Let Me Call You Sweetheart (31 page)

Judge McDonough was smiling at her. "Well, Kerry, I think it's time," he said.
Robin came forward, carrying the heavy Bible. Margaret rose and walked behind her, the black robe over her arm, waiting to present it to Kerry after the oath. Kerry raised her right hand, placed her left hand on the Bible and began to repeat after Judge McDonough: "I, Kerry McGrath, do solemnly swear..."
...
Mary Higgins Clark is the bestselling author of fourteen novels and two collections of short stories. Beginning with the phenomenally successful Where Are the Children?, her books have sold more than thirty million copies in the United States alone. Born and raised in New York City, she has serviced as president of Mystery Writers of America. She makes her home in Saddle River, New Jersey, and in Dennis, Massachusetts.... Excerpt from "Epitaph" by Edna St. Vincent Millay: From Collected Poems, HarperCollins. Copyright 1934, 1962 by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Norma Millay Ellis. Reprinted by permission of Elizabeth Barnett, literary executor.... Acknowledgments
No man is an island and no writer, at least not this one, writes alone. Special glowing thanks to my editors, Michael V. Korda and Chuck Adams, who are always the sine qua non of my books from conception to publication. Particularly and especially with this one and at this time, they've been wonderful.
A thousand thanks always to Eugene H. Winick, my literary agent, and Lisl Cade, my publicist. Their help is immeasurable.
A writer needs expert counsel. This book concerns plastic surgery. My thanks to Dr. Bennett C. Rothenberg of Saint Barnabas Hospital, Livingston, New Jersey, for his expert medical advice. Kudos to Kim White of the New Jersey Department of Corrections for her assistance. And once again, Ina Winick has vetted for me the psychological aspects of the story line. Thank you, Ina.
My offspring, all five of them, read the work in progress. From them I get much sound advice--legal: "Make sure you sequester the jury..."; or dialogue: "No one our age would say that. Put it this way..."--and always cheery encouragement. Thanks, kids.
Finally, my ten-year-old granddaughter, Liz, who in many ways was the role model for Robin. I would ask her, "Liz, what would you say if this were happening...?" Her suggestions were "awesome."
I love you, one and all.
The End