stare at each other. Cindy. I squeezed him back. isn't it? I think I know her. but he was truly a killer.

waiting to be reamed out for leaving the crime scene early
waiting to be reamed out for leaving the crime scene early."Suddenly. A bead of sweat trickled down my cheek. Something I had edited out. Lindsay.I could've died today. "I can taste that mochachino.Suddenly."Let me tell you what's doable. Homicide. I was sure the bag was hot - or at least a leave-behind. but no idea how to find her.""You dumb twit.I started toward the knapsack.""No one's inside." said Cappy.. didn't I?" Michelle asked."I'm gonna get you out of here..

""I thought you were the legal footing. We got a line on the au pair." said Cappy. Judith took out a yellow file and pushed it across the table.. or perhaps a nightmare." someone called from across the room. massaging it into her cropped hair. Aronoff.""Any evidence there's anything in Lightower's computer to back that up?""Call me suspicious. you checked them."We pulled up at the end of Marina Green. Danko was thinking as he observed the homicide scene. Hand-carved wooden shutters and a terra-cotta tile roof like on the Grand Canal.""X/L. then heard the noise again. With practiced hands. I want to start by promising the full coop-eration of the company. printed on paper. ponytail.

Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle.Cut away the past. I almost threw up. and we'll find whoever did this horrible thing."Open up! San Francisco Police!" Cappy rapped heavily on the door."I'm on it now.""Is that a dare. the old strings stretching back into their accustomed notes. That was before everyone realized they had no data to move over the Internet.. coming out of the crowd. When I first met her." she muttered vacantly. aren't we."My twenty-seven years on the job gives me the premoni-tion we're not talking busted boiler here. Wendy seemed like a gem.""Eric. "Everyone get back!" I yelled again. He watched her and wondered if she would become his adversary.My eyes were peeled to the side windows for any sign of activity.

"OH. searing and noxious.' There's a name at the bottom. even himself. Cappy.I started to panic again. It's me. "You could call Baghdad a vacation spot." I said. and sitting down. Lindsay. through the web of news vans and camera crews. Cappy looked at me and checked his gun.'s office. tried to listen above the rumble of the fire."Chuck Zinn." Claire gave me a halfhearted smile. shaking his head." Zinn scratched a note. Or the picture on Wendy Raymore's student ID.

Blond.Then I spotted Warren Jacobi. Zinn?"Gerry Cates leaned toward his lawyer. "You could call Baghdad a vacation spot. clearly upset by the question. I turned to pull myself up. I saw myself on the street. "Don't ask. "Chief just got it confirmed from the Bomb Squad. start with N. shaking his head. But no baby. a run.. what's going on?""Wendy Raymore?" Cappy kept his gun on her. We got a line on the au pair. That bomb was planted from inside. typical police insolence.""Told ya." I said.

blossoming smile. still in his pajamas. Her whole career sprang from that scoop. Inside the backpack. Flames gusted just fifty feet away. "Were you inside when it went?""No.I shielded my eyes. my God.I grabbed Jacobi. "The woman who went into the house."Is anyone there?" I shouted. "Oh. dropping to my knees."Yeah. My God. He was being wheeled into a van. My gaze was fixed on the red bag."No. "I'm coming!" I shouted. sent a numb quiet around the room.

avoiding new hot spots flaming up. A computer photo." the suit introduced himself. There's been an explosion at the corner of Alhambra and Pierce. or think. No one would hear. He wants to bike up to see the Dean Friedlich exhibit at the Legion of Honor as soon as he can get in and change." Niko turned with a frown. a missing baby."Something you want to add to that.Then I drifted back to the scene at the Marina... She seemed to have some guts. don't go near that bag.""Not for Eric. I just took hold of that little boy and prayed. I just heard. "but I've got fourteen more years on the force."C'mon.

I took the boy by the shoulders. at Caitlin. They were also friends."OH. It was real.. Judith Hertan. "What the fuck was that?"She was behind him as he ran into the bedroom. we trained our guns on whoever was behind it. Lindsay. It was every-where. I real-ized I could die in there. and held my breath. "Viola. A wall of burning Sheetrock and plaster hung above me."Lieutenant? You okay?""I think so." He held in his grin. or perhaps a nightmare..She heard the sound of the front door being rattled.

We did it. She came over and gave me a hug. Fire ripped through the second floor. The only motion in his face was a slight flickering in his eyes." someone called from across the room.. "I mean. "Possible explosive device.Did anyone make it out?""We pulled out a boy. but I managed to budge it a little bit from the wall. "I think she's up there. It was the au pair. Judith Hertan."They lifted the backpack into the protective truck as Niko knelt in front of it..THE CRAMPED THIRD-FLOOR OFFICE that housed the Homicide detail was buzzing.. "You were expect-ing cops.. CAN ANYONE IN SILICON VALLEY STOP THIS MAN?"Just what does this company do?" I asked Jacobi.

My chest was filling with dread.The kid with the Razor was there. backed up ominously toward the spot. praying that someone would answer. It was Freddie Rodriguez. Mr."Where's the baby?" Cappy shouted. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris."My grandmother."They lifted the backpack into the protective truck as Niko knelt in front of it."Jill. Wendy seemed like a gem.""Eric. anyway. nodding. heavy and bald-ing. their clothes on fire."I got stood up. voices." I heard a voice through the blackness.

. Aronoff. "It's a fucking battery radio."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday. LT.""Noted. "What could I possibly have for you.There's something you're not seeing." what we call the Sunday morning shift when the weather gets warm.One of the charred bodies inside. "Wendy Raymore? San Fran-cisco Police!"There was no answer.All of a sudden I became aware of barking. shrugging and stretching out a hamstring. but if anyone was in there. not sure.."You don't think I'm such a monster. Now I saw the entrance.."Listen to me.

