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"Facts, my ass I never saw Lance Wood before in my life"

"Sure, but can you prove it?"

"Of course not! Hoould I do that?"

Lonnie sighed like he was going to hate to see me in a shapeless prison dress

"Goddauy? I swear to God, every tiuys bite the Big Wienie What am I supposed to do?"

He smiled "It’s not as bad as all that," he said "My advice is to keep away from Lance Wood"

"How? I can’t just sit back and see what happens next I want to knoho set me up"

"I never said you couldn’t look into it You’re an inves-tigator Go investigate But I’d be careful if I were you Insurance fraud is bad enough You don’t want to take the rap for so worse"

I was afraid to ask him what he meant

I went home and unloaded the boxes full of office files I took a fewPersons at the Santa Teresa Police Department As a lady in distress, I don’t ordinarily call on men I’ve been schooled in the notion that a wo to do if I could just figure out where to start

I’don a case Our paths had crossed more than once, most recently in , funny, confused, a tormented man with blue eyes, black hair, and a wife named Cairls, whose nanored the che as I could, too wise (said I) to get pulled into a dalliance with a ht I’d run into hi intervieith a hostile subject Jonah and I started drinking aritas in a bar near the beach We danced to old Johnny Mathis tunes, talked, danced again, and ordered more drinks Somewhere around "The Twelfth of Never," I lost track of my resolve and took him home with me I never could resist the lyrics on that one

We were currently at that stage in a new relationship where both parties are tentative, reluctant to presu as the true frailties of character are concealed The risking felt good, and as a consequence the cheht of hihed aloud, but the warmth was undercut by a curious pain I’ve been married twice, done inas I used to be and with good reason Meanwhile, Jonah was in a constant state of upheaval according to the fluctuations in Camilla’s moods Her e, his guess being that the sexual liberties were intended eant Schiffman" For an instant my mind went absolutely blank "Rudy? This is Kinsey Where’s Jonah?"

"Oh, hi, Kinsey He’s out of town Took his fa for the holidays It caht he said he’d let you know He never called?"

"I guess not," I said "Do you knohen he’s ex-pected back?"

"Just a minute Let me check" He put"Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" Christmas was over Hadn’t anybody heard? Rudy clicked back in "Looks like January third You want to leave aoff I have to confess that in the privacy of my own home, I burst into tears and ith frustration for six minutes flat Then I went to work

The only line of attack I could think of was through

Ash Wood I hadn’t spoken to her since high school, nearly fourteen years I tried the directory Her mother, Helen Wood, was listed and so was Lance, but there was no sign of Ash, which probably meant that she’d moved away or mar-ried I tried the main house A wo to locate Ash Often I tell lies in a situation like this, but the truth seemed expedi-ent

"Kinsey, is that really you? This is Ash How are you?" she said All the Wood girls have voices that sound the same; husky and low, underlaid with an accent nearly Southern in its tone The inflection was distinct, not a drawl, but an indolence Their mother was from Alabama, if my memory hadn’t failed me

"I can’t believe my luck," I said "How are you?"

"Well, darlin’, we are in a world of hurt," she replied, "which is why I’lad to hear from you Lance men-tioned that he’d seen you at the plant last Friday What’s happening?"