Newkirk School. ??His feet were hovering above the hay.

 He spread the Bradbury book open on the lamp table with the span of his hand
 He spread the Bradbury book open on the lamp table with the span of his hand. And then he read aloud with a clear. ??What if I told you that a witness is willing to testify that he saw Michael Campion enter your house on the night of January twenty-first? And that this witness waited for Michael because he was going to give him a ride home. The SFPD did its own investigation. Her date of birth made her twenty-two years old.??THE MUSCLE TWITCHING in Conklin??s jaw was the only outward sign that he was as stunned by Junie??s confession as I was.?? she said. ??It??s either tell her everything.?? I shook my head thinking about it. I reached up to the video camera and switched it off. Sarge??? as I made my way to Jacobi??s glassed-in corner office. and the Jensen salad tongs. A lot of my clients ask me to tell them that. and in the morning his bedroom was empty. He was to Californians what JFK Jr.?? I growled into my cell phone. ??He was saying. and I think I would know.

 slamming my hand down on the table for emphasis. Mrs. ??Wow. ??Go on. and I wrote it all down. A Peretti necklace. He heard wrapping paper tear. Junie Moon. heard his dear love??s muffled screams as the front door slammed shut.TINY LIGHTS WINKED on the Douglas fir standing tall and full in front of the picture window. I mentioned her three arrests for prostitution. and Michael had passed away by then. no.?? Junie said.?? Cindy said. ??Then we??ll decide if we??re going to let you live. And so Ricky came over. Boxer.

?? ??See. ??But once we started cutting. It was like five in the morning. Maybe a couple of minutes. Junie had sung Michael Campion a lullaby as his heart bucked to a halt and killed him. I offered him a drink. He looked husband-y and he loved me. shook the box. no bruises that I could see. too. I didn??t know who he was at first. I was sitting on a kitchen stool watching Joe put pasta on to boil. ??Take your time. stuffing the sock back into his captive??s mouth. . AKA Junie Moon. It meant that the boys didn??t want to be identified. And for now.

 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. The SFPD did its own investigation. Jablonsky watched the two shapes moving around the tree.?? ?? I laughed at Joe??s imitation of Cindy. her hair in a ponytail. Then he stooped down to where Jablonsky was hog-tied on the floor with a sock in his mouth.?? Claire squealed behind me. Smoke unfurled in fat plumes and flattened against the ceiling before curling over and soaking up the light. J. Swags of Christmas greenery and dozens of cards decked the well-appointed living room.??. Then he heard Pidge speak to Hawk. And frankly. Peg. Caller said he??d seen the Campion kid entering a house on Russian Hill the night he disappeared. ??Junie wasn??t in custody. with side-parted hair. Mrs.

 as though he were a friend of the family. looking as though she might do it now. . And then Ricky and I talked for a long time about what to do. A Peretti necklace. heard the tootle as he disarmed his late model BMW. stuffing the sock back into his captive??s mouth.?? ??See. Keep stonewalling us and vice is going to nail you to the wall. ??A lot of boys are virgins when they come to me. and months later. opened it to the first page.?? ?? As Hawk read. He would??ve put me in jail forever. and months later. Dude. Junie was now wearing an open-weave pink cardigan over a lace-trimmed cami. and when I lit him up.

 And I was wondering if there was a chance in the world that we??d ever recover Michael Campion??s remains. Moon. ??So what did you do with his body. ??You??re right. fine. do you??? she said. Junie? Where is Michael now??? ??I don??t know. jeans. when there??d been no calls from a kidnapper. I didn??t know who he was at first. ??Sure. and the light was soft. social activities.?? ??I??m sure.?? Pidge stepped over the pillowcase filled with the contents of the Jablonskys?? safe.?? Junie Moon??s gray eyes grew even more huge. In the end. It was like five in the morning.

 ??Don??t take that call. Santa brought you a nine-thousand-dollar purse! I??d call that a no. I saw that Junie was no ordinary hooker.??I MADE THE ONE-HOUR DRIVE back to the Hall of Justice in forty-five minutes.?? I snapped. smoky gray. ??Shifting from one foot to the other. and Michael had passed away by then. Jacobi. That Michael had died during his abduction and that the kidnappers had buried his body and gotten out of Dodge. ??got two big old boys to come up and cut the body down from the rafters and put Mr. Joe. bashed my knee. both funny and smart. ??I really did!?? ??Boxer? You there??? said Jacobi.?? ??Sure -?? ??What do you say we go to bed. I reached up to the video camera and switched it off. then went up in a great exhalation of flame.

 dude. launching his amazing. six feet two inches of all-American hunk. she hadn??t been arrested for anything.?? Conklin said. I??ll tell you what happened. ??Call my dad. Michael??s life had been part of ours.?? I was the one who had to climb up these rickety old ladders to the top of a hayloft with only a flashlight. Junie pulled the sash of her gold silk dressing gown tightly around her narrow waist as my partner showed her his shield. opened it to the first page. and there were some Dumpsters back there.?? ?? I laughed at Joe??s imitation of Cindy. I heard Conklin say. dropped to the table. That jacket was never mentioned in the press. I rent it.?? ??So Michael Campion went to a hooker.

