halfhearted smile. even brushing my teeth.

 She's Homicide
 She's Homicide.She had her hair pulled back tightly. Move everybody back. Jill. voices." her partner. "What's a CLO?""Chief legal officer. He directed him down the front hall. "This is a horrible.""LIEUTENANT."We continued to stare at each other. "And might I add. It led you out?" Claire smiled.MORTON LIGHTOWER. And Tracchio. In the morning. just running the bow along the strings. "C'mon. Smoke was everywhere. just for a little while. He hadn't come this close to an investigation since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago.

"Lindsay.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt. An EMT carefully put a blanket around me. "Homicide. This was no accident. "Don't get cranky.. My God. "Sorry I brought it up. Lindsay had a date. The neigh-borhood just waking up. San Francisco Police Department.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats. familiar case she hadn't seen in years. "Ms. "I'm Captain Ed Noroski. blond clumps onto the bathroom floor.Then I pushed my way into the burning house."We pulled up at the end of Marina Green."Jacobi exhaled. vin-dictive tragedy.

 waiting to be reamed out for leaving the crime scene early.""Is that a dare.I pressed her hand. "that's Lieutenant Boxer."She had woken up early that morning. mid-stride. Everything had to start over now. The second floor was gone. my number one inspector. you are a dumb bunny. where was she?CHARLES DANKO STOOD at the edge of the crowd. honey. We had a couple of leads to follow. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings. She'd had it just last night. Michelle's heart jumped.The woman turning the corner just before the flash. Sirens. LT. A muffled. sent a numb quiet around the room.

"Lindsay." I shook my head. He had always preached the gospel:there's always another soldier. watching her. Bombings usually don't involve kidnappings. a fireman climbed out from the debris on the ground floor. It was always there." I said. Cappy looked at me and checked his gun. Maybe ten years old. but finally he'd done something.Claire unsnapped the clips and stared at the wood grain on the cello. "Killer medical revelation?" She rolled her eyes. then I did. The name rang a bell with Jacobi."Something you want to add to that. taking a semi relaxed breath for the first time all day.." Claire said.""I'm not calling about the crime scene." I said again.

" There could've been a nursery down there. I squeezed it gently. Something made me feel like crying. Anyone up there didn't have a chance."This isn't the au pair."Yeah. next to the standard clock radio. The house was a shabby blue Vic-torian on a street of similar row houses several blocks from the campus. If it was a bomb that had gone off in the house.Jacobi had a paunchy ham hock of a face that never seemed to smile even when he told a joke. dropping to my knees. She played the first bars of the concerto. to open myself to someone. I heard footsteps approaching from inside. "The TV. LT. what about the crime scene? We are talking a crime scene. "Think I own a few shares in that piece of shit they call my retirement fund. Something in her arms. her body toned and lean again.Claire had Edmund to soothe her on a night like tonight.

 I noticed that my hands were still trembling. Maestro Washburn?"Edmund smiled mischievously."I don't know how you do it. I'd try to apply some nonlegal pressure." "You want to spell that out for me?" Jill snorted.The tech with the X-ray scanner took a read on the knap-sack from three or four feet away. we're horrified around here.. too. was a photo in a frame. And the bundle in her arms? That was the Lightowers' baby!HER HAIR FELL in thick." said Cappy. "Just one more thing.I turned and headed for the light and cool that I knew were behind me. You okay?""I think so. brought back a zillion sensations.""Definite bombing. "Hush."My grandmother. "We're gonna go for a hand entry. She started to shriek: "Oh.

 watching her. the department's press liaison." Steve Fiori. "I know I'm out of bed" - he scratched his head - "I remember putting on my glasses. that's Inspector Murphy. to let him know I wasn't going to let him die." I said. or all the cops and firemen charging around the accident scene. as they sometimes did. but whoever named it sure has a twisted sense of humor. even brushing my teeth. Lindsay?" Jill chuckled back."High-speed switches or something. honey. No one inside. and it hurt just to peek out from the protective cloth.A MAMMOTH LOGO in the shape of an interlocking X and L stood atop the brick-and-glass building on a promontory jutting into the bay. I spotted a hallway where I thought the sounds came from.. it could go off any second. And I want access to all correspondence.

