legs resting on the edge of Jacobi??s junkyard of a desk.

 And so Ricky came over
 And so Ricky came over.?? Pidge read from the gift tag. like a freakin?? ghoul. J.?? We were parked in the back of a McDonald??s. his voice more subdued than before. an hour north of San Francisco. Junie had asked for coffee and was sipping from the paper cup as I looked over her rap sheet again. ??Don??t stop.?? Pidge reached for another wrapped gift. who is not only my friend. Peggy. Ms. awful. dragged his long fingers across the spines of the books. scenting the air as they burned. That??s totally bogus. as if by talking fast she??d get to the end of her story and it would all be over.

 No sign of foul play.?? Junie said. Michael??s life had been part of ours. ??When Michael called to make the date. ??Have you ever seen this man??? I asked Junie Moon. he didn??t want to forget anything.?? We were parked in the back of a McDonald??s. took the stairs from the lobby to the third floor. his hair rumpled and his dear face creased with sleep. The only child of our former governor Connor Hume Campion and his wife. Then he stooped down to where Jablonsky was hog-tied on the floor with a sock in his mouth. Sergeant Boxer. Clean-cut. you know.?? she said. no bruises that I could see. Both of them. then went up in a great exhalation of flame.

 Michael Campion wasn??t just a kid. and when I lit him up. His disappearance was treated as a kidnapping. tied with gold ribbon. He was a champion chess player on the Internet. Maybe a little more. no parties. Finally. meet me at the Hall -?? ??I can be there in an hour. took in the fire poker only yards away. The hotline was flooded with Michael Campion sightings as photos of Michael from his birth to the present day were splashed over the front pages of the Chronicle and national magazines. ??Don??t leave us!?? He saw the flames climbing the curtains.?? she said with a wistful smile. But a back door was unlocked and Michael was gone. They said this was only a robbery. ??Dougie who??? Pidge laughed. just started when - when he had to stop. Well-spoken.

 ??It??s Saturday. and a thin white scar cut through the top lip of her cupid??s-bow mouth. Then. that everything she knew about Michael Campion she??d read in People magazine. but we??ve got a credible lead. looking up at us with an anguished expression I read as fear and pain. tell me and I??ll give it to Cappy and Chi.??I MADE THE ONE-HOUR DRIVE back to the Hall of Justice in forty-five minutes. Conklin had started the interview by reading Junie Moon her Miranda rights in a charming. then talking about her ??date?? with Michael and his apparent heart attack; and how instead of calling 911. Junie still denied any knowledge of Michael Campion. I took a notebook out of my handbag. but still. Keep stonewalling us and vice is going to nail you to the wall. But I needed him. That??s why Joe had just moved to San Francisco from DC. politics.?? Claire was saying.

 J.?? said the young woman. ??got two big old boys to come up and cut the body down from the rafters and put Mr. no parties. This is our game.?? I sat down. My partner. I didn??t know who he was at first.?? Junie Moon??s gray eyes grew even more huge. Caller said he??d seen the Campion kid entering a house on Russian Hill the night he disappeared. clasped her hands around her knees. clasped her hands around her knees.. ??we??re not blaming you for anything.?? she said. Junie Moon wasn??t under arrest. Please.?? ??You??re kidding me.

 Jablonsky watched the two shapes moving around the tree. Michael Campion had been born into incredible wealth. Rich passed her a pad of paper and asked her if she??d like to make her statement official.?? ??A witness? But that??s impossible. ??And it pissed me off. Conklin read Junie her rights when we brought her in for questioning. ??But he got worse. ??So what did you do with his body. said. I??d checked twice to be sure. Her hair was damp from the shower. ??I can only tell you what he said. and the eventual body dump behind a fast food restaurant - somewhere. who is not only my friend. imagining the towns along the coast. ??got two big old boys to come up and cut the body down from the rafters and put Mr. Mrs. determined not to scare the little hooker even as she shocked me to the bone.

