Sue Grafton - Kinsey Millhone 21 U is for Undertow

Sue Grafton

U Is For Undertow

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Chapter 1 - Wednesday afternoon, April 6, 1988

Chapter 3 - DEBORAH UNRUH

Chapter 4 - Thursday morning, April 7, 1988

Chapter 6 - DEBORAH UNRUH

Chapter 7 - Thursday afternoon, April 7, 1988

Chapter 9 - WALKER MCNALLY

Chapter 10 - Friday, April 8, 1988

Chapter 12 - WALKER MCNALLY

Chapter 13 - Monday, April 11, 1988

Chapter 15 - JON CORSO

Chapter 16 - Wednesday, April 13, 1988

Chapter 18 - JON CORSO

Chapter 19 - Wednesday afternoon, April 13, 1988

Chapter 21 - DEBORAH UNRUH

Chapter 22 - Thursday night, April 14, 1988

Chapter 23 - Friday afternoon, April 15, 1988

Chapter 24 - WALKER MCNALLY

Chapter 25 - Monday, April 18, 1988

Chapter 27 - JON CORSO

Chapter 28 - Wednesday afternoon, April 20, 1988

Chapter 29 - WALKER MCNALLY

Chapter 30 - Wednesday evening, April 20, 1988

Chapter 31 - JON CORSO

Chapter 32 - Thursday, April 21, 1988

Chapter 33 - Thursday, April 21, 1988

Kinsey Mil hone mysteries

A is for Alibi

B is for Burglar

C is for Corpse

D is for Deadbeat

E is for Evidence

F is for Fugitive

G is for Gumshoe

H is for Homicide

I is for Innocent

J is for Judgment

K is for Killer

L is for Lawless

M is for Malice

N is for Noose

O is for Outlaw

P is for Peril

Q is for Quarry

R is for Ricochet

S is for Silence

T is for Trespass

A MARIAN WOOD BOOK

Published by G. P. Putnams Sons

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Copyright 2009 by Sue Grafton

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Published simultaneously in Canada

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Grafton, Sue.

U is for undertow / Sue Grafton.

p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-15161-7

1. Millhone, Kinsey (Fictitious character)Fiction. 2. Women private investigatorsCaliforniaFiction. 3. GirlsCrimes againstFiction. I. Title.

PS3557.R13U

813.54dc22

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

http://us.penguingroup.com

For Larry Welch, who left us,

steering a course for ports unknown,

and for Pam, who sails on,

navigating her journey over high seas.

Safe passage to you both.

The author wishes to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the fol owing people: Steven Humphrey; Sam Eaton, Eaton and Jones, Attorneys at Law; John Mackal , Attorney at Law, Seed Mackal LLP; Bil Turner, Detective Sergeant (retired), Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Department; Deborah Linden, Chief of Police, San Luis Obispo; Mary El en Tiffany, Vice President Business Development, Montecito Bank & Trust; Penny Braniff and Krys Jackson, Hope Ranch Park Homes Association; Special Agent Leane Blevins, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ventura field office; Lisa Lowseth, DVM; Amy Taylor, Veterinary Technician, Cat Doctors; Susan Burke, Librarian, Laguna Blanca School; Diane Mil er, Assistant Dean, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Kevin Frantz; Sal y Giloth; Tracy Kanowsky; Suzanne Perkins; Steve Tipton; Kim Showalter; Jamie Clark; Susan Gulbransen; Joanna Barnes; and Sue Parks; along with a special thank-you to Margie and Keith Kirkendal , Patricia L. Erbe, M.D., and Jeffrey Gril , M.D., for the use of their names.

Wednesday afternoon, April 6, 1988

What fascinates me about life is that now and then the past rises up and declares itself. Afterward, the sequence of events seems inevitable, but only because cause and effect have been aligned in advance. Its like a pattern of dominoes arranged upright on a tabletop. With the flick of your finger, the first tile topples into the second, which in turn tips into the third, setting in motion a tumbling that goes on and on, each tile knocking over its neighbor until al of them fal down. Sometimes the impetus is pure chance, though I discount the notion of accidents. Fate stitches together elements that seem unrelated on the surface. Its only when the truth emerges you see how the bones are joined and everything connects.

Heres the odd part. In my ten years as a private eye, this was the first case I ever managed to resolve without crossing paths with the bad guys.

Except at the end, of course.

My name is Kinsey Mil hone. Im a private detective, female, age thirty-seven, with my thirty-eighth birthday coming up in a month. Having been married and divorced twice, Im now happily single and expect to remain so for life. I have no children thus far and I dont anticipate bearing any. Not only are my eggs getting old, but my biological clock wound down a long time ago. I suppose theres always room for one of lifes little surprises, but thats not the way to bet.

I work solo out of a rented bungalow in Santa Teresa, California, a town of roughly 85,000 souls who generate sufficient crime to occupy the Santa Teresa Police Department, the County Sheriffs Department, the California Highway Patrol, and the twenty-five or so local private investigators like me. Movies and television shows would have you believe a PIs job is dangerous, but nothing could be farther from the truth...