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RORY WAS SMOKY, DIRTY, and tired, but he had to stop at the city building before he was done for the day. While he put police business to rights, I picked up take-out from a local Mediterranean restaurant. I met him in his driveway at seven with a bag of gyros in one hand and a quart of Mooney’s ice cream in the other.
He insisted he needed a shower before he could enjoy the meal. While he cleaned up I tossed his clothes into the washer and started the cycle. Rory reappeared dressed in fresh jeans, a soft shirt, and slippers. “Even my shoes smell like smoke,” he said. “I set them on the porch railing to air.”
We discussed Retta’s near escape thoroughly. I was still a little shaky from it, but it was comforting to be with Rory now that I knew my sister was safe. She’d been surprisingly unwilling to be pampered when we had Kurst subdued. Aside from a quick embrace, she’d rejected all efforts to make her a victim.
Thinking of Kurst reminded me I hadn’t told Rory about the conversation I’d had with him earlier that day at the jail. “If Kurst wasn’t making up stories,” I told him as we ate, “our marina owner didn’t like his tenant very much.”
“How would Kurst know that?”
“Kurst has an old boat motor that needs a lot of work, and he was in the marina last week. Deline wandered through the showroom in boxers and a stained t-shirt, helped himself to the coffee they provide for customers, scratched his belly for a while, and ambled out. When Kurst asked who that was, Habedank said it was his future son-in-law. He didn’t seem happy about it.”
“So Deline was a slob who mooched coffee. That doesn’t often lead to murder, or we’d see a lot more deaths at Wally World.”
“Kurst said Milo Habedank also muttered something about Deline being a crook.”
“That’s the word he used? Crook?”
“Yes. Kurst asked what he meant, but Habedank claimed he just meant Deline stole coffee. Kurst is sure it was more than that.”
“It takes a liar to spot a lie, right?” Rory crumpled the sandwich wrapper and dug into his fries. “I guess I’ll be paying another visit to the marina tomorrow.”
