We may have to go to them.

She stiffened. What?

You may have to do a cursory examination right after we excavate and determine if its worthwhile to bring the skeleton here. My source could have lied, and the skull might be damaged too badly for a face to be reconstructed.

You want me to be there when you dig it up?

Maybe.

Forget it. Im not a grave robber.

It may be necessary for you to be there. That could be the only

Forget it.

Well talk about it later. It may not be necessary. Did you enjoy the graveyard?

Why does everyone assume I enjoy grave Her gaze narrowed on his face. How did you know I was at the cemetery? She glanced at the carriage house. Of course, your video cameras. I dont like being spied on, Logan.

The cameras scan the grounds continuously. They just happened to catch you and Margaret at the cemetery.

It could be true, but she doubted if anything just happened in Logans life. I liked the fresh flowers.

Well, Im living in the Barretts house. I figured that was the least I could do.

Its your house now.

Is it? The Barretts built the inn, they lived and worked here for over a hundred and sixty years and saw a lot of history troop by. Did you know Abraham Lincoln stayed here right before the end of the Civil War?

Another Republican. No wonder you bought the place.

Some of the places Lincoln stayed in I wouldnt have touched on a bet. I value my comfort too much. He opened the front door for her. Have you called your mother?

No, Ill do that this evening when she gets home from work. She smiled. Providing shes not out on the town. Shes keeping company with a lawyer from the D.A.s office.

Hes lucky. She seemed very nice.

Yes, and shes smart too. After Bonnie was born, she finished high school and then went to technical school to learn court reporting.

She finished school after your daughter He stopped. Sorry, Im sure you dont want to talk about your daughter.

I dont mind talking about Bonnie. Why should I? Im very proud of her. She came into our lives and made everything different. She added simply, Love can do that, you know.

So Ive heard.

Its true. Id tried to get my mother off crack, but couldnt. Maybe I was too bitter and resentful. God knows, sometimes I thought I hated her. But Bonnie came and I changed. Somehow all the bitter-ness was gone. And my mother changed too. I dont know whether it was just the right time and point in her life or it was because she knew she had to get off the crack in order to help me raise Bonnie. My God, how she loved Bonnie. No one could help but love her.

I can understand that. I saw her picture.

Wasnt she beautiful? She smiled luminously. So happy. She was always so happy. She loved every waking hour that she She had to swallow to ease the tightness in her throat and then said brusquely, Im sorry, I have to stop talking now. I can go only so far, and then it starts to hurt. But Im getting better all the time.

Christ, stop apologizing, he said roughly. Im sorry I made you talk about her.

You didnt make me do anything. Its important that I keep her with me, that I never let myself forget her. She existed. She became a part of me, maybe the best part. She turned away from him. And now I think Ill go to my lab and see if I can do a little work on Mandy.

He looked at her in surprise. You brought those fragments with you?

Of course. Theres probably not much I can do with them, but I couldnt give up without trying.

He smiled. No, I can see you couldnt.

She felt his eyes on her as she walked away. She probably shouldnt have shown him how vulnerable she could be, but the conversation had seemed to flow from one subject to another. Logan had listened in-tently and sympathetically and made her feel as if he really cared. Maybe he did care. Maybe he wasnt the manipulator she suspected him of being.

And maybe he was. What the hell difference did it make? She wasnt ashamed of how she felt about Bonnie, and there was no way he could twist anything she had said and use it against her. The only advantage he might have gained was that she felt a little closer to him now; the very act of talking to him about Bonnie had caused the most tentative of bonds to be formed. But a connection that tentative was easy to break and wouldnt influence her in any way.

She opened the door of the lab and went directly to the briefcase she had left on the desk. She unlocked it and began taking the skull fragments out of the case. Putting them together would be like working on a jigsaw puzzle with some pieces the size of tiny splin-ters. What was she thinking? she wondered in despair. It was crazy, probably impossible.

The task would be impossible if she took that attitude, she thought impatiently. Reconstructing Mandy was her job, and shed find a way to do it. The connection with Mandy was one she could trust, a bond she could afford to hold on to.

Hello, Mandy. She sat down at the desk and picked up a nasal bone, the largest left intact. I guess well start here. Dont worry. It may take a long time, but well get there.

Dora Bentz is dead, Gil said baldly when Logan picked up the phone.

Shit. His hand tightened on the receiver.

Stabbed to death and apparently raped. She was found by her sister in her apartment about ten this morning. They were planning on going to an aerobics class together. The sister had a key and let herself in after she kept knocking and didnt get an answer. The window was open and the police think its a simple rape-murder.