Character assassination is one of the greatest pastimes of the village righteous and,
Can you see the entry? Yes. Watch. It’s only two o’clock. Will be hours before he come. Watch. He expected her to fidget or try to make conversation, but she didn’t. She sat behind him, a second prese...
By nine o’clock the next morning I had gained some measure of control over the sappy grin and was once more feeling focused, productive, and ready to swing into investigative action. Sappy grins are f...
Bud grew irritated. Now waitaminute, goddamnit—this isn’t only about the girl. You dropped five bodies in two days. You think, what, Pitman can tell LAPD, Hey, it’s all right, our civilian killed thos...
Behind him, McIntosh whispered. What if it’s people? It’s not. I know these are animal heads, but this could be human blood. These organs could be from people. They aren’t. Butchered people smell diff...
Because of the wind, the crows were pointing in one direction but traveling in another. I wondered if they knew it, and, knowing it, understood it, or if they were simply oblivious, carried along by a...
As I tooled north back to Los Angeles I tried to keep an open mind. Just because someone looks like a liar and acts like a liar doesn’t mean that he is a liar. It doesn’t even mean he’s a liar when hi...
As Cole and Pike slipped out, Stone said, Want the M4? It’s ideal for urban assault. Cole frowned at Stone. You have an M4? Shit, yeah, man. Suppressed. Frangible bullets so you don’t kill a buncha pe...
Amber was cooperative once she got on board, and Tyson was docile. We grabbed Tyson’s backpack and toiletries, and Amber stuffed a few clothes and toiletries into a tote bag. I watched what they packe...
Air dogs excelled at tracking scent in the air. Ground dogs like bloodhounds and beagles worked best tracking scent particles close to or on the ground. Scott
A woman I know gave me a build-it-yourself bird-feeder kit for Christmas, so I built it, and hung it from the eve of my roof high enough to keep the birds save from my cat. But the birds scratch the s...
A taupe couch faced matching taupe chairs across a blocky coffee table. Matching end tables that were too large for the space bracketed the couch, and a generic mass-produced painting hung on the wall...
A sunset breeze out of Chavez Ravine stirred the warm air. Families were outside on their porches, some listening to the radio and others just talking. Pike heard Vin Scully, calling the game from nea...
A light patter of rain began to fall, and Alexei put on the windshield wipers. We took the Alaskan Way Viaduct up past Elliot Bay into Ballard, then turned toward the water and bumped along an older p...
A dog could see your heart in your eyes, Budress told him, and dogs were drawn to our hearts.
To the bullet clips the same way every
They could use in an identity search. Six feet, one ninety,
The sort of baleful stare you get when life’s a mystery.
The police could follow him without dogs or helicopters. As we banged down the stairs, I said, There’s a trail works south through the mountains to a subdivision above
The lobby pay phone, and called her. She answered on the second ring.