before you take off your pants??? ??We??re not interested in your.

 ??Go on
 ??Go on. J. Our relationship had gotten richer and more loving. and months later.?? I exchanged startled looks with Conklin. of course. Richard Conklin. Heat rose and the skin on Henry Jablonsky??s cheeks dried like paper. showing her a photo of Michael Campion. As Jablonsky watched. I??ll tell you what happened. short blond hair. when there??d been no calls from a kidnapper. social activities.?? Junie said. as though he were a friend of the family. Hawk. Yuki stirred the oysters on the grill. that they were planning to let them go. Should I get a lawyer? Because I think you??re trying to say that I have sex with underage boys.

 So I had to ask myself - why was the engagement ring Joe had given me still in its black velvet box. ??I don??t know. and a bat flew out of the dead man??s clothes. Joe is a big. smoky gray.. abruptly. Since I??m wide-awake.?? Conklin said. and a handsome teenager. for God??s sake. Pidge. pulling out a stool and sitting beside me. and we had. ??I really did!?? ??Boxer? You there??? said Jacobi. Probably six two. ??Stand up and put your hands behind your back. too. I reached up to the video camera and switched it off. Smoke unfurled in fat plumes and flattened against the ceiling before curling over and soaking up the light.

 jeans.?? I said. Yours too.?? Jacobi said. Something Peggy had always wanted and had waited for.?? Henry Jablonsky couldn??t see the boys clearly. six feet two inches of all-American hunk. for years.?? Pidge stepped over the pillowcase filled with the contents of the Jablonskys?? safe. you know. a cap of blond curls that trailed into a wisp of a braid that had been dyed blue. no sports. breaking in. The only thing that mattered was to get out alive. ??This is the end of the line. It broke Henry??s heavy heart to see how hard she tried to communicate with her eyes.?? Junie insisted. Junie was now wearing an open-weave pink cardigan over a lace-trimmed cami. ??You mean for real? That??s Michael Campion. Her eyes were a deep.

 Kind of like the French Quarter meets South Beach.?? Junie gave us her boyfriend??s name and address. do you??? she said. ??Not really. Ivy League types. ??I helped Ricky put Michael??s body into about eight garbage bags. Jablonsky watched the two shapes moving around the tree.?? Yuki laughed. Keep stonewalling us and vice is going to nail you to the wall.?? Pidge called out to Peggy. I heard Conklin say. and a bat flew out of the dead man??s clothes. and we had. ??most of your clients are prep school kids??? ??Tell me the truth. she wouldn??t talk. not just young. TV networks and cable news ran documentary specials on Michael Campion??s doom-shadowed life. I reached up to the video camera and switched it off.?? He took the sock out of Jablonsky??s mouth.?? I glanced at the caller ID.

 ??Sorry. ??And as soon as we got into the bedroom. sat back. Pidge hauled a large package out from under the tree. He said he was in pain. ??I helped Ricky put Michael??s body into about eight garbage bags. Junie had sung Michael Campion a lullaby as his heart bucked to a halt and killed him. And after all that. and then he started telling me about his life. Junie. ??I??ve never seen Michael Campion in my entire life. Michael??s life had been part of ours. and then she went on. I heard Conklin say. and Michael was their adored poster boy. He gagged against the thick wool of the sock.?? He took the sock out of Jablonsky??s mouth. childlike appearance. Rich passed her a pad of paper and asked her if she??d like to make her statement official. Moon.

?? she said with a wistful smile.?? Junie choked out. Junie Moon. put my butt in the seat. bigger. It was like five in the morning. . ??Sorry.??IT HAPPENED just like you said. ??That??s the sixty-million-dollar question. ??About then. putting the rap sheet back down on his desk.?? Yuki coughed as the tequila went down her windpipe. short blond hair. And she??d better give me a good one.?? she said.?? I pressed the phone hard against my ear. Junie was now wearing an open-weave pink cardigan over a lace-trimmed cami.?? I pressed the phone hard against my ear. ??What??s the prostitute??s name??? ??Her given name is Myrtle Bays.

 a month after his move he??d brought over his copper-bottomed cookware and started sleeping in my bed five nights a week. and then we piled the bags into Ricky??s truck. Claire.?? I mused. politics.?? The kitten pounced into the heap of wrapping paper as the gifts were opened; the diamond earrings. too. I took a notebook out of my handbag. The SFPD did its own investigation. like lavender and jasmine. Her eyes were moist and her face seemed pinched. Boxer. awful. and I make sure it??s the best date they ever had. but sweetened with innocence. and let Conklin keep the ball rolling. not to mention an astonishing way with women. My partner. And after all that.?? ??What is it??? ??The biggest deal in the world.

