Chapter 7

WE GOT THE TOWN HOUSE ID'd pretty quickly. It did belong to the guy in the picture, Morton Lightower, and his family. The name rang a bell with Jacobi. "Isn't that the guy who owned that X/L Systems?"

"No idea." I shook my head.

"You know. The Internet honcho. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit. Stock used to sell for sixty bucks¹, now it's something like sixty cents."

Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news. "The Creed² of Greed guy." He was trying to buy ball teams, gobbling up lavish³ homes, installing a $50,000 security gate on his place in Aspen, at the same time he was dumping his own stock and laying off half his staff.

"I've heard of investor⁴ backlash," Jacobi said, shaking his head, "but this is a little much."

Behind me, I heard a woman yelling to let her through the crowd. Inspector⁵ Paul Chin ushered⁶ her forward, through the web of news vans and camera crews. She stood in front of the bombed-out home.

"Oh, my God," she gasped⁷, a hand clasped over her mouth.

Chin led her my way. "Lightower's sister," he said.

She had her hair pulled back tightly, a cashmere sweater over jeans, and a pair of Manolo Blahnik flats I had once mooned over for about ten minutes in the window of Neiman's.

"Please," I said, leading the unsteady woman over to an open black-and-white. "I'm Lieutenant⁸ Boxer⁹, Homicide."

"Dianne Aronoff," she muttered vacantly. "I heard it on the news. Mort? Charlotte? The kids...Did anyone make it out?"

"We pulled out a boy, about eleven."

"Eric," she said. "He's okay?"

"He's at the Burn Unit at Cal Pacific. I think he's going to be all right."

"Thank God!" she exclaimed. Then she covered her face again. "How can this be happening?"

I knelt down in front of Dianne Aronoff and took her hand. I squeezed it gently. "Ms. Aronoff, I have to ask you some questions. This was no accident. Do you have any idea who could've targeted your brother?"

"No accident," she repeated. "Mortie was saying, `The media treats me like bin¹⁰ Laden¹¹. No one understands. What I do is supposed to be about making money.' "

Jacobi switched gears. "Ms. Aronoff, it looks like the explo-sion originated from the second floor. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?"

"There was a housekeeper," she said, dabbing¹² at her eyes. "Viola."

Jacobi exhaled¹³. "Unfortunately, that's probably the third body we found. Buried under the rubble¹⁴."

"Oh..." Dianne Aronoff choked a sob¹⁵.

I pressed her hand. "Look, Ms. Aronoff, I saw the explo-sion. That bomb was planted from inside. Someone was either let in or had access. I need you to think."

"There was an au pair," she muttered. "I think she some-times spent the night."

"Lucky for her." Jacobi rolled his eyes. "If she'd been in there with your nephew..."

"Not for Eric." Dianne Aronoff shook her head. "For Caitlin."

Jacobi and I looked at each other. "Who?"

"Caitlin, Lieutenant. My niece."

When she saw our blank faces, she froze.

"When you said Eric was the only one brought out, I just assumed..."

We continued to stare at each other. No one else had been found in the house.

"Oh, my God, Detectives, she is only six months old."

1 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 creed   

n.信条；信念，纲领

参考例句：

• They offended against every article of his creed.他们触犯了他的每一条戒律。
• Our creed has always been that business is business.我们的信条一直是公私分明。

3 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

4 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

5 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

6 ushered   

v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The secretary ushered me into his office. 秘书把我领进他的办公室。
• A round of parties ushered in the New Year. 一系列的晚会迎来了新年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

9 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

10 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

11 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

12 dabbing   

石面凿毛，灰泥抛毛

参考例句：

• She was crying and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. 她一边哭一边用手绢轻按眼睛。
• Huei-fang was leaning against a willow, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. 四小姐蕙芳正靠在一棵杨柳树上用手帕揉眼睛。 来自子夜部分

13 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

14 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

15 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。