'Ring I can do without,' I said, shortly.

My secretary looked at me for a long moment, water and sponges slapping in the autopsy suite next door.

'I'll cancel him and you can see Jon instead.' She eyed me over her glasses like a stern headmistress. 'Then rest, and that's an order. Tomorrow, Dr Scarpetta. Don't come in. Don't you dare let me see you darken the door.'

I started to protest and she cut me off.

'Don't even think of arguing,' she firmly went on. 'You need a mental health day, a long weekend. I wouldn't say that if I didn't mean it.'

She was right, and as I thought about having a day to myself, my spirits lifted.

'There's not a thing I can't reschedule,' she added. 'Besides.' She smiled. 'We're having a touch of Indian summer and it's supposed to be glorious, in the eighties with a big blue sky. Leaves are at their peak, poplars an almost perfect yellow. Maples look like they're on fire. Not to mention, it's Halloween. You can carve a pumpkin