Read Online Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Janet Evanovich
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if you destroy the car, but take care of the hat. I want it back."
I scrambled up the hill, hoisted myself into the Porsche, and turned the heat on full blast. As I pulled off the service road onto Broad, my cell phone buzzed. It was Marty Gobel.
"I need you to come in and make a statement," Marty said. "I know this isn't anything you want to do, but I can't put it off any longer."
"That's okay," I told him. "I understand. I'll be there in ten minutes." The cop shop is on Perry Street. Half the building is the courthouse and half the police station. It's redbrick, and the architecture could best be categorized as utilitarian municipal. Money wasn't wasted on fancy columns or art. This is strictly a -watt building. Still, it serves its purpose, and it's in a neighborhood where it's convenient for the police to find crime. I parked in the public lot across the street and stowed the pepper spray, handcuffs, and stun gun in the console. I applied fresh lip gloss and went to talk to Marty. I crossed the lobby to the cop-in-a-cage and gave him my name. Court was in session across the hall and people were milling around, waiting to pass through security. Marty met me in the lobby. We got coffee and found an empty room where he could take my statement.
"So," Marty said when we were seated, "why did you kill Dickie Orr?" I felt my mouth drop open and my eyes go wide.
Marty gave a bark of laughter. "I'm just fucking with you," he said. "The guys made me do it."
"Should I have an attorney present?" I asked him.
"Do you have one?"
"My brother-in-law."
"Oh jeez, are you talking about Albert Kloughn? He chases ambulances. He paid for his law degree with chickens. Got it somewhere in the islands, right?" I did some mental knuckle cracking. "What do you want to know?"
"Do you have an alibi?"
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."
I rushed home and went straight to the freezer. I yanked the door open and there it was-the family size. I almost fainted from
I scrambled up the hill, hoisted myself into the Porsche, and turned the heat on full blast. As I pulled off the service road onto Broad, my cell phone buzzed. It was Marty Gobel.
"I need you to come in and make a statement," Marty said. "I know this isn't anything you want to do, but I can't put it off any longer."
"That's okay," I told him. "I understand. I'll be there in ten minutes." The cop shop is on Perry Street. Half the building is the courthouse and half the police station. It's redbrick, and the architecture could best be categorized as utilitarian municipal. Money wasn't wasted on fancy columns or art. This is strictly a -watt building. Still, it serves its purpose, and it's in a neighborhood where it's convenient for the police to find crime. I parked in the public lot across the street and stowed the pepper spray, handcuffs, and stun gun in the console. I applied fresh lip gloss and went to talk to Marty. I crossed the lobby to the cop-in-a-cage and gave him my name. Court was in session across the hall and people were milling around, waiting to pass through security. Marty met me in the lobby. We got coffee and found an empty room where he could take my statement.
"So," Marty said when we were seated, "why did you kill Dickie Orr?" I felt my mouth drop open and my eyes go wide.
Marty gave a bark of laughter. "I'm just fucking with you," he said. "The guys made me do it."
"Should I have an attorney present?" I asked him.
"Do you have one?"
"My brother-in-law."
"Oh jeez, are you talking about Albert Kloughn? He chases ambulances. He paid for his law degree with chickens. Got it somewhere in the islands, right?" I did some mental knuckle cracking. "What do you want to know?"
"Do you have an alibi?"
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."
I rushed home and went straight to the freezer. I yanked the door open and there it was-the family size. I almost fainted from
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