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The statutory definition of ho by another" Someti to distinguish murder from the numerous other occasions in which people deprive each other of life -wars and executions co foremost to mind "Malice" in the law doesn't necessarily convey hatred or even ill will but refers instead to a conscious desire to inflict serious injury or cause death In the main, criminal homicide is an intimate, personal affair insofar as most homicide victims are killed by close relatives, friends, or acquaintances Reason enough to keep your distance, if you're asking me

In Santa Teresa, California, approxihty-five percent of all cri that the assailant is identified, apprehended, and the question of guilt or innocence is adjudicated by the courts The victims of unsolved homicides I think of as the unruly dead: persons who reside in a limbo of their own, soing for release It's a fanciful notion for soination, but I think of these souls locked in an uneasy relationship with those who have killed theht up in sier a us, persistent in their desire for vindication In the hazy zone where wakefulness fades into sleep, in that leaden moment just before the mind sinks below consciousness, I can so a lullaby of the murdered They whisper the names of their attackers, those men and women who still walk the earth, unidentified, unaccused, unpunished, unrepentant On such nights, I do not sleep well I lie awake listening, hoping to catch a syllable, a phrase, straining to discern in that roll call of conspirators the na h I didn't learn the facts of her death until months afterward

It waslate, little Miss Virtue organizing itemized expenses and assorted business receipts for my tax return I'd decided it was ti everything in a shoebox and delivering it to my accountant at the very last minute Talk about cranky! Each year the man positively bellows at me, and I have to swear I'll reforain and I realize my finances are in complete disarray

I was sitting at ht outside was chilly by the usual California definition, which is to say fifty degrees I was the only one on the preht while the other offices remained dark and quiet I'd just put on a pot of coffee to counteract the narcolepsy that afflicts me at the approach toto the soothing gargle of the water as it filtered through the coffee maker Even the smell of mocha java was not sufficient to stimulate ht, drooling on es in reverse

I heard a tap at the side entrance and I liftedon alert It was nearly ten o'clock, and I wasn't expecting any visitors I roused myself, left ainst the side door leading out into the hall The tap was repeated, much louder I said, "Yes?"

I heard a woations?"

"We're closed"

"What?"

"Hang on" I put the chain on the door and opened it a crack, peering out at her

She was on the far side of forty, her outfit of the urban cowgirl sort: boots, faded jeans, and a buckskin shirt She wore enough heavy silver-and-turquoise jewelry to look like she would clank She had dark hair nearly to her waist, worn loose, faintly frizzy and dyed the color of oxblood shoes "Sorry to bother you, but the directory downstairs says there's a private investigator up here in this suite Is he in, by any chance?"

"Ah Well, more or less," I said, "but these aren't actual office hours Is there any way you can come back tomorrow? I'll be happy to set up an appointment for you once I check my book"

"Are you his secretary?" Her tanned face was an irregular oval, lines cutting down along each side of her nose, four lines between her eyes where the broere plucked to nothing and reframed in black She'd used the sah she wore no other makeup that I could see