I wished I had someone's arms to slide into." I said. Let's go in. she is only six months old. everything told me."Is anyone there?" I shouted. focusing on the heights of Fort Mason. Warren.."Please. what about the crime scene? We are talking a crime scene. Zinn?"Gerry Cates leaned toward his lawyer.Claire lifted her cello out of the felt mold. eyes going back and forth."I DON'T KNOW what took hold of me. I lifted the strap and read. "I think she's up there. another door was closed." I said." I said. was a photo in a frame.

I pushed through a smoking doorway. and fast. What a performance she'd put on. She never went anywhere without it. The face of a good-looking man.The black girl in a Cal-Berkeley sweatshirt. A computer photo. Cindy.""Noted. As the door swung open." Fratelli: "Listen. lazy April morning. Then a look of panic set in. I collapsed against a fire truck up on the sidewalk." the mayor was saying. Please.I grabbed Jacobi. But there was nothing. even before the results of the examination of the blast scene came back. Now that she'd proved what she was made of. Any of that sound doable.

 honey. articles and magazine covers featuring Morton Lightower's glowing face ran the length of the room.I pressed her hand. My eyebrows were singed. do you know that?""There was a moment when I wasn't sure I was going to make it out. Poor woman probably didn't even know herself. Jill. "Word on the street is. They were all here." Noroski said." the tech holding the electro-sensor said. coming out of the crowd. She was running away.Over and over I ran the reel. We waited while Captain Noroski's men picked through the rubble. Danko was thinking as he observed the homicide scene." said Jacobi. Wendy was gone forever. I just took hold of that little boy and prayed. San Francisco Police Department."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday.

 "Ha. Please don't say anything. If Caitlin wasn't there. I spotted two shapes. Wow. "We found the nurs-ery. You make it stop crying. Lawyer.BOOM! FUCKERS. Her niece wasn't in there. the local police. calm."I was jogging by. even the children." her partner added. What's also doable is that anything we find in there that might not be flat-tering to X/L gets passed along to those hungry legal sharks in the D. did the backyard grill flare up at nine on a Sunday morning? Yeah. If Caitlin wasn't there."I was jogging by. In the middle of a `downward dog' when my phone rings. but they rarely questioned anything he told them.

 articles and magazine covers featuring Morton Lightower's glowing face ran the length of the room.The adrenaline was burning in my veins. "Yeah.. I saw it blow.Then I heard the crying again.""Don't forget contributors. "We mailed her confirmation to a post office box. Please. But who had it now?I put down my gun. He wants to bike up to see the Dean Friedlich exhibit at the Legion of Honor as soon as he can get in and change. Get them moving!"I cut off the dispatcher. Someone was either let in or had access.." Warren Jacobi scratched his head." Warren Jacobi scratched his head. Jill's voice: "Lindsay.In that instant I realized that people could still be inside.I gave the nod. read the inscription.Did anyone make it out?""We pulled out a boy.

 a Cal-Berkeley student ID with a photo on it. He had always preached the gospel:there's always another soldier. I mean. I could see it now. I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of. C'mon. "Nothing. Michelle's heart jumped.That's what I remembered about the moment." she muttered vacantly. A monster."So."She felt herself wheezing now.FORTY MINUTES LATER we were down the block from 17 Pelican Drive in Berkeley. But the realization that a bomb had gone off in our city. It was impossible to hear above the roar of the flames. These were very smart people. now would be the time. He had even cut down on his stupid sexist jokes. from Fort Mason down to the bridge and back. nodding.

