Seven Up - By Janet Evanovich Page 0,65

Mooner. Maybe it was Louie D's wife trying to get Louie's heart back."

"You better hope it wasn't Louie D's wife," Connie said. "She makes Morelli's grandmother look sane. There's a story told about her that she thought a neighbor disrespected her, and the next day the woman was found dead with her tongue cut out."

"She made Louie kill the woman?"

"No," Connie said. "Louie wasn't home at the time. He was away on business."

"Omigod."

"Anyway, it's probably not Sophia because I hear she's been locked in her house ever since Louie died, lighting candles and praying and cursing DeChooch." Connie thought about it for a minute. "You know who else could have kidnapped Mooner? Louie D's sister, Estelle Colucci."

It wouldn't be difficult to kidnap Mooner, either. All you have to do is offer Mooner a joint and he'll happily follow you to the ends of the earth.

"Maybe we should go talk to Estelle Colucci," I said to Lula.

"I'm ready to roll," Lula said.

BENNY AND ESTELLE Colucci live in a nicely maintained duplex in the Burg. For that matter, just about every house in the Burg is nicely maintained. It's mandatory for survival. Decorating taste might vary, but windows damn well better be clean.

I parked the bike in front of the Colucci house, walked to the door, and knocked. No answer. Lula pushed into the bushes under the front windows and looked inside.

"Don't see anyone," Lula said. "No lights on. Television's not going."

We tried the club next. No Benny. I drove two blocks to Hamilton and recognized Benny's car at the corner of Hamilton and Grand, parked in front of the Tip Top Sandwich Shop. Lula and I squinted in through the plate-glass window. Benny and Ziggy were inside having a late breakfast.

The Tip Top is a narrow hole-in-the-wall café that serves homemade food for reasonable prices. The green-and-black linoleum on the floor is cracked, the overhead light fixtures are dim from grime, the Naugahyde seats in the booths are patched with duct tape. Mickey Spritz was an army cook during the Korean conflict. He opened the Tip Top when he got out of the army thirty years ago and he hasn't changed a thing since. Not the flooring, the booth seats, the menu. Mickey and his wife do all the cooking. And a retarded man, Pookie Potter, buses the tables and washes the dishes.

Benny and Ziggy were concentrating on eating their eggs when Lula and I approached.

"Jeez," Benny said, looking up from his eggs, gaping at Lula in full leather. "Where do you find these people?"

"We stopped by your house," I said to Benny. "No one was home."

"Yeah. That's because I'm here."

"What about Estelle? Estelle wasn't home, either."

"We had a death in the family," Benny said. "Estelle is out of town for a couple days."

"I guess you're talking about Louie D," I said. "And the screw-up."

I had Benny and Ziggy's attention now.

"You know about the screw-up?" Benny asked.

"I know about the heart."

"Jesus H. Christ," Benny said. "I thought you were bluffing."

"Where's Mooner?"

"I'm telling you, I don't know where he is, but my wife is driving me fucking nuts over this heart thing. You gotta give me the heart. That's all I hear about . . . how I gotta get the heart. I'm only human, you know what I mean? I can't take it anymore."

"Benny isn't well himself," Ziggy said. "He has conditions, too. You should give him the heart so he can have some peace. It's the right thing to do."

"And just think about Louie D laying there without his heart," Benny said. "That's not nice. You should have your heart when they put you in the ground."

"When did Estelle leave for Richmond?"

"Monday."

"That's the day Mooner disappeared," I said.

Benny leaned forward. "What are you suggesting?"

"That Estelle snatched Mooner."

Benny and Ziggy looked at each other. They hadn't considered this possibility.

"Estelle doesn't do stuff like that," Benny said.

"How did she get to Richmond? Did she take a limo?"

"No. She drove. She was going to Richmond to visit Louie D's wife, Sophia, and then she was going to Norfolk. We got a daughter there."

"I don't suppose you have a picture of Estelle with you?"

Benny pulled his wallet out and showed me a picture of Estelle. She was a pleasant-looking woman with a round face and short gray hair.

"Well, I've got the heart, and now it's up to you to find out who has Mooner," I said to Benny.

And Lula and I left.

"Holy shit," Lula said when we were on the bike. "You were so