Laying on her back there in the alley, skirt hiked up over all that blood on the inside of her legs, plastic bag over her head, that was troubling. To see her that way. Beautiful young girl, dead that way.

Man, you never knew.

But there was something else troubling him about that picture and he didn't realize what it was until he was back in the apartment again, telling Carlyle all about his encounter with The Law.

"Thing they do," he said, "they tries to wait me out, like I don't know they got some reason to have me up the precinc, like I'm some dumb nigger frum Alabama visitin Granma in the big city. They finey gets aroun to Yolande..."

"Are you telling me she's dead?" Carlyle asked. Sitting at the kitchen table eating one of the croissants he'd brought back from the All Night Bakery on the Stem. Sipping coffee the color of her skin.

Cafe au lait was what you could call Carlyle. Yancy, who was Sarah Rowland when he first met her fresh and sassy at-nineteen. Twenty years old now, a fire-cracker pussy and a dedicated crack addict, thank you, Jamal Stone.

"Yes, she is dead," Jamal said, affecting a pious tone and a mounful look. Carlyle kept eating her buttered croissant. She appeared thoughtful for a moment, bad failing for a hooker. You never wanted them to start thinking about the perils of the occupation. But then she gave a slight shrug and took another bite of the

croissant. Jamal went back to his tale of Derring-Do the Face of Imminent Arrest and Incarceration.

"They had these two big dudes from headquarters there, I knew this was something big even before they brung up Yolande's name. Then they lays her on me, and asts when I seed her last and whut she wearin an all that shit, and they throws dis pitcher of her dead in a alley on St. Sab's, bleedin her snatch."

"Urgh," Carlyle said, and bit into the croissant again.

"Yeah," Jamal said, "with a plastic bag over her fuckin head."

Carlyle got up and went to the stove. She wearing just this little silk wrapper he'd got her Victoria's Secret, floral design on it, all laven looking, and high-heeled bedroom slippers, looked as delicious as any of the croissants on the table. Man, he loved this girl. Yolande had been good money-maker, but this one he loved. Even if never again made a dime for him, he'd keep her take care of her. Well, maybe. He watched her as she poured more coffee into her cup. Watched her tight little ass, actually. Wouldn't care if she never brought home a nickel, this one.

Which was when he realized what was wrong with the picture the cops had shown him. "The bag," he said.

Carlyle turned from the stove, puzzled. "Yolande's bag. That red bag she has." "The patent leather," Carlyle said, nodding. "She was carryin it last night."

Carlyle sipped at her coffee. "But it wasn't in the pitcher." "What picture?"

"The one they showed me. Ain't them crime scene pitchers spose to show jus how everything was?"

"I don't know."

"They can't touch nothin before they take they pitchers, can they?"

"I don't know."

"So where was the bag?"

"Whoever done her must've taken it," Carlyle said. "Yeah, with my fuckin money in it," Jamal said.

He started making his calls at ten minutes past ten.

"Hello," the recorded voice said, "welcome to the Mayor's Action Center, the front door to city government If you are calling from a touch-tone phone and you want to continue in English, press One."

He had dialed 300-9600, and now he pressed One. "We aim to guide you if you don't know where to go, to listen thoughtfully to your opinions, and to help you if you have a problem. We can't promise to always solve what's wrong, but we can promise to do our best. By pressing selected buttons on your phone, this twenty-four-hour-a-day service can answer many of your questions without your speaking to an operator. It also allows you to leave your opinion of city policies. To speak directly to one of our representatives between the hours of nine and five, press Zero at any time. However, if you choose this option, please understand that you may need to hold for a while."

He chose the option.

He pressed Zero.

"You will experience a slight delay on the transl

Please do not hang up."

He did not hang up.

"Hello, you have reached the Mayor's Action Center. All service representatives are serving clients. Your call will be handled by the available representative. Please make sure that you have all the materials relevant to your request available. Please provide as much detail as possible that we can serve you promptly."

He waited for exactly thirty seconds.

"All service representatives are still busy.

continue to hold for the next available

He waited another thirty seconds.

The same announcement repeated itself.

He waited again.

Five minutes of utter silence. Then:

"Mayor's Action Center. How may I help you?"

"Hello, my name is Randolph Hurd? To whom do I speak about noise pollution?"

"What kind of noise pollution?"

"The honking of horns in the vicinity of Hamilton Bridge. Which I believe is against the law anywhere in the city."

"The honking of what?"

"Horns. Car horns, taxicab horns, truck horns..."

"You want Environmental Protection. Let me give you the number there."

She gave him the number.

3374357.

He dialed it.

"This is the Department of Environmental Protection. If you are calling about a water or sewer problem, air or noise pollution..."

Good, he thought.

"... asbestos or hazardous materials, please hold. Our customer service agents handle calls in the order they come in, twenty-four hours a day. We will get to your call as quickly as possible. Thank you for waiting."

He waited for a minute or so.