killed her father," Sebring said. "That's not a good sign. Unless, of course, it was Annie's mom who hired the hit. Then everything works out roses."
"Do either of you know how Eddie Abruzzi fits into this puzzle?"
"He owned Soder's bar," Jeanne Ellen said. "And Soder was afraid of him. If Annie actually was in danger, I thought the threat might be tied to Abruzzi. Nothing concrete, just a feeling I had."
"I hear you found Soder sitting on your couch," Sebring said to me. "Do you know what that means?"
"My couch has death cooties?"
Sebring smiled and his teeth almost blinded me. "You can't wash away death cooties," he said. "Once they're on your couch, they're there to stay."
I left the office on that cheery note. I got into my car, and I took a moment to process the new information. What did it mean? It didn't mean much. It reinforced my fear that Evelyn and Annie were running, not just from Soder, but from Abruzzi, as well.
Valerie called again. "If I go out to lunch with Albert, would it be a date?"
"Only if he rips your clothes off."
I hung up and put the car in gear. I was going back to the Burg, and I was going to talk to Dotty's mom. She was the only connection I had to Evelyn. If Dotty's mom said Dotty and Evelyn were peachy fine and coming home, I'd feel like I was off the hook. I'd go to the mall and get a manicure.
MRS. PALOWSKI OPENED her front door and gasped at seeing me on her porch. "Oh dear," she said. As if the death couch cooties were contagious.
I sent her a reassuring smile and a little finger wave. "Hi. I hope I'm not imposing."
"Not at all, dear. I heard about Steven Soder. I don't know what to think."
"Me, either," I said. "I don't know why he was put on my couch." I did a grimace. "Go figure. At least he wasn't killed there. They packed him in." Even as I said it, I knew it was lame. Leaving a sawed-in-half corpse on a girl's couch is rarely a random act. "The thing is, Mrs. Palowski, I really do need to talk to Dotty. I was hoping she might have heard about Soder and gotten in touch with you."
"As a matter of fact, she did. She called this morning, and I told her you were asking after her."
"Did she say when she'd be home?"
"She said she might be gone a while. That was all she said."
There goes the manicure.
Mrs. Palowski wrapped her arms tight around herself. "Evelyn dragged Dotty into this, didn't she? It's not like Dotty to take off from work and pull Amanda out of school to go on a camping trip. I think something bad is going on. I heard about Steven Soder, and I went straight to mass. I didn't pray for Soder, either. He can go to hell for all I care." She crossed herself. "I prayed for Dotty," she said.
"Do you have any idea where Dotty might be? If she was trying to help Evelyn, where would she take her?"
"I don't know. I've tried to think, but I can't figure it out. I doubt Evelyn has much money. And Dotty is on a tight budget. So I can't see them flying off to someplace. Dotty said she had to stop at the mall yesterday to get some last-minute camping things, so maybe she really is camping. Sometimes, before the divorce, Dotty and her husband would go to a campground by Washington's Crossing. I can't think of the name, but it was right on the river, and you could rent a little trailer."
I knew the campground. I'd passed it a million times on the way to New Hope.
OKAY, NOW I was cooking. I had a lead. I could check out the campground. Only thing, I didn't want to check it out alone. It was too isolated at this time of year. Too easy for Abruzzi to ambush me. So I took a deep breath and called Ranger.
"Yo," Ranger said.
"I have a lead on Evelyn, and I could use some backup."
Twenty minutes later, I was parked in the Washington's Crossing parking lot, and Ranger pulled in beside me. He was driving a shiny black 4 X 4 pickup with oversize tires and bug lights on the cab. I locked my car and hoisted myself into his passenger seat. The interior of the truck looked like Ranger regularly communicated with Mars.
"How's