house.""Lucky for her. We got a few leads.

"I heard what you did
"I heard what you did. No drum roll.The woman turning the corner just before the flash. I just took hold of that little boy and prayed.""Not exactly a good time."When you said Eric was the only one brought out. Curling streets of colorful. "Would you be asking me if your goddamn superior officer happened to be a man?""Damn right. Smoke was everywhere. made sure she was in good standing. Any longer and the fumes alone would kill us.THE CRAMPED THIRD-FLOOR OFFICE that housed the Homicide detail was buzzing. It had been eighteen months since he died. you checked them. probably a psychopath; he even scared Danko sometimes." I said." he groaned.

" She winked. Wendy was a name for Peter Pan. She closed her eyes and played a little more. obvi-ously a cop with some clout. there was no time. if you're free today. Any help you could give in finding her?""Maybe Helene could help you out. Zinn. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played. I just assumed. We were told the family had an au pair - who's missing. from Fort Mason down to the bridge and back. Inside the backpack. It was still beautiful. the old girl's still got it. "We've heard Caitlin is missing."Something you want to add to that.

 calm morning; the stucco town house.""We're doing everything we can to follow up on the baby. head of the city's bomb squad.The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment. at the same time he was dumping his own stock and laying off half his staff. the more trouble I was in. "Why don't you go on home?" Cappy said. The town house I had just admired was now a shell.I pressed her hand. Mayor Fiske and Police Commissioner Tracchio were live at the bomb scene. If the call was interrupted. typical police insolence. where I live in a two-bedroom walk-up. Aronoff. and his family. We have three dead. Claire.

 shaking his head. If Caitlin wasn't there. It led you out?" Claire smiled. about eleven." I said to the guys.""I saw two bodies inside.I turned away and crouched down to shield Martha as the oven like shock waves from the explosion passed over us.. along with about half the city's news force. The Internet honcho. taking a semi relaxed breath for the first time all day. the department's press liaison. I just wanted to give you an update - everything is working beau-tifully.I tied Martha to a lamppost. maybe forty."You up for a mochachino?" I asked."You up for a mochachino?" I asked.

 For two months Fratelli had stuck his face in my office every time he was in the Hall. War-ren had the "front nine. a blond woman. Look at the firemen. She was running away."Behind me. "You should get a load of how it looks. "Is anyone alive in here?"I couldn't go any farther. All of a sudden a beep sounded on my cell phone. "I'm Captain Ed Noroski. "Everyone get back!" I yelled again. its humble beginnings.We started with the usual questions: Had Lightower received any threats? Were they aware of anyone who'd want to do him harm?"No..So he made the call from a pay phone in the Mission Dis-trict. Lindsay.""I heard there was a baby stolen out of the house.

 "You could call Baghdad a vacation spot. "I can taste that mochachino."C'mon. A real bitch on wheels. "I know I'm out of bed" - he scratched his head - "I remember putting on my glasses. not the real world. We had a couple of leads to follow. The other. Now that she'd proved what she was made of.I was coughing. "What's doable is that we're back here in two hours with a subpoena. it's not a challenge. It was still beautiful. Flames gusted just fifty feet away."The door to the conference room opened and two men stepped in. We got a line on the au pair. even the children.

There it was again."Shit.""Can't. Her niece wasn't in there. A SWAT van pulled up alongside. "Is anyone alive in here?"I couldn't go any farther. blown to pieces."She felt herself wheezing now. Now that she'd proved what she was made of. Mort's secretary.She had her hair pulled back tightly. honey. We had a description from Lightower's sister.I was coughing. don't go near that bag. The redheaded kid spin-ning his Razor. my God.

 searing and noxious. This had been a dream of his. What I do is supposed to be about making money. you have to be strong. And Tracchio. Edmund. "He's okay?""He's at the Burn Unit at Cal Pacific. Cappy was dig-ging up whatever he could on the missing au pair. Maybe ten years old. Her niece wasn't in there." Claire said. focusing on the heights of Fort Mason. from Fort Mason down to the bridge and back. It was every-where. hooded eyes impossible to light up with surprise. but he was truly a killer.We stood in front of the smoking house.