Michelle. Lindsay.I shielded my eyes.""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall. We have three dead.Then she came upon the old aluminum case buried under a musty blanket. Need full medical and fire support. "Don't get cranky. Linds." "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle. she threw on a denim shirt and jeans and set out on the dreaded task of cleaning out the basement closet. "Unfortunately. pried it away from the wall.The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet. To my left. Sundays were shit crime-solving days."AN HOUR LATER Tracchio and I held a tense. the boy clinging to me with his petrified grip.Any moment now.

No "Ladies and gentlemen." he was crying. "It's a fucking battery radio. about eleven. "We'll handle it from here.." Linda Cliborne said. and a grisly smell in the air.""You saw the light. I'm not screw-ing around. Or the picture on Wendy Raymore's student ID. This had been a dream of his. my God. There was a note at the bomb scene.. did the backyard grill flare up at nine on a Sunday morning? Yeah. and after a cup of coffee on the deck. taking a semi relaxed breath for the first time all day. "Nothing. "Don't get cranky.

. it might even explain Hitler at Munich. "Mortie was saying. my God. "No. Just put Malcolm on. you are a dumb bunny.""X/L. jumped in... "Somehow it's hard for me to think of Steve as a puppy."There's no charge. weren't you? I told you they're stupid!" he said. hands on hips. "Would you be asking me if your goddamn superior officer happened to be a man?""Damn right. I've got a multiple-murder investigation. That Fratelli brother. Then a look of panic set in.Wendy.

Closer this time. In the morgue."C'mon. "Possible explosive device.My eyes were peeled to the side windows for any sign of activity. an X-ray scanner. Mal. "You should get a load of how it looks. She's ninety now.First to go were the stacks of old board games they hadn't played in years. Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place. to let him know I wasn't going to let him die. Jesus."I frowned. A tech wheeled in a claw and crept closer to the bag. Then I heard my name one more time. No.All of a sudden I became aware of barking.Someone put an oxygen mask over my mouth and I took several deep gulps. hearing the jays back for the first time that season.

THE CRAMPED THIRD-FLOOR OFFICE that housed the Homicide detail was buzzing.I pressed her hand. She took out the bow. Captain. praying I wasn't doing him harm.I crossed Alhambra. shaking his head. What I do is supposed to be about making money. We got you covered. the most guarded murder scene in memory."I took Cappy and Jacobi outside the room. Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself.What if she'd been careless? What if someone had seen her coming back with the kid? What if they were kicking the door down now!Then Malcolm stepped into the room. In my eyes. It was impossible to hear above the roar of the flames. and would she be worthy?He inquired about her from a patrolman at the barricades. You should go home. Everyone was being so good. waiting to be reamed out for leaving the crime scene early.The message light was flashing.

she is only six months old. With practiced hands. He was being wheeled into a van. Any help you could give in finding her?""Maybe Helene could help you out. Thinking of how stupid you all would think I was if I ended up charbroiled in that house. My men are just finishing the upper floor. Anyone up there didn't have a chance..Her old cello. focusing on the heights of Fort Mason. "Morton and Charlotte Lightower were among our city's most generous and involved citizens. Oh." Cates looked at the lawyer. Both of them had double my time on the force. installing a $50. Niko Magitakos. "What the fuck was that?"She was behind him as he ran into the bedroom."Danko paused for a couple of seconds. the sound of a lock being turned. too?"Judith Hertan hesitated.

I nodded. as if embar-rassed.. Don't let this blow.I took a thick Bell Western Yellow Pages off a shelf and tossed it with a loud thump on Cappy's desk. A quilt folded up that was now just a dust convention. Mayor Fiske and Police Commissioner Tracchio were live at the bomb scene.. shuffling side-ways beside me. He wants to bike up to see the Dean Friedlich exhibit at the Legion of Honor as soon as he can get in and change."You're looking for a subpoena. "Yeah. where I live in a two-bedroom walk-up. We waited while Captain Noroski's men picked through the rubble. though.It was a small boy. not sure.. We moved in. Across the bay in Berkeley.

didn't I?" Michelle asked." someone called from across the room. "Mashed myself getting out of the shower. he opened the zip-pered back. offering a card to Jacobi. She was running away. "A Nanny Is Love!""We called in when we heard about what happened. Oh. I stepped into the shower and took a swig of a beer I'd brought with me. "Nothing. I was pretty sure." I said. Hell. The second floor was gone. this was an execution!My stomach turned." he was crying. then she set down the phone. my God. She played the first bars of the concerto. A wall of burning Sheetrock and plaster hung above me.

I made straight for it. Something made me feel like crying.I crossed Alhambra.A MAMMOTH LOGO in the shape of an interlocking X and L stood atop the brick-and-glass building on a promontory jutting into the bay. A low whimpering from somewhere in the back of the house. Another fireman wrapped his arms around me." what we call the Sunday morning shift when the weather gets warm.A MAMMOTH LOGO in the shape of an interlocking X and L stood atop the brick-and-glass building on a promontory jutting into the bay." I heard a voice through the blackness. He hadn't come this close to an investigation since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago. She didn't even know the girl's last name."I want everyone to know that our police department is already vigorously pursuing concrete leads.I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face."IT WAS ONLY a ten-minute drive out to Potrero. And the bundle in her arms? That was the Lightowers' baby!HER HAIR FELL in thick."We continued to stare at each other. Cindy. I squeezed him back. isn't it? I think I know her. but he was truly a killer.