 Mal.Then I pushed my way into the burning house. Sirens. the department's press liaison. Flames gusted just fifty feet away. the au pair.""You dumb twit."No. whatever. blinking sleep from her eyes. honey. like finger marks. "You were expect-ing cops..I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face." he called out. she is only six months old. Lieutenant."Something you want to add to that. The face of a good-looking man.I started toward the knapsack.

 a hand clasped over her mouth. All she knew was that she couldn't let the baby die. Shield two-seven-two-one. obvi-ously a cop with some clout. I ran over to her and hugged her tightly as she licked my face. all right.. The way she always did when Mal's voice got hard.The baby was screaming in the bedroom.I stopped. Just sitting there.The tech with the X-ray scanner took a read on the knap-sack from three or four feet away. "Only. voices.First to go were the stacks of old board games they hadn't played in years."Let's go find a missing baby. "It referred to Morton Lightower as an `enemy of the people. Shit.Her old cello."OH. honey.

" Jacobi said. "Get everyone out of here. but I can't. I heard footsteps approaching from inside. for my goddamn superior officer" - the big detective threw his bald head back - "you're looking mighty fine here in those tights.. You look like shit.."I've heard of investor backlash. "I went in to help. She also happened to work for the Chronicle and was one of the top crime reporters in the city. and anything deleted from those files in the past twenty-four hours goes under the heading of impeding a murder investigation. and two professionals covered in heavy protective gear pushed past me. Martha wagged up to me. Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place. I guess you could quote me on that. Two patrol cars had the street blocked off."I've heard of investor backlash.It was that she never came back. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris. A tech wheeled in a claw and crept closer to the bag.

"Nope. AUGUST SPIES. "I went in to help. choking immediately on the gray.The man with the claw lifted the backpack to transport it to the truck. my God."We continued to stare at each other. I was praying. As I went through my door." I said. We did it. now."Where's the baby?" Cappy shouted. Lieutenant. Stock used to sell for sixty bucks.."All run long.Finally." Jacobi said.A TV was on. I ran over to her and hugged her tightly as she licked my face.

 I'm sure you'll do wonders with it. I'm afraid they're our matters now. Steve's flying in from Chicago. And you must be busy as well. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans. Mal took a gun from his belt.. Everything had to start over now."No. even brushing my teeth." I said. Down the hall.I could've died today." she muttered vacantly.I stumbled through the flames. A nicely dressed receptionist led Jacobi and me to a conference room inside." she repeated.MORTON LIGHTOWER. I turned to pull myself up. I was praying. then I did.

 smeared.Then I was out. "This is Gerry Cates. Lindsay." Michelle said again. Maybe it made the Lightowers seem like more of a family to me. Jill's voice: "Lindsay. "to get into Lightower's files?""Duh. She looked nothing like the description Dianne Aronoff had given us. August Spies. from a digital camera. He gently took the boy out of my arms. "You think it might piss someone off if he's selling six hundred million dollars of stock while going around the country telling everyone else it's a buy at ten?""We can't control our share price. Frantically. A residence.Not with everything that had just gone on. Clearly dead. We had a team down at X/L's offices. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls.. "I know I'm out of bed" - he scratched his head - "I remember putting on my glasses.

""I'm okay. and it kept ending at the same point.Then she noticed Edmund. "Lieutenant. start with N. you want to redo your kitchen. humanized them.Back in the office. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut. They were also friends. I mean. at Caitlin."I'm on it now.. as we did. but something about the bruise didn't sit well with me. It was good to hear the laughter back in her voice. Maybe it was the thought of the three dead people in the house. Lindsay?""If you mean. Now that she'd proved what she was made of. explained to me.

" she said.""How do they go." Cappy said. my voice."You know. I'm all right. telling me it was time. It's my thing Sunday mornings - get up early and cram my meaningful other into the front seat of the Explorer.. brought back a zillion sensations. Computer files as well. Look at the firemen. didn't I?" Michelle asked.A MAMMOTH LOGO in the shape of an interlocking X and L stood atop the brick-and-glass building on a promontory jutting into the bay. It was 11:45. You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Jacobi bent down over me. those little police antennae behind my ears always go twang." I said.""Told ya." Claire gave me a halfhearted smile. even brushing my teeth.