Chapter 17

 

 

Woody swung by my condo on his way home from work. For once, he seemed like a friend stopping by instead of the enemy. He ditched his briefcase on the floor and took a stool at the counter. He glanced around, obviously looking for Ruthie. "She's next door with Kevin," I said, anticipating his question.

Penny Sue held up her glass of scotch--it had been a hard day. Woody closed his eyes, shook his head, but said, "light, on the rocks. No fruit." Penny Sue's version of light and everyone else's were two different things. To her, light means three fingers of liquor. Woody took a sip and his eyes bulged. "Boy, when I said light, I didn't mean light my fire! I'd better wait a few minutes for the ice to melt." For the first time since his apology for his demented mother's shenanigans, Woody acted like a real person and not a persecutor, as Penny Sue typically called him. "It's been one heck of a day," Woody said. "We identified the guy with the brown hair and pigtail. His name's Stuart Cobb, and he's a student at Deland University. He has a record of breaking and entering. Petty stuff. He never did any time, and most of it happened when he was a juvenile. But we have his prints from an adult arrest and are waiting to see if they match the handprint on your door from the first attempted robbery.

"Andy Marzano is another matter. He's been implicated in petty crimes over the years, but as you can imagine, his father always got him off. All of the crimes were juvenile and the records are sealed, so it will take some doing to get a fingerprint. If we petition his records, we'll have one hell of a fight on our hands from his father, Antonio. Rumor has it Antonio is thinking of running for the State House of Representatives in the next election." Woody took a small sip of his scotch. "I'm sure you understand that I don't want to get mixed up with Marzano unless we have a foolproof case. It would be one big can of worms, and he has lots of connections.

"Have you heard from Carl yet?" Woody continued. "My crime techs will schedule around him. It seems Carl's something of a legend, and everyone begged to be assigned to the case. I think a few of the women only want to meet him. Anyway, the sooner we can verify his methodology and findings, the better. That provides the ammunition to seek Andy's juvie records. I don't doubt Carl's pictures, and neither do any of the crime techs since he's such an icon, but we have to have an independent evaluation."

I was surprised I hadn't heard from Carl, but he could have called while we were next door. I picked up the phone and heard the beep-beep-beep that indicated I had a voicemail. "There's a message. I'll bet it's him." I punched *98 and the message started to play. It was Carl, and I frowned.

"What, what?" Penny Sue asked.

"He has to leave first thing in the morning for an aerospace project in Seattle. The only time he can meet with Woody's staff is tonight."

Woody unpocketed his cell phone and hit a button. "See if Carl can come over now."

While Woody spoke with the crime tech department, I talked to Carl. I could tell by his voice that he was having dinner. "I'm eating some of Mom's lasagna, but could be there in about forty-five minutes. Is that okay? The procedure was straightforward; it won't take long."

"Hold on. Forty-five minutes?" I mouthed to Woody. He nodded. "That's good. Whenever you can make it will be fine."

Carl was clearly a techno rock star. Within a half hour, six techs, four of whom were female, arrived. Woody called home and told his wife that he was going to be late. To ensure the findings, Woody figured it would be best if he waited and recorded Carl's demonstration. A few minutes later, Carl arrived dressed in his Klingon garb, barbed toe boots and all, but thankfully without his Klingon forehead prosthesis. What a relief. A video of that definitely wouldn't go over well in court.

The Klingon outfit didn't faze the group. Apparently they were all Trekkies, and his garb only made the women swoon. What was wrong with my daughter, Ann? She hated the Klingon shtick that other women thought was a turn on. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Maybe when Carl came up with new games she'd give him another chance. Honestly, I couldn't imagine a better son-in-law.

