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He hadn’t expected such aforward on the other side of the table His own cup of coffee was forgotten in front of hily

"Because I produce results," I said

"Don’t you think it’s quite a coincidence? That you were called in by the Morgensterns when they were looking for their little girl, and now, months later, in a different city, you say you’ve found her? How do you think those poor folks are going to feel when the area’s dug and there’s nothing there? You should be ashaust

"That’s not going to happen" I shrugged "I’lanced at my watch "They should have reached her by now"

Detective Laceys cell phone rang He answered, "Yeah?" As he listened, his face changed He looked harder and older His eyes fell on me with a look I’ve seen often--a stare co belief

"They’ve reached so," he said heavily "Too small to be an adult’s"

I tried very hard to look neutral

"A foot below the garbage bag bones, there are wood remnants Probably a coffin So there may be another set of bones" He breathed heavily "There’s no trace of a coffin around the upper bones"

I nodded Tolliver squeezed my hand

"We’ll get a very prelienstern girl The dental records have been faxed from Nashville Of course, a solid ID will have to wait on a full exam of the body Well, what’s left of the body" Detective Lacey set his own personal coffeeon the battered table with unnecessary force "Nashville police are sending the X-rays by car, and the car should be here in a couple of hours The local FBI office is sending so their lab for the trace stuff You are not to say anything about this to anyone until we’ve talked to the faoose the silence

Corbett Lacey gave us a steady glare "We’ve had to call her parents, and if this isn’t her, I don’t even like to think about what they’ll feel If you hadn’t broadcast her na there, we could have kept this quiet until we had so solid to tell them Noe’ve had to talk to them because it looks like the damn television will have it on the air soon"

"I’" I should have kept ood point

"Why do you even do this, anyway?" He gave ure me out I didn’t think he was completely sincere, but I was

"It’s always better to know That’s why I do it"

"You seem to make quite a bit of money, too," Corbett Lacey observed

"I have toto act ashamed of that But, truly, I sometimes wished I worked at Wal-Mart, or Starbucks, and let the dead lie un-found

"So, I guess Joel and Diane started out right away," Tolliver said He was right; a change of subject was in order "It’ll take theet here?"

Detective Lacey looked puzzled

"The Morgensterns How long a drive is it, Nashville to Meave us an unreadable look "Like you didn’t know"

Okay, I wasn’t getting this at all "Know ?" I looked at Tolliver He shrugged, as bewildered as I was A possibility occurred to me "Tell me they’re not dead!" I said I’d liked thes for clients

It was Lacey’s turn to look uncertain "You really don’t know?"

"We don’t understand what you’re talking about," Tolliver said "Just tell us"

"The Morgensterns left Nashville about a year after the little girl was abducted," Lacey said He ran a hand over his thinning blond hair "They live here in Mees the Me firain Maybe you didn’t know that he and his first ere both froensterns family lives overseas, back here here they needed to be if they wanted the support of fanancy and birth"

I suspectedopen, but for the hts I couldn’t a minute "It’s only a matter of time before they come up to the rooht of that already "This will generate a lot of publicity," I said, and the ambivalence was clear in Tolliver’s face, as I’m sure it was in mine

"You think we need to call Art?" Art Barfield was our attorney, and his firood idea," I said "Would you talk to him?"

"Sure" Tolliver pulled out his cell phone and dialed, while I went to the sink to wash my face After I turned off the water, I could hear hi my hair in the mirror-- up

"His secretary says he’s with a client, but he’ll call soonest possible Of course, he’ll charge an aret away"

"He’ll come, or he’ll recommend someone local We’ve only asked him once before, and we’re his most lurid clients," I said practically "If he doesn’t come, we’ll be swamped"

Art called us back about an hour later From Tolliver’s end of the conversation, you could tell Art was not too excited about the prospect of leaving ho, and he liked his hoathered at the police station, the lawyer allowed hiht away