Chapter 105

  AT 7:45 THAT MORNING, I took off my jacket, hung it over the back of my chair, opened my coffee container, and sat down at my desk across from Conklin.

  “He died on purpose, that monster,” I said to my partner.

  “He’s dead, but this is not a dead end,” Conklin muttered.

  “Is that a promise?”

  “Yeah. Boy Scout’s honor.”

  I opened my desk drawer, took out two cello-wrapped pastries¹, not more than a week old. I lobbed one to Rich, who caught it on the fly.

  “Oooh. I love a woman who bakes.”

  I laughed, said, “Be glad for that coffee cake, mister. Who knows when we’ll see food again.”

  We were waiting for phone calls. A blurry² photo of Hawk³ being wheeled out of the Campion house was running in the morning Chronicle. It was unlikely someone could ID him from that, but not impossible. At just after eight, my desk phone warbled. I grabbed the receiver and heard Charlie Clapper’s voice.

  “Lindsay,” he said, “there were a dozen prints on that bottle and the foil it was wrapped in.”

  “Tell me something good.”

  “I’d love to, my friend,” Clapper said. “But all we’ve got for sure is a match to Hawk’s prints, and he’s not in AFIS.”

  “There’s a shock. So he’s still a John Doe and, I take it, so is Pidge.”

  “Sorry, kiddo. The only other match I got was to Connor Campion.”

  I sighed, said, “Thanks anyway, Charlie,” and stabbed the blinking button of my second line.

  Chuck Hanni’s voice sounded wound-up, excited.

  “Glad I got you,” Hanni said. “There’s been a fire.”

  I pressed the speaker button so Conklin could hear.

  “It just happened a few hours ago in Santa Rosa,” Chuck said. “Two fatalities⁴. I’m on the way out there now.”

  “It’s arson⁵? You think it’s related to our case?”

  “The sheriff told me that one of the vics was found with a book in his lap.”

  I stared at Conklin, knowing he was thinking the same thing: that SOB⁶ Pidge hadn’t wasted any time.

  “We’ll meet you there,” I said to Hanni.

  I wrote down the address and hung up the phone.

1 pastries   

n.面粉制的糕点

参考例句：

• He gave a dry laugh, then sat down and started on the pastries. 杜新箨说着干笑一声，坐下去就吃点心。 来自子夜部分
• Mike: So many! I like Xijiang raisins, beef jerky, and local pastries. 麦克：太多了。我最喜欢吃新疆葡萄干、牛肉干和风味点心。

2 blurry   

adj.模糊的；污脏的，污斑的

参考例句：

• My blurry vision makes it hard to drive. 我的视力有点模糊，使得开起车来相当吃力。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The lines are pretty blurry at this point. 界线在这个时候是很模糊的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

4 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。