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reputation?” Arcadia asked. “Neither of us had ever heard of him until you opened that phone book.”
    â€œJust goes to show how good he is at keeping a low profile.” She frowned when she realized that no one was rushing to pick up the phone at Truax Investigations. She waited through a few more rings and then gave up.
    â€œOut to lunch?” Arcadia asked dryly.
    â€œLooks like it. The address is on Cobalt Street. That’s just a few blocks from here. I’ll walk over and talk to the person in charge as soon as we finish.”
    â€œYou’re sure you want to do this?”
    â€œYes.” She closed the phone book and picked up her unfinished tea. A sense of satisfaction flowed through her, lifting her spirits. Or maybe that was the food and caffeine taking effect, she thought. “You know, I’ve got a good feeling about this. Hiring Truax is the right way to go. I know it.”
    â€œThink so?”
    â€œYes.”
    Arcadia shook her head once, her silver-glossed mouth curved slightly in a rare, wry smile. “The thing that never ceases to amaze me about you, Zoe, is your seemingly bottomless well of optimism. If I didn’t know you better, I’d swear you took drugs to maintain such an irrational view of the universe.”
    â€œSo I’m a glass-half-full kind of person.”
    â€œAnd I’m a worst-case-scenario type. Do you sometimes wonder why we get along so well?”
    â€œThe way I see it, we sort of balance each other, and we did both graduate from the same alma mater.”
    â€œTo good old Xanadu.” Arcadia raised her espresso cup and clinked it lightly against Zoe’s tea glass. A fleeting rage glittered briefly in her eyes. “May it sink into an undersea volcano and disappear forever.”
    Zoe stopped smiling. “I’ll drink to that.”

Chapter Three
    Zoe’s bright bubble of optimism threatened to burst when she turned the corner into Cobalt Street. It was amazing how fast the character of a town could change within a few blocks. The fashionable shops and the modern business district were only a short distance away, but they might as well have been in a different dimension. Here on Cobalt Street there was a dated, slightly seedy air.
    The buildings were mostly two-story structures done in the classic Southwestern version of the Spanish Colonial style. The stucco exteriors had rounded edges, arched doorways, and deep-set windows. The roofs were red tile. The old trees, no doubt planted many years ago before the city council had begun to fret about water conservation, created a shady canopy.
    In the middle of the block, Zoe paused to check the address she had written down. There was no mistake. She was standing in front of 49 Cobalt Street.
    She crossed a small patio and studied thegrimy-windowed directory. Truax Investigations was on the upper floor. Most of the other offices appeared to be empty except for one on the ground floor labeled SINGLE-MINDED BOOKS .
    She opened the front door and hesitated a fraction of a second on the threshold. She had already learned one lesson today, she reminded herself. And older buildings were often the worst.
    Nothing terrible happened. No fierce or violent emotions emanated from the walls. The hallway in front of her was sunk deep in gloom, but she didn’t think anyone had killed anybody here. At least not lately.
    She went toward the staircase. When she passed Single-Minded Books, she noticed that the door was closed. The proprietor was evidently not keen on encouraging walk-in business.
    She climbed the squeaky, badly lit stairs to the second floor and went warily down a dingy hall. There were two closed, unmarked doors. The third one had a small sign tacked to it. TRUAX INVESTIGATIONS . It stood partway open, revealing a dim interior.
    She hesitated, wondering if she was about to make a serious mistake. Maybe it would be better to go with the larger, corporate security