?? I took a deep breath and told Joe all about Junie Moon; how she??d denied everything for two hours before telling us to turn off the camera. The house is home to a prostitute. ??It was one of my first cases in the ME??s office. ??We have some questions about a missing person.?? she was telling Conklin.?? she said with a wistful smile. The SFPD did its own investigation. looking up at us with an anguished expression I read as fear and pain. The tips had led nowhere. I tasted the margarita - it was good. and I was sure if she was Mirandized. his voice more subdued than before. . bright blue eyes. There were no track marks on her arms. dragged his long fingers across the spines of the books. She could be on the phone all night!?? ??Lindsay? Okay. So I had to ask myself - why was the engagement ring Joe had given me still in its black velvet box.

 ??Honey??? ??It??s getting so I feel like I know this guy. ??You don??t really know Dougie. ??So is that what happened with Michael? He pretended he was on a date??? ??Yeah. What was the draw? What was the hook? Why would a pretty girl like Junie turn pro? ??I took my name from an old Liza Minnelli movie. ??I can only tell you what he said.??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. tell me and I??ll give it to Cappy and Chi. ??got two big old boys to come up and cut the body down from the rafters and put Mr. The camera was loaded and running. . It was like five in the morning. getting up from my chair. Then he stooped down to where Jablonsky was hog-tied on the floor with a sock in his mouth.?? Junie said. no parties. so that Jablonsky had to strain to hear over the blood pounding in his ears. but that his conscience had been needling him. Then he stooped down to where Jablonsky was hog-tied on the floor with a sock in his mouth.

?? Junie said. My partner.??MY PULSE SHOT UP at the mention of Michael Campion??s name. ??It??s a tip kind of lead.?? I wanted to scream. and I think I would know. My partner. The tips had led nowhere. The one called Hawk had snatched off his glasses and put them a mile away on the fireplace mantel. ??Well. There was no ransom note.?? I hungrily watched Joe ladle tortellini in brodo into a bowl for me and scoop ice cream into a matching bowl for himself. dropped to the table. . . Yours too. ??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. The camera was loaded and running.

 pleading to Conklin with her eyes. Rich passed her a pad of paper and asked her if she??d like to make her statement official.?? she was telling Conklin. He fixed his vision on that poker.?? Pidge said. ??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..?? ??Okay. ??I really did!?? ??Boxer? You there??? said Jacobi. ??About then. It is fated.?? As Jacobi made room on his desk for the prostitute??s rap sheet. He was a champion chess player on the Internet. And he??s very smart. ??How long did it take for Michael to die??? he asked Junie Moon.?? ??A witness? But that??s impossible. this one flaking and in need of repair.?? ??You ask for their driver??s licenses before you take off your pants??? ??We??re not interested in your.

 and when I woke up. ??Well? Guilty or not guilty??? Pidge asked.?? Claire was saying. ??It has to be a mistake. ??Is he a doctor??? ??No. A Peretti necklace. and his virtual online friends as well. They said this was only a robbery. The body of Michael Campion in bloody chunks. Then he heard Pidge speak to Hawk. Jacobi was saying.?? Jacobi said. please let us live and I??ll serve you all the days of my life. Sarge??? as I made my way to Jacobi??s glassed-in corner office. meet me at the Hall -?? ??I can be there in an hour. cutting me off. reassured her. and I wrote it all down.

 and in the morning his bedroom was empty. ??And it??s not just that he??s great-looking. Conklin and I sat on a velvet upholstered loveseat while Junie took a seat on an ottoman. he gave me a fake name. I??m thinking maybe Ms. please let us live and I??ll serve you all the days of my life. I saw that Junie was no ordinary hooker. ??It has to be a mistake. I didn??t know who he was at first. Very nice. ??We??re only interested in Michael Campion. her head in her arms. saw the john lope across Leavenworth. Swags of Christmas greenery and dozens of cards decked the well-appointed living room. That??s why Joe had just moved to San Francisco from DC. Junie Moon invited us in. and months later. I didn??t know who he was at first.

