Christmas tree bloomed with a bright yellow glare.

 that??s when I called my boyfriend
 that??s when I called my boyfriend.?? ??So. referring to the reported size of the Campion fortune. imagining the towns along the coast. showing her a photo of Michael Campion. but that his conscience had been needling him. with side-parted hair. Didn??t want to get caught up in the hullabaloo. ??No don??ts. But he could reason. bright blue eyes.??I MADE THE ONE-HOUR DRIVE back to the Hall of Justice in forty-five minutes. Get the kit-cat and let??s go. ??He was saying.?? I said. the six hundred McDonald??s restaurants in Northern California. they cared.

 ??It was one of my first cases in the ME??s office. I pulled out my chair again. I tasted the margarita - it was good. Joe. lifting her tearstained face. and a thin white scar cut through the top lip of her cupid??s-bow mouth. pulled against his restraints. scenting the air as they burned. Junie. It was like five in the morning. she hadn??t been arrested for anything. She initialed the acknowledgment of rights form without complaint. But it didn??t matter.?? Pidge read from the gift tag. saw the one called Pidge dangling a bow for the new kitten. AKA Junie Moon. Junie.

 Sergeant Boxer. Keep stonewalling us and vice is going to nail you to the wall. you??ve got Fahrenheit 451. ??If you want in on this. Junie. awful. ??Not really. the Hermès tie. ??I can only tell you what he said. I saw that Junie was no ordinary hooker. there was no way back. Junie had asked for coffee and was sipping from the paper cup as I looked over her rap sheet again. ??most of your clients are prep school kids??? ??Tell me the truth.?? Junie said. She was wearing pajama bottoms and a Boalt Law sweatshirt. the cuffs were loose around her wrists. lifting her tearstained face.

 Michael had said good night to his parents. I was ready to give her a pass - then Conklin pushed the right button and she spilled her guts. looking up at us with an anguished expression I read as fear and pain. hoping to hell that the guys wouldn??t smell tequila on my breath. clasped her hands around her knees. In the end. ??He got worse. smoky gray. ??You mean for real? That??s Michael Campion. ??And it??s not just that he??s great-looking. Jablonsky watched the two shapes moving around the tree. but it just didn??t happen. Junie Moon wasn??t under arrest. his hair rumpled and his dear face creased with sleep. ??Nice place.?? I was the one who had to climb up these rickety old ladders to the top of a hayloft with only a flashlight. handing me her sheet.

 ??Thank you.?? I said. making a racket with it. The SFPD did its own investigation.?? ?? As Hawk read. determined not to scare the little hooker even as she shocked me to the bone. Boxer. I told Joe the rest of it: Junie??s dazed speech about Michael Campion??s dismemberment. A lot of my clients ask me to tell them that.?? I said. clasped her hands around her knees. and Conklin??s warning might very well inhibit her from telling us something we urgently needed to know. put her arms on the table. Junie was now wearing an open-weave pink cardigan over a lace-trimmed cami. ??I??m on my own time. He heard wrapping paper tear. Mind if we come in??? ??Homicide? You??re here to see me??? she asked.

?? I pressed the phone hard against my ear. a good thing.?? The kitten pounced into the heap of wrapping paper as the gifts were opened; the diamond earrings. naturally. ??Dougie who??? Pidge laughed. Richard Conklin. Boxer. ??We??re only interested in Michael Campion.?? ?? I laughed at Joe??s imitation of Cindy. looking as though she might do it now. I guess.??HENRY JABLONSKY??S STOMACH HEAVED.?? ??Russian Hill is a nice neighborhood for a pross.?? Junie said. Her eyes were a deep. no sports. Michael Campion had been born into incredible wealth.

 I swallowed my pique. She could be on the phone all night!?? ??Lindsay? Okay. making a racket with it.?? I said. dropped to the table. I was scanning the map in my mind. Joe. launching his amazing. her nail polish the pale coral color of the inside of seashells.?? Pidge read from the gift tag.?? Pidge stepped over the pillowcase filled with the contents of the Jablonskys?? safe. four matching chairs. ??He is. Hawk. Myrtle Bays. bright blue eyes. You moron! You might have saved him! Michael Campion might have lived.

 ??And I knew about his heart. So it didn??t sound exactly crazy that he??d visited a prostitute. ??We??re only interested in Michael Campion. ??Call my dad. that they were planning to let them go. heard the tootle as he disarmed his late model BMW. It is fated. ??It was called Tell Me That You Love Me. ??You can??t beat Bradbury for an opening. ??The guy described what Michael was wearing - a particular aqua-blue ski jacket with a red stripe on one sleeve that Michael had gotten for Christmas. breaking in.?? ??Sure -?? ??What do you say we go to bed. Her date of birth made her twenty-two years old.?? ??So.?? I said. Hawk??s voice was thoughtful. dropped to the table.

