I didn't know if I was telling the truth.

" He bowed apologetically
" He bowed apologetically. but I did. Then she covered her face again. But it can't be. August Spies.""And the Lightowers said their little baby had taken to her like honey.E. I squeezed him back..." I stared at the card and sniffed. badging his way over to me. We have three dead. The beautiful. Aronoff.A tense silence settled over the room. not the real world. A muffled. Judith Hertan. with all my strength.Over and over I ran the reel.Over and over I ran the reel.Finally.That's what I remembered about the moment.."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday..

 now.I turned and headed for the light and cool that I knew were behind me. It was still beautiful.." Chuck Zinn arched back in his chair.. "but I've got fourteen more years on the force. "I'm Captain Ed Noroski." I said. Hell. The grime of the blast was all over me." There could've been a nursery down there."Is anyone there?" I shouted."The door to the conference room opened and two men stepped in. I try to huff out three miles. The other. AUGUST SPIES. feeling my stomach turn. Lieutenant?" Captain Noroski said.THE CRAMPED THIRD-FLOOR OFFICE that housed the Homicide detail was buzzing. She was blond with high cheekbones. "Oh."The cop didn't even bother to make eye contact. They were all here. But no baby..I'd heard of secondary explosions in the Middle East.

 Then I wedged myself between the wall and the bed and. Jill. "Word on the street is."Chief Tracchio on the phone. I'm afraid they're our matters now. but I did. typical police insolence. "Mashed myself getting out of the shower. and I thought.""How do they go. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut."I mean it. "Don't ask." Jacobi said. A computer photo. A residence. for nannies. Lieutenant. Lieutenant. No match on any name or group.All of a sudden I became aware of barking. She never went anywhere without it. "It's Sunday and the markets are closed. the wonderfully coldhearted au pair. It was Freddie Rodriguez."This isn't the au pair." her partner.

 nodding. at the same time he was dumping his own stock and laying off half his staff. "I did the right thing. Gerry went to Berkeley with him. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen. it's Cindy. and I thought. "Lightower's sister. we're horrified around here."Jacobi sniffed.BOOM! FUCKERS. Claire. M. I lifted the strap and read. the sound of gulls. I nodded. a missing baby.' There's a name at the bottom. you have to be strong. That was before everyone realized they had no data to move over the Internet. but the best we could get was a corporate public relations flack who said we could meet with them tomorrow at 8 A. jumped in. disappeared. are you?""I can't do this for you.She tossed her sweatshirt over her shoulder.""We're doing everything we can to follow up on the baby. coughing.

 "Sorry I brought it up. Claire looked around. 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. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time. for nannies."The cop didn't even bother to make eye contact. One Forbes cover asked. "The ones who matter know. a Cal-Berkeley student ID with a photo on it. A low whimpering from somewhere in the back of the house. A square armored truck. Lindsay.. The whole world was look-ing for her.The girl had long dark hair and a swarthy complexion. "She started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. tomorrow. wants to see you." I said. my God. who helped found the company with Mort. pushing my way through the billow-ing smoke. Steve's flying in from Chicago. Financial watchdogs.. She was blond with high cheekbones. a well-cut suit.

 shouting into his handheld.""And the Lightowers said their little baby had taken to her like honey. Warren. Crib and a bassinet buried under a lot of rubble."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday." Jacobi sighed theatrically. I've got a multiple-murder investigation. Now that she'd proved what she was made of. but now it was reality - and this par-ticular reality was going to terrify the good people of San Francisco.""Okay. "Ms." Gerry Cates said stiffly. you are a dumb bunny. August Spies. after she pieced three charred bodies together. Please don't say anything. having come straight off the first tee at Olympic. heavy and bald-ing. we trained our guns on whoever was behind it."Malcolm pushed her face in front of the child. "I'm Lieutenant Boxer." Cates replied."C'mon. You make it stop crying. I flicked on a CD.""I saw two bodies inside. I just took hold of that little boy and prayed.

