Kovac didn't answer, his mind already on the confrontation ahead.

Quinn stood near the one-way gla.s.s, looking dead on his feet as hestared through to the next room, where Gregg Urskine sat across the table from Elwood.

"We paid cash. I couldn't find the receipt," Urskine said, exasperated, fighting to keep that pleasant yuppie smile hanging on his face.

"Do you keep all your receipts, Sergeant? Could you find a receipt for

something you did months ago?"

"Yes, I could. I keep a simple but efficient home filing system," Elwood

said conversationally. "You never know when you might need a record of something. For tax purposes, for an alibi-"

"I don't need an alibi."

"I know someone who does," Kovac said, snagging Quinn's attention. "You

want to take another ride?"

"What's up?"

"I just talked to Mrs. Donald Thorton, Peter Bondurant's ex-partner.

You want to know how the emotionally unstable Sophie Bondurant got

custody of Jillian in the divorce? You'll love this," he promisedsarcastically.

"I'm almost afraid to ask."

"She threatened to expose him to the court and to the media. For molesting Jillian."

CHAPTER 27.

"OH, G.o.d," Yurek groaned with dread.

Kovac wheeled on him. "What now? You want me to pretend I don't know

Bondurant was molesting his daughter?"

"Allegedly molesting-"

"You think I don't know I've just stepped in it up to my a.s.s?"

"I think you'd better hear what the mayor wants."

"I could give a rat's-"

"She wants you in her office to give Mr. Bondurant a personal briefing

on the status of the case. They're up there waiting for you now. Theroom fell silent for a heartbeat, then Elwood's calm voice came over thespeaker again from the interview room next door.

"Have you ever paid for s.e.x, Mr. Urskine?"

"No!"

"No offense intended. It's just that working around all those women

who've sold their bodies professionally might give rise to a certain curiosity. So to speak."

Urskine shoved his chair back from the table. "That's it. I'm leaving.

If you want to speak to me again, you can do it through my attorney."

"All right," Kovac said to Quinn, nerves and antic.i.p.ation knotting inhis stomach. "Let's go give the mayor and Mr. Bondurant the big update.I'll fill you in on the way."

"I'M SURE YOU can understand Peter's need for closure in this matter,"Edwyn n.o.ble said to Chief Greer. "Do we have any kind of time frame asto when the body may be released?"

"Not specifically." Greer stood near the head of the mayor's conferencetable, feet slightly spread, hands clasped before him, like a soldier atease, or a bouncer with an att.i.tude. "I have a call in to SergeantKovac.

I understand he's waiting to hear from the FBI lab on some tests.

Possibly after those are completed, which could be any day-"

"I want to bury my daughter, Chief Greer." Bondurant's voice was tight.He didn't look at the chief, but seemed to be staring into a dimensiononly he could see. He had ignored the offer of a seat, and movedrestlessly around the conference room. "The thought of her body sittingin some refrigerated locker like so much meat .. . I want her back."

"Peter darling, we understand," Grace n.o.ble said. "We feel your pain.

And I can a.s.sure you, the task force is doing everything possible tosolve this-"

"Really? Your lead detective has spent more time hara.s.sing me than he'sspent pursuing any suspects."

"Sergeant Kovac can be a bit gruff," Greer said. "But his record inhomicide speaks for itself."

"At the risk of sounding glib, Chief Greer," Edwyn n.o.ble said, "SergeantKovac's record notwithstanding, what has he done for us lately? We haveanother victim. The killer seems to be thumbing his nose, not only atthe task force, but at the city. Does Sergeant Kovac even have a viablesuspect at this point9"

"Lieutenant Fowler tells me someone was questioned earlier today."

"Who? A legitimate suspect?"

Greer frowned. "I'm not at liberty-"

"She was my daughter!" Peter shouted, the rage in his voicereverberating off the walls. He turned away from the stares of theothers and put his hands over his face.

The mayor pressed a hand to her ample bosom, as if the sight was causingher chest pains.

"If someone has been brought in," n.o.ble said, the voice of reason, "thenit will be only a matter of hours before the press reveals thatinformation. That isn't a comment on the security of your force, per se,Chief. It's simply impossible to eliminate all, leaks in a case of thismagnitude."

Greer looked from Bondurant's lawyer to Bondurant's lawyer's wife-his boss. Unhappy and unable to see any escape routes, he sighed heavily.

"The caretaker from Ms. Bondurant's town house complex."

The intercom buzzed, and Grace n.o.ble answered it from the phone on the side table. "Mayor n.o.ble, Sergeant Kovac and Special Agent Quinn are here to see you."

"Send them in, Cynthia."

Kovac was through the door almost before the mayor finished her

sentence, his eyes finding Peter Bondurant like a pair of heat-seeking missiles.

Bondurant looked thinner than he had the day before, his color worse. He

met Kovac's gaze with an expression of stony dislike.

"Sergeant Kovac, Agent Quinn, thank you for joining us," the mayor said.

"Let's all have seats and talk."

"I'm not going into particulars of the case," Kovac stated stubbornly.

Neither would he sit down and be a still target for Bondurant or Edwyn

n.o.ble.

No one sat.

"We understand you have a suspect," Edwyn n.o.ble said.

Kovac gave him the eagle eye, then turned it on d.i.c.k Greer and thought

c.o.c.ksucker.

"No arrests have been made," Kovac said. "We're still pursuing all avenues. I've just been down an interesting one myself."

"Does Mr. Vanlees have an alibi for the night my daughter went missing?"

Bondurant asked sharply. He looked at Kovac as he paced back and forth

along the table, pa.s.sing within a foot of him.

"Do you have an alibi for the night your daughter went missing, Mr.

Bondurant?"

"Kovac!" the chief barked.

"With all due respect, Chief, I'm not in the habit of giving up my cases to anybody."

"Mr. Bondurant is the father of a victim. There are extenuating

circ.u.mstances."