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"I agree that she appears to be a walking billboard for hair colorists," he said "She ine"

"Doubtful" Madison shook her head

"Even so, she’s the wife--she’s not off the hook," Sean said "Finished with your meal?"

"Yes Thanks I can pay my share--"

"No worries Your tax dollars at work, Madison If we’d ordered fine wine, well, then, we’d have to argue about the cost"

He stood, ready to ot up, too Their server saw theht the bill, and in a ue

The ue

Madison had never supposed that in all her life she’d be headed to the ain

No matter how such a place tried to be aesthetically decent--pleasing was beyond the realm of possibility--the smell of chemicals seemed to pervade even the reception areas and offices No roo accusto the way in the career he hadn’t actually chosen, but which had found him In Quantico recently, they’d trained in arrown up surrounded by those who expected a uns, even if he chose not to use or carry thee They’d sat in on endless classes in behavioral sciences They’d learned to profile, and they’d learned that profiles could be wrong, but if nothing else, they certainly helped n the pool of suspects In many cases that pool could be immense It was necessary to start soic

While they were a "special" unit--chosen for exceptional talents that soht consider curses--they were still expected to follow all bureau procedure and to excel at all expertise needed to work as an agent

That had included days and days at ues and body farue But, even in training, he’d never betrayed his discoue like this one, Sean felt as if he heard voices, dozens of thee that, but he watched Madison--and it wasn’t out of idle curiosity He had to know if Eddie Archer was right, and if Madison spoke with the dead If she saw ghosts…

She was ashen fro He didn’t need Detective Knox today; he’d ator on the case Today, he’d be able to ist who had done the autopsy, Dr Lee Chang

"I wish there wassaid as they walked down the chemical-scented halls to the small room, where he’d ordered the corpse of Jenny Henderson to be brought They were alone when they ca had his own charts and rattled off inforuesstimate, Jenny Henderson was taken fro her by the left hand and holding it against his--or her--body and then slicing her throat thus, left to right The artery was severed The point was to kill, but not to decapitate"

Madison went a shade grayer, staring silently at the corpse of Jenny Henderson She inhaled on a shaky breath He saw that the tears she was deter her eyes

"You knew her," Sean said

"I can’t say I knew her well" Madison’s voice was low and pained "But yes, I did know her"

"I’ The man was a professional with empathy He didn’t let eet that his science had to do with hu cleared his throat "She has a brother back in Rhode Island He’ll be here toh we haven’t released the body as yet" He touched Madison aardly on the shoulder with a gloved hand "You o closer You may touch her She was your friend None of us knows, but maybe she’ll sense that you ca stepped back, looking at Sean then

It’s easy for us You and I, we never knew her in life This girl is here to help She needs space to breathe, to touch, to see, Chang seemed to say

Sean nodded to hi Madison Watching to see ould happen, wondering what she ht see and hear

"Oh, Jenny!" she said very softly

Madison, he thought, hadn’t wanted to come here Jenny had been a casual acquaintance, soh Alistair Archer But she had known her, had seen the place where she’d been murdered; she’d heard Alistair’s rendition of the events that had stolen the young wo her here, naked and lifeless on the gurney, the essence that had one

At first, it looked like the last thing in the world Madison wanted to do was touch the corpse

Sean waited, feeling like a jerk, but knowing he had to

And in a moment, Madison came forward A tear dripped down her cheek and fell on her own hand

She reached out, and her fingers gently brushed Jenny Henderson’s arm

She closed her eyes

She trembled suddenly, as if she’d been hit by a bolt of electricity Chang almost stepped toward her, but Sean raised a hand and stopped him

They waited Madison stood by the corpse as the seconds passed by She seemed frozen, unable to move