Page 35 of Now or Never

“The ME lists cause of death as head trauma and loss of blood. It looks like you walked in on a fresh kill. Time of death was placed at about the time you were parking your car.”

My stomach turned at the memory. Morelli faced this sort of thing every day and had learned how to deal with it. I was barely holding it together. Truth is, I didn’t want to learn how to deal with it. I didn’t want that kind of horror to be a regular part of my life.

“I ran into Jimmy earlier,” I said. “Did he turn anything up on Exeter Street?”

“Nothing useful. The neighbors all agreed that Zoran is a wack job, but he keeps his lawn cut and doesn’t play loud music, so there’s never been a problem.”

“Did his neighbors mention to Jimmy that Zoran is a vampire?”

“Yeah, but Jimmy said they were just glad he didn’t think he was the Easter Bunny and hopped around leaving chocolate eggs on their front lawn.”

“Or he could think he was Robin Hood and swipe their Amazon packages off their porch.”

“Exactly,” Morelli said. “I have to go back to work. Let me know if you change your mind about tonight.”

Lula was on the couch, surfing on her phone, when I walked into the office. I nodded at her and took a seat in front of Connie’s desk.

“Lula told me about the scene at the laundromat,” Connie said. “She told me she fainted.”

“It was terrifying and disgusting and beyond description,” I said.

“Are you okay?”

“No,” I said. “I can’t stop seeing it.”

“Did you get your furniture?”

“Yes. I made my bed and plugged my lamp in and it’s starting to look more homey.”

I heard the front door open, and I turned to see Eugene push his bike into the office.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he said. “I had stuff to do this morning.” He shrugged out of his backpack and removed a round tin. “My mom baked some cookies for the office. They’re chocolate chip. They’re her specialty.”

Lula was on her feet, examining the cookies. “They look homemade.” She took a cookie and tasted it. “It’s homemade all right. I thought it might have come off a truck, but I was wrong. This is a real nice gesture. You’ve got a good mom.”

“I know,” Eugene said. “I’m lucky like that. Is it too late to get rebonded?”

I looked at Connie. “What do you think?”

“Is your mom putting up the bond again?” Connie asked Eugene.

Eugene tipped his head down a little. “My dad wouldn’t let her. He said I had to learn a lesson.”

“You need something to secure the bond,” Connie said.

Eugene had a grip on his bike. “I was hoping I could use this. It’s a good bike and I keep it in top shape.”

We all looked at the bike. Eugene was going to be short about a thousand dollars. Maybe more.

“It’s a pretty nice bike,” Lula said.

“Doesn’t look like it has any dents or scrapes,” I said.

Connie rolled her eyes. “Don’t anyone tell Vinnie I did this.” She cut her eyes to Eugene. “It’s a deal.”

“I’ll take him,” I said. “With a little luck we should get him to court in time.”

“No,” Connie said. “It’ll save time if I take Eugene.”

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