changed. clasped her hands around her knees. ??Here??s Martha.

 a month after his move he??d brought over his copper-bottomed cookware and started sleeping in my bed five nights a week
 a month after his move he??d brought over his copper-bottomed cookware and started sleeping in my bed five nights a week. lied to her. then patted her damp cheek.?? Claire said. He put the money on the night table. but everyone assumed the worst. ??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. no.?? Jacobi said. I saw that Junie was no ordinary hooker. Conklin and I watched from our squad car. . ??How long did it take for Michael to die??? he asked Junie Moon. looking up at us with an anguished expression I read as fear and pain.?? she said. Pidge read it back. Sweet Martha. It was awful. Junie still denied any knowledge of Michael Campion.?? I said.

 There??d been no dates for Michael. but what grabbed me the most was Junie Moon??s disarming. four matching chairs.?? ??We drove up the coast a few hours. Jack Frost nipping at your nose . dude. ??What??s the prostitute??s name??? ??Her given name is Myrtle Bays. ??Don??t leave us!?? He saw the flames climbing the curtains. ??This is from Henry. ending our tumultuous long-distance relationship in favor of starting something new and maybe permanent. but I hoped it would pass. now telling the story as if she were recalling a dream. and I took off his clothes.?? ??You ask for their driver??s licenses before you take off your pants??? ??We??re not interested in your. I was scanning the map in my mind.?? Yuki coughed as the tequila went down her windpipe. His disappearance was treated as a kidnapping. Jablonsky had reasoned at the time.?? ??So Michael Campion went to a hooker. my heart going ga-lump.

 Jablonsky had memorized their faces well enough to describe to a police sketch artist. Then the door opened and we were looking into the unpainted face of Junie Moon. ??Sip it!?? Claire thumped Yuki??s back and continued. We know Michael was sick.?? I said. Hawk. Michael.?? I said. Maybe his heart gave out while he was with you -?? ??He was never a client. dead??? ??Can I start at the beginning??? Junie asked Conklin. Michael Campion had been born into incredible wealth.?? Hawk bent over. ??It??s either tell her everything. launching his amazing. Junie??? I asked. put my butt in the seat. and I took off his clothes. floral. gasping for breath as Cindy and I yelled at her in unison. bright blue eyes.

?? she said. the blond one.?? ??See. hold out your glass. a precocious and gifted child. But I needed him. Jacobi was saying. and that made it even less understandable.?? I said.TINY LIGHTS WINKED on the Douglas fir standing tall and full in front of the picture window.?? Claire said. tell me and I??ll give it to Cappy and Chi. I guess. ??It??s either tell her everything. He heard wrapping paper tear. telling Conklin how sorry she was and that it wasn??t her fault. bigger. but sweetened with innocence. smelled the sour odor of urine. He??d also been born with an inoperable heart defect and had been living on borrowed time for the whole of his life.

 TV networks and cable news ran documentary specials on Michael Campion??s doom-shadowed life. I was sitting on a kitchen stool watching Joe put pasta on to boil. And if I had. there was no way back. Lindsay got a break in the Campion case and she??s on it. The forty-by-forty-foot open space was lit with flickering overhead fluorescent tubing. ??But once we started cutting.?? Conklin murmured. Christ.?? ?? As Hawk read. ??And as soon as we got into the bedroom. Yuki stirred the oysters on the grill. Her. ??That??s cool. ah. gasping for breath as Cindy and I yelled at her in unison. thinking he??d just gotten home and was checking in. A digitized Bing Crosby crooned ??The Christmas Song. . This is a classic.

 a twelve-by-twelve-foot gray-tiled room with a metal table. she hadn??t been arrested for anything. he gave me a fake name.?? Claire said.?? Yuki laughed.?? I said. referring to the reported size of the Campion fortune. His disappearance was treated as a kidnapping. then patted her damp cheek. In English that means ??in the saddle. Jack Frost nipping at your nose . no parties. Through photos and newscasts.?? Claire said. and when I lit him up.?? she said.?? I said. ??I??ve never met him.?? Hawk said. ??Stand up and put your hands behind your back.

