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us?” Mel asked.
    “He was one of your study subjects, your favorite one.”
    Mel whirled around in her seat again. “Derek Dementer, from the soap, Seattle! ” she yelled, sounding very much like an excited nine-year-old.
    Diana smiled at her daughter’s exuberance.
    Mel turned back to her mom, her voice still high with her discovery. “Jack Knight is a private investigator now?”
    “Apparently.”
    “He must be Richard Knight’s brother. Richard never said he had a brother in show business.”
    Diana nodded as she took a corner. “Richard’s too much of a professional to even discuss his personal business, much less brag. If I hadn’t taped all those Seattle episodes for you, I never would have known his brother was the Jack Knight when he showed up at the firm this morning.”
    “Why did he become a private investigator?”
    “I didn’t ask.”
    “I can’t wait to meet him. Will he stay for lunch?”
    Seemed even her brilliant daughter had been struck by the show business bug.
    “No, Jack and I have an appointment to see Connie Pearce as soon as I drop you off. Afterward, I have a ton of work waiting for me back at the office. So, when I take you over to say hello, do me a favor and limit yourself to only one of the zillion questions I know you want to ask him.”
    Diana could feel Mel’s watchful eyes. “You’re not happy that Jack is on the case?” her daughter said.
    “Why do you ask?”
    “You have that frown that pulls your eyebrows together,” Mel said as she demonstrated by squeezing the skin on a corresponding part of her face.
    Diana put a finger between her eyebrows, making a mental note to work on that. A trial attorney had to be able to control her facial expressions.
    “Connie needs the best,” she said by way of explanation. “Richard is the best.”
    “But you still hired Jack?”
    “White Knight Investigations has always come through for me. If Charles Knight thinks Jack can do the job, professional courtesy demands I give him a chance.”
    At least that’s what she told herself. But there was a nagging suspicion at the back of Diana’s mind that her decision might also have something to do with the factthat she wasn’t as immune to Jack Knight’s thousand-watt smile as she should be.
     
    J ACK FOLLOWED D IANA into the deeply wooded countryside surrounding the city of Silver Valley, finally parking in front of a well-kept Craftsman-style home. He let the car idle as he waited, assuming they’d be leaving right away. But Diana got out of her car and started toward him with her daughter in tow.
    Jack let out a frustrated exhale, turned off the engine and got out to stand beside the driver’s door.
    The girl wasn’t bad looking, he supposed, if one liked kids.
    Jack didn’t. They were noisy, messy and rude, had to be watched every minute, constantly demanded things and were never satisfied for more than ten seconds with whatever they got. He had no idea why anyone would want one.
    Nor could he understand what made parents think that other people were interested in getting to know their kids. He’d just as soon be introduced to their pit bulls. At least they could be kept on a leash.
    Yet here was Diana, like all the other proud mothers he’d met, bringing her kid over to be introduced. He didn’t need this. The last kid he’d tried to talk to had sneezed all over him and given him a cold.
    He gritted his teeth and diligently tried to keep himself from flinching when this one walked right up to him.
    “Hi, I’m Melissa Mason, but everybody calls me Mel. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Knight. Do you mind if I call you Jack?”
    He blinked at her in surprise. This kid was articulate, polite, even had a sweet voice. He found himself smiling as he took her offered hand.
    “Please do, Mel. You have very nice manners for one so young, or for one of any age for that matter.”
    “Thanks, but I’m short on tact when I lose my temper. Mom says it’s a family failing.”
    He