We went into the utility room, where I plugged in Lu Nee 2. While the unit powered up, take-charge Penny Sue gave her rendition of the robot's capabilities and all the times it had saved our lives. Now it was going to solve a major crime spree, she exuded. Carl waited patiently until she finished before he switched on the robot, connected his computer, and started explaining the robot's recording function and how he'd retrieved the pictures and recording. At the end of his demonstration, he ejected the CD from his computer and handed it to Woody. "Your tech staff will find the exact pictures on this disc. Is there anything else I can do for you?" He glanced down at his outfit. "As you might have guessed, I have a party to go to. A birthday party. Any questions?"

The female techs gaped at him as if God Himself had descended from the Heavens. The men, also impressed, merely shook their heads.

Carl packed up his computer. "Sorry to run, but I'm on a tight schedule. Leigh knows how to reach me if you have any questions."

Woody offered his hand with a big thank you. "Since I recorded your demonstration, I believe we have all of the bases covered."

"Leigh," Carl turned to me. "Keep Lu Nee 2 off and unplugged in case the actual unit is needed for court." He swung around to the adoring women. "I've been through a few similar cases."

Carl shouldered his computer and headed out the door. The women stood transfixed for a good minute. After all, they'd just encountered a Klingon Adonis.

 

Ruthie came home at nine o'clock, and we took our usual seats at the counter to discuss the day. Penny Sue and I had already eaten Stouffers Chicken Lasagna and salad from a bag. Ruthie had picked up take-out dinners from the local seafood restaurant for Alice, Kevin, and herself.

"How's Kevin holding up?" I asked.

"He's fine as long as he's doing something, like cataloguing the books, but he was really traumatized by the jailhouse experience. The search warrant didn't help matters because now he knows he's a real suspect. The thing that worries me is that this mess may ruin his chances for the chairmanship of Deland's History Department. Kevin's afraid they'll eliminate him simply because of the bad publicity."

"Umm," Penny Sue groaned. "That throws a wrench in your bookstore plans and my job, doesn't it?"

Ruthie turned on Penny Sue with her eyes flashing. "For godssakes, Penny Sue, can't you think of anyone but yourself? Kevin's freedom and whole future are at stake!"

"Sorry, I was merely thinking ahead. For goodness sake, I care about Kevin. He's my only cousin!"

A fight was brewing. I patted the air, hoping to calm the waters. "Hold it. We need to stick together to help Kevin. We're stressed to the hilt and need to take a deep, calming breath. We can't help Kevin--"

"--or get rid of Alice," Penny Sue interrupted.

I cut my eyes at her angrily. "Let's not go there and muddy the waters. We have to stay focused." I stared at her scotch. "A little decaf might help your focus."

Penny Sue's bottom lip inched forward. "You don't have to be snippy about it. I was about to fix myself a cup of coffee." Penny Sue stomped to the kitchen, poured a mug of black coffee, and put it beside her scotch.

"I apologize if I'm irritable," I said, "I'm exhausted and want to go to bed. Let's not get sidetracked. The focus is Kevin and why he's suspected of killing Abby."

"Don't forget the break-ins and Duffy," Penny Sue said, blowing on her coffee.

Honestly, I felt like giving her arm a good poke, but didn't. That would really start a catfight, a term I detest, but it was the most accurate description for the current situation, especially considering the length of Penny Sue's fingernails. "Let's do one thing at a time and concentrate on Kevin for now. If we solve that, I believe the other pieces of the puzzle will fall into place." I took a deep breath.

"Okay. One thing I keep wondering is why the police think Kevin's responsible for poisoning Abby with nicotine," Penny Sue led off. "The lady smoked some cigarettes in the children's bathroom to calm her nerves--end of story."

I studied my French vanilla decaf. "I've been thinking about that, too. The bathrooms in the library have smoke alarms. Abby couldn't have poisoned herself with cigarettes; the alarm would have gone off."

"Could she have disabled it?" Ruthie asked.

"I suppose it's possible, but why go to all that trouble? We were going to leave the building in a matter of minutes," I replied.

"Nicotine gum," Penny Sue stated emphatically. "You know, they even have nicotine pills nowadays."

