“And now Duncan and Andrew are gone,” I said. “You know where they’re going, don’t you?”
“Not exactly. They loaded up my van and took off. They put my La-Z-Boy recliner in the back for Duncan. He’s still in a lot of pain.”
“Is this the white van that was used to get Duncan out of the hospital?”
“Yes. I wanted a Mini Cooper when I went shopping for a car, but the van was dirt cheap, and I didn’t have a lot of money.”
“Why did you have to get Duncan out of the hospital?”
“Andrew found me and told me that Duncan was in danger in the hospital, and we had to get him out. I don’t know what danger Andrew was talking about, but it didn’t have anything to do with the hospital itself. It seemed like it was related to the robbery. Sometimes it’s hard to get a grip on what Andrew is rambling on about.”
“I need to talk to them,” I said. “Andrew is being accused of stealing diamonds, and Duncan is now considered a felon because he missed his court date. I’d like to help them but I’m missing some important information.”
Sissy pressed her lips together and went silent for a couple beats. “They aren’t bad people,” she said.
“I know.”
“And you think you might be able to help them?”
“I’m going to try.”
She blew out a sigh. “I’m pretty sure they’re going to Duncan’s brother’s house. It’s somewhere in Maine. I overheard them talking. Duncan needs medical care, and he can’t get it here.”
“When did they leave?”
“It was super early this morning. Around five o’clock. Do you know where his brother lives?”
“I can find out.”
I gave her my card.
“Call or text me if you hear from them,” I said.
“Should I tell them you’re looking for them?”
“Yes. You can tell them to call me. Tell them that I’m trying to help them.”
“Are you going to Maine?”
“I haven’t decided. I’d rather talk to one of them on the phone.”
I left Sissy and jogged back to the Explorer. I was hoping she’d call Duncan or Andrew and persuade them to call me. If that didn’t happen, Bob and I were taking a road trip.
“How’d that go?” Lula asked when I got behind the wheel. “It doesn’t look like you got punched out this time. That’s a step in the right direction.”
“I talked to Sissy, and I walked through the house. Duncan and Nutsy left in the white van at five this morning. She thinks they’re going to Duncan’s brother’s house in Maine. Apparently, he can get medical care there.”
“Oh boy, are we going to Maine? I’ve never been to Maine.”
“I haven’t decided. I’m hoping for a call. I’d rather not drive to Maine.”
Lula was tapping away on her cell phone. “It says here that it’s an eight-hour drive. Of course, that depends on where you’re going in Maine.”
“Text Connie and get Dugan’s brother’s address. I’m going to head for the government complex and look for Hooter Brown. If we have to go to Maine, I’d like to get Brown and Trundle off my to-do list before we hit the road.”
“Sounds like you’re planning on driving and not flying.”
“Unless Morelli comes home immediately, I have Bob traveling with me. And I can’t see Bob flying.”
“Good point,” Lula said. “This is an excellent time to snag Hooter. It’s between the early morning crowd and the noon lunch rush. He’s going to be relaxing somewhere, having a maple bacon latte, reviewing his inventory.”
Twenty minutes later I spotted him. He was sitting on a bench, all by himself, in a vest pocket park. “There he is,” I said to Lula.
“Yep,” she said. “I see him. How do you want to do this?”
“I’m going to park on the street behind the little greenway and come up behind him.”
“Take him by surprise.”
“Yeah. I’m not wasting time and energy. I’m going to stun him, and we’ll cuff him and carry him to the car.”
“I like your style,” Lula said. “No bullshit.”
It wasn’t so much style as desperation. I was running out of time and money. I wouldn’t be on an expense account in Maine. I got paid when Vinnie got reimbursed for his bond. End of story. I’d be buying gas with my rent money. I needed the capture payout on Farcus Trundle and Hooter Brown, and I needed it now.
I circled around and parked on a side street that was adjacent to the greenway. I had cuffs in my back pocket and my stun gun in hand. Lula adjusted her girls and tugged her skirt down over her ass. I cracked a window for Bob and locked the SUV.
“Don’t you dare chew, drool, or otherwise destroy this car,” I said to him. “I won’t be long.” I turned to Lula. “Stay back until I tag him.”
“Roger dodger,” Lula said.
I walked straight up to Hooter, stuck my stun gun to the back of his neck, and gave him twenty thousand volts. He squeaked and crumpled. Lula moved in and took his feet, and I got him under the armpits. A couple people stopped and stared, and Lula told them we were taking a friend to get some Narcan. We loaded Hooter into the back of the SUV so he wouldn’t take up Bob’s room on the back seat. We cuffed him and took off for the police station.
“That went smooth as anything,” Lula said. “Are we good, or what?”
Halfway to the police station, Hooter started to twitch and talk gibberish.
“Hey, Hooter,” Lula said. “Don’t you worry. We’ll get you bailed out and back on the street. You might not make the lunch crowd, but you’ll catch some of the early-shifters going home at three o’clock.”
“Thish shluuush,” Hooter said.
I drove to the rear door of the municipal building, and we rolled Hooter out and helped him walk inside. He was still a little frazzled, and we had to drag him part of the way, but we got him to the docket lieutenant. I filled out the requisite paperwork and was given my body receipt, and Lula and I were on our way back to the office.
“Are you going after Farcus today?” Lula asked.
“Yes.”
“How are you going to do that? He’s not going to be sitting on a park bench.”
“No, but he’s going to underestimate me. He’s going to see me coming and think, ‘Here comes the nitwit who works for Vinnie.’ It will give me an advantage.”
“I appreciate the positive thinking, but either you want to go home and get your itty-bitty gun out of your cookie jar, or else you want to make sure your stun gun has juice.”
“I’ve got lots of juice.”
“Okay then, let’s roll.”
I made a U-turn and drove to Carlory Street. I cruised past Trundle’s house and didn’t see his Range Rover. I continued down the street to the girlfriend. No Range Rover there either.
“He must be out robbing and mugging people,” Lula said.
“Too bad,” I said. “I was on a roll.”
“I just got Duncan Dugan’s brother’s address from Connie,” Lula said. “According to Google, he’s in a small town that’s about forty-five minutes out of Bangor, Maine. That’s sort of in the middle of the state. I bet it’s real picturesque. Like everybody’s got wooden rocking chairs on their front porch. I bet it’s loaded with charming doodads and stuff.”