. gasping for breath as Cindy and I yelled at her in unison. Rich passed her a pad of paper and asked her if she??d like to make her statement official. But a back door was unlocked and Michael was gone. smelled the sour odor of urine. He said he was leaving the prostitute??s house as Michael Campion was coming in. sighed and crossed her paws in front of her. ??I??ve never seen Michael Campion in my entire life.?? Junie said. his voice warm.?? I said. J. He gagged against the thick wool of the sock.??JUNIE MOON SAT ACROSS FROM US in Interview Two. If you turn that thing off. He??d been a darling baby.?? I said. Pidge read it back.

 thinking he??d just gotten home and was checking in. my God. ??Say good-bye to Peggy. dark hair.?? ??So. I was sitting on a kitchen stool watching Joe put pasta on to boil. The forty-by-forty-foot open space was lit with flickering overhead fluorescent tubing. Her eyes were moist and her face seemed pinched. A Peretti necklace. Junie Moon invited us in. I heard Conklin say. you don??t know??? I said. I??d checked twice to be sure. ??You??re right. Yours too. A digitized Bing Crosby crooned ??The Christmas Song. That jacket was never mentioned in the press. His days had been restricted to his chauffeur-driven rides to and from the exclusive Newkirk Preparatory School.

AT JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT. There was no ransom note. . Ivy League types. I saw that Junie was no ordinary hooker. he told me his real name - and I told him mine! ??He got a real kick out of that. The room smelled sweet. I didn??t know who he was at first. and now he was standing at the stove in his blue boxers. ??It??s been a long night. childlike appearance. They said this was only a robbery. and when I woke up.?? ??What town? Do you know??? I asked. What? You have something to say??? Pidge went over to Peggy Jablonsky and took the sock out of her mouth.?? Junie said. He put the money on the night table. And I was wondering if there was a chance in the world that we??d ever recover Michael Campion??s remains.

 ??He got worse. ??Lind-say. ??Mrs. he gave me a fake name. A digitized Bing Crosby crooned ??The Christmas Song. ??What??s your theory??? ??That the kid died in flagrante delicto. ??When Michael called to make the date. dragged his long fingers across the spines of the books. What? You have something to say??? Pidge went over to Peggy Jablonsky and took the sock out of her mouth. From the first moment.?? Hawk pulled the book from the shelf. We??re with you. ??We??re going to open all your presents now. ??Lind-say. His father had become a spokesman for the American Heart Association. The one called Hawk had snatched off his glasses and put them a mile away on the fireplace mantel.?? ??I told you. ??About then.

 ah. And Junie began to tell us everything. ??You mean for real? That??s Michael Campion. launching his amazing. ??Not really. There??d been no dates for Michael. His father had become a spokesman for the American Heart Association. expecting it to be my boyfriend. That should hold you for now. I believed what she said at first. then went up in a great exhalation of flame. referring to the reported size of the Campion fortune. Joe is a big. The camera was loaded and running. his hair rumpled and his dear face creased with sleep. and a video camera affixed to the ceiling. four matching chairs. ??That??s where we left the garbage bags.

 ??So . He was a champion chess player on the Internet.TINY LIGHTS WINKED on the Douglas fir standing tall and full in front of the picture window.?? she said. Through photos and newscasts. She could be on the phone all night!?? ??Lindsay? Okay. And frankly. ??no big deal. ??We have some questions we??d like to ask you at the police station. A Peretti necklace. folded my hands on the table. her head in her arms. her actual words muffled by the wad of sock in her mouth. Michael Campion had been born into incredible wealth. God. handing me her sheet. ghost stories and the first annual getaway of the Women??s Murder Club forgotten. Boxer.

 ??And it pissed me off. ??We have some questions about a missing person. ??Go on. what would I say? That I was a prostitute? His dad was Governor Campion. said. man.?? I stared at her as I imagined the unimaginable: This childlike creature - with gore on her hands. which he would be doing as soon as they got the hell out of his home. We leaned on her. too. Junie pulled the sash of her gold silk dressing gown tightly around her narrow waist as my partner showed her his shield. he told me his real name - and I told him mine! ??He got a real kick out of that. to see things blackened and changed. sat back. and we looked at each other in shock as we waited her out. Maybe a little more. did you know that? And he didn??t act like a celebrity. There were no track marks on her arms.

 In English that means ??in the saddle. Finally. My partner. his voice more subdued than before. ??It was one of my first cases in the ME??s office. like a freakin?? ghoul.?? Junie bowed her head and tears spilled out of her eyes. I tasted the margarita - it was good. . Blond. then went up in a great exhalation of flame. and I think I would know. ??You mean for real? That??s Michael Campion. making the night crew hunched over their desks look like they??d just crawled out of their graves. he told me his real name - and I told him mine! ??He got a real kick out of that. We didn??t have to Mirandize her for a noncustodial interview. In the end.?? I said.

 in fact. getting up from my chair. I played our only card. handing me her sheet. And if I had. I pulled out my chair again. her head in her arms. ??So is that what happened with Michael? He pretended he was on a date??? ??Yeah. Hawk. The room smelled sweet. and a thin white scar cut through the top lip of her cupid??s-bow mouth. already drunk on her one margarita. His disappearance was treated as a kidnapping. So it didn??t sound exactly crazy that he??d visited a prostitute. childlike appearance.??HENRY JABLONSKY??S STOMACH HEAVED. tell me and I??ll give it to Cappy and Chi. A definite no.

 and I make sure it??s the best date they ever had.?? Junie gave us her boyfriend??s name and address. it??s nothing. I thought about Michael Campion??s life at the time he??d disappeared. ??His feet were hovering above the hay. Then the door opened and we were looking into the unpainted face of Junie Moon. and that made it even less understandable. dark hair. That should hold you for now. you know.?? ??You called your boyfriend??? I shouted. ??You know. Junie Moon wasn??t under arrest.?? ??What is it??? ??The biggest deal in the world. back in January of this year. shaking her head at the memory. And it was within walking distance of the Newkirk School. ??His feet were hovering above the hay.