"Yes, but the police would have found the package in her purse," I countered, "in which case Kevin wouldn't be under suspicion."

"Maybe she threw the package away and the cleaning crew dumped the trash," Ruthie suggested.

"No. Remember, Terry said she'd given the cleaning crew the night off."

"I know!" Penny Sue almost shouted as she headed for the kitchen. "Chocolate. We need chocolate to help us think." She pulled a bag of York Peppermint Patties from a cabinet, ripped open the cellophane and dumped its contents on the counter. We all took one. "Now," she continued, sucking down a good portion of the mint, "did either of you see what Frank found in the box of books? Whatever it was, it virtually ended the search. I got the feeling they'd found the smoking gun."

Ruthie nodded. "I had the same impression. It was a small plastic container, you know, the type breath strips come in. But, it wasn't green, it was brown."

"Whatever it was, it had to be related to nicotine. Either something that contained nicotine or enhanced its effect," I said.

Ruthie was already jogging to the bedroom for her laptop computer. It was booting up as she trotted back to the counter. A moment later she was on the Internet doing a search on nicotine. I leaned over to view the screen, while Penny Sue peered across Ruthie's shoulder sucking peppermint patties. The search on nicotine didn't yield anything. Next she tried smoking cessation. Bingo! A row of tiny pictures of products popped up. Apparently, stop-smoking aids had progressed considerably. There was everything from patches to gum to mints to nicotine strips! And, one brand of nicotine strip was in a brown container.

"That's it!" Ruthie nearly jumped out of her seat. "I'm not one hundred percent sure, but that one," she pointed at the computer screen, "looks like the container Officer Frank found that got them so worked up."

"Do you recall which box it came from?" I asked.

"It was one that had never been sealed, which meant it came from the library, or Alice and I brought it from Abby's condo. The ones her mother shipped were taped shut and had to be slit open."

I arched my brow and grinned mischievously. "It sure is taking y'all a long time to make a list of those books."

Ruthie's pale face flamed with embarrassment. "We're being careful to label each book's origin and compile an inventory of each box. Besides, Kevin keeps getting distracted and starts reading the books."

"I can see Kevin doing that," I said, deciding to let her off of the hook.

Penny Sue sipped her coffee and morphed into Jessica Fletcher. "Kevin thought the book came from the library, but it's possible it was one of Abby's."

"We were careful, but I guess it's possible," Ruthie admitted.

"So Abby, herself, could have dropped the container in the box." Ruthie and I nodded. Penny Sue exchanged the coffee mug for her scotch and started to pace. "As bad as it may look, I think this will clear Kevin." She took a sip of her drink. "Suppose Abby initially used the strips to stop smoking, but they didn't work, so she switched to the patch?" Penny Sue stopped dramatically and twirled around, sloshing scotch on the floor. "For whatever reason, Abby agreed to debate Kevin, maybe to give him a final, old lover's dig. Yet, the more she thought about it, the more nervous she became, so Abby had a couple of strips of the nicotine, in addition to the patch, before she left her condo for the debate. That could explain how she overdosed and there was no container in her purse. She dropped the empty container in the box. Hell, maybe those were books she planned to throw away."

"True, but there was a good while between the time Abby left her condo and when the debate started. It seems it would have hit her sooner," I said.

Ruthie jumped in. "Remember the argument she had with Willows in the library, before the debate? Maybe she was irritable because of the drugs. She was hyped up, on edge."

"Yes. She was sweating like a pig during the debate," Penny Sue added.

"So we think Abby accidentally overdosed?" I asked

Penny Sue nodded. Ruthie stared into space. "Maybe the container was planted in the box from the library," Ruthie mused.

"Are you getting a psychic hit or something?" Penny Sue asked. "If so, it would be hard to fathom. The area was roped off and under guard at all times. The chances of someone getting to the box while it was in the library are pretty slim."

