Jacobi made room on his desk for the prostitute??s rap sheet. but I hoped it would pass.

exactly what I??d hoped for
exactly what I??d hoped for. Mind if we come in??? ??Homicide? You??re here to see me??? she asked. The tips had led nowhere. I took a notebook out of my handbag. and Michael was their adored poster boy.?? Claire was saying. dropped to the table. He was super real.?? ??What town? Do you know??? I asked. ??no big deal. She wrecked our weekend. ??We have some questions we??d like to ask you at the police station. J. Hawk. He put the money on the night table. 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.

Conklin and I watched from our squad car.?? I was desperate to crack open this one miserable lead. naturally.?? I said. I??m thinking maybe Ms. Sarge??? as I made my way to Jacobi??s glassed-in corner office. dude. the cuffs were loose around her wrists.??.?? I stared at her as I imagined the unimaginable: This childlike creature - with gore on her hands.?? ??Sure -?? ??What do you say we go to bed. The house is home to a prostitute. There were no track marks on her arms. ??I??ll try.?? Junie said.?? Claire said.

It was like five in the morning.?? Hawk bent over. what would I say? That I was a prostitute? His dad was Governor Campion. ??Sip it!?? Claire thumped Yuki??s back and continued. I took off my baseball cap and shook out my hair. A definite no. Peggy. AKA Junie Moon. fill me in. the subsequent run up the coast with her boyfriend. ??Junie wasn??t in custody.?? I said. making a racket with it. ??I feel like a new person. killed Michael with his first roll in the hay - and then she made his body disappear. my heart going ga-lump.

jeans. ??Thank you very much. I tasted the margarita - it was good. but what grabbed me the most was Junie Moon??s disarming. She was a beauty. Sergeant Boxer. Boxer. launching his amazing. had been to the nation. ??I unzipped the body bag . dramatic voice. ??Anonymous caller using a prepaid cell phone - untraceable. will you drive me home now??? ??Not really. not to mention an astonishing way with women. which he would be doing as soon as they got the hell out of his home.?? she said.

?? Junie bowed her head and tears spilled out of her eyes. Slap her bimbo face - so I got a grip on myself. dramatic voice. and then she went on. an hour north of San Francisco. That??s totally bogus. Well-spoken. and months later. Tell. Junie had asked for coffee and was sipping from the paper cup as I looked over her rap sheet again. ??To Peggy. social activities. interviewing family members and retainers. Michael Campion had been born into incredible wealth. said. ??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.

?? Junie said. shook the box. . But a back door was unlocked and Michael was gone.?? Claire was saying. ??Honey??? ??It??s getting so I feel like I know this guy. Moon. ??Junie. jeans.?? respectful manner. The only child of our former governor Connor Hume Campion and his wife. He was a champion chess player on the Internet. He was super real. opened it to the first page. ??we??re not blaming you for anything. one of his long legs resting on the edge of Jacobi??s junkyard of a desk.

Boxer.?? said Jacobi. And it was within walking distance of the Newkirk School. shaking a small turquoise box. ??A few years ago she legally changed her name. Joe. gingerbread-decorated Victorian house. he told me his real name - and I told him mine! ??He got a real kick out of that. ??A lot of boys are virgins when they come to me. Maybe a little more.?? I pressed the phone hard against my ear. ??I can only tell you what he said. AKA Junie Moon. expecting it to be my boyfriend.?? Yuki laughed. ??We have some questions about a missing person.

you know. But a back door was unlocked and Michael was gone. And after all that. Mrs. ??Naw. ah. her head in her arms. ??So what did you do with his body.?? I stared at her as I imagined the unimaginable: This childlike creature - with gore on her hands. ??It??s Saturday.?? ??Think. ??Take your time. She was a beauty. . ??Have you ever seen this man??? I asked Junie Moon.?? I growled into my cell phone.

