A couple of days later, Lula was driving her Firebird around town, looking for a place to eat for lunch. She parked her car at the nearest gas station. She saw her tank was low on gas. When she unbuckled her seatbelt, she saw Joe Morelli.
"Did I do anything against the law?" Lula asked him.
"Of course not. I've been trying to get a hold of Stephanie, but she wouldn't answer any of my calls. Do you know where my cupcake went?" Joe asked.
Cupcake was a name Joe used for Stephanie while Ranger used babe.
"I know where she is. She's out-of-town for a while. I wish I could've gone," Lula replied.
"Tell me where she went," he repeated.
"She went to Milwaukee. Ranger went with her," Lula told Morelli.
"What the heck is Cupcake doing out there with him?" he asked.
He'd been trying to get into touch with Stephanie in the past three or four days and got no answer.
"She and Ranger went there since Vinnie gave her a job to do," Lula answered.
"Can't they do that here?" Morelli asked.
"Well, this job involved another failure to appear," Lula told him.
"What's the case this time?" Morelli asked.
"A local mechanic in Milwaukee reported the crime to Vinnie. The local who put in that call said his garage was robbed," Lula said.
"Do they need me anytime at all?" he asked.
"I have no clue. If I were you, I'd try either sending text message or calling her cell phone and answer that one for yourself," Lula told Morelli.
When those words came out of her mouth, she said that it was his call, not hers.
"I guess I didn't think of that. Thank you for telling where she went," he said.
"You're welcome," she said.
After that, Morelli went back to his vehicle and sped off.