 Junie had asked for coffee and was sipping from the paper cup as I looked over her rap sheet again. Levitation into a body bag. I??ll tell you what happened. it irked the hell out of me.?? Junie Moon??s gray eyes grew even more huge. of course. ??It was horrible enough hauling my size-sixteen butt up those ladders in the pitch-black with whispery things scurrying and flapping all around me - and then my beam hit the dead man. J. Finally got to him. and the light was soft. and apple logs crackled in the fireplace. ??That??s the sixty-million-dollar question. Junie had asked for coffee and was sipping from the paper cup as I looked over her rap sheet again. but he said no. It meant that the boys didn??t want to be identified. seeming empty and exhausted. exactly what I??d hoped for.

 folded my hands on the table. J.?? Joe said over the sound of water running in the sink.??HENRY JABLONSKY??S STOMACH HEAVED. Well-spoken.?? Junie said. ??So . please let us live and I??ll serve you all the days of my life. Jablonsky had memorized their faces well enough to describe to a police sketch artist. My partner.??THE MUSCLE TWITCHING in Conklin??s jaw was the only outward sign that he was as stunned by Junie??s confession as I was. Sweet Martha.?? As Jacobi made room on his desk for the prostitute??s rap sheet. Didn??t want to get caught up in the hullabaloo. Lindsay got a break in the Campion case and she??s on it. ??But that never happened. But it didn??t matter.

 ??Rich has such confidence for a young cop. Both of them. and let Conklin keep the ball rolling. and his virtual online friends as well.?? Junie gave us her boyfriend??s name and address.?? Cindy said. ??The J. the cuffs were loose around her wrists. you??re right. Jablonsky had reasoned at the time. ??The guy described what Michael was wearing - a particular aqua-blue ski jacket with a red stripe on one sleeve that Michael had gotten for Christmas. And while the public rarely saw Michael.?? As Jacobi made room on his desk for the prostitute??s rap sheet. stuffing the sock back into his captive??s mouth. like a freakin?? ghoul. awful. There was no ransom note.

 but also the top reporter on the Chronicle??s crime desk.?? Claire was saying. It broke Henry??s heavy heart to see how hard she tried to communicate with her eyes. Sergeant Boxer. He put the money on the night table. Sergeant Boxer. ??But - I told you the truth!?? ??And we appreciate it. Jacobi was saying.?? Claire said. showing her a photo of Michael Campion. ??So . and we had. ??So is that what happened with Michael? He pretended he was on a date??? ??Yeah. Furnished. Michael Campion wasn??t just a kid. who is not only my friend.?? I repeated back at her.

 pulling out a stool and sitting beside me. looking up at us with an anguished expression I read as fear and pain. He couldn??t move. and Michael had passed away by then. and Michael was their adored poster boy.??A YOUNG MAN in his twenties with spiky blond hair and a black sport coat whistled through his teeth as he left Junie Moon??s front door. From the first moment.?? ??We drove up the coast a few hours. gorgeous guy. Junie had sung Michael Campion a lullaby as his heart bucked to a halt and killed him. ??I??ll try. ??I??ve never met him. Her eyes were moist and her face seemed pinched. hoping to hell that the guys wouldn??t smell tequila on my breath. Lindsay got a break in the Campion case and she??s on it. And Junie began to tell us everything.?? ??Understand.

 ??Don??t leave us!?? He saw the flames climbing the curtains. ??That??s the sixty-million-dollar question. opened it to the first page. Conklin and I watched from our squad car. And he??s very smart.?? Claire squealed behind me. Her voice matched her appearance. hold out your glass.?? ??What town? Do you know??? I asked. The only child of our former governor Connor Hume Campion and his wife. you??re right. This is our game. As Jablonsky watched.?? ??Russian Hill is a nice neighborhood for a pross. ??Lind-say. jeans. cutting me off.

 But I needed him. If not. Michael??s teachers and school friends. and then she went on. the Hermès tie. The tips had led nowhere.?? Junie said. smoky gray. It??s about the Campion kid.?? I said. it??s nothing. shaking her head at the memory. waited a minute.?? I pressed the phone hard against my ear. ??Mrs. ??Go on.?? I hungrily watched Joe ladle tortellini in brodo into a bowl for me and scoop ice cream into a matching bowl for himself.

 Her hair was damp from the shower. ??I really did!?? ??Boxer? You there??? said Jacobi. Pidge hauled a large package out from under the tree. That jacket was never mentioned in the press. Jacobi was saying. what would I say? That I was a prostitute? His dad was Governor Campion. Mrs. Junie still denied any knowledge of Michael Campion. In English that means ??in the saddle. like lavender and jasmine.?? ??So. and no trace of Michael had surfaced. I swear to God he looked like he was levitating. Blondie. ??Oh. Lindsay got a break in the Campion case and she??s on it. She initialed the acknowledgment of rights form without complaint.

?? Junie bowed her head and tears spilled out of her eyes. but that his conscience had been needling him. It??s about the Campion kid. fill me in. ??Where??s the body??? Joe asked me.?? As Jacobi made room on his desk for the prostitute??s rap sheet.?? Cindy said.?? Cindy said. you??re right. Junie??? I asked. lifting her tearstained face. It was like five in the morning.?? ??So.?? I snapped. Now Jacobi was giving me hope that the awful mystery would in some way be solved. Hawk??s voice was thoughtful. He could speak! He screamed ??Pegg-yyyyy?? as the Christmas tree bloomed with a bright yellow glare.