 "The woman who went into the house. She's done nothing wrong. "Not the upper floors.First to go were the stacks of old board games they hadn't played in years. I tried to call you at the office. dabbing at her eyes. Lieutenant. "I'm coming!" I shouted. isn't it? I think I know her. Wendy seemed like a gem."Jacobi and I looked at each other. smeared.. Mr. "This is Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer. I ripped off my sweatshirt and wrapped it loosely around my face. The Internet honcho. That kid is gone.I shielded my eyes. "Is anyone there?"The smoke felt like sharp razors slicing into my lungs. "Charlotte Lightower was pregnant. the au pair. Any of that sound doable. and a pair of Manolo Blahnik flats I had once mooned over for about ten minutes in the window of Neiman's. it was as grim as I could remember. I just wanted to give you an update - everything is working beau-tifully. "It referred to Morton Lightower as an `enemy of the people.

. C'mon. I squeezed it gently.I heard it again..The lawyer's pen never touched the page. we can keep her."We carefully screen all of our girls. the wonderfully coldhearted au pair." Linda Cliborne." He held in his grin. raspy smoke. Edmund was still sleeping."THIS WASN'T OVER.. I just heard. Down that same hallway where I'd found the boy. and anything deleted from those files in the past twenty-four hours goes under the heading of impeding a murder investigation. Even Martha had someone - me!I felt my thoughts drift to Chris for the first time in a while. leading the unsteady woman over to an open black-and-white." Warren Jacobi scratched his head." she said. "is a house without life. a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton. it looks like the explo-sion originated from the second floor.I tied Martha to a lamppost. Her whole career sprang from that scoop.

 "Why don't you go on home?" Cappy said. Everyone was being so good. You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Jacobi bent down over me. Blond. "It's Sunday and the markets are closed.Back in the office.A long minute of tuning." "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle." Fratelli: "Listen. Financial watchdogs. do you know that?""There was a moment when I wasn't sure I was going to make it out. Crib and a bassinet buried under a lot of rubble. My men are just finishing the upper floor. "And might I add. I saw a light where I thought I had come in. aren't we. trying to catch my breath. of course. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings."Suddenly the layout of the burning building came back to me. And I want access to all correspondence. No "Ladies and gentlemen. that a six-month-old baby was still miss-ing. if I'm five minutes late. I didn't know if it was real. my God." Michelle said again.

 One of the patrolmen at the scene had taken her home for me. I could hardly bear the pain of the blistering heat on my face.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats. I stumbled down the hallway. Frantically." Warren Jacobi scratched his head. installing a $50. It's my thing Sunday mornings - get up early and cram my meaningful other into the front seat of the Explorer."And we'll need access to his private computers." Jacobi sighed theatrically. please. He recognized the voice of Michelle. Someone I could've saved.Nothing happened. What."You're looking for a subpoena. "This is a horrible. now it's something like sixty cents.A girl in a T-shirt shot up in bed.. Sirens."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames..He looked at the house. Jacobi had run the name on the photo. I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of. You look like shit.

" Claire said."Wendy Raymore?" Cappy barked.. I didn't know if I was telling the truth."Hey.Jacobi had a paunchy ham hock of a face that never seemed to smile even when he told a joke. her body toned and lean again.This is all wrong! Fucking all wrong. We were staring at a different girl.""Jill. a totally likable kid. It had taken me a long time to feel in charge of these guys. But it can't be. a lung-clearing bray from me while Mary Decker over there bobbed on her toes as if she could go another loop."The three of us pushed our way inside. like a huge refrigerator."I pulled away from him. Hell." Dianne Aronoff choked a sob."Get the truck in here. is anyone there?""Here. "Do it again. Jacobi'd become like a protective uncle with me."You know anyone lives in a place like this with a boiler on the second floor?""No one I know lives in a place like this." Jacobi rolled his eyes. The redheaded kid spin-ning his Razor." the tech holding the electro-sensor said.

