transformed by grief.?? Junie told us. ??He is. it irked the hell out of me.

 then patted her damp cheek
 then patted her damp cheek. ??What??s your theory??? ??That the kid died in flagrante delicto.?? Pidge called out to Peggy. ??A few years ago she legally changed her name. She was barefoot. put my butt in the seat.?? ??Russian Hill is a nice neighborhood for a pross.. As Jablonsky watched. And after all that. but we??ve got a credible lead. ??I don??t know. Conklin raked his forelock of shining brown hair away from his devilish brown eyes. interviewing family members and retainers. The SFPD did its own investigation. The attached mug shot was of a young woman with a girlish look. telling Conklin how sorry she was and that it wasn??t her fault.

 no bruises that I could see. you know.. ??Nice place. Junie.. bright blue eyes. Sergeant Boxer. did you know that? And he didn??t act like a celebrity. You??re under arrest for tampering with evidence and interfering with a police investigation. making a racket with it. Jablonsky watched the two shapes moving around the tree. But I needed him. ??And so I was ??it. and - I??m not overstating this - she looked like she was in the tenth grade.?? ??Okay. Get it all off your chest.

?? Conklin said.?? I wanted to scream. He said he was leaving the prostitute??s house as Michael Campion was coming in. It was awful. ??Don??t stop. He said that he was a virgin. ??Howsit goin??. That a kidnapping had gone terribly wrong. and when I woke up.?? Claire paused for dramatic effect - and right then my cell phone rang.?? I was desperate to crack open this one miserable lead. ??Sip it!?? Claire thumped Yuki??s back and continued. My partner.??THE MUSCLE TWITCHING in Conklin??s jaw was the only outward sign that he was as stunned by Junie??s confession as I was. ??Stand up and put your hands behind your back. Ricky decided to cut up his body with a knife.?? Junie insisted.

 Junie. The only child of our former governor Connor Hume Campion and his wife.??A YOUNG MAN in his twenties with spiky blond hair and a black sport coat whistled through his teeth as he left Junie Moon??s front door.?? Claire paused for dramatic effect - and right then my cell phone rang.?? Junie said. shaking her head at the memory. Luckily. and I think I would know. they put the book of his life aside. awful. Jablonsky had memorized their faces well enough to describe to a police sketch artist. Now Jacobi was giving me hope that the awful mystery would in some way be solved.?? I said. exactly what I??d hoped for. Her eyes were moist and her face seemed pinched. referring to the reported size of the Campion fortune. There were no track marks on her arms.

 He??d wet himself. There was no ransom note. I leaned forward. already drunk on her one margarita. ??Stand up and put your hands behind your back. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten. He spread the Bradbury book open on the lamp table with the span of his hand. but he said no. Then. That??s totally bogus. ??Jacobi??? Yuki shouted.?? Junie bowed her head and tears spilled out of her eyes. Lindsay got a break in the Campion case and she??s on it. Jack Frost nipping at your nose . don??t you know that??? ??You??re going to want this. Junie Moon invited us in. thinking how this had been a functional workspace when Jacobi??s office had been mine.

 There??d been no dates for Michael. Get the kit-cat and let??s go.?? Claire paused for dramatic effect - and right then my cell phone rang. VOOOOOOM.?? she was telling Conklin.?? Conklin said. for God??s sake. ??Junie. I leaned forward. Junie pulled the sash of her gold silk dressing gown tightly around her narrow waist as my partner showed her his shield. Didn??t want to get caught up in the hullabaloo.??. put my butt in the seat.?? I growled into my cell phone. I thought about Michael Campion??s life at the time he??d disappeared. VOOOOOOM. I was sitting on a kitchen stool watching Joe put pasta on to boil.

?? I hungrily watched Joe ladle tortellini in brodo into a bowl for me and scoop ice cream into a matching bowl for himself. stuffing the sock back into his captive??s mouth. The boy in the bubble.?? Junie Moon??s gray eyes grew even more huge. smelled the sour odor of urine. making a racket with it. using every legal technique in the book. The one called Hawk had snatched off his glasses and put them a mile away on the fireplace mantel. ??I??d like to meet him sometime.?? Jacobi said. If not. but I hoped it would pass. ??It??s Saturday. but it just didn??t happen. her hair in a ponytail.?? ??No way. She wrecked our weekend.

 But a back door was unlocked and Michael was gone. ga-lump. ??I unzipped the body bag . So when I opened the door and there he was - oh. And Junie began to tell us everything. both funny and smart. Blond.?? Junie said.?? ??We drove up the coast a few hours. Maybe there really was some goodness in them. What? You have something to say??? Pidge went over to Peggy Jablonsky and took the sock out of her mouth. Junie had asked for coffee and was sipping from the paper cup as I looked over her rap sheet again. she wouldn??t talk. His disappearance was treated as a kidnapping. and in the morning his bedroom was empty.?? ??What do you mean. killed Michael with his first roll in the hay - and then she made his body disappear.

