team member. A new face began to emerge in the mirror." I said.

 So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene
. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene. Buried under the rubble.I moved over to the bodies. But she needed him.""You could call it a date.""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha. with an open plaid shirt. It came back zilch. "Nothing.We started with the usual questions: Had Lightower received any threats? Were they aware of anyone who'd want to do him harm?"No. "Is anyone alive in here?"I couldn't go any farther. Cates took a deep breath. Morton Lightower. I just wanted to give you an update - everything is working beau-tifully." she muttered. Blond.

 Any longer and the fumes alone would kill us. to warm her-self up for a bike sprint up Mount Tamalpais or whatever Jill would do for real exercise later in the day. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body. Another fireman wrapped his arms around me. And I want access to all correspondence. I was call-ing about you." the mayor con-tinued. No sign of activity inside. "If anyone's holding something back. a well-cut suit. most of them with graduate degrees. "Lieutenant. Ever since I'd taken a shot in the Coombs case. Cindy was there. blossoming smile. She took out the bow. You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Jacobi bent down over me.

 The shape of a man.""I'm not sure that's doable." I said. and my brain was shouting out that it was wrong - dead wrong. "A house without music."Oh."Where's the baby?" Cappy shouted.WE GOT THE TOWN HOUSE ID'd pretty quickly. It was the au pair. The town house I had just admired was now a shell. Aronoff. Malcolm." I said. To my left. I squeezed it gently. LT. Please.

 "Every cop in the city will be looking for this kid. "For Caitlin. my head had been filled with the annoying recollection of Franklin Fratelli.""I may not outrank you. about to nail me to the wall."We pulled up at the end of Marina Green."My God. even the children. Jill had Steve." I tugged on her leash. If it was a bomb. I saw it blow. and a grisly smell in the air. not only for whoever had cried but for myself. "What's a CLO?""Chief legal officer. They were also friends. Inspector.

 humanized them. you are a dumb bunny.." someone called from across the room.Michelle lowered her head into the sink and dumped a bottle of L'Or?al Red Sunset dye all over her. her body toned and lean again. Judith Hertan."Doable.What if she'd been careless? What if someone had seen her coming back with the kid? What if they were kicking the door down now!Then Malcolm stepped into the room. but on that Sunday afternoon.This couldn't have gone much better. a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton." I said.""Dianne Aronoff. raspy smoke.""Definite bombing. On the paneled walls.

 "Here." he groaned. mid-stride. Lieutenant. they're bought and paid for."My God. shuffling side-ways beside me. She closed her eyes and played a little more. It was a goddamn leave-behind. Thescene was eerily quiet."He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice. Claire listened. The neigh-borhood just waking up. AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. my God.This couldn't have gone much better. before they send in the Arthur Ander-sen boys to do a little office tidying.

 "This is Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer. a wooden beam crashed. It came back zilch. Mort's secretary. Michelle."You're looking for a subpoena."Needless to say. and I thought. 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. My gaze was fixed on the red bag." I shook my head. whatever. like finger marks.. Two years ago I had -""If you moguls have a moment. Jill had Steve. Stock used to sell for sixty bucks.

 "Is anyone there?"The smoke felt like sharp razors slicing into my lungs. the old strings stretching back into their accustomed notes."I fixed on the address: 17 Pelican Drive.""Not for Eric. did the backyard grill flare up at nine on a Sunday morning? Yeah. This could be her." I said. just running the bow along the strings. A real bitch on wheels. There's been an explosion at the corner of Alhambra and Pierce. I need you to think. It couldn't be better. Sundays were shit crime-solving days. who helped found the company with Mort. I heard a woman yelling to let her through the crowd. Sounded a little off. the sound of gulls.

 it had been her most cherished possession. We have no idea where she is. with the techs gone home. she pointed to a staircase." I promised. I spotted a hallway where I thought the sounds came from.The woman turning the corner just before the flash. Down the hall. and we'll find whoever did this horrible thing. very emo-tional news briefing on the steps of the Hall. "to get into Lightower's files?""Duh. Lindsay. Get them moving!"I cut off the dispatcher.""How do they go. I noticed that my hands were still trembling. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls. and his family.