Ruthie stroked her arm, thinking. "You know how they always talk about the chain of custody on CSI? Well, what was the chain of custody for that box?"

"It was in the library with tight security, then Woody took it and gave it to me," Penny Sue said. "You don't think Woody planted the container to get back at me, do you?"

Ruthie shook her head vigorously. "No, Woody wouldn't frame Kevin. What about Peter O'Brien? He carried the box for you, didn't he?"

Penny Sue's eyes narrowed. "He did, but what motive would Peter have to frame Kevin for Abby's death?"

Ruthie jumped in. "He's Willows' old friend, and he's trying to buy part of the Canaveral Park for a big real estate development."

"I can see that the real estate deal might be a motive for wanting to kill Abby, since she was so hot on St. Augustine, but what does he have against Kevin? Besides, how do you know he's Willows' old friend?" Penny Sue asked.

"Willows told us when he and Abby entered the library for the debate. O'Brien was with them," I said. "With Abby's unfortunate death, Kevin is one of the few historians with knowledge of Central Florida that rivals Willows'. Maybe O'Brien wanted to help his friend get the chairmanship to lend prestige to their Canaveral development deal. Or better yet, O'Brien wanted to incriminate, thus eliminate, Kevin, the one person with credentials that rivaled Willows."

"That's a stretch," Penny Sue scoffed. "In fact, the whole buying up part of the park sounds fishy to me."

Ruthie shook her head. "It's not as far-fetched as you might think. Wyoming is looking to sell part of the Grand Teton Park to fund their education budget."

"You're joking," I said.

"No, it was on the news the other day. It could be the beginning of a trend with state budgets in such bad shape."

"Hmm, maybe I should think of investing in Peter's deal," Penny Sue said.

"No!" Ruthie and I shouted in unison. "Put your money in a CD or a good solid mutual fund. Stay away from risky real estate ventures."

"Kidding!" Penny Sue assured us. "I've truly learned my lesson with Madoff. Besides, I don't think Peter will pull it off, and we certainly shouldn't mention it to Guthrie. He's upset enough about the shuttle program being canceled. He'd go berserk if he thought the whole Kennedy Space Center is going to be closed and Timothy will never come back from Houston."

"Yes, let's banish that thought for good. It's an extreme long shot, and if we keep talking about it, we might let something slip out in front of Guthrie," I agreed. "So, where does that leave us? Did anyone else have access to the box?"

"Willows looked in it when he stopped by supposedly to visit Kevin. I turned my back for a mere second, and he was already pawing through the books," Ruthie said. "He had enough time to drop something in there."

"Wait a minute," I held up my hands. "Did you ever think that Marzano and his buddy might have intended to leave something instead of take? Maybe they put in the container in the box."

Penny Sue took a long drink of her now watered-down scotch. "Damn, Leigh. I'm getting a headache. There are too many possibilities." She glanced at the clock. "It's almost midnight and I'm tired. Why don't we think about this tomorrow?"

No one argued.

 

The next four days were blissfully uneventful. Ruthie spent most of her time with Kevin, since he was confined to Penny Sue's condo. They were supposedly going through Abby's computer and cataloguing books. Wink, wink. There was no way there were that many books, but they did find interesting information on Abby's computer. They discovered several letters about the Deland U. chairmanship, and a couple of emails to Willows saying she was coming down for a visit and hoped they could meet for dinner. There was also an encrypted folder marked SWD. It would have to wait for Carl's return from the West Coast. None of us had any idea how to crack the code.

Alice played cards at Guthrie's place several times and even tagged along on a couple of his repair calls. I believe Alice's absences for repair calls and card games explained why it was taking Kevin and Ruthie so long to inventory the books. Of course, Kevin was also helping Ruthie with the plans for her new bookstore and apartment.

