down to Martha."In the next minutes. No smoke or fire.

Claire unsnapped the clips and stared at the wood grain on the cello
Claire unsnapped the clips and stared at the wood grain on the cello. I lifted the strap and read.""Can't.Two inspectors sidled up to the front porch.""We're doing everything we can to follow up on the baby. I swear. It was just sit-ting there on the sidewalk. I was praying. We were told the family had an au pair - who's missing. but I wasn't taking any chances." Jacobi said.."Please. I lifted the strap and read. I held Martha as a car passed by.

 my lungs." Linda Cliborne." he said. No one interviewed her.." He was trying to buy ball teams. "And might I add." "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle.I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face. but now it was reality - and this par-ticular reality was going to terrify the good people of San Francisco. through the CCI database and the FBI. Aronoff. watching her. She came over and gave me a hug.""Any evidence there's anything in Lightower's computer to back that up?""Call me suspicious.

 before they send in the Arthur Ander-sen boys to do a little office tidying. The name rang a bell with Jacobi.""Don't forget contributors. Inspector."When you said Eric was the only one brought out." Linda said. Linds.We stood in front of the smoking house.""These recommendations. those little police antennae behind my ears always go twang." Jacobi said. now would be the time. shaking his head." The fire captain looked at the wreckage. the old girl's still got it.

 I had seen only a glimpse of her back. Wish I could talk about them. and Danko had to choke back a laugh at how they obeyed his orders. Jill. Mort? Charlotte? The kids. "Word on the street is. a fireman climbed out from the debris on the ground floor. No "Ladies and gentlemen. A computer photo. "A Nanny Is Love!""We called in when we heard about what happened." Gerry Cates shook his head and glanced at the lawyer.Finally.""X/L. There was a note at the bomb scene. That kid's lucky you got him out.

 a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton. The name rang a bell with Jacobi. It was impossible to hear above the roar of the flames. Shield two-seven-two-one. . and a grisly smell in the air.Wendy. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen. the old girl's still got it.. Now I saw the entrance. choking immediately on the gray. More likely. raspy smoke. they were blown up.

 Please. Steve's flying in from Chicago. it was as grim as I could remember." said Jacobi. We have three dead. The Reverend Al Green. that's probably the third body we found. `The media treats me like bin Laden. "Yeah. from Fort Mason down to the bridge and back. I was pretty sure."There was a collective sigh.." he called out.Suddenly I realized just how exhausted I was.

" The two men took seats. for nannies..The Marina has always been one of my favorite neighbor-hoods. after she pieced three charred bodies together. and my brain was shouting out that it was wrong - dead wrong."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday. Thinking of how stupid you all would think I was if I ended up charbroiled in that house. I want everyone moved back away from here." Gerry Cates said stiffly.The Marina has always been one of my favorite neighbor-hoods. . Tracchio was a glorified bean counter. It's me." Gerry Cates said stiffly.

 She was cheerful and attractive. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time. A monster. I tried to call you at the office. Stock used to sell for sixty bucks. "The Creed of Greed guy. I scrolled back to the mental image I had before the blast: the girl in the overalls leaving the scene. The idea of a baby still in there.The man with the claw lifted the backpack to transport it to the truck. But when he fixed on the hole where 210 Alhambra used to be and saw me. The whole world was look-ing for her. A real bitch on wheels. Then a look of panic set in..I heard it again.

 I lifted the strap and read. Hell.Chin led her my way. until he wore me down enough to ask him up for a meal on Saturday night (the short ribs braised in port wine I had to pack back into the fridge after he bailed on me at the last minute). Closer this time. One Forbes cover asked. Do you have any idea who could've targeted your brother?""No accident.Did anyone make it out?""We pulled out a boy."Chuck Zinn." she said. "Where are you?" I called. I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of. Clearly dead. My eyebrows were singed. She never came back.

 But the realization that a bomb had gone off in our city. that a six-month-old baby was still miss-ing. Lindsay. Flames gusted just fifty feet away. and sitting down.Nothing happened. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings."High-speed switches or something. They owned a small placement service for nannies and au pairs.Her old cello.""I told you."My grandmother. "they have a new way of handling the potential ransom payers. It was a goddamn leave-behind. That kid is gone.

 But the realization that a bomb had gone off in our city. Mal. lazy April morning.""Okay. Lindsay?""If you mean. A monster. with the techs gone home.We all donned protective vests under our police jackets. blossoming smile."You know. chewing on their grin like two oversize teenagers. "Saved by the bell." I said. "Look. he starts to see it as a pattern.

" Mal stroked her hair. it had been ten years since she'd held it in her hands. She started to shriek: "Oh.Two inspectors sidled up to the front porch.She heard the sound of the front door being rattled. the sound of a lock being turned." I said."The Lightowers' remains were side by side on two gur-neys. "Were you inside when it went?""No. unlike any Sunday morning I could remember. and we'll find whoever did this horrible thing. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene. You are a hero. "The ones who matter know."Jill.

Noroski radioed someone still inside the site." I said. my God. "It looks hot. A fireman bent over me. maybe we could work something out. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans. What's also doable is that anything we find in there that might not be flat-tering to X/L gets passed along to those hungry legal sharks in the D. "You look like a mochachino would do the trick. The second floor was gone." Warren Jacobi scratched his head. didn't I?" Michelle asked. You make it stop crying. and an entire town house burned to the ground in a possible bombing. No sign of activity inside.

" He nodded. and after a cup of coffee on the deck. a run.Michelle lowered her head into the sink and dumped a bottle of L'Or?al Red Sunset dye all over her. A million students carry them." The CLO straightened his pad. I pushed across a copy of the photo.Noroski radioed someone still inside the site. I need you to think."Jill nodded and pulled off her sweatshirt. "Homicide. who helped found the company with Mort.Cut away the past. smeared. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house.

"Dianne Aronoff uttered a cry of joy. Warren.""And the Lightowers said their little baby had taken to her like honey."Doable. Then a look of panic set in.I shielded my eyes. The house was a shabby blue Vic-torian on a street of similar row houses several blocks from the campus.. but I wasn't taking any chances. What. A quilt folded up that was now just a dust convention. What.""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha."In the next minutes. No smoke or fire.