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“I rather think a judge might buy that,” Georgina Simms said. “But as I said, however did you manage to even get accepted with this in your background?”

“I guess nobody made a big deal out of it.”

“I guess not.”

Before they all parted in the underground parking lot, Jimmy Maitland said to Savich, “Simms buys it because it sounds good and it is true, for the most part. However, what she doesn’t know is that you’ve got the hots for Sherlock. What are you going to do about that? Are you two going to get married, or what?”

“Yes, but as they say, timing is everything.”

“But the point is, why did you ask for her for the Criminal Apprehension Unit in the first place?”

Savich didn’t hesitate. “Because she was so damned good in Hogan’s Alley. No, I didn’t have the hots for her then, sir. I just thought that she’d be one of the best I could get my hands on. I found out she’d turned down profiling because she said she couldn’t stomach it, but she had all this great training and knowledge in forensics. No, sir, at that time, there was no lust scrambling my brains.”

Jimmy Maitland grunted. “Timing,” he said. “You’re right. All of this will have to be controlled very tightly. You took care of the leak out of your unit?”

“All gone,” Savich said.

“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me about it?”

“I would appreciate your not asking, sir, since there’s no solid proof.”

31

THEY SPENT the rest of the day with the local Bureau and police, seeing exactly what was going on with the manhunt. “It looks like everything’s being done right,” Savich said to one of the cops on the newly formed task force. “And there’s zero hint or word that Marlin Jones could have met up with someone?”

“Not an echo of a word,” Officer Drummond said. “Shit, my feet hurt. I think I’ve walked from one end of the zone to the other a good dozen times. I’ve spoken to every informant who’s ever migrated to Boston or was born here.”

By eight o’clock that evening, Marlin Jones was still at large.

They decided to eat again at the Chinese restaurant on Newbury and walked there.

“I doubt he’ll show, Sherlock.”

“I know. At least we’re giving him every opportunity to make a move.”

“Okay. We’ll keep walking everywhere and when the media catches up to us, we’ll wave to our mothers and smile really big. Speaking of mothers, do you think your mother really saw Marlin kissing Belinda in the driveway?”

“No. Actually, I have no idea what she saw or if she even saw anything. I think you’re right about the attention bids. My father was there and she wanted him to focus on her. It was an excellent way to go about it.”

“So you don’t believe your father would ever try to run her down?”

“I don’t know. But I think she loves him. I could be wrong. It’s nuts, isn’t it? Maybe she did see someone perhaps speak to Belinda in the driveway, but Marlin?”

“Do you think your father prosecuted Erasmus Jones ten years ago?”

“Oh yes. My father’s firmly planted in the here-and-now, no matter how unpleasant it can get. He doesn’t make stuff up. If he said Erasmus Jones was in his courtroom, then he was. The question is—Is it possible that Erasmus Jones has anything to do with this?”

Savich said slowly, “There’s a tremendous resemblance between father and son. Is it possible that just maybe your mother saw Erasmus with Belinda, not Marlin?”

“I have no idea. But she didn’t have any reaction at all to Erasmus Jones’s photograph.”

“No, she didn’t.”

Over egg rolls and fried wonton, half with meat and half vegetarian, Savich said, releasing her hand, “Your fingers are cold.”

“All of me is cold.”

“Next summer we’ll go to Louise Lynn Lake with Quinlan and Sally. I want to see you in a bikini. A blue one. I want to buy it for you. I want to put it on you and take it off.”

Next summer, she thought: a lifetime away from a Chinese restaurant in Boston where, she prayed, Marlin Jones was lurking somewhere, waiting for her to come out. Cops were stationed at short intervals all around the restaurant.

She gave Dillon a huge smile. “Thank you,” she said, stood on