Chapter 11

"LIEUTENANT¹," someone called from across the room,

"Chief Tracchio on the phone."

"Told ya," Cappy said, grinning.

I picked up, waiting to be reamed out for leaving the crime scene early. Tracchio was a glorified² bean counter. He hadn't come this close to an investigation³ since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago.

"Lindsay, it's Cindy." I'd been expecting to hear the Chief; her voice surprised me. "Don't get cranky. It was the only way I could get through."

"Not exactly a good time," I said. "I thought you were that asshole Tracchio, about to nail me to the wall."

"Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall."

"This one signs my checks," I said, taking a semi relaxed breath for the first time all day.

Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle, along with Claire and Jill. She also happened to work for the Chronicle and was one of the top crime reporters in the city.

"Jesus, Linds, I just heard. I'm in an all-day yoga clinic. In the middle of a `downward dog' when my phone rings. What, I sneak⁴ out for a couple of hours and you decide now's the time to be a hero? You all right?"

"Other than my lungs feeling like they've been lit with lighter⁵ fluid... No, I'm okay," I said. "There's not much I can tell you on this now."

"I'm not calling about the crime scene, Lindsay. I was call-ing about you."

"I'm okay," I said again. I didn't know if I was telling the truth. I noticed that my hands were still trembling. And my mouth tasted the bitter smoke of the blast.

"You want me to meet you?"

"You wouldn't get within two blocks. Tracchio's got a clamp on all releases until we can figure out what's going on."

"Is that a challenge?" Cindy snickered.

That made me laugh. When I first met her, Cindy had sneaked⁶ her way into a Grand Hyatt penthouse suite⁷, the most guarded murder scene in memory. Her whole career sprang from that scoop⁸.

"No, it's not a challenge, Cindy. But I'm okay. I swear."

"Okay, so if all this tender concern is being wasted, what about the crime scene? We are talking a crime scene, aren't we, Lindsay?"

"If you mean, did the backyard grill⁹ flare¹⁰ up at nine on a Sunday morning? Yeah, I guess you could quote me on that. I thought you were out of touch on this, Cindy." It always amazed me how quickly she got herself up to speed.

"I'm on it now," she said. "And while I'm at it, word is that you saved a kid today. You should go home. You've done enough for one day."

"Can't. We got a few leads. Wish I could talk about them, but I can't."

"I heard there was a baby stolen out of the house. Some sort of twisted kidnapping?"

"If it is," I said with a shrug¹¹, "they have a new way of handling the potential ransom¹² payers."

Cappy Thomas stuck his head in. "Lieutenant, M.E. wants to see you. In the morgue. Now."

1 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。

2 glorified   

美其名的，变荣耀的

参考例句：

• The restaurant was no more than a glorified fast-food cafe. 这地方美其名曰餐馆，其实只不过是个快餐店而已。
• The author glorified the life of the peasants. 那个作者赞美了农民的生活。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

5 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

6 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

7 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

8 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

9 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

10 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

11 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

12 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。