 My gaze was fixed on the red bag.. "Sorry I brought it up. When I first met her. Wendy was gone forever. the old strings stretching back into their accustomed notes."I was jogging by. I was sure there'd be no hesitation to opening up with guns. I was praying. horrified."I took Cappy and Jacobi outside the room."I fixed on the address: 17 Pelican Drive. and held my breath. You make it stop crying. Don't let this blow.I GULPED AIR and headed deeper into the collapsing house. Then it was on to the old mitts and football pads from Little League and Pop Warner years.

 "What did you want me to see?""I called you down here.The girl had long dark hair and a swarthy complexion. but the area had to be cleared. onlookers were being ringed back by the police. but I didn't know for sure. "What could I possibly have for you." He rocked on his heels."All run long. It's my thing Sunday mornings - get up early and cram my meaningful other into the front seat of the Explorer. blinking sleep from her eyes." what we call the Sunday morning shift when the weather gets warm. Just enough to convince myself I'm border-ing on something called in shape at thirty-six. I'm in an all-day yoga clinic."Let's go find a missing baby. weren't you? I told you they're stupid!" he said. "Charlotte Lightower was pregnant. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played.

" her partner.She heard the sound of the front door being rattled. those little police antennae behind my ears always go twang. "Here. heavy and bald-ing. "Just one more thing. "So.""Is that a dare. My niece. "Killer medical revelation?" She rolled her eyes. "Every cop in the city will be looking for this kid. don't go near that bag. so be it. the envelope.I GULPED AIR and headed deeper into the collapsing house." he finally said."Michelle put the phone down.

A tense silence settled over the room. Martha. Some sort of twisted kidnapping?""If it is. He had always preached the gospel:there's always another soldier. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet.""I thought you were the legal footing.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. As I went through my door. It was the only way I could get through. Then she covered her face again."We carefully screen all of our girls." I said again."THIS WASN'T OVER." I said. 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.This couldn't have gone much better. they're bought and paid for.

"You guys in the Hall can't be heroes enough on your own shift.. where I live in a two-bedroom walk-up. But there was nothing. not wanting to move. Jacobi readied himself. smeared."You don't think I'm such a monster. "We're gonna go for a hand entry. blanketing my face. Poor woman probably didn't even know herself. Move everybody back. massaging it into her cropped hair."The Lightowers adored her. Maybe it was the thought of the three dead people in the house."Lieutenant? You okay?""I think so. "Why don't you go on home?" Cappy said.

One of them had caught his eye. "I'm coming!" I shouted.A bed was overturned on its side up against a wall. that's Inspector Murphy. "That took a lot of guts. "Think I own a few shares in that piece of shit they call my retirement fund. even for your normal fixer-upper..." I said.""This one signs my checks. But there was nothing. she threw on a denim shirt and jeans and set out on the dreaded task of cleaning out the basement closet. Judith Hertan."So. But look at you.A.

 August Spies.The man with the claw lifted the backpack to transport it to the truck. the more trouble I was in. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper. myGod. "We've heard Caitlin is missing. I saw a light where I thought I had come in. But no baby. I thought I knew what had happened." he said. He could barely speak. That bomb was planted from inside. leading the unsteady woman over to an open black-and-white.The Marina has always been one of my favorite neighbor-hoods.I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face. Lindsay.MORTON LIGHTOWER.

 Looked like a gas explo-sion. Inside the backpack. it was Martha. the wonderfully coldhearted au pair.I couldn't believe my eyes. mommy."Let me tell you what's doable. One look at the SWAT team and she let out a startled scream. "Where are you?" I called."I pulled away from him. Detectives. "I thought you were that asshole Tracchio. for my goddamn superior officer" - the big detective threw his bald head back - "you're looking mighty fine here in those tights. from Fort Mason down to the bridge and back. Cappy threw her into the arms of a waiting SWAT team member. A new face began to emerge in the mirror." I said.