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Автор Сью Графтон

ALSO BY SUE GRAFTON

Kinsey Millhone Mysteries

A is for Alibi

B is for Burglar

C is for Corpse

D is for Deadbeat

E is for Evidence

F is for Fugitive

G is for Gumshoe

H is for Homicide

I is for Innocent

J is for Judgment

K is for Killer

L is for Lawless

M is for Malice

N is for Noose

O is for Outlaw

P is for Peril

Q is for Quarry

R is for Ricochet

S is for Silence

T is for Trespass

U is for Undertow

V is for Vengeance

and

Kinsey and Me: Stories

For Margo and Jeff Barbakow

and

Terri and Steve Bass.

Friends forever . . . and that’s what it’s all about.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the following people: Steven Humphrey; Judge Brian Hill, Santa Barbara Superior Court; John Mackall, Attorney at Law, Seed Mackall LLP; Ted Steinbock, M. D. ; Chief of Police Cam Sanchez, Senior Forensic Technician Michael Uullemeyer, Administrative Specialist Thalia Chaltas, Sergeant Dave Henderson, and Detective Gregory Hons of the Santa Barbara Police Department; Robert Failing, M. D. ; Larry Gillespie; Florence Michel; Ken Ralph and Mike Foley, Casa Esperanza Homeless Center; Renee Burdick, American Express Travel; Brian Robertson and Heather Schuyler, Robertson International Travel; David Dyne, M. D. ; Dana Hanson, funeral director, the Neptune Society; Director Donald Miller, M. D. ; Associate Professor of Medicine Brian Clem, and Research Technologist II Miriam Reynolds, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, Louisville, Kentucky; Supervisor Christine Estrada, Lead Clerk Dolores Buendia, Judicial Assistants Kimberlee Taylor and Victoria Stuber, Santa Barbara Superior Court Records; Denyse Avila, Superior Court Clerk’s Office; Employee Benefits Manager Melissa Jammer and Customer Service Manager Barbara Allcock, Anderson Financial Services; Wayne Palmer; Terri Lang; Jeanie Purcell Hill; and Dale Charpentier.

And a special thank-you to Alice Hildreth Fix for the use of her name.

PROLOGUE

Two dead men changed the course of my life that fall. One of them I knew and the other I’d never laid eyes on until I saw him in the morgue. The first was Pete Wolinsky, an unscrupulous private detective I’d met years before through Byrd-Shine Investigations, where I’d served my apprenticeship. I worked for Ben Byrd and Morley Shine for three years, amassing the six thousand hours I needed for my license. The two were old-school private eyes, hard-working, tireless, and inventive. While Ben and Morley did business with Pete on occasion, they didn’t think much of him. He was morally shabby, disorganized, and irresponsible with money. In addition, he was constantly pestering them for work, since his marketing skills were minimal and his reputation too dubious to recommend him without an outside push. Byrd-Shine might subcontract the odd stretch of surveillance to him or assign him a routine records search, but his name never appeared on a client report. This didn’t prevent him from stopping by the office without invitation or dropping their names in casual conversations with attorneys, implying a close professional relationship. Pete was a man who cut corners and he assumed his colleagues did likewise. More problematic was the fact that he’d rationalized his bad behavior for so long it had become standard operating procedure.