him to the car. You have cuffs, right?”
“Not with me. You're the big-deal bounty hunter. You're supposed to have the cuffs.”
“I lost my cuffs.”
“Again? Honest to goodness, I've never seen anybody lose things like you.”
“You usually have cuffs,” I said to Lula.
“They're sort of attached to my bed. Tank was over, and we got playful.”
Eeek. Either one of them in handcuffs attached to a bed wasn't a good picture. “I didn't realize you were a couple.”
“We're one of them couples who don't see each other all the time. We just see each other some of the time. And sometimes it goes to once in a while.”
“Okay, then we can grab Coglin and stun-gun him. Do you have your stun gun?”
“Sure I got my stun gun.” Lula pulled her stun gun out of her big purse. “Uh-oh, low battery.”
I knew she had her Glock. And I knew it was loaded. But I didn't especially want her to shoot Coglin.
“How about I grab him and sit on him until he gives up?” Lula said.
“I guess that would work.”
I cruised down Coglin s street and idled in front of his house. Lights were off inside. I drove around the block and scoped out the back of the house. No car parked in the alley. I cut the engine and Lula and I got out and walked to Coglin s back door. I rapped on the door and announced myself. No answer.
Lula had her hand on the doorknob. “It's unlocked,” she said, pushing the door open, stepping inside. “This guys real trusting.”
“Maybe he never came back.”
We went room by room, flipping lights on, looking around. The stuffed animals were everywhere. He had an entire bedroom filled with pigeons.