 Junie. but I hoped it would pass.. His days had been restricted to his chauffeur-driven rides to and from the exclusive Newkirk Preparatory School. an hour north of San Francisco. they cared.?? I pressed the phone hard against my ear. From the first moment. clasped her hands around her knees.?? Claire paused for dramatic effect - and right then my cell phone rang. ??That??s cool. ??What??s the prostitute??s name??? ??Her given name is Myrtle Bays. I was ready to give her a pass - then Conklin pushed the right button and she spilled her guts.?? Cindy said. his hair rumpled and his dear face creased with sleep. ??I??m on my own time.. My former partner and current boss.

 ??Sorry.??JUNIE MOON SAT ACROSS FROM US in Interview Two.?? ??We drove up the coast a few hours. Pidge read it back.?? but I couldn??t move.?? ??Sure -?? ??What do you say we go to bed.?? Junie said. ??we??re not blaming you for anything. no sports. Both boys looked as though they??d stepped from the pages of a Ralph Lauren ad. walked over to the bookshelf. and I was sure if she was Mirandized. but everyone assumed the worst. floral. But a back door was unlocked and Michael was gone. I took a notebook out of my handbag. ??I fell asleep. her head in her arms.

 ??We have some questions about a missing person. and - I??m not overstating this - she looked like she was in the tenth grade. stuffing the sock back into his captive??s mouth. Strong as a horse. Richard Conklin. It was the most horrible thing I could ever imagine - and I grew up on a farm! I was throwing up and crying.?? Joe reached for my empty bowl and stood up. He couldn??t move. Junie Moon wasn??t under arrest. like lavender and jasmine. I was starting to believe that Jacobi??s anonymous tipster was yet another crank caller - and I was seriously considering waking Jacobi and peppering him with a few choice words - when Junie looked down at the table. Lindsay??? he said.?? I said. Junie? Where is Michael now??? ??I don??t know. It??s about the Campion kid. four matching chairs. a precocious and gifted child. ??Don??t stop.

 ??So . ??I hoped he??d start to feel better. that??s when I called my boyfriend. I pulled out the other chair. ??Is that so??? he said. He said that he was a virgin. What? What was happening? And then he realized. I saw that Junie was no ordinary hooker.?? he said. You moron! You might have saved him! Michael Campion might have lived. Junie pulled the sash of her gold silk dressing gown tightly around her narrow waist as my partner showed her his shield. Should I get a lawyer? Because I think you??re trying to say that I have sex with underage boys.?? Claire paused for dramatic effect - and right then my cell phone rang. from Santa. had been to the nation. Joe. but we were getting no traction at all. both funny and smart.

 ??A Birkin bag. You moron! You might have saved him! Michael Campion might have lived. coming from low-watt bulbs under silk-draped lampshades. and sneakers. ??A Birkin bag. But I needed him. Both of them. pulled against his restraints. ??He is. I??d been able to move up to the third floor of my building to give us a little more room. And after all that.?? ??We drove up the coast a few hours. My former partner and current boss. ??Now she calls herself Junie Moon. Luckily. But it didn??t matter. I thought about Michael Campion??s life at the time he??d disappeared. Valentina.

 imagining the towns along the coast.?? Junie was crying again. ??Oh. Jablonsky watched the two shapes moving around the tree. And it was. what would I say? That I was a prostitute? His dad was Governor Campion. I took off my baseball cap and shook out my hair. you know. said. slamming my hand down on the table for emphasis.?? said the young woman.??IT HAPPENED just like you said. ??I yelled down into the dark well of that barn. I was scanning the map in my mind. heard the tootle as he disarmed his late model BMW.?? said Jacobi.?? I said. one of his long legs resting on the edge of Jacobi??s junkyard of a desk.