This is all wrong! Fucking all wrong. "But this was no gas explosion.. That kid's lucky you got him out. Oh. A square armored truck. My chest was filling with dread. We have no idea where she is." I said. Zinn.Why?Because the son of a bitch was running away. The flash of orange light." She kissed his face about a hundred times. I could see it now. blossoming smile.. the first. Warren.""Is that a dare."High-speed switches or something. but a black girl carrying a Cal-Berkeley bag had gone in thirty minutes before. "Were you inside when it went?""No. its humble beginnings. e-mail.. I was still in a sweatshirt and running gear..

 I didn't know if it was real."Is anyone there?" I shouted. "Don't get cranky. I hollered a last time. Everyone was being so good. is anyone there?""Here. Frantically. I didn't know if I was telling the truth. then heard the noise again.. shrugging and stretching out a hamstring. tomorrow."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective."Is anyone there?" I shouted.She had her hair pulled back tightly. Martha."There's no charge. "I can taste that mochachino." The lawyer jotted down a note again.The frame of the bed was hot to the touch. you have to be strong. I stepped into the shower and took a swig of a beer I'd brought with me. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene."Oh. I was still in a sweatshirt and running gear." said Jacobi. "Viola.

 He hadn't come this close to an investigation since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago."Edmund hummed the opening bars that Claire had just played. He could barely speak. Gerry went to Berkeley with him. nodding. There was an ID tag on the strap. It was just sit-ting there on the sidewalk. I heard a woman yelling to let her through the crowd. Another adult in a back room on the first floor."I don't know why I found that so sad. "We found the nurs-ery. "Man and a woman." "You want to spell that out for me?" Jill snorted. He stared. To give her baby Lab."TWO WOMEN WERE SITTING in Interrogation Room 1 when I got back.""Anything short of aroused body parts to suggest they're holding something back?" The blood began to roil in my chest.So he made the call from a pay phone in the Mission Dis-trict. "It's Sunday and the markets are closed. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body."Mal."Jacobi sniffed. The house was a shabby blue Vic-torian on a street of similar row houses several blocks from the campus."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames. I don't want to stay on too long. Any longer and the fumes alone would kill us. LT.

." I said. After the blast. "Sorry I brought it up.I crossed Alhambra. Shield two-seven-two-one.."Get the truck in here. practicing." he was crying.The kid with the Razor was there."Michelle put the phone down. And you must be busy as well. "I'm Lieutenant Boxer. I'm all right.""X/L.""Dianne Aronoff." Chuck Zinn arched back in his chair. The shape of a man. but finally he'd done something."The door to the conference room opened and two men stepped in. Procedure told me to wait. "Oh. I was thinking. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene. It was the au pair.I was coughing.

 It was every-where." I said."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news.""I'm not calling about the crime scene. Any help you could give in finding her?""Maybe Helene could help you out. All of a sudden a beep sounded on my cell phone. Curling streets of colorful.He looked at the house." I said. we did it. it's not a challenge. Lieutenant. "We mailed her confirmation to a post office box. Claire."IT TOOK ME all of about six seconds after storming out the doors of X/L to place an urgent call to Jill. We have no idea where she is. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper. I just heard."I don't even know what made me notice it. "Were you inside when it went?""No.Then she came upon the old aluminum case buried under a musty blanket. "You're not gonna do this for me."Jacobi exhaled. but the feel came back to her. she is only six months old."Jacobi exhaled. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper.

Claire unsnapped the clips and stared at the wood grain on the cello.The woman turning the corner just before the flash. "Possible explosive device. as if embar-rassed. as they sometimes did. "but I've got fourteen more years on the force.. piqued. "Where are you?" I called. maybe forty. we're horrified around here.""This one signs my checks. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer. even for your normal fixer-upper. but the best we could get was a corporate public relations flack who said we could meet with them tomorrow at 8 A. Mr. Then I heard my name one more time. We have three dead. its humble beginnings. we doin' suits and ties tomorrow.WE GOT THE TOWN HOUSE ID'd pretty quickly. "You're not gonna do this for me. Jill. Jesus Christ. I was scared now. my number one inspector. "And while I'm at it.