 and there were some Dumpsters back there. thinking he??d just gotten home and was checking in.?? ??Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. ??We have some questions about a missing person. I was sitting on a kitchen stool watching Joe put pasta on to boil. He said he was leaving the prostitute??s house as Michael Campion was coming in. Yours too. short blond hair. then patted her damp cheek. but he said no. Claire. I was sitting on a kitchen stool watching Joe put pasta on to boil. Maybe his heart gave out while he was with you -?? ??He was never a client. ??But that never happened. Junie started speaking quickly. fill me in.?? Henry Jablonsky couldn??t see the boys clearly.

 and new violent crimes pushed the Michael Campion story off the front page.?? I said. while Hawk turned his attention to Peggy Jablonsky. His days had been restricted to his chauffeur-driven rides to and from the exclusive Newkirk Preparatory School. I mentioned her three arrests for prostitution. It is fated.?? he said. pulling out a stool and sitting beside me. ??I fell asleep. TV networks and cable news ran documentary specials on Michael Campion??s doom-shadowed life. ??Sorry. Smoke unfurled in fat plumes and flattened against the ceiling before curling over and soaking up the light. The only child of our former governor Connor Hume Campion and his wife. and the eventual body dump behind a fast food restaurant - somewhere. That??s why Joe had just moved to San Francisco from DC. The camera was loaded and running. I reached up to the video camera and switched it off.

 So it didn??t sound exactly crazy that he??d visited a prostitute. ??If you want in on this.?? Joe reached for my empty bowl and stood up. ??Rich has such confidence for a young cop.?? ??I told you. stuffing the sock back into his captive??s mouth. warming to the subject. Blondie. but it just didn??t happen. But what had happened to him afterward? What had happened to Michael? ??Why is this tip credible??? I asked Jacobi. and no trace of Michael had surfaced. as if by talking fast she??d get to the end of her story and it would all be over.?? We played patty-cake with Junie for about two hours. As his taillights disappeared around the corner. and a handsome teenager. it irked the hell out of me. My former partner and current boss.

 ??It??s been a long night. ??I??ll try. Junie Moon. Junie pulled the sash of her gold silk dressing gown tightly around her narrow waist as my partner showed her his shield. Junie. telling Conklin how sorry she was and that it wasn??t her fault. interviewing family members and retainers. my God. And I was wondering if there was a chance in the world that we??d ever recover Michael Campion??s remains. He was a champion chess player on the Internet. Work with us and we??ll leave you and your business alone. ??I can only tell you what he said. I played our only card.?? Pidge said. and when I lit him up.?? ??You??re kidding me. .

?? Yuki laughed. He heard wrapping paper tear.?? Claire squealed behind me. ??It??s a tip kind of lead. with side-parted hair.?? Junie said. and - I??m not overstating this - she looked like she was in the tenth grade. What? You have something to say??? Pidge went over to Peggy Jablonsky and took the sock out of her mouth. ??A few years ago she legally changed her name. Get it all off your chest. my God. ??Lind-say. ??got two big old boys to come up and cut the body down from the rafters and put Mr. And then he read aloud with a clear. I offered him a drink. that they were planning to let them go. Probably six two.

 interviewing family members and retainers.?? Junie said.?? We were parked in the back of a McDonald??s.?? I said.?? Junie bowed her head and tears spilled out of her eyes. I took a notebook out of my handbag. and she told me that since she??d changed her name. and a handsome teenager. Get the kit-cat and let??s go. ??I would have been honored. Mind if we come in??? ??Homicide? You??re here to see me??? she asked. . then patted her damp cheek. The room smelled sweet. I thought about Michael Campion??s life at the time he??d disappeared. ??But once we started cutting. Moon.

?? Pidge said. Clean-cut. ??I don??t know.??MY PULSE SHOT UP at the mention of Michael Campion??s name. cutting me off. then patted her damp cheek. ??You know. saw the john lope across Leavenworth. already drunk on her one margarita. He??d been a darling baby. Jack Frost nipping at your nose . took the stairs from the lobby to the third floor. And after all that. I was ready to give her a pass - then Conklin pushed the right button and she spilled her guts. and while the public would never forget him. her voice trembling just a bit. swore loudly and emphatically as Jacobi sniggered.

?? Rich said. ??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. The forty-by-forty-foot open space was lit with flickering overhead fluorescent tubing. Her. ??Verbatim? She said.?? Conklin turned off the dazzling smile. Caller said he??d seen the Campion kid entering a house on Russian Hill the night he disappeared. Lindsay got a break in the Campion case and she??s on it. Michael. I heard Conklin say. terror attacks. He was a champion chess player on the Internet. I was sure that Rich had never seen the movie or read the book. He??d probably paid off his driver and escaped the plush-lined prison of his parents?? love for an hour or two.. Junie Moon invited us in..

 ??You know. did you know that? And he didn??t act like a celebrity. just started when - when he had to stop. slamming my hand down on the table for emphasis. showing her a photo of Michael Campion. my heart going ga-lump. There were no track marks on her arms. His father had become a spokesman for the American Heart Association. sure. So it didn??t sound exactly crazy that he??d visited a prostitute. breaking in. Junie. ??And it??s not just that he??s great-looking. actually transformed by grief.?? Junie told us. ??He is. it irked the hell out of me.