CONKLIN AND I had scrubbed at our faces with damp paper towels, but the stench of fire and death clung to us. Jacobi stood upwind and said, “You two smell like you’ve been wading¹ through a sewer².”

  I thanked him, but my mind was churning.

  Two blocks away, a raging fire was burning the Vetter house to the ground. There might have been evidence inside that house, something that would have tied Hans Vetter and Brett Atkinson to the arson³ murders.

  Now all of that was gone.

  We stood in front of the house where the dead boy, Brett Atkinson, had lived with his parents. It was a soaring contemporary with cantilevered decks and hundred-mile views. Very, very wealthy people lived here.

  Hawk’s parents, the Atkinsons, hadn’t answered repeated knocks by patrolmen, never returned our calls, and their son’s body was still lying unclaimed in the morgue. A canvass⁴ of the neighborhood had confirmed their absence. No one had seen or heard from the Atkinsons in days, and they hadn’t told anyone they were leaving home.

  The engines on the Atkinsons’ cars were cold. There was mail in the mailbox a couple of days old, and the fellow who’d stopped mowing⁵ the lawn when we arrived said he hadn’t seen Perry or Moira Atkinson all week.

  While Vetter’s house was a total loss, I still had hope that the Atkinsons’ house might hold evidence of the horrific killings⁶ the boys had done. Thirty-five minutes had passed since Jacobi phoned Tracchio for a search warrant.

  Meanwhile, Cindy had called me, saying that she and a handful of TV news vans were parked behind the barricade⁷ at the top of the street. Conklin pushed a bloody⁸

点击收听单词发音  

1 wading
（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 )
参考例句：
The man tucked up his trousers for wading. 那人卷起裤子，准备涉水。 The children were wading in the sea. 孩子们在海水中走着。

2 sewer
n.排水沟，下水道
参考例句：
They are tearing up the street to repair a sewer. 他们正挖开马路修下水道。 The boy kicked a stone into the sewer. 那个男孩把一石子踢进了下水道。

3 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。

4 canvass
v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论
参考例句：
Mr. Airey Neave volunteered to set up an organisation to canvass votes.艾雷·尼夫先生自告奋勇建立了一个拉票组织。 I will canvass the floors before I start painting the walls.开始粉刷墙壁之前，我会详细检查地板。

5 mowing
n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 )
参考例句：
The lawn needs mowing. 这草坪的草该割了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 "Do you use it for mowing?" “你是用它割草么？” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

6 killings
谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发
参考例句：
His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。 The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

7 barricade
n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住
参考例句：
The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。 It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

8 bloody
adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染
参考例句：
He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。 He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

9 clump
n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走
参考例句：
A stream meandered gently through a clump of trees.一条小溪从树丛中蜿蜒穿过。 It was as if he had hacked with his thick boots at a clump of bluebells.仿佛他用自己的厚靴子无情地践踏了一丛野风信子。

10 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》

11 retired
adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的
参考例句：
The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。 Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 intern
v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生
参考例句：
I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。 The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

13 sprinted
v.短距离疾跑( sprint的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He sprinted for the line. 他向终点线冲去。 Sergeant Horne sprinted to the car. 霍恩中士全力冲向那辆汽车。 来自辞典例句