Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich

know where Dotty’s living but her folks are still here in the Burg.”
    I knew the family. Dotty’s parents lived on Roebling. There were some aunts and uncles and cousins in theBurg, too. “I need one more thing,” I said to Mabel. “I need a list of Evelyn’s relatives. All of them.”
    I had the list in my hand when I left. It wasn’t a long list. An aunt and an uncle in the Burg. Three cousins, all in the Trenton area. A cousin in Delaware.
    I jumped the railing that divided the porches and went next door to see Grandma Mazur.
    “I went to the Shleckner viewing,” Grandma said. “I’m telling you, that Stiva is a genius. When it comes to morticians, you can’t beat Stiva. You know how old Shleckner had all those big scabby things on his face? Well, Stiva covered them all somehow. And you couldn’t even tell Shleckner had a glass eye. They both look just the same. It was a miracle.”
    “How do you know about the glass eye? Didn’t they have his eyes closed?”
    “Yeah, but they might have come open for a second while I was standing there. It might have happened when I accidentally dropped my reading glasses into the casket.”
    “Hmmm,” I said to Grandma.
    “Well, you can’t blame a person for wondering about those things. Wasn’t my fault, either. If they’d left his eyes open I wouldn’t have had to wonder.”
    “Did anyone see you prying Shleckner’s eyes open?”
    “No. I was real sneaky.”
    “Did you hear anything useful about Evelyn or Annie?”
    “No, but I got an earful about Steven Soder. He likes to drink. And he likes to gamble. The rumor is that he’s lost a lot of money, and that he lost the bar. The story goes that he lost the bar in a card game a while back, and now he’s got
partners
.”
    “I’ve heard some of those same rumors. Anyone give names to the partners?”
    “Eddie Abruzzi is what I heard.”
    Oh boy. Why am I not surprised at this?
    I was in my car, ready to roll, when my cell phone rang. It was Kloughn.
    “Boy, you should see me,” he said. “I’ve got two black eyes. And my nose is swollen. At least it’s straight now. I was real careful how I slept on it.”
    “I’m sorry. Really, really sorry.”
    “Hey, no biggie. I guess you have to expect stuff like this when you’re a crime fighter. So what are we doing today? Are we going after Bender again? I have some ideas. Maybe I could meet you for lunch.”
    “See, here’s the thing . . . I usually work alone.”
    “Sure, but once in a while you work with a partner, right? And I could be that partner sometimes, right? I got myself all prepared. I got a black hat with BOND ENFORCEMENT printed on it this morning. And I got pepper spray and handcuffs . . .”
    Handcuffs? Be still, my fast-beating heart. “Are these regulation handcuffs with a key and everything?”
    “Yeah. I got them at that gun store on Rider Street. I would have gotten a gun, too, but I didn’t have enough money.”
    “I’ll pick you up at twelve.”
    “Oh boy, this is going to be great. I’ll be all ready. I’ll be at my office. Maybe we can get fried chicken this time. Unless you don’t want fried chicken. If you don’t want fried chicken, we could get a burrito, or we could get a burger, or we could—”
    I made crackling sounds into the phone. “Can’t hearyou,” I yelled. “You’re breaking up. See you at twelve.” And I disconnected.
    I cruised out of the Burg and turned onto Hamilton. In a few minutes I was at the office. I parked at the curb behind a new black Porsche, which I suspected belonged to Ranger.
    Everyone looked over when I swung through the door. Ranger was at Connie’s desk. He was dressed in SWAT black, again. He caught my eye, and I felt my stomach do a nervous roll.
    “I had a friend working the emergency room last night, and she told me you came in with a little guy who was all busted up,” Lula said.
    “Kloughn. And he wasn’t
all
busted up. He just had a broken nose. Don’t