“Yes, it has always been true. Lefebvre was Seth’s father’s name.”
“My father was a hero. I’ll show you a videotape one day.”
“Say that name again,” the youngest pleaded.
“Lefebvre,” Seth said slowly. “Lefebvre. Lefebvre.”
“You haven’t done shit this week, have you?” Elena whispered to Frank.
“I forgot to tell you something,” Frank said. “I talked to Joe Koza, our questioned documents examiner, the other day. I asked him about a business card I had bagged at the scene of the crash. Turns out it was yours, with a handwritten number on the back.”
She looked up at him, searching his face.
“Lefebvre had it in his shirt pocket.” He put his hand over his heart. “He carried it right here.”
“Thanks,” she said, and quickly walked away.
Irene came up to him then, saying, “The kids want to watch the video, so I told their mom they could all come up to our place. Is that okay?”
“Sure,” he said, still watching Elena.
Irene followed his gaze and said, “Did you make her cry?”
“No, another cop did,” he said, then smiled as Jack began to follow her.
They led the boys up the stairs. Behind him, he heard a chant, a boy saying “Lefebvre” perfectly, four others getting better at it as they repeated, “Lefebvre, Lefebvre, Lefebvre, Lefebvre…”
The Looking Glass Man stood very still near the center of the cell. He did not want to touch any surface. The cell was filthy. No amount of complaining would improve conditions in this hellhole.
There was one small victory this evening. He had stolen a spoon during dinner. He took it out now and polished it with his shirttail. He polished it, whispering to himself as he did. Then he paused and looked at his reflected image — first convex, then concave.
Not very satisfactory.
Nothing was anymore.
He took hold of the shirttail again. As he polished and polished the spoon, more vigorously this time, he whispered a little louder:
“Lefebvre, Lefebvre, Lefebvre, Lefebvre…”
Acknowledgments
The research for this book required the help of a number of experts whose kindness in offering it should not result in their being blamed for any of my mistakes. I’m especially grateful to fellow author Detective Paul Bishop, Los Angeles Police Department; Officer John Pearsley, Jr., El Cajon Police Department; and Detective Bill Valles of the Long Beach Police Department. My special thanks to Detective Sergeant Ed Cavanaugh, Evidence Control, Long Beach Police Department, for his time and willingness to answer my many questions, and for all he does to keep the LBPD Evidence Control area free of the problems the fictional Sergeant Flynn faces.
Barry A. J. Fisher, author of
For the sections concerning Lefebvre’s plane, I am indebted to Jeff Rich, Senior Safety Investigator, National Transportation Safety Board, Southwest Regional Office, and to Manny Raefsky, who spent a career investigating aviation disasters.
SAR and cadaver dog trainer Beth Barkely provided help with passages concerning Bingle (but please don’t assume she’d break the rules Ben Sheridan breaks!) and also with the collapsed building scenes. I also had help regarding Ben and Bingle’s mountain searches — especially the wood rat’s nest — from the members of the Internet Listserv SAR-DOGS, and I thank Leo Delany, Travis County SAR; Fleta Kirk, MARK-9 SAR, Dallas; Bev Peabody, Placer County Sheriff’s SAR K9 Team; and Laura Rathe, California Rescue Dog Association for their assistance.
The technical rescue scenes and information about collapsed buildings grew out of conversations with Mark Ghilarducci, Federal Coordinating Officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a specialist in urban search and rescue; with Bob Caldon, Public Information Officer for the Long Beach Fire Department; and most especially with the help of Captain Jeff Reeb, Long Beach Fire Department.
I appreciate the time and effort given by forensic anthropologists Madeleine Hinkes — who allowed me to picture the crash site much more clearly — Paul Sledzik, Diane France, and Marilyn London; Sandra Cvar for guinea pig sound effects and for helping me catch errors in the manuscript; John G. Fischer for fight scenes; Jonathan Beggs for help with constructing the attic; Melodie Johnson Howe for reconstruction and encouragement. Timbrely Pearsley provided computer information, and Tonya Pearsley gave feedback on early drafts.
Shortly after I named a character Lefebvre, I began to hear five or six different pronunciations of his Quebecois name. Thanks are due to the members of Dorothy L, an Internet Listserv dedicated to mystery fiction, who kindly answered my plea for help with this matter, especially Nicole Leclerc, C. Tessier, Carole Epstein, Catherine, Gail, Marlyn, Nina, and Mary Jane. As Phil Lefebvre explains, there are several ways the owners of the name may say it, and I hope my readers in Quebec will find the one I chose to be believable for his background.
In addition to surviving jobs in television news, the real Marcia Wolfe-Gruber is a dear friend, Video Vixen, and kick in the pants — her husband, Dr. James Gruber, also my friend, and inventor of the Grubescope, answered medical questions.
One evening at the Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, I was introduced to Erin Declan Philbin, a speech and language pathologist who specializes in alternative augmentation communication — and soon enlisted her aid in understanding how Seth Randolph would communicate after his injuries. My thanks to Erin and the MLB.
Thanks also to Scott Carrier of the Los Angeles County Department of the Coroner for his assistance.