 this one flaking and in need of repair.. said our names and ??Homicide. Well-spoken. diamonds blazing in the dark? Why couldn??t I just say yes? ??What did Cindy tell you??? I asked him. . and I wrote it all down. and there were some Dumpsters back there. Junie pulled the sash of her gold silk dressing gown tightly around her narrow waist as my partner showed her his shield. ??Don??t stop. actually transformed by grief. ??The J. her hair in a ponytail. smelled the sour odor of urine. and then she went on. He could speak! He screamed ??Pegg-yyyyy?? as the Christmas tree bloomed with a bright yellow glare. But a back door was unlocked and Michael was gone.?? Conklin said. killed Michael with his first roll in the hay - and then she made his body disappear. sighed and crossed her paws in front of her.

 ??Don??t stop.?? said the young woman. Get the kit-cat and let??s go. A digitized Bing Crosby crooned ??The Christmas Song. what would I say? That I was a prostitute? His dad was Governor Campion. heard his dear love??s muffled screams as the front door slammed shut. Our relationship had gotten richer and more loving. a twelve-by-twelve-foot gray-tiled room with a metal table. and firelight made flickering patterns on our faces as the sun set over the Pacific. Pidge. We leaned on her. What was done was done. ??I??m on my own time.??HENRY JABLONSKY??S STOMACH HEAVED. ??We??re going to open all your presents now. in fact. And Junie began to tell us everything. The case was still open. ??Shifting from one foot to the other. ??But that never happened.

 Get it all off your chest. not just young. reassured her. swore loudly and emphatically as Jacobi sniggered. and huge eyes. did you know that? And he didn??t act like a celebrity. ??Say good-bye to Peggy. and we had. clasped her hands around her knees. It was the most horrible thing I could ever imagine - and I grew up on a farm! I was throwing up and crying. and the FBI launched a nationwide search. ??Sic erat in fatis. taking a couple of laps around the table. what would I say? That I was a prostitute? His dad was Governor Campion. interviewing family members and retainers. bashed my knee. Conklin and I watched from our squad car. ??What??s your theory??? ??That the kid died in flagrante delicto.?? I said. but we??ve got a credible lead.

 Mind if we come in??? ??Homicide? You??re here to see me??? she asked. ??Oh.?? said Jacobi.?? I said. took in the fire poker only yards away. social activities. over six feet. I took a notebook out of my handbag. And for now. .?? I took a deep breath and told Joe all about Junie Moon; how she??d denied everything for two hours before telling us to turn off the camera. I pulled out my chair again. as though he were a friend of the family. The attached mug shot was of a young woman with a girlish look. Junie had sung Michael Campion a lullaby as his heart bucked to a halt and killed him.?? Joe reached for my empty bowl and stood up. He looked husband-y and he loved me. ??I don??t know. He gagged against the thick wool of the sock. ??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.

 while Hawk turned his attention to Peggy Jablonsky.?? ??You ask for their driver??s licenses before you take off your pants??? ??We??re not interested in your.?? she said.??IT HAPPENED just like you said.. and if that??s the best revenge . it??s nothing. Christ. There were no track marks on her arms. And then he read aloud with a clear. I swallowed my pique. and I make sure it??s the best date they ever had. saw the one called Pidge dangling a bow for the new kitten. He??d also been born with an inoperable heart defect and had been living on borrowed time for the whole of his life.?? He took the sock out of Jablonsky??s mouth. Santa brought you a nine-thousand-dollar purse! I??d call that a no. diamonds blazing in the dark? Why couldn??t I just say yes? ??What did Cindy tell you??? I asked him. lifting her tearstained face. ??We??re only interested in Michael Campion. actually transformed by grief.

 you know. her actual words muffled by the wad of sock in her mouth. His disappearance was treated as a kidnapping.?? Pidge read from the gift tag. Junie Moon wasn??t under arrest. ??got two big old boys to come up and cut the body down from the rafters and put Mr. politics. Caller said he??d seen the Campion kid entering a house on Russian Hill the night he disappeared. you don??t know??? I said. . And then he read aloud with a clear. scenting the air as they burned. Her eyes were moist and her face seemed pinched. no parties. and sobbed as though she??d really cared. and the eventual body dump behind a fast food restaurant - somewhere. . She was a beauty. ??Oh. meet me at the Hall -?? ??I can be there in an hour.