 I scrolled back to the mental image I had before the blast: the girl in the overalls leaving the scene. Maybe it was the thought of the three dead people in the house. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played. You look like shit. it was as grim as I could remember. I couldn't see for shit."She felt herself wheezing now. I collapsed against a fire truck up on the sidewalk. read the inscription. A SWAT van pulled up alongside. please. I'm in an all-day yoga clinic. "Lieutenant Boxer. still in his pajamas. Mayor Fiske and Police Commissioner Tracchio were live at the bomb scene. They had agreed not to meet until they were sure she hadn't been followed. "The ones who matter know.

 Michelle's heart jumped.""I did. Ever since I'd taken a shot in the Coombs case. then at me again. Her whole career sprang from that scoop. or can I wear my tennis shorts and Nikes?"I brushed past him. "We're gonna go for a hand entry. Blond. Jesus. A fireman bent over me.Then she came upon the old aluminum case buried under a musty blanket.. eyes going back and forth. An EMT carefully put a blanket around me."Chief Tracchio on the phone. Sirens. This could be her.

"Your boss has been murdered. This fiery action had taken nerve on his part."Edmund hummed the opening bars that Claire had just played. I'm okay. We had a couple of leads to follow. praying I wasn't doing him harm. Blond. to say the one thing in the midst of this madness that would make me cry.. "that's Lieutenant Boxer.""Jill.I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face. 'cause I must be dreaming. Wish I could talk about them. There was a note at the bomb scene. A fireman bent over me. myGod.

"Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news."In the next minutes. Lieutenant. Jill had Steve. The house was a shabby blue Vic-torian on a street of similar row houses several blocks from the campus."I don't get any reading. I squeezed it gently.. coughing sound. Just put Malcolm on. "I heard it on the news. "It referred to Morton Lightower as an `enemy of the people. We did it. a blond woman. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene.I GULPED AIR and headed deeper into the collapsing house. "Get everyone out of here.

 I didn't know if I was telling the truth." he groaned. its humble beginnings.Suddenly I realized just how exhausted I was. No "Ladies and gentlemen. What. It's me. Lindsay?" Jill chuckled back.""I'm not sure that's doable. She was cheerful and attractive." Gerry Cates said stiffly. But there was nothing. who helped found the company with Mort." I said." I shook my head. "Charlotte Lightower was pregnant.""Jill.

 explained to me. the biking helmet and goggles covered his face in case the police were filming the crowd. if the call was discovered. It came back zilch. I saw a light where I thought I had come in.Any moment now.."Suddenly the layout of the burning building came back to me. clearly upset by the question. She'd had it just last night. Niko wheeled out a boxlike instrument. He hadn't come this close to an investigation since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago. Wendy was gone forever." Claire gave me a halfhearted smile.. We waited while Captain Noroski's men picked through the rubble.' "Jacobi switched gears.

 Move everybody back. The grime of the blast was all over me.He looked at the house." she said with a laugh. Lieutenant. She was running away. held it in her hands. Jacobi's part-ner." she said. And if I did.He looked at the house. that a six-month-old baby was still miss-ing. The shape of a man. grinning."This isn't the au pair." Linda Cliborne said. That kid is gone.

 who helped found the company with Mort. isn't it? I think I know her." I said. my best friend of a dozen years. Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place. that's Inspector Murphy.Wendy. The farther I went." I said to the guys.""Then if I were you. I collapsed against a fire truck up on the sidewalk."The news didn't exactly surprise us."Behind me. that's Inspector Murphy. Jesus. I just did what I thought was right." she repeated.

 I've got a multiple-murder investigation. It was just sit-ting there on the sidewalk. blanketing my face." he said. It was always there.. an X-ray scanner." He was trying to buy ball teams. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut."You'll provide us a list of all your clients. blown to pieces. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time.""She seemed perfect for it.He looked at the house.""Lucky for her. We got a few leads.