Three to Get Deadly

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Book: Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich Read Free Book Online
Authors: Janet Evanovich
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Mystery, Adult, Humour
he had a new job, and he was going to share a place with this friend of his.”
    “Do you have an address or a phone number?”
    “No. I don’t even have a name. He had some words with his father and stormed off. Would you like to leave a message?”
    I gave her my card. “Stuart failed to appear in court. He needs to reschedule his court date as soon as possible. It’s very important.”
    Mrs. Baggett made a distressed little sound. “I don’t know what to do with him. He’s just gone wild.”
    “I’d appreciate it if you’d call me if you hear from him.”
    She nodded her head. “I will. I’ll call you.”
    I could expend a lot of energy looking for Stuart, or I could wait for him to go home. I decided to go with the latter. Mrs. Baggett looked like a responsible, intelligent woman. I felt pretty confident that she’d get back to me. If not I’d make a return visit later in the week.
     
    Ranger called back a little after seven with news that Shorty O had gone south for the winter. No one had seen him in days, and that probably included Mo.
     
    At eight o’clock I was standing across the street from Uncle Mo’s, and I was feeling nervous. Even though I had a key to his apartment, there were some who might regard what I was about to do as breaking and entering. Of course I could always fib, and say Uncle Mo had asked me to look after his things. If it was a judge who was doing the asking I guess my answer might fall into that undesirable area of perjury. Perjury seemed like a good thing to avoid. Although in Jersey, written law often bowed to common sense. Which meant perjury was better than being dispatched to the landfill.
    The sky was dark. The moon obscured by cloud cover. Lights were on in houses upand down Mo’s street, but Mo’s apartment windows were black. A car cruised by and parked three houses away. I was lost in shadow and the driver walked from his car to his house without seeming to notice me. I’d left the Buick on Lindal Street, one block away.
    I could see Mrs. Steeger moving in her front room. I was waiting for her to settle before going closer. She peered out her living room window, and my heart stopped dead in my chest. She drew back from the window, and I gasped for air. Little black dots danced in front of my eyes. I clapped a hand to my chest. The woman made my blood run cold.
    Headlights swung around the corner, and a car stopped at the Steeger house. The driver beeped, and Mrs. Steeger opened her door and waved. A moment later she was locking up behind herself. I held my breath and willed myself invisible. Mrs. Steeger carefully picked her way along the dark steps and sidewalk to the car. She seated herself next to the driver, slammed the door shut and the car drove off.
    My lucky day.
    I crossed the street and tried Mo’s house key on the candy store door with no success. I walked to the back and tried thesame key on the rear entrance. The key didn’t work there either.
    It had occurred to me while talking to Ranger that due to police interruption, I’d never gotten around to searching Mo’s store. I don’t know what I expected to find, but it felt like unfinished business.
    Since the house keys didn’t work on the store doors, I assumed there had to be another set of keys in Mo’s apartment. I took the stairs as if I owned the place. When in doubt, always look like you know what you’re doing. I pulled a flashlight out of my pocketbook and knocked twice. I called to Uncle Mo. No answer. I unlocked the door, took one step inside and swept a beam of light around the room. Everything seemed to be in order, so I closed the door behind myself and did a fast walk-through of the rest of the apartment. There were no keys lying on open surfaces and no cute little key hooks on any of the walls. There was no evidence that anyone had been in the apartment since my last visit.
    The kitchen was small. White metal cupboards over a gray Formica countertop and an old white porcelain

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