Chapter 55

"I'VE GOT TO TAKE this upstairs," I said, shooting out of my chair, almost pulling the phone out of the wall. I was halfway¹ up to Tracchio's office before I realized I forgot to tell Cindy about Jill. Things were going too fast now.

"He's behind closed doors," his secretary warned. "You'd better wait."

"This can't wait," I said, and pushed the door open. Trac-chio was used to my barging in.

He was facing me, seated at his conference table. He was flanked by two others with their backs to me. One was Tom Roach, the local FBI liaison².

I almost fell when I saw that the other was Molinari.

I felt as if I had hit a wall, bouncing off and vibrating like in the Roadrunner cartoons.

"Soon enough, Lieutenant³," Molinari said, rising.

"Yeah, that was what you said. I thought you had pressing matters in Portland."

"I did. They're taken care of now. And we have a killer⁴ to catch down here, don't we?"

Tracchio said, "We were just about to call you, Lindsay. The deputy director informed me how well you handled the situation up there in Portland."

"Which situation was he referring to?" A glance Molinari's way.

"The Propp homicide, of course." He motioned for me to sit down. "He said you were helpful in putting forth⁵ your theory of the crimes."

"Okay" - I handed Tracchio Cindy's e-mail - "then you should love this."

Tracchio scanned the page. He passed it across to Molinari.

"This was sent to the same reporter at the Chronicle?" he asked.

"Seems like they got a regular chat room going on," Moli-nari replied as he read. "We could make that useful." He pursed his lips. "I was just asking the Chief if you could work directly with us. We need help here on the ground. I'll need a place to work. I want to be right in the thick of it, Lieutenant. In your squad⁶ room if possible. That's how I work best."

Our eyes met. I knew we weren't playing games. It was a matter of national security.

"We'll find you an office, sir. In the thick of it."

1 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

2 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

3 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。

4 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。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。