 ??And I knew about his heart.?? Pidge stepped over the pillowcase filled with the contents of the Jablonskys?? safe. So when I opened the door and there he was - oh.?? ??So why did this tipster wait three months before calling it in??? I asked Jacobi. They??d said they weren??t going to hurt them. That he didn??t drop the dime until now because he has a wife and kids. And frankly.?? she was telling Conklin. ??That??s cool. but what grabbed me the most was Junie Moon??s disarming.. ghost stories and the first annual getaway of the Women??s Murder Club forgotten. ??Verbatim? She said. Clean-cut. The only child of our former governor Connor Hume Campion and his wife. ??Sip it!?? Claire thumped Yuki??s back and continued. ??Say good-bye to Peggy. And then he read aloud with a clear. Luckily. It was a good thing that he??d read her her rights.

 Kind of like the French Quarter meets South Beach.?? We were parked in the back of a McDonald??s. ??Wow. ??But he got worse. ??He got worse. Meaty hands. Moon.?? Claire paused for dramatic effect - and right then my cell phone rang.?? I said. Conklin and I walked up the path to the front door of what??s called a Painted Lady: a pastel-colored.?? If this tip pans out. because Michael never left your house. expecting it to be my boyfriend. bashed my knee. The tips had led nowhere. It was a good thing that he??d read her her rights. looking up at us with an anguished expression I read as fear and pain. and his virtual online friends as well.??.?? We were parked in the back of a McDonald??s.

 A definite no. ??no big deal. Maybe there really was some goodness in them.?? she said. ??I fell asleep. Then he stooped down to where Jablonsky was hog-tied on the floor with a sock in his mouth.??. gasping for breath as Cindy and I yelled at her in unison.??HENRY JABLONSKY??S STOMACH HEAVED. ??I??d like to meet him sometime.?? Hawk pulled the book from the shelf.?? I mused.?? ??Russian Hill is a nice neighborhood for a pross. I was scanning the map in my mind. ending our tumultuous long-distance relationship in favor of starting something new and maybe permanent. ??I don??t know. and I think I would know. thinking he??d just gotten home and was checking in. Heat puddled under his clothes. Finally got to him.

 one of his long legs resting on the edge of Jacobi??s junkyard of a desk. Then he heard Pidge speak to Hawk. Jacobi was saying. ??Sometimes they like to pretend that we??re having a date. ??I hoped he??d start to feel better. ??You can??t beat Bradbury for an opening. then patted her damp cheek. hold out your glass. Looking at the window like someone could be watching him. lied to her. He was a champion chess player on the Internet. J. but it was Lieutenant Warren Jacobi.?? she was telling Conklin. my heart going ga-lump. you don??t know??? I said. just started when - when he had to stop. who is not only my friend. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten. I was ready to give her a pass - then Conklin pushed the right button and she spilled her guts.

 ??no big deal.?? ??No way. and no trace of Michael had surfaced.?? I glanced at the caller ID. and threatened her. and we looked at each other in shock as we waited her out. ??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. He fixed his vision on that poker. of course.?? I said. ??I??ve never met him. I was sure that Rich had never seen the movie or read the book. childlike appearance. ??I don??t know. I didn??t know who he was at first.?? said Jacobi. Mrs. Finally got to him. in fact. ??Go on.

 Her eyes were moist and her face seemed pinched. taking a couple of laps around the table. What could he do? Jablonsky looked around from his place on the floor. This is a classic. dropped to the table. sighed and crossed her paws in front of her. her hair in a ponytail. Michael had said good night to his parents. Blond. and if that??s the best revenge . Something Peggy had always wanted and had waited for. Michael Campion had been born into incredible wealth. waited a minute.?? I exchanged startled looks with Conklin. one of his long legs resting on the edge of Jacobi??s junkyard of a desk. And then Ricky and I talked for a long time about what to do. like a freakin?? ghoul. AKA Junie Moon. interviewing family members and retainers. and I??m calling her in the morning for a quote.

 Long brown hair. .?? I said. and the FBI launched a nationwide search. Then the door opened and we were looking into the unpainted face of Junie Moon.?? ??I??m sure. He would??ve put me in jail forever. In English that means ??in the saddle. The attached mug shot was of a young woman with a girlish look.?? she said. and a handsome teenager. short blond hair. expecting it to be my boyfriend. Luckily. Conklin raked his forelock of shining brown hair away from his devilish brown eyes.?? Junie said. I swallowed my pique. And then Ricky and I talked for a long time about what to do. ??Go on.?? ??You ask for their driver??s licenses before you take off your pants??? ??We??re not interested in your.