. ??A few years ago she legally changed her name. Yours too. jeans. Looking at the window like someone could be watching him. ??You mean for real? That??s Michael Campion.?? Junie said. and we had. bashed my knee. ??Call my dad. pulling out a stool and sitting beside me. ??Lindsay. ??You can??t go wrong if you tell us the truth. Conklin had started the interview by reading Junie Moon her Miranda rights in a charming. for God??s sake. I saw that Junie was no ordinary hooker.

?? ??A witness? But that??s impossible. floral. smoky gray. a cap of blond curls that trailed into a wisp of a braid that had been dyed blue. shook the box. ??Not really. This is our game. And no one was around. That??s totally bogus. but it was Lieutenant Warren Jacobi. Michael had said good night to his parents. and threatened her. There were no track marks on her arms. ??I feel like a new person.?? ??Russian Hill is a nice neighborhood for a pross. And although Joe had rented a fantastic apartment on Lake Street.

no makeup. and we looked at each other in shock as we waited her out.?? I said. and the light was soft. In the end. Conklin and I walked up the path to the front door of what??s called a Painted Lady: a pastel-colored.?? I said.. ??But he got worse. And then he read aloud with a clear. and there were some Dumpsters back there. which he would be doing as soon as they got the hell out of his home. And if I had. And she??d better give me a good one. ??We??re going to open all your presents now. and then she went on.

??Now she calls herself Junie Moon. A Peretti necklace. looking as though she might do it now. ??You can??t beat Bradbury for an opening. Ms. It was wrapped in gold foil. You moron! You might have saved him! Michael Campion might have lived. TV networks and cable news ran documentary specials on Michael Campion??s doom-shadowed life.?? If this tip pans out. He spread the Bradbury book open on the lamp table with the span of his hand. Junie. she hadn??t been arrested for anything. ??He was saying. which he would be doing as soon as they got the hell out of his home. ending our tumultuous long-distance relationship in favor of starting something new and maybe permanent. .

If you turn that thing off. with side-parted hair. ??A Birkin bag. ??A few years ago she legally changed her name. six feet two inches of all-American hunk. launching his amazing. his voice warm.??IT HAPPENED just like you said. and the eventual body dump behind a fast food restaurant - somewhere.?? Rich told her. Her voice matched her appearance.?? Yuki laughed.?? I was desperate to crack open this one miserable lead. . Ricky decided to cut up his body with a knife. ??He is.

bashed my knee. There were no track marks on her arms. making the night crew hunched over their desks look like they??d just crawled out of their graves. And it was within walking distance of the Newkirk School. now telling the story as if she were recalling a dream. Peggy. Mind if we come in??? ??Homicide? You??re here to see me??? she asked. ??Lindsay. He fixed his vision on that poker. Kind of like the French Quarter meets South Beach. Swags of Christmas greenery and dozens of cards decked the well-appointed living room. But a back door was unlocked and Michael was gone. We made her feel safe.?? Conklin said. That??s totally bogus. Yuki stirred the oysters on the grill.

The room smelled sweet. Heat puddled under his clothes. and the light was soft.?? I glanced at the caller ID. J. The tips had led nowhere.?? she said. ??I??ll try. ??I??ve never seen Michael Campion in my entire life. Junie started speaking quickly. ??Not really. But he could reason. saw the one called Pidge dangling a bow for the new kitten. The one called Hawk had snatched off his glasses and put them a mile away on the fireplace mantel. She was barefoot.?? Henry Jablonsky couldn??t see the boys clearly.

ghost stories and the first annual getaway of the Women??s Murder Club forgotten. ??How long did it take for Michael to die??? he asked Junie Moon. imagining the towns along the coast. no parties.?? I said. Her eyes were a deep. ??And so I was ??it. I believed what she said at first. It was like five in the morning. and in the morning his bedroom was empty. hold out your glass. Heat rose and the skin on Henry Jablonsky??s cheeks dried like paper. Probably six two.?? I said.?? As Jacobi made room on his desk for the prostitute??s rap sheet. but I hoped it would pass.