Penny Sue was hot on the trail of a new wardrobe, as well as Susan Marzano, which conveniently fit together. Susan did all of her shopping at The Mall at Millenia in Orlando, which housed upscale shops like Neiman Marcus, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Cartier, so Penny Sue was able to talk Susan into a couple of shopping sprees. Along the way Penny Sue bemoaned the fact that she had put on weight, and she pumped Susan for tips. Whenever Penny Sue asked Susan for her weight loss remedy, Susan changed the subject, apparently not trusting Penny Sue enough to reveal her secret.

When Penny Sue wasn't shopping, she was focused on Peter O'Brien, who came down from St. Augustine for the library's Wii bowling tournament. Of course, Penny Sue made a point of being there to cheer him on. The local champ was in the game, and the tournament came down to a roll off between the two men. It was close, but Peter was ultimately victorious, which provided the perfect excuse for Penny Sue to take him out for a celebration. Their little party was a big success, evidenced by Penny Sue's smudged lipstick and the news that Peter was driving down to take her to dinner the following night. Penny Sue had obviously ruled him out as a suspect.

I worked at the library, doing my best to go the extra mile since Terry was noticeably cool after my day and a half absence, though she thawed slightly each day. I also volunteered for the checkout desk at every opportunity, to keep an eye out for Susan and Andy Marzano. On one occasion, Susan met a member of the investment club in the library, and they chatted briefly on a deserted aisle.

Leonard Kydd staked out the library that same night and saw a repeat of the merry-go-round of cars and book drops. He also trolled surfers by day and found out that Andy Marzano's nickname was Speedo. Although the moniker might refer to a bathing suit, Leonard believed it meant that Andy either used or supplied speed. Once he overheard a surfer say, "Speedo had dexies."

The day after Leonard witnessed the library drug deal, he called and asked to speak with us. I invited him over to my place. "I think it's time to report this to the authorities," he said. "My magazine won't allow me to stay much longer, and I won't rest until the people responsible for Duffy's death are arrested. I owe the man that much."

The weather was pleasantly warm and Penny Sue, Leonard and I were sitting on my deck sipping sweet tea. He stared out over the water for a few minutes. "The police haven't released Duffy's autopsy report, but it's clear the rattlesnake was the cause, one way or another. I feel certain Marzano and his drug buddies got wise to Duffy and put the snake down the book chute. Poor Duffy may have asked too many questions."

"We'll need irrefutable evidence," I said. "The Marzano family is very prominent in New Smyrna Beach. I know the prosecutor won't touch it without solid proof." I stared at three small children chasing birds on the beach and considered whether I should tell Leonard that Cobb and Marzano were linked to the attempted robberies at my condo, and the police were checking fingerprints. I hadn't told him before, because I was certain the burglaries were linked to Abby's death, and I didn't want to confuse the issue or get Kevin involved. Perhaps it was time to tell Leonard the whole story, which I did.

When I finished, Leonard drained his tea and motioned to the pitcher on my circular deck table. I told him to help himself. He took a long drink before he spoke. "I heard about the burglaries and suspected they were related to the death of the lady scholar. I figured you'd tell me in due time."

Unusually quiet until now, Penny Sue said, "There's only one thing to do. We need to set up a sting!"

"Pardon?" Leonard said.

"A sting. You know, arrange a drug drop so the cops can catch them red-handed. That's the only way Woody would go after Andy Marzano and his mother."

"How do you propose to do that?" I asked.

Penny Sue reared back. "While Susan and I were shopping, I mentioned Rich and how desperate I was to lose weight before his return."

"Who's Rich?" Leonard asked.

"An old boyfriend," I replied, before Penny Sue could confuse Leonard with the details of Bike Week and the police protection program. "Have you really heard from Rich?" I asked Penny Sue.

"No," she said with a hint of sadness. "I told Susan that as an excuse. I can read people fairly well, and I believe she's on the verge of divulging her diet secret."

"You mean the dexies," Leonard said.

