"Not much news from my end. Menard's got no jacket in California. One correction on his academic career, though. Squirrel wasn't tossed. He actually registered for the second year at Chico."

"And?"

"No show."

I stopped rubbing. "Menard paid tuition, enrolled in cla.s.ses, then never showed up?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

Charbonneau shrugged. "Squirrel didn't RSVP. Just never showed up."

"Did he terminate his lease? Close out his accounts?"

"I'm working on that."

"Where was he until he landed in Vermont in January?"

Charbonneau grinned. "I'm working on that, too."

The condo was dark when I arrived. Birdie was sleeping on the sofa back. He raised his head and blinked when I turned on a lamp.

"Anne?" I called out.

No answer.

Birdie stretched, dropped to the floor, and went belly up.

"Anne?" I called again as I rubbed Birdie's tummy.

Silence.

"Where is she, Bird?"

The cat rolled to all fours, stretched each back leg, then strolled to the kitchen. In seconds I heard the crunch of Science Diet nuggets.

"Annie?"

Her bedroom door was still closed. I knocked and went in.

And my heart sank.

Anne's belongings were gone. A note lay on the desk.

I stared at it a moment, then reached out and unfolded the paper.

Dearest Tempe,I can't tell you how much I appreciate your kindness and patience. Not just this past week, but throughout the entire course of our wonderful, joyful, precious friendship. You have been my b.u.t.tress, the wind beneath my wings. (Remember "our" movie?)We're alike in so very many ways, Tempe. I'm not good at talking about my feelings. I'm not even good at thinking about my feelings. You were perfect for me.Now it's time to wrap this up. Though I can never say it to you, know that I love you so very very much. Please don't be angry with me for doing it this way.Anne A whole catalog of emotions gripped me.

Love. I knew my friend and understood how hard those words had been for her.

Guilt. Engrossed in my own problems, I'd not really focused on Anne's. How could I have been so selfish?

Anger. She'd just packed and split for home without telling me? How could she be so insensitive?

Then fear barreled in like a locomotive.

Had she gone home? Wrap she gone home? Wrap what what up? For doing up? For doing what what this way? What way? this way? What way?

I remembered Anne's book and our dinner conversation the night before. She hadn't mentioned leaving.

What had she said? Something about cycles and changing in substance. I'd blown her off.

Sweet Jesus! Was she talking about death? Surely not. Depressed or not, Anne was not the suicidal type. But did we ever really know?

Memory collage. Another friend who'd stayed in that room. Left. Turned up dead in a shallow grave. Could Anne have undertaken some risky odyssey?

I tried calling her cell. No answer.

I dialed Tom.

"h.e.l.lo."

"Is Anne there?"

"Tempe?"

"Has Anne come home?"

"I thought she was with you."

"She left." I read Tom the note.

"What's she talking about?"

"I'm not sure."

"She was pretty upset with me."

"Yes."

"You don't think she'd do something crazy, do you?"

The same question had been winging through my skull.

"She hasn't phoned?"

"No."

"Call the airlines. See if she's booked on a flight to Charlotte."

"I don't think they'll tell me."

"Fake it, Tom!" I was almost crying. "Lie! Think of something."

"OK."

"Call me the instant you know anything."

"You, too."

Standing with the phone in one hand, I caught a snapshot of myself in the newly replaced dining room mirror.

Body tense, face a frightened white oval.

Like Anne in my corridor the night of the break-in.

Dear G.o.d! Let her be all right.

What to do? Phone the airlines? Tom was doing that. Car rental companies? Cab companies? The police?

Was I overreacting? Had Anne simply taken off to be by herself? Should I do nothing and wait?

But Anne left a note. She had some plan in mind. But what plan?

I jumped when the phone shrilled in my hand.

"Anne?"

"It's me." Ryan must have picked up on the tension in my voice. "What's wrong?"

I told him about Anne's abrupt departure.

"Does the note say she's going home?"

"Not in so many words."

"Did she phone anyone?"

"This phone doesn't record outgoing calls."

"Or incoming. Or have caller ID. You really need to upgrade."

"Thanks for the technical advice."

"I'll make some inquiries."

"Thanks. Ryan?"

"Yeah."

"She was very down."

"She took her things. That's a good sign."

"Yes." I hadn't thought of that.

Pause.

"Do you want me to come over there?"

I did. "I'll be all right. Why are you calling?"

"SIJ was able to lift prints from the letter opener. Two sets."

"Menard and the woman."

"You're probably half right."

"Half?"

"The guy's not Menard."

28.

"THE PRINTS WERE LEFT BY TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE. NEITHER IS Menard." Menard."

"You're sure?"

"I sent everything down to Vermont. Their lab compared the latents from our letter opener to those taken when Menard was busted on the DWI charge."

"But Menard was all over that letter opener." I wasn't believing this.

"The guy in the house was. But he's not Menard."

"Any hit on the second set?"

"No. We're running them up here, and sending them through AFIS in the States."