“I told you, I only remember the last four digits of the license plate number, Scott. It happened so fast-”

“Just let me get a physical picture, okay?”

“Okay.”

He sighed, making me feel like an errant child. Hayley said, “It’ll be okay, Cin-”

“Can you not interrupt, Marx?” Oliver’s eyes went to my face. “So you’re heading eastbound, stopped at a light.”

“Yes… exactly where the car is parked now. We haven’t moved it.”

“So where was the Jeep coming from?” Oliver asked.

“I told you I don’tknow.There were no cars on either side of us. The Jeep just came out of nowhere and ran the light.”

“Then it came up from behind you?” Oliver asked.

“Maybe. Probably. I don’t know, Scott, I wasn’t driving. I wasn’t checking the rearview mirror.”

“Who was driving?”

“Koby.” I turned toward the crash site. “My date. He’s over there somewhere, helping out the paramedics.”

“He’s a doctor?” Hayley asked.

“A nurse.”

“Oh.” She sounded disappointed.

I exploded. “What the hell difference does it make?”

“Cin, I’m sorry-”

“She had a purse!” I suddenly recalled. “The woman… she was holding a purse. I remember pointing it out to Koby as we watched her cross the street. She looked so sad.” I began to pace. “We’ve got to find the purse. It’s bound to have her ID. I’ve got to find it-”

“No, you’ve got to sit down,” Oliver told me.

“No, no, I’m okay…”

Another cruiser pulled up. Oliver said, “Cindy, sit down! That’s an order. I’ll call it into Hollywood Homicide.”

But I didn’t listen. As Oliver left with Hayley to give instructions to the next set of units, I started hunting around for the handbag. There was blood all over the place. Piercing screams and sobs were coming from the pile of mangled metal. The group of EMTs working on the accident had grown. There were now two ambulances and two fire trucks with lots of firefighters in yellow slickers standing by. They were bringing out the Jaws of Life.

Koby emerged from the shadows, speaking to a paramedic, using his hands as he talked. I stared at him, in awe of how fast he had reacted. I jumped when Oliver tapped me on the shoulder.

“I told you to sit down.”

“I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not.”

Silence.

“Who’s your date?” Oliver asked.

I pointed to Koby. “Him.”

“Shirtless wonder?”

I jerked my head around and glared at him.

Oliver let out a bitter chuckle and shook his head. “Does Daddy know you’re eating chocolate cake?”

Stunned didn’t even remotely approximate the way those words hit me. Rage welled up so quickly, it made my eyes tear. The old Cindy would have slapped his face and berated him with a string of curse words. But if I had learned anything the past year, it was the value of saying as little as possible.

“Stay away from me, Oliver.” My voice was feral. “Stayfaraway.”

“Hey!” Hayley shouted as she tied up the last bit of crime tape. “Everything okay?”

The absolute fury must have showed on my face. “Just fine, Marx.” I stalked off, snapping off my gloves, and continued searching for the purse. Oliver had the good sense not to follow. Hayley joined me a minute later with a flashlight. “What’d he say to you?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar.”

“Help me look for the handbag.”

“That’s what I’m doing.” She swept the light across the dark ground. “Who’s your date?”

I gave up on subtlety. “The black guy over there.”

“Really.”A pause. “Great body. Why’s he shirtless?”

I couldn’t keep the scorn out of my voice.“Becausehe ripped it off to tie up a gushing artery.”

“Wow… that’s cool.”

“Hayley, shut up!”

She held my shoulders, and I started to cry. She hugged me tightly and I let her do it. “You’re okay, Cin, you’re okay.”

“It was just so awful… that horrible noise!” I pulled away. “We’ve got to find the purse. We’ve got to find out who she is… was.”

“I know he’s a jerk, Decker. I know I’m a jerk for going out with him, especially ’cause he still likes you-”

“Not the time for a psychodrama, Marx.” I stepped away from her and took in my surroundings. The body had landed around ten feet from a stucco office building encircled by a three-foot hedge of waxy privet. Maybe the purse landed somewhere in the bushes. I began separating branch from branch. It was dark and I was looking into black holes.

“Maybe you’d do better if you could see.” Hayley offered me the flashlight. I took it and shone the beam into the thick leaves.

“Thanks.”

“How about I hold while you look?”

I nodded. “Thanks.” A pause. “I know I’m being a butt.”

“You’re fine, Decker, but you witnessed something shocking. Oliver’s right. You should sit down.”

Sharp twigs scratched the back of my hands. “Oliver’s not right about anything.”

“How long have you been going with this guy?”

“A week. It’s nothing, okay? You know you can shine the light and look at the same time.”

Hayley began a perfunctory search through the flora. “First date?”

“Third.”

“Third… It’s going well then.”

“Can I get a little illumination over here?”

She shifted the angle of the beam. “You do anything yet?”

I didn’t answer.

Excitement in her voice. “Is he good?”

Again I didn’t answer.

More excitement. “Is it true what they say about black guys?”

It took herculean effort not to punch her out, but once more I didn’t answer.

Hayley was staring into the bushes, bringing the light into focus on something. “What’s this?”

“What?”

“That!” It was rectangular in shape and made from chrome or steel or silver. It winked in the dark. She squinted. “Maybe a pop-top?”

I went in for a closer inspection. “Too big. It could have come from her purse. We shouldn’t touch it… although I don’t know why.”

“Just in case.” Hayley reached in her own purse and pulled out a tissue. “Here.”

I retrieved the metal and was surprised to find it attached to a chain. It was the type of dog tag usually worn by GIs. The surface was embossed with a name, a phone number, and a notice that the wearer was on Dilantin and phenobarbital, and was allergic to penicillin and all its derivatives as well as erythromycin and all its derivatives.

“This is one ill girl.”

“ ‘Belinda Syracuse.’ ” Hayley read the inscription in the beam of light. “Think it’s her?”

I took out my cell phone, my heart thumping in my chest. “There’s one way to find out.” As I phoned the number, I had an eerie sense of déjà vu. Then I began to sweat, thinking about what I’d say to whoever answered the phone at three-thirty in the morning. After three rings, a machine kicked in. When the recorded voice told me who was on the other end of the line, I gasped and dropped the phone. It bounced several times but didn’t break.

The wonders of modern technology.