Treasure Hunt (45 page)

He was cutting the onions when he heard a scratching noise and he stopped and listened again. There it was again. A scratch and a soft tap.

Going out into the living room, he went over to the front door and opened it.

“I know it’s too early,” Alicia said, and then added all in a rush, “and the last thing I want to do is intrude on you or your kitchen, but I know how much you were doing today and I figured that since we were going to be eating here, our combined families, I mean, what there are of them, the least I could do would be to help you out a little, even if it’s early, although I haven’t really had much practice with exactly what to do on Thanksgiving, I mean, they’ve all been so different when we’ve even had them at all, and since Ian and I haven’t really ever had one exactly together, this one’s going to be at least one we can remember even if it’s the last one we ever . . .”

She stopped talking and just stood in front of him with her hands down by her sides. She took a deep breath and let it out, her eyes beginning to go glassy now. “And one other thing.” She reached up a hand behind his neck.

“I’ve been waiting for the right time,” she said, “and I so don’t want to be wrong, and I’m not completely sure if this is it yet.” She took another breath. “But unless you tell me not to, I’m going to kiss you.”

He beat her to it.

 

 

 

 

While casting about for an idea that would drive this book, I was hoping to be able to include an element or two that was more or less pure fun. I have found that when you’re writing about very serious issues, such as abuse of charity funds and murder, it adds to a book’s readability and enjoyment if there’s something else going on besides the heavy stuff. My muse (aka my wife, Lisa Sawyer) suggested I include a whole bunch of restaurants, San Francisco being such a great restaurant town. This struck me as such a good idea that I considered naming this book
Thirty Restaurants
and setting every scene in an eating establishment. Fortunately, I didn’t carry the conceit that far. But I did decide that my main character, Mickey Dade, wanted to be not a private eye, but a chef. Since cooking has long been one of my own passions, I knew I could bring a certain authority, and definitely some fun, to that approach.

But there is a nearly unbridgeable chasm between recreational cooks and professional chefs. Since I am definitely one of the former, I didn’t have a good idea of the mind-set and ambitions demanded of the latter. I was mentioning this to a friend, Laurie Lovely (her real name!), at my workout club, and she suggested I take a look at Michael Ruhlman’s
The Making of a Chef.
It was a terrific book and set me well on the way to knowing who Mickey Dade was and what he was made of. I wish I could have incorporated more of the fascinating life of a chef-in-training in this book, but my story was after all about murder and corporate malfeasance and I didn’t want to burden my readers with too many distractions.

Serendipity then intervened again in the guise of an article by Terri Hardy that ran in the
Sacramento Bee
about some questionable practices with the bookkeeping and business practices of a well-known charity that I won’t name here. But I did call Terri and speak to her at length about her research and discoveries, and I’d like to thank her for providing the key that unlocked the door to the real meat of this novel. I’d also like to thank another journalist, Michelle Durand, columnist and reporter for the
San Mateo Daily Journal
, who contributed some anecdotal information on ducks and ground squirrels (really!) that got the book off and running.

As in all of my books, Al Giannini continues to contribute mightily from the planning stages right up through the final editing. Al knows just about everything about criminal law that there is to know, and is unstinting in his generosity in sharing that knowledge with me. If these novels read like they’re written by somebody who knows the ins and outs of the criminal justice system, and I hope they do, it is due largely to Al’s efforts and insights.

Other friends who added to this novel in one way or the other include Max Byrd, John M. Poswall, Don Matheson, Peter J. and Donna Diedrich, Dr. Mark Detzer, and Bob Zaro. Peter S. Dietrich, M.D., M.P.H., has once again vetted the book for medical issues. And my assistant, Anita Boone, continues to lighten my days and my workload by being among the most competent, efficient, and cheerful people on the planet. In ways too numerous and too intangible to mention, my two children, Justine Rose Lescroart and Jack Sawyer Lescroart, play a huge role in the gestation and creation of all of these books. Thank you.

This is the tenth book of mine to be published by Dutton, and I couldn’t be happier in my “home” here. So many people at this company work diligently to see that these books find an enthusiastic, loyal, and large readership, and I’m grateful to one and all. The professionalism, style, and taste that are the hallmarks of the organization are second to none in the publishing industry; and more than that, the people here are just simply a joy to work with. So once again, I’d like to shout out a thanks to my publisher, Brian Tart, the marketing team of Christine Ball and Carrie Swetonic, Melissa Miller, Signet/NAL paperback publisher Kara Welsh, Phil Budnick, Rick Pascocello, and the mega-talented cover designer Rich Hasselberger (who has outdone himself on
Treasure Hunt
). My editor, Ben Sevier, is smart, sensitive, insightful, and fun, and I hope nothing more than that we get to keep doing these books together for a very, very long time.

Karen Hlavacek and Peggy Nauts both were fantastic in catching those last little mistakes that so badly seem to want to creep into books even after a hundred people have read and edited them. Thanks to both of you for making the final book as clean as it can be.

Mick and Nancy Neshek have generously contributed to the naming of one of the characters in this book on behalf of the Sacramento Library Foundation.

Finally, Barney Karpfinger remains my great friend and tireless supporter. He is also, not incidentally, the finest literary agent there is. I am humbled and grateful to be working with him.

I very much like to hear from my readers, and invite all of you to please visit me at my Web site,
www.johnlescroart.com
, with comments, questions, or interests. Also, if you are on Facebook, please join me on my official page.

 

 

 

 

John Lescroart is the author of twenty previous novels, including
A Plague of Secrets, Betrayal, The Suspect, The Hunt Club, The Motive, The Second Chair, The First Law, The Oath, The Hearing,
and
Nothing But the Truth
. He lives in northern California.