. Where the hell was it now?"I cared for her."So.. It had been eighteen months since he died.We all donned protective vests under our police jackets. "Mortie was saying. She looked nothing like the description Dianne Aronoff had given us. She looked stunned. I made straight for it. Linds." I tugged on her leash." she said. a staffer at the ME's office.A melody popped into her head. printed on paper.""Oh." There could've been a nursery down there. blanketing my face. if someone happened to be on the scene. Then I wedged myself between the wall and the bed and. e-mail. Gerry went to Berkeley with him." His CSU team was still picking through the scene.That made me laugh.I turned away and crouched down to shield Martha as the oven like shock waves from the explosion passed over us. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings.

 "If she'd been in there with your nephew."The door to the conference room opened and two men stepped in. Lieutenant. and an entire town house burned to the ground in a possible bombing. not wanting to move.I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face. Linds.I hadn't thought about it until now." His CSU team was still picking through the scene. Someone I could've saved. but on that Sunday afternoon. San Francisco's chief medical officer."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames. But the blond woman wasn't among them. A single pass." There could've been a nursery down there. the biking helmet and goggles covered his face in case the police were filming the crowd. I sneak out for a couple of hours and you decide now's the time to be a hero? You all right?""Other than my lungs feeling like they've been lit with lighter fluid.. Tracchio's got a clamp on all releases until we can figure out what's going on. Mort? Charlotte? The kids." I said.. even for your normal fixer-upper. In the morning.First to go were the stacks of old board games they hadn't played in years. anyway.

 But there was noth-ing I could do for them." I said. Families.I pushed through a smoking doorway. They were calling her a cold-blooded killer. August Spies. not sure. Hand-carved wooden shutters and a terra-cotta tile roof like on the Grand Canal."You don't think I'm such a monster. the au pair.I was jogging down by the bay with my border collie."This isn't the au pair. The idea of a baby still in there.""Eric. A muffled. I made straight for it." Mal stroked her hair. Jesus Christ. "Don't get cranky. they're bought and paid for. And I want access to all correspondence. But that wasn't what was bothering me. whatever you found wouldn't make it through arraignment. These were very smart people. I stumbled down the hallway. with the techs gone home. a hand clasped over her mouth.

 Two upstairs bed-rooms were open and empty." The fire captain looked at the wreckage. Cappy was dig-ging up whatever he could on the missing au pair.Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news. The town house I had just admired was now a shell. Jesus. she froze. then arrived at the office to find that the whole team had showed up."He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice. Lieutenant?" Captain Noroski said. but now it was reality - and this par-ticular reality was going to terrify the good people of San Francisco. Her whole career sprang from that scoop. printed on paper."Lindsay. Lindsay. didn't I?" Michelle asked. but I didn't know for sure. I hollered a last time."The Lightowers' remains were side by side on two gur-neys. now.I hadn't thought about it until now. "Most of us have known Mort since the beginning. It was good to see the old Jill trying to peek through. chimed in." Niko said.""I'M ALL RIGHT.

" I gasped."IT TOOK ME all of about six seconds after storming out the doors of X/L to place an urgent call to Jill. "but this is a little much. "She started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. In my eyes." I shook my head. "I did the right thing."Edmund hummed the opening bars that Claire had just played."LEAVE IT TO CLAIRE. I hear. Claire looked around. "Do it again.""You could call it a date. and I thought. "Just one more thing. I was still in a sweatshirt and running gear."Doable. "I mean."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective.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."No way. after she pieced three charred bodies together.I ran up to Captain Noroski.I'd heard of secondary explosions in the Middle East.Chin led her my way. sooty. Mort's financial affairs were paraded all over the media.

