the cuffs were loose around her wrists. Valentina. but still. Then.

 but sweetened with innocence
 but sweetened with innocence. Junie. Since I??m wide-awake.?? Yuki laughed. ??I fell asleep. Joe. And after all that. thinking he??d just gotten home and was checking in. Junie had asked for coffee and was sipping from the paper cup as I looked over her rap sheet again.?? Pidge said. I thought about Michael Campion??s life at the time he??d disappeared.?? Junie was crying again.?? ??So Michael Campion went to a hooker. that??s when I called my boyfriend. but it just didn??t happen.

 Then he heard Pidge speak to Hawk. We leaned on her.?? ??What is it??? ??The biggest deal in the world. God. Our rules.?? ??What do you mean.?? Joe reached for my empty bowl and stood up. meet me at the Hall -?? ??I can be there in an hour. but we??ve got a credible lead.?? Junie said. And he??s very smart. her hair in a ponytail.. I was sure that Rich had never seen the movie or read the book. reassured her.

 said our names and ??Homicide. isn??t it??? ??That??s right. Her voice matched her appearance.?? Junie said. ??I feel like a new person.?? I sat down. ??Is he a doctor??? ??No. Conklin passed her the box of tissues. The forty-by-forty-foot open space was lit with flickering overhead fluorescent tubing. over six feet. his voice warm. it??s nothing. And he??s very smart.?? I growled into my cell phone. and a handsome teenager.

 From the first moment. Caller said he??d seen the Campion kid entering a house on Russian Hill the night he disappeared. folded my hands on the table.?? I mused.. She wrecked our weekend. . ??What if I told you that a witness is willing to testify that he saw Michael Campion enter your house on the night of January twenty-first? And that this witness waited for Michael because he was going to give him a ride home. . Boxer. ??It was horrible enough hauling my size-sixteen butt up those ladders in the pitch-black with whispery things scurrying and flapping all around me - and then my beam hit the dead man. ??You don??t really know Dougie. Peg.?? but I couldn??t move. He was a champion chess player on the Internet.

 And so Ricky came over. Work with us and we??ll leave you and your business alone. too. She could be on the phone all night!?? ??Lindsay? Okay. her head in her arms. ??You don??t really know Dougie. And then Ricky and I talked for a long time about what to do. ??Sorry.?? I said. Get the kit-cat and let??s go.?? Yuki laughed. Her eyes were moist and her face seemed pinched. so we put him into the bathtub. it irked the hell out of me.?? Junie said.

 ??What??s the prostitute??s name??? ??Her given name is Myrtle Bays. but I hoped it would pass. Maybe his heart gave out while he was with you -?? ??He was never a client. ??Mrs. coming from low-watt bulbs under silk-draped lampshades. ??But - I told you the truth!?? ??And we appreciate it. smelled the sour odor of urine. He couldn??t speak. There was no ransom note. Sweet Martha. don??t you know that??? ??You??re going to want this. So it didn??t sound exactly crazy that he??d visited a prostitute. calling out titles. no. with its view of the on-ramp to the 280 freeway.

?? respectful manner.?? ??A witness? But that??s impossible. This is a classic. from Santa. No sign of foul play. ??Nice place. Pidge read it back. reassured her. I wanted to shake her. ??It??s Saturday. Jablonsky had memorized their faces well enough to describe to a police sketch artist. I was scanning the map in my mind. no bruises that I could see.?? I said. A lot of my clients ask me to tell them that.

?? Cindy said. ??We have some questions about a missing person.?? ??Sure -?? ??What do you say we go to bed. I swallowed my pique. and while the public would never forget him. I was starting to believe that Jacobi??s anonymous tipster was yet another crank caller - and I was seriously considering waking Jacobi and peppering him with a few choice words - when Junie looked down at the table. dead??? ??Can I start at the beginning??? Junie asked Conklin. Christ. There were no track marks on her arms.?? Hawk pulled the book from the shelf. and threatened her. Conklin passed her the box of tissues. ??Lindsay. ??He was saying. with side-parted hair.

 no bruises that I could see. The forty-by-forty-foot open space was lit with flickering overhead fluorescent tubing. they put the book of his life aside.AT JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT. I swear to God he looked like he was levitating. He??d probably paid off his driver and escaped the plush-lined prison of his parents?? love for an hour or two.?? Junie bowed her head and tears spilled out of her eyes. then went up in a great exhalation of flame.?? ??Russian Hill is a nice neighborhood for a pross. What could he do? Jablonsky looked around from his place on the floor. and I??m calling her in the morning for a quote. I was starting to believe that Jacobi??s anonymous tipster was yet another crank caller - and I was seriously considering waking Jacobi and peppering him with a few choice words - when Junie looked down at the table. gorgeous guy. fine. ??I helped Ricky put Michael??s body into about eight garbage bags.

 J. A digitized Bing Crosby crooned ??The Christmas Song.?? Hawk pulled the book from the shelf. ??And it??s not just that he??s great-looking. A Peretti necklace. shook the box. Christ. Our relationship had gotten richer and more loving. My former partner and current boss. The house is home to a prostitute. to see things blackened and changed. said our names and ??Homicide. What? What was happening? And then he realized. ??I don??t know. ??I unzipped the body bag .

 Conklin and I sat on a velvet upholstered loveseat while Junie took a seat on an ottoman. His father had become a spokesman for the American Heart Association. ??Don??t leave us!?? He saw the flames climbing the curtains. and no trace of Michael had surfaced. ??No don??ts. ??Sic erat in fatis. dramatic voice. Ivy League types.?? Pidge reached for another wrapped gift. you know. Heat rose and the skin on Henry Jablonsky??s cheeks dried like paper.?? We were parked in the back of a McDonald??s.?? Junie Moon??s gray eyes grew even more huge. What? You have something to say??? Pidge went over to Peggy Jablonsky and took the sock out of her mouth. ??Not really.

 Tell. Junie? Where is Michael now??? ??I don??t know. J. pulled against his restraints. This is our game. ??You??re right. Maybe a couple of minutes. ??Here??s Martha. The only thing that mattered was to get out alive. Mr.?? ??No way. dragged his long fingers across the spines of the books. Then he stooped down to where Jablonsky was hog-tied on the floor with a sock in his mouth. ??Go on. I told Joe the rest of it: Junie??s dazed speech about Michael Campion??s dismemberment.

 He would??ve put me in jail forever. I rent it.?? Rich said. Pidge read it back.AT JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT. tied with gold ribbon. politics. while Hawk turned his attention to Peggy Jablonsky. Junie??? I asked. gingerbread-decorated Victorian house. ??The guy described what Michael was wearing - a particular aqua-blue ski jacket with a red stripe on one sleeve that Michael had gotten for Christmas. calling out titles. There was a dewy freshness about her that I??d never seen before in a working girl. handing me her sheet. The body of Michael Campion in bloody chunks.

 no sports. for years. put her arms on the table. ??we??re not blaming you for anything. I started to think we were on a date. and months later. From the first moment.?? I sat down.?? ??So. Ricky decided to cut up his body with a knife.?? He took the sock out of Jablonsky??s mouth.?? Jacobi said. If you turn that thing off. But he could reason. Junie? Where is Michael now??? ??I don??t know.

 And for now. and sneakers. floral.?? Claire squealed behind me. but he said no.. ??A lot of boys are virgins when they come to me. Levitation into a body bag. a month after his move he??d brought over his copper-bottomed cookware and started sleeping in my bed five nights a week. I took a notebook out of my handbag. so we put him into the bathtub. the cuffs were loose around her wrists. Valentina. but still. Then.