"Yes. I'll call her right now and see if I can buy some of her secret potion. I'll tell her Rich is due in a week and I'll pay anything to lose ten pounds. If she agrees, we'll call Woody and arrange for a police sting."

"That could be risky if she suspects a trap," Leonard cautioned.

"I'll be okay if Leigh brings the liquid taser, and the police have the place staked out."

"Liquid taser?"

"Don't ask," I replied. "It's a long story." I turned to Penny Sue. "Are you sure?"

She picked up her BlackBerry and stood. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Leonard and I made awkward small talk as we watched Penny Sue pace and talk in the great room. Children scampered up the boardwalk, chasing a cat. A fisherman rambled by, pulling a wagon laden with a chair, pole and other gear. The minutes dragged on, and still Penny Sue talked. Leonard and I both poured another glass of tea. Finally, Penny Sue turned our way and gave us the thumbs up. She made a few more quick comments before she hung up and joined us.

"Tonight at eleven o'clock. Five hundred dollars for twenty pills. It's the real stuff, not something cooked up in a garage," Penny Sue said. "I'm to come alone with the $100 bills in a zip lock bag. She said I should buy rubber cement at the drug store and spread a thick layer on one side of the bag. When I open the door for the book drop, there's a flat space above the curved door where I should stick the money. I need to return a library book at the same time. Then I'm to drive around for a half hour and park on a side street. A green Volvo will deposit a book and a few minutes after it leaves, I'll find the pills in the same place I put the money." She took a long drink of her tea. "It was a tough sell. Susan only agreed when I told her I wanted to wear Rich's favorite dress, a Versace, and I couldn't zip it up."

"Well done," Leonard said. "You proved our suspicions were correct." He turned to me. "Will you call the authorities, or should I?"

"I'll call. We're already working with the prosecutor on the break-ins."

Wonder of wonders, I reached Woody on my first try and gave him a quick outline of our plan. There was a long pause before Woody said he'd prefer to discuss it in person and would be right over. About a half hour later, Woody and a very muscular man dressed in black arrived at our front door. Woody introduced his partner as David Yates of the Drug Task Force. Penny Sue's eyes lit up at the sight of David. Good grief! A few minutes later, Ruthie wandered in from next door.

I ushered them into the living room, served sweet tea, and we hatched a plan. David and his men would stake out the area with sound equipment and cameras situated around the nearby gymnasium. If Penny Sue felt she was in danger at any time, she was to flash her headlights. They were going to focus on Stuart Cobb and Andy Marzano, not Susan, since the boys were suspects in two crimes. They would set up their equipment and be in place by ten o'clock, in case the druggies were casing the scene. David thought that was plenty of time, since this seemed to be a penny ante deal that he hoped would lead them to bigger fish and the source of the drugs and beach burglaries.

David, a taller version of Guthrie's hunky Timothy, put his arm around Penny Sue's waist and asked if she was up to the task. If not, they could have a female detective make the drop.

She gave David the big grin that showed her gums. "Thanks so much for your concern," she replied with honey dripping out of her mouth, "but I'll be fine. I've taken a number of self-defense courses. My father's a judge, you know."

David backed away after a stern look from Woody. "Don't worry, Penny Sue, I'll be there, too," Woody said. "With the Marzanos involved, I don't want anything to go wrong. Let's synchronize our watches," he said, which came out like a line from Dick Tracy. In any event, we did as told. "Call me if you have any problem."

"Don't worry, Woody, I've handled tougher stuff than this," Penny Sue said.

"Yes, I know you have."

We saw them to the door and once it was closed, Ruthie turned on us with a panicked look. "What in Heaven's name are you doing?"

Kydd spoke up. "I witnessed another drug drop at the library--" he started.

"And we're sure the druggies are linked to Abby's death," I added. "So, if we nab them, we can clear Kevin." Ruthie was mollified by that response.

