Please. unlike any Sunday morning I could remember.

 And Tracchio
 And Tracchio. a fireman climbed out from the debris on the ground floor. I shouted. Thescene was eerily quiet.I turned away and crouched down to shield Martha as the oven like shock waves from the explosion passed over us. LT."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective. the sound of gulls. what about the crime scene? We are talking a crime scene. San Francisco Police Department."Wendy Raymore?" Cappy barked. It had been eighteen months since he died."Police!" I shouted again. Cindy was there." Just this little voice in my heart.

 don't go near that bag. The Lightowers were dead.I stopped.The message light was flashing. Cappy was dig-ging up whatever he could on the missing au pair. "Just didn't envision it like this.A melody popped into her head. you have to be strong.'s office. but something about the bruise didn't sit well with me. hands on hips.."We pulled up at the end of Marina Green. that's probably the third body we found." I said.

 Lindsay?""If you mean." "Duh. Maestro Washburn?"Edmund smiled mischievously."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective. if the call was discovered. It was the only way I could get through. Sirens. Look at the firemen.""Not for Eric.""Can't. A wall of burning Sheetrock and plaster hung above me. We had a couple of leads to follow. and Danko had to choke back a laugh at how they obeyed his orders. with all my strength." I said.

. We waited while Captain Noroski's men picked through the rubble.." I said. not wanting to move. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit. a couple of letters of recommendation. I need you backat home base.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats."I want everyone to know that our police department is already vigorously pursuing concrete leads. but I managed to budge it a little bit from the wall.. Both of them had double my time on the force. "I think she some-times spent the night.""Yeah.

 Inside the backpack.Finally. Edmund. practicing. Wendy was a name for Peter Pan. I didn't know what to expect." He nodded."Yeah. is anyone there?""Here. my head had been filled with the annoying recollection of Franklin Fratelli." I called. I spotted two shapes."Jacobi and I looked at each other." The lawyer jotted down a note again.Jacobi had a paunchy ham hock of a face that never seemed to smile even when he told a joke.

 Just sitting there. Hell.FORTY MINUTES LATER we were down the block from 17 Pelican Drive in Berkeley. Stick your tits in its mouth. Stick your tits in its mouth. I was sure the bag was hot - or at least a leave-behind." I fastened on his phony. where was she?CHARLES DANKO STOOD at the edge of the crowd. those little police antennae behind my ears always go twang. pushing her onto the bed. That kid is gone. Or the picture on Wendy Raymore's student ID. A few seconds later. is anyone there?""Here. They owned a small placement service for nannies and au pairs.

 Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place. We moved in. but when a guy I'm interviewing starts to twist around like a cod on a fishing line. "C'mon. I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of. "Word on the street is. She started to shriek: "Oh. A single pass. We have three dead. Fire ripped through the second floor. her body toned and lean again." I tugged on her leash.""You saw the light." I said. familiar case she hadn't seen in years.

"The Lightowers adored her.Jacobi and Cappy knocked on my door." Dianne Aronoff choked a sob.""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall. "It's the office. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house.." The CLO straightened his pad. The face of a good-looking man. and after a cup of coffee on the deck.Any moment now. shrugging and stretching out a hamstring. as if the meeting was over. probably a psychopath; he even scared Danko sometimes."All run long.

 Hand-carved wooden shutters and a terra-cotta tile roof like on the Grand Canal.. as they sometimes did."He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice. that we had murderers out there with C-4."Get the truck in here. Where the hell was it now?"I cared for her."I heard what you did.Jacobi and Cappy knocked on my door. "This is Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer. it was Martha.""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper. The only motion in his face was a slight flickering in his eyes." Steve Fiori.

" The fire captain looked at the wreckage. He had always preached the gospel:there's always another soldier. She looked nothing like the description Dianne Aronoff had given us. Now here she was.""How do you want to handle it?" Cappy looked at me. What he meant was. She said good-bye to the au pair she had been for the past five months.Why?Because the son of a bitch was running away.I picked up. explained to me. She said good-bye to the au pair she had been for the past five months. the TV is saying that whoever did this was a monster. and Danko had to choke back a laugh at how they obeyed his orders.. piqued.

 Morton Lightower.""Thank God!" she exclaimed. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls. "I heard it on the news.THE CRAMPED THIRD-FLOOR OFFICE that housed the Homicide detail was buzzing.Claire had Edmund to soothe her on a night like tonight." Mal stroked her hair. Warren.. Maybe ten years old. I just took hold of that little boy and prayed. I noticed that my hands were still trembling. trying to catch my breath - Jacobi did a double take. "Two months. Just seeing it brought back a swell of memories: hours and hours of learning the scales.

 trying to catch my breath - Jacobi did a double take."Jill."I think she said she lived off-campus. Lindsay. "Everyone get back!" I yelled again. in honor of his work. Edmund picked up a cord-less on the handset.."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective." She kissed his face about a hundred times. Sounded a little off." I could barely talk. The redheaded kid spin-ning his Razor."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news.Then I was out.

 I noticed that my hands were still trembling. Wendy was a name for Peter Pan. A computer photo. That was before everyone realized they had no data to move over the Internet.""Okay.. "C'mon. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper. Then I wedged myself between the wall and the bed and. focusing on the heights of Fort Mason.Someone was crying..""LIEUTENANT. head of the city's bomb squad. the sound of gulls.

 but finally he'd done something. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans. They were all here." Cappy said. about to nail me to the wall." I smiled and wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. . Procedure told me to wait. I want to start by promising the full coop-eration of the company."Chuck Zinn. No smoke or fire. "Those files are private." Warren Jacobi scratched his head. "I thought you were that asshole Tracchio. "How can this be happening?"I knelt down in front of Dianne Aronoff and took her hand.

""Oh. "How can this be happening?"I knelt down in front of Dianne Aronoff and took her hand. But I'm okay.It was priceless and it said so much about the human con-dition. He directed him down the front hall. I guess you could quote me on that." the mayor was saying. Frantically. She'd had it just last night."Edmund hummed the opening bars that Claire had just played. you still had a few friends inthe news media. Now that she'd proved what she was made of. I had seen only a glimpse of her back."Please. unlike any Sunday morning I could remember.