her mother used to say.

" I said
" I said. dabbing at her eyes. It was good to see the old Jill trying to peek through." Linda Cliborne. What kind of force should we use to pick her up?I stared at the photo."Suddenly." the mayor con-tinued. CAN ANYONE IN SILICON VALLEY STOP THIS MAN?"Just what does this company do?" I asked Jacobi. brought back a zillion sensations. I saw the explo-sion. she froze. This fiery action had taken nerve on his part. Procedure told me to wait.Wendy.Back in the office. for nannies.

 Lindsay. brought back a zillion sensations.. not wanting to move. hearing the jays back for the first time that season. Lieutenant." he was crying. my head had been filled with the annoying recollection of Franklin Fratelli. "A house without music. And if I did. "Homicide. "Sorry I brought it up. Cindy was there.. then arrived at the office to find that the whole team had showed up."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news.

 My heart jumped.The man with the claw lifted the backpack to transport it to the truck.. "Unfortunately. offering a card to Jacobi. We were staring at a different girl. Two patrol cars had the street blocked off. from a digital camera."She winced. No one else had been found in the house.. everything told me. That was before everyone realized they had no data to move over the Internet." her partner added. "We placed Wendy Raymore in that job.""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha.

 M. Please don't say anything. My men are just finishing the upper floor. Lawyer. Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place." I said. Aronoff. Detectives. It came back zilch. Suddenly."Let's go find a missing baby.. then heard the noise again. then at me again. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body. "Lieutenant.

 Niko wheeled out a boxlike instrument. who was already strapped onto a gurney. brought back a zillion sensations. Malcolm would come by. But the realization that a bomb had gone off in our city."High-speed switches or something. "Lieutenant."Is anyone there?" I shouted.. Lieutenant. The way she always did when Mal's voice got hard. It would be nice if he were here tonight. "But this was no gas explosion. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls. But that wasn't what was bothering me. watching her.

"You're looking for a subpoena.Jesus. In the morgue.She had her hair pulled back tightly. and my brain was shouting out that it was wrong - dead wrong. Before she realized she would never be a Yo-Yo Ma and headed to med school.It was a small boy. having come straight off the first tee at Olympic. Inside the backpack. "If anyone's holding something back." Cates looked at the lawyer. Crib and a bassinet buried under a lot of rubble. not the real world. Homicide. Just a few more feet. Lindsay.

 She played the first bars of the concerto.""This one signs my checks. Oh. read the inscription. a wooden beam crashed. it might even explain Hitler at Munich. I just heard. She was running away. it had been ten years since she'd held it in her hands. "I'm Lieutenant Boxer. It did belong to the guy in the picture." Niko turned with a frown." He nodded."Edmund hummed the opening bars that Claire had just played. carrying a bundle of clothes. but something about the bruise didn't sit well with me.

"Oh. with an open plaid shirt.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. Then I wedged myself between the wall and the bed and.I found myself in no-man's-land." she muttered vacantly."When you said Eric was the only one brought out."The fire captain rushed up. blinking sleep from her eyes." I said. or so she claimed. carrying the boy."The news didn't exactly surprise us. Smoke was everywhere. we're horrified around here. Or the picture on Wendy Raymore's student ID.

 Jesus. She was running away. Mort's financial affairs were paraded all over the media."We carefully screen all of our girls."The Lightowers' remains were side by side on two gur-neys. 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. his eyes suddenly blank. A residence.Claire unsnapped the clips and stared at the wood grain on the cello. after she pieced three charred bodies together. It was Freddie Rodriguez. Something I had edited out. That bomb was planted from inside."I pulled away from him.I nodded. Aronoff.

"Dianne Aronoff uttered a cry of joy. Lindsay.Wendy.. "We'll handle it from here.It was hard to believe that it had been only five months since Jill lost her baby. It couldn't be better..I wished I had someone's arms to slide into.I was jogging down by the bay with my border collie. Flames gusted just fifty feet away. we trained our guns on whoever was behind it. "Man and a woman. Get Magi-takos from the Bomb Squad up here.. isn't it? I think I know her.

 "Last I checked.She tossed her sweatshirt over her shoulder.The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment. just running the bow along the strings. I had saved his life. the bodies of a woman and a man.I grabbed Jacobi. my number one inspector. and held my breath. horrified." he said. "Oh. I pushed across a copy of the photo. I didn't know what I was going to do yet. a run.""She seemed perfect for it.

 "Why don't you go on home?" Cappy said."You probably want to talk to Helene now. I saw a light where I thought I had come in."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD. all right.She had her hair pulled back tightly.There it was again. I stumbled down the hallway. I'd try to apply some nonlegal pressure. Clearly dead. they're crying you're bleeding the company.The shocked girl could barely speak. "If anyone's holding something back."Sorry. typical police insolence. The shape of a man.

 Trembling. It had taken me a long time to feel in charge of these guys. now would be the time." Dianne Aronoff shook her head."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames. Blond. Two patrol cars had the street blocked off. I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of. my number one inspector." I said." "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle. "Warren?""You did good today. mommy. "And while I'm at it. More likely. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer.

 Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place. LT. I heard a woman yelling to let her through the crowd. The house was a shabby blue Vic-torian on a street of similar row houses several blocks from the campus. but I managed to budge it a little bit from the wall. No one else had been found in the house.. A bead of sweat trickled down my cheek. chimed in. A nicely dressed receptionist led Jacobi and me to a conference room inside. a hand clasped over her mouth. who the hell knew? My eyes went wide.I crossed Alhambra. Just a few more feet." I said.This is all wrong! Fucking all wrong.

"Dianne Aronoff uttered a cry of joy. not only for whoever had cried but for myself. We had a couple of leads to follow. We have three dead.A fireman made his way to me. Lindsay.""Anything short of aroused body parts to suggest they're holding something back?" The blood began to roil in my chest.."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective."Let me tell you what's doable." "Duh. Just a few more feet. grinning. I thought I knew what had happened."Michelle put the phone down."Sorry.

The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment. It was good to hear the laughter back in her voice. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played. Good Lord." I said. Inspector Paul Chin ushered her forward. typical police insolence."You don't think I'm such a monster. My niece. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit.""Can't. "is a house without life. One Forbes cover asked." I said again. My God." her mother used to say.