After the service, we met in the church basement for a light lunch. I ate quickly, and as soon as it was possible to leave without drawing too much at...ention, I made a beeline for the door so that I could drive home to change. I wasn’t surprised when Lizzy was close on my heels, though I’d hoped she wasn’t paying attention and I could escape without her noticing.“No chance, Mikey,” she said. “I knew you would try to sneak out!”“I was in a hurry and didn’t even think about it,” I said, laying. My dad was away at work and mum was too hung-over to even attempt a drive, so it was going to be the touchy-feely ride for me, the local bus was notorious for women getting groped in their private regions, a sort of acceptable tradition, and most local women just ignored the issue as it happened, though some of the fatter and uglier ones probably took the ride for that reason alone.I mentioned it to mum, but she just remarked, 'Fucking hell Mariel, it's not the end of the world, just play. I said hello and he lifted one hand without changing expression. I'm not sure he fully appreciates the romance and excitement of having a genuine private eye on his premises.To get to my office, you go through the doorway at the left of the front counter and then turn right down a narrow hallway that ends in a fire exit at the back of the building My office is on the left, halfway down the hall. The solid wooden door says "Frank Stern, Licensed Private Detective," in gold stick-on letters.. It was the second tallest of his jugs. “Shit,” he grumbled. “Couldn’t be a little one, oh no. It had to be one of my big ones.To his amazement, everything else seemed to have survived the firing, including his best jug as well as the bowl with the lid, although it took a moment to find the latter in all the ashes.Carefully, he dug everything out, but they looked a sorry lot with ashes and soot clinging to them. Grabbing up the big bowl and its lid, he made his way down the steep slope to the.