"Just one more thing," Penny Sue said, leading us into the great room. "Leigh, I want you there in the enclosure by the library with the taser. It's charged, isn't it?

"Yes, and I received additional saline," Ruthie shot back.

Penny Sue turned to Leonard. "I think you should go with Leigh and take your car. Everyone knows she drives a yellow VW Beetle." Leonard had obviously become acquainted with her take-charge persona, so he agreed without hesitation. "If the cops are going to be set up by ten, you need to be in the enclosure next to the book drop by nine-thirty," Penny Sue continued. "You should park at the movie theater; it won't draw attention so late at night. I have to drive my car. Otherwise I'll look suspicious."

We nodded. Penny Sue was on a roll.

"I'll dress normally. I think y'all should wear dark clothes."

We nodded again.

Penny Sue glanced at Ruthie. "Your job is to keep Alice and Kevin in check. They don't need to know anything about this."

"Understood," Ruthie agreed. "Maybe I'll invite Guthrie down as a diversion."

"Good idea. It keeps him out of the way, too." Penny Sue turned to Leonard. "If you and Leigh are going to be in place by nine-thirty, you should here no later than nine." He winked. Finally finished with her instructions, Penny Sue held up her hand, and we did another one of our high-fives that Leonard definitely didn't understand.

 

Leonard and I followed our directions to the letter. We parked at the theater and walked the few blocks to the library. I carried the taser in a gym bag. We were sitting at the table by the library at nine-thirty, as Penny Sue instructed. We peeked through the spaces between the slats in the fence and saw motion over by the gym. David and Woody were getting in place. Since we had an hour plus to wait, Leonard brought a deck of cards, and we played gin rummy by the dim glow of a streetlight. I'd never have thought of that, but he'd obviously done a lot of waiting in his line of work and knew how to pass the time. He was a good player; I wasn't. Thank goodness we were playing for pennies, or I would have gone broke. We were in the middle of a hand where I had good cards for a change, when Leonard whispered, "Here she comes."

I grabbed the taser, he grabbed his night lens camera, and we both peeked through the fence. If anyone went after Penny Sue, I was going to fire, and he was going to get a picture. It went like clockwork. Penny Sue got out of the car with a book, went to the drop, pretended she had a hard time getting the book into the slot (I think it was my phonebook!), and left. Just as before, another car, this time a Caddy, pulled in shortly afterward. At first I feared it was Alice, but soon realized it was Susan. She must have switched cars with her husband. Susan went to the book drop, fiddled around, probably stripping off the money, and left. In about the time it took her to drive several blocks and call her son, the green Volvo sped in. The pigtail guy got out with a book, exactly as he'd done before, and was returning to the car, when a helicopter appeared with a spotlight. Floodlights flashed on from the gym. A hoard of men in dark outfits headed their way.

Before pigtailed Cobb could get into the car, I put the tip of the taser in a gap between the fence and the building, and fired off a round that downed him. With Cobb half in and half out of the car, Marzano hesitated long enough for the police to shoot out his tires. No tires, a helicopter overhead, and a spastically twitching friend were enough to bring Andy Marzano out of the car with his hands up.

As this went down, Leonard ran out of the enclosure to snap photos and noticed Susan's Cadillac parked on a side street. Bless his heart, he took a half dozen pictures of the car that included its license plate. Yep, 'ol Leonard knew his business.

A moment before the Drug Task Force arrived, Leonard and I dashed into the darkness, hoping to stay out of the fray. However, I'm sure Woody recognized the taser's effect on Cobb and knew we'd been there. Leonard and I jogged back to the theater, where Penny Sue's Jag was parked next to his car.

"Did they get them?" Penny Sue asked.

"Yep, the cops got them, and Leonard has pictures of Susan Marzano."

"That's fabulous. But, damn, I never got any pills," Penny Sue moaned.

"You don't need pills! You're perfect the way you are. How about we go home and have a drink?" I asked.

Penny Sue grinned. "No argument from me."