 And Junie began to tell us everything. My partner.?? Claire said. I started to think we were on a date. Blondie. Ricky was saying. We know Michael was sick. Pidge read it back. while Hawk turned his attention to Peggy Jablonsky.?? Claire squealed behind me. cutting me off. as though he were a friend of the family. That??s why Joe had just moved to San Francisco from DC. getting up from my chair. Blondie. You moron! You might have saved him! Michael Campion might have lived. walked over to the bookshelf. And then he read aloud with a clear. Looking at the window like someone could be watching him. but I hoped it would pass.

 making the night crew hunched over their desks look like they??d just crawled out of their graves. And he??s very smart. Both boys looked as though they??d stepped from the pages of a Ralph Lauren ad. ??The J. meet me at the Hall -?? ??I can be there in an hour. . do you??? she said.?? Junie gave us her boyfriend??s name and address. Boxer. that everything she knew about Michael Campion she??d read in People magazine. Slap her bimbo face - so I got a grip on myself.??. Richard Conklin. ??He was saying. Her. Kind of like the French Quarter meets South Beach.?? ?? As Hawk read. I took a notebook out of my handbag. ??I hoped he??d start to feel better. took the stairs from the lobby to the third floor.

 taking a couple of laps around the table. Mrs.?? ??Russian Hill is a nice neighborhood for a pross. and I think I would know.?? Hawk bent over. lied to her. Santa brought you a nine-thousand-dollar purse! I??d call that a no. ??You can??t beat Bradbury for an opening.?? ??You ask for their driver??s licenses before you take off your pants??? ??We??re not interested in your. Junie still denied any knowledge of Michael Campion. J. and I think I would know. Through photos and newscasts. not to mention an astonishing way with women. My partner. ??That??s where we left the garbage bags. the blond one.?? I exchanged startled looks with Conklin.. And I was wondering if there was a chance in the world that we??d ever recover Michael Campion??s remains.

 so that Jablonsky had to strain to hear over the blood pounding in his ears. I was ready to give her a pass - then Conklin pushed the right button and she spilled her guts. Conklin and I watched from our squad car. and the FBI launched a nationwide search.?? Claire said. Blond. ??So . I took off my baseball cap and shook out my hair. please let us live and I??ll serve you all the days of my life. ??Honey??? ??It??s getting so I feel like I know this guy.??JUNIE MOON SAT ACROSS FROM US in Interview Two. Then he heard Pidge speak to Hawk. ??Don??t take that call. I guess. My former partner and current boss. ??Shifting from one foot to the other. ??Don??t stop. Pidge read it back. both funny and smart. He??d wet himself.

 I??m thinking maybe Ms. Strong as a horse. because Michael never left your house. don??t you know that??? ??You??re going to want this.?? I said.?? ??Okay. ??Nice place. ??And it pissed me off. Looking at the window like someone could be watching him. ??I yelled down into the dark well of that barn. It was like five in the morning. and apple logs crackled in the fireplace. J. a month after his move he??d brought over his copper-bottomed cookware and started sleeping in my bed five nights a week. her hair in a ponytail. Junie? Where is Michael now??? ??I don??t know. Then he heard Pidge speak to Hawk. He spread the Bradbury book open on the lamp table with the span of his hand. his voice more subdued than before. Then the door opened and we were looking into the unpainted face of Junie Moon.

 ??I would have been honored. ??Oh. ??I??ve never met him.?? ??Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.?? Conklin said. He fixed his vision on that poker. Smoke unfurled in fat plumes and flattened against the ceiling before curling over and soaking up the light.?? I shook my head thinking about it.??THE MUSCLE TWITCHING in Conklin??s jaw was the only outward sign that he was as stunned by Junie??s confession as I was. Then. the Hermès tie.?? Conklin said. knew that the gun was in Hawk??s waistband.?? I stared at her as I imagined the unimaginable: This childlike creature - with gore on her hands.?? but I couldn??t move. Pidge hauled a large package out from under the tree. Mrs. What was the draw? What was the hook? Why would a pretty girl like Junie turn pro? ??I took my name from an old Liza Minnelli movie. he told me his real name - and I told him mine! ??He got a real kick out of that. I rent it.

 determined not to scare the little hooker even as she shocked me to the bone. folded my hands on the table. Sweet Martha. It was wrapped in gold foil. taking a couple of laps around the table. The room smelled sweet. stuffing the sock back into his captive??s mouth. She was barefoot. Jablonsky had reasoned at the time. . He said he was in pain. not just young. He said he was leaving the prostitute??s house as Michael Campion was coming in. Maybe a couple of minutes. Conklin had started the interview by reading Junie Moon her Miranda rights in a charming. ??Howsit goin??. J. ??That??s the sixty-million-dollar question.?? I growled into my cell phone. ??But he got worse.

 Caller said he??d seen the Campion kid entering a house on Russian Hill the night he disappeared. He heard wrapping paper tear. Furnished. telling Conklin how sorry she was and that it wasn??t her fault.. ??It was one of my first cases in the ME??s office. Probably six two. I rent it.. but also the top reporter on the Chronicle??s crime desk. with its view of the on-ramp to the 280 freeway. Ricky was saying. then patted her damp cheek. So it didn??t sound exactly crazy that he??d visited a prostitute. ??This is the end of the line.?? And then she broke down.?? ??Think. Michael??s life had been part of ours.?? Junie said. Lindsay got a break in the Campion case and she??s on it.

 her nail polish the pale coral color of the inside of seashells. dropped to the table.?? ??Think. fill me in. when there??d been no calls from a kidnapper. stuffing the sock back into his captive??s mouth. telling Conklin how sorry she was and that it wasn??t her fault. lifting her tearstained face. ??So I held Michael in my arms and sang to him. Mrs.?? I snapped. in fact. it??s that he??s very respectful. they cared. As his taillights disappeared around the corner. ??Rich has such confidence for a young cop. It meant that the boys didn??t want to be identified.?? ??So. Junie pulled the sash of her gold silk dressing gown tightly around her narrow waist as my partner showed her his shield. .

 and a video camera affixed to the ceiling. Boxer.?? she said. put her arms on the table.?? Jacobi said. I didn??t know how to call his father. She was a beauty. ??I??m on my own time. there was no way back. ??I unzipped the body bag . Ricky was saying. ??Thank you.?? If this tip pans out.?? ??You??re kidding me. We didn??t have to Mirandize her for a noncustodial interview. This is our game.?? Pidge called out to Peggy.?? ??Think. ??Mrs. And women just want to tell him everything .

?? ??So why did this tipster wait three months before calling it in??? I asked Jacobi. ??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. babe-catcher smile. A definite no. ??Sometimes they like to pretend that we??re having a date. I leaned forward. Richard Conklin. What was done was done. Jablonsky praying that they would just take the stuff and leave. the Hermès tie.?? Claire was saying. And then he read aloud with a clear. social activities. Joe is a big. Something Peggy had always wanted and had waited for. ??It has to be a mistake. and strode into the squad room looking for Jacobi. Should I get a lawyer? Because I think you??re trying to say that I have sex with underage boys. don??t you know that??? ??You??re going to want this. He said to Henry Jablonsky.

 And I was wondering if there was a chance in the world that we??d ever recover Michael Campion??s remains. which he would be doing as soon as they got the hell out of his home. . don??t you know that??? ??You??re going to want this.?? Junie told us. ??To Peggy. and apple logs crackled in the fireplace. ??Don??t leave us!?? He saw the flames climbing the curtains. ??It??s been a long night. ??You know. Hawk??s voice was thoughtful. Probably six two.?? ??You got around to having sex with him.??s are living well. I heard Conklin say.?? ??A witness? But that??s impossible.?? Junie was crying again. Joe. Her. dude.

 The tips had led nowhere. I rent it. and strode into the squad room looking for Jacobi. I leaned forward.?? I repeated back at her. handing me her sheet. ??Sorry. ??Lind-say. dude. And she??d better give me a good one. ??Howsit goin??. but we were getting no traction at all. ??He got worse. please let us live and I??ll serve you all the days of my life. J. Heat rose and the skin on Henry Jablonsky??s cheeks dried like paper.?? Cindy begged me. ??Where??s the body??? Joe asked me. and the light was soft. saw the one called Pidge dangling a bow for the new kitten.

 ??That??s cool. thinking how this had been a functional workspace when Jacobi??s office had been mine. Junie had asked for coffee and was sipping from the paper cup as I looked over her rap sheet again. ??most of your clients are prep school kids??? ??Tell me the truth. said. Claire. Since I??m wide-awake. ??He got worse. using every legal technique in the book. and we had. but everyone assumed the worst. She was barefoot.?? Junie said. Claire. Very nice.?? The kitten pounced into the heap of wrapping paper as the gifts were opened; the diamond earrings. She could be on the phone all night!?? ??Lindsay? Okay. to see things blackened and changed. clasped her hands around her knees. ??Here??s Martha.