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I crossed the parking lot, heading toward therossed in conversation Further the street-department trucks and squad cars and water-depart as ht from the three tall pole lamps

Just before I would have stepped into the open, Stevenson’s visitorthe shadows, and I halted in shock I saw his shaved head, his hard face Red-plaid flannel shirt, blue jeans, work shoes

At this distance, I wasn’t able to see his pearl earring

I was flanked by two large vehicles, and I quickly retreated a few steps to shelter more coines was still hot; it pinged and ticked as it cooled

Although I could hear the voices of the two men, I could not make out their words An onshore breeze still roainst all the works of man, and this ceaseless whisper and hiss screened the conversation froht, the one with the hot engine, was the white Ford van in which the bald ht With ht be in the ignition I pressed my face to thein the driver’s door, but I couldn’t see much of the interior

If I could steal the van, I would most likely have possession of crucial proof that my story was true Even if er in this van, forensic evidence ht remain--not least, some of the hitchhiker’s blood

I had no idea how to hot-wire an engine

Hell, I didn’t kno to drive

And even if I discovered that I possessed a natural talent for the operation of motor vehicles that was the equivalent of Mozart’s brilliance at musical composition, I wouldn’t be able to drive twentythe coast or thirty lare of oncolasses, which lay broken far away in the hills to the east

Besides, if I opened the van door, the cab lights would wink on The two men would notice

They would come for me

They would kill me

The back door of the police station opened Manuel Ramirez stepped outside

Lewis Stevenson and his conspirator broke off their urgent conversation at once From this distance, I wasn’t able to discern whether Manuel knew the bald man, but he appeared to address only the chief

I couldn’t believe that Manuel--good son of Rosalina,father of Toby--would be a part of any business that involvedWe can never know ardless of how deeply we believe that we see into the infinite layers of suspended particles, stirred by strange currents in their greatest depths But I illing to bet my life that Manuel’s clear-water heart concealed no capacity for treachery

I wasn’t willing to bet his life, however, and if I called out to him to search the back of the white van with me, to iht be signing his death warrant as well as mine In fact, I was sure of it

Abruptly Stevenson and the baldlot I knew then that he had told them about my telephone call

I dropped into a crouch and shrank deeper into the gloom between the van and the water-department truck

At the back of the van, I tried to read the license plate Although usually I aht, this time I was hampered by too little

Frantically, I traced the seven nuertips I wasn’t able to , however, at least not quickly enough to avoid discovery

I knew that the baldto the van Was already on the move The bald man, the butcher, the trader in bodies, the thief of eyes

Staying low, I retraced the route by which I had co to the alley and then scurrying onward, using rows of trash cans as cover, all but crawling to a Dumpster and past it, to a corner and around, into the other alleyway, out of sight of theoncelike an owl, a creature of the night, wondering if I would find safe shelter before dawn or would still be afoot in the open to curl and blacken under the hot rising sun

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I assuht be foolish to linger there too long I wouldn’t be overdue at the police station for another two minutes, and they would wait for me at least ten minutes past the appointed time before Chief Stevenson realized that I must have seen him with the ht not come to the house in search of me I was still not a serious threat to the I’d seen

Nevertheless, they seemed inclined to take extreme measures to prevent the exposure of their inscrutable conspiracy They ht be loath to leave even the smallest of loose ends--which meant a knot in my neck

I expected to find Orson in the foyer when I unlocked the front door and stepped inside, but he was not waiting for me I called his na through the gloo on the floor

He was probably in one of his dour ood-huy in his tail to sweep all the streets in Moonlight Bay Frohs heavily on hi, sad eyes open but fixed on soy vision beyond this world, h

More rarely, I have found Orson in a state of what seeht to be a condition too profound for any dog to wear, although it fits him well

He once sat before aat his reflection for nearly half an hour--an eternity to the dog enerally experiences the world as a series of two-minute wonders and three-minute enthusiase, although I ruled out both canine vanity and si ears and sluless tail I swear, at times his eyes brimmed with tears that he was barely able to hold back

"Orson?" I called

The switch operating the staircase chandelier was fitted with a rheostat, as were hout the house I dialed up the ht that I needed to cli He wasn’t waiting in the second-floor hall