"Police can't go inside the Paris morgue and start asking questions," he said. "Not even undercover cops. And it goes without saying that no one here at Interpol can."

"Why not? Why can't Paris police go in there?"

"Because the medical examiner who did the cases won't talk to them. She trusts no one, and I can't say I blame her. But it seems she trusts you."

I was silent.

"You should be motivated by what happened to Lucy and Jo."

"That's not fair."

"It's fair, Kay. That's how bad these people are. They tried to blow your niece's brains out. Then they tried to blow her up. It's not an abstraction to you, now is it?"

"Violence is never an abstraction to me." Cold sweat was sliding down my sides.

"But it's different when it's someone you love," Talley said. "Right?"

"Don't tell me how I feel."

"Abstraction or not, you feel the-cruet, cold jaws of it when it crushes someone you love." Talley wouldn't let it go. "Don't let these assholes crush anyone else. You have a debt to pay. Lucy was spared."

"I should be home with her," I said.

"Your being here will help her more. It will help Jo more."

"I don't need you to tell me 'what's best for my niece or her friend. Or for me, for that matter."

"To us, Lucy is one of our finest agents. To us, she's not your niece."

"I suppose I should feel good about that."

"You certainly should."

His attention drifted down my neck. I felt his eyes like a breeze that stirred nothing but me, and then he stared at my hands.

"God, they're strong," he said, and he reached for one. "The body that turned up in the container. Kim Luong. They are your cases, Kay"-he studied my fingers, my palm. "You know all the details. You know the questions to ask, what to look for. It makes sense for you to drop by to see her."

"Her?" I pulled my hand away and wondered who was watching.

"Madame Stvan. Ruth Stvan. The director of legal medicine and chief medical examiner of France. You two have met.

"Of course I know who she is, but we've never met."

"In Geneva in 1988. She's Swiss. When you met she wasn't married. Her maiden name is Diirenmatt."

He searched my face to see if I remembered. I didn't.

"You were on a panel together. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. SIDS."

"and how could you possibly know that?”

"It's in your vita," he said, amused.

"Well, there's certainly no mention of her in my vita," I defensively replied.

His eyes wouldn't let go of me. I couldn't stop looking at him, and it was hard to think.

"Will you go see her?" to asked. "It wouldn't seem unusual for you to drop by to say hello to an old friend while you're visiting Paris, and she's agreed to talk to you. That's really why you're here."

"Nice of you to let me know now;" I said as my indignation rose.

"You may not be able to do anything. Maybe she knows nothing. Maybe there's not a single other detail she can offer to help us with our problem. But we don't believe that. She's a very intelligent, ethical woman who's had to work very hard against a system that's not always on the side of justice. Maybe you can relate to her?"

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" I asked. "You think you can just pick up the phone and summon me here and ask me to just drop by the Paris morgue while some criminal cartel isn't looking?"

He said nothing, his gaze never wavering. Sunlight filled the window beside him and turned his eyes the amber of tiger-eye.

"I don't give a damn whether you're Interpol or Scotland Yard or the queen of England," I said. "You don't get to put me or Dr. Stvan or Marino in jeopardy."

"Marino won't be going to the morgue."

"I'll let you tell him that."

"If he accompanied you, that would raise suspicions, especially since he's such a model of decorum;" Talley remarked. "Besides, I don't think Dr. Stvan would like him very much."

"And if there's evidence, then what?"

He didn't answer me, and I knew why.

"You're asking me to tamper with the chain of evidence. You're asking me to steal evidence, aren't you? I don't know what you call it here, but in the United States it's called a felony."

"Impairment or falsification of evidence, according to the new penal code. That's what it's called here. Three hundred thousand francs, three years in prison. Possibly you could get charged with a breach of respect due the dead, I suppose, if one really wants to push the matter, and that's another hundred thousand francs, another year in prison."

I shoved back my chair.

"I must say," I coldly told him, "it's not been often in my profession that a federal agent begs me to break the law." - "I'm not asking. This is between you and Dr. Stvan."

I got up. I didn't listen..

"You may not have gone to law school, but I did;" I said. "Maybe you can recite a penal code, but I know what it means."

He didn't move. Blood was pounding in my neck and sunlight was so bright in my face I couldn't see.

"I've been a servant to the law, to the principles of science and medicine, for half my life," I went on. "The only thing you've done for half your life, Agent Talley, is make it through adolescence in that Ivy League world of yours: ' "Nothing bad's going to happen to you," Talley calmly replied as if he hadn't listened to an insulting word I'd said.

"Tomorrow morning, Marino and I are flying home."

"Please sit down."

"So you know Diane Bray? Is this her grand finale? To get me thrown into a French prison?" I went on.

"Please sit," he said.

Reluctantly, I did.

"If you do something Dr. Stvan asks and should get caught, we'll intercede;' he said. "Just as we did with what I was sure Marino would have packed in his suitcase."

"I'm supposed to believe that?" I asked, incredulous. "French police with their machine guns snatch me in the airport and I say,.It's all right. I'm on a secret mission for Interpol?"

"All we're doing is getting you and Dr. Stvan together."

"Bullshit. I know exactly what you're doing. And if I get in trouble, you guys will be like every other agency in the goddamn world. You'll say you don't even know me."

"I would never say that."

He held my gaze, and the room was so hot I needed fresh sir.

"Kay, we would never say that. Senator lord would never say that. Please, trust me."

"Well, I don't"

"When would you like to return to Paris?"

I had to stop to think. He had me so befuddled and furious.

"You're scheduled on the late afternoon train," he reminded me. "But if you'd like to stay for the night, I know of a wonderful little hotel on the rue du Boeuf. It's called La Tour Rose. You'd love it."

"No, thank you," I said.

He sighed, getting up from the table and collecting both our trays.

"Where's Marino?" It occurred to me that.he had been gone for a long time.

"I was beginning to wonder that myself," Talley said as we walked through the cafeteria. "I don't think he likes me very much:' "That's the most brilliant deduction you've made all day," I said.

"I don't think he likes it when another man pays attention to you." - I didn't know how to answer that.

He slid the trays into a rack.

"Will you make the phone call?" Talley was relentless. "Please?"

He stood perfectly still in the middle of the cafeteria and touched my shoulder, almost boyishly, as he asked me again.

"I hope Dr. Stvan still speaks English," I said.