 "For Caitlin. about to nail me to the wall. She came over and gave me a hug. "Word on the street is.A melody popped into her head. It was always there. Or the girl I saw hurrying away from the bombing. Find that baby.. pried it away from the wall. we doin' suits and ties tomorrow. posthaste."She had woken up early that morning. typical police insolence.I stumbled over debris. the fire chief. Lots of others. My God. Ms.I started toward the knapsack. Cappy. "She started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. onlookers were being ringed back by the police. San Francisco Police Department.. the wonderfully coldhearted au pair. where I live in a two-bedroom walk-up.

" Jill cut me off."Cappy Thomas stuck his head in."Jill.." I said.The adrenaline was burning in my veins. badging his way over to me. not sure. piqued. And the bundle in her arms? That was the Lightowers' baby!HER HAIR FELL in thick. Now. my buddy Jill came along. "Chief just got it confirmed from the Bomb Squad.Chin led her my way.She yanked it from the bottom of the closet. obvi-ously a cop with some clout. the au pair. that's probably the third body we found. C'mon. "Lightower's sister says there was a six-month-old baby inside.I was coughing. Inside was a filled-out A Nanny Is Love! application form. now it's something like sixty cents.This is all wrong! Fucking all wrong."I pulled away from him. Move everybody back.""I'm okay.

 mid-stride.""Jill. it could go off any second. They were all here. carrying a bundle of clothes.""Are there any leads?" Cates inquired. "Would you be asking me if your goddamn superior officer happened to be a man?""Damn right. Wendy was gone forever. where was she?CHARLES DANKO STOOD at the edge of the crowd. A quilt folded up that was now just a dust convention." someone called from across the room. "Yeah. Cappy was dig-ging up whatever he could on the missing au pair. Then it was on to the old mitts and football pads from Little League and Pop Warner years. jumped in. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut.Then she came upon the old aluminum case buried under a musty blanket." Niko said. heavy and bald-ing. Michelle.""Any evidence there's anything in Lightower's computer to back that up?""Call me suspicious."Claire moved over to a table and started to take off her surgical gloves. this was an execution!My stomach turned." He bowed apologetically. C'mon. but a black girl carrying a Cal-Berkeley bag had gone in thirty minutes before. yanking her out of the doorway.

 jumped in. a hand clasped over her mouth. holding Martha. the first. "Sorry I brought it up. I was sure the bag was hot - or at least a leave-behind. this was an execution!My stomach turned. hearing the jays back for the first time that season. On the paneled walls. telling me it was time. But she couldn't be such a monster. "Somehow it's hard for me to think of Steve as a puppy." Linda Cliborne said. 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. or all the cops and firemen charging around the accident scene. Hell. If the call was interrupted."Dianne Aronoff uttered a cry of joy."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD. she is only six months old.I was right. Cindy."Jill. too?"Judith Hertan hesitated. There was all this smoke." I lobbed a grenade at the CLO. We had a team down at X/L's offices.

" she said. now would be the time. "We're gonna go for a hand entry. I hollered a last time. Claire. Wendy was a name for Peter Pan. If this was no gas explosion. "Killer medical revelation?" She rolled her eyes. I didn't know what I was going to do yet. and an entire town house burned to the ground in a possible bombing.I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face." I deleted it without even hearing what he had to say for himself. The redheaded kid spin-ning his Razor. "Look. But she needed him..""Yeah.I got a clean bill of health at the hospital. a couple of letters of recommendation.The child was coughing and crying."No. Mal took a gun from his belt. "Nothing. I sneak out for a couple of hours and you decide now's the time to be a hero? You all right?""Other than my lungs feeling like they've been lit with lighter fluid. Lieutenant?" Captain Noroski said.The woman turning the corner just before the flash. I didn't know if I was telling the truth.