Chapter 45

  JOE WAS STILL ASLEEP when I crawled into bed. I gently shoved Martha out of my spot and snuggled up to Joe’s back, wanting to wake him up so that I could tell him what was bugging¹ me. Joe turned toward me, pulled me close to his body, buried his face in my smoky hair.

  “Have you been barhopping, Blondie?”

  “House fire,” I said. “Two dead.”

  “Like the Malones?”

  “Just like the Malones.”

  I threw an arm across his chest, rested my face in the crook² of his neck, exhaled³ loudly.

  “Talk to me, honey,” Joe said.

  Excellent.

  “It’s about this woman, Debra Kurtz,” I said, as Martha got back up on the bed, turned around a couple of times, then curled into the hollow behind my legs, pinning me in.

  “Lives across the street from the victims. She called in the fire.”

  “Firebugs often do.”

  “Right. Says she got up for a glass of water, saw the flames. Called the fire department, then joined the crowd watching them put the fire out.”

  “She was still standing⁴ there when you arrived?”

  “She’d been there for hours. Said she was best friends with the female victim, Sandy Meacham, and she’d also been sleeping with the second victim, Sandy’s husband -”

  “Weird definition of best friend.”

  I had to laugh. “Sleeping with her best friend’s husband until he dumped her. This Debra Kurtz has a key to the victims’ house. She also has a sheet. An old arrest for burglary. And guess what else? Arson⁵.”

  “Hah! She knows her way around the system. So she what? Sets fire to the house across the street - and just waits for the cops to take her in?”

  “That’s what I’m saying, Joe. The whole package is too much. Kurtz had the means, the motive⁶, the opportunity. ‘Hell hath no fury’ - plus once a firebug, you know, it’s a hard rush to kick.”

  “She strike you as a killer⁷?” Joe asked me.

  “She struck me as a pathetic narcissist⁸, in need of attention.”

  “You got that right.”

  I gave Joe a kiss. Then I gave him a few more, just loving the feeling of his rough cheek against my lips, his mouth on mine, and the fact of him, big and warm and in my bed.

  “Don’t start something you’re too tired to finish, Blondie,” he growled⁹ at me.

  I laughed again. Hugged him tight. Said, “Ms. Kurtz insists she didn’t do it. So what I’m thinking is . . .” My thoughts drifted back to the victims, soot-blackened water lapping around their bodies.

  “What you’re thinking,” Joe prompted.

  “I’m thinking either she set this fire because she’s so completely self-destructive, she wants to get caught. Or she did it and maybe she didn’t plan for her friends to die. Or else . . .”

  “Your gut¹⁰ is telling you that she didn’t do it. That she’s just a total wackjob.”

  “There ya go,” I said to my sweetheart. “There . . . ya . . . go . . .”

  When I woke up, my arms were entwined around Martha, Joe was gone, and I was late for my meeting with Jacobi.

1 bugging   

[法] 窃听

参考例句：

• Okay, then let's get the show on the road and I'll stop bugging you. 好，那么让我们开始动起来，我将不再惹你生气。 来自辞典例句
• Go fly a kite and stop bugging me. 走开，别烦我。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

2 crook   

v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处)

参考例句：

• He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子，他要我向他认错。
• She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。

3 exhaled   

v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气

参考例句：

• He sat back and exhaled deeply. 他仰坐着深深地呼气。
• He stamped his feet and exhaled a long, white breath. 跺了跺脚，他吐了口长气，很长很白。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

6 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

7 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

8 narcissist   

n.自我陶醉者

参考例句：

• Don't get caught in the trap of always trying to please a narcissist. 不要让自己一直陷入讨好自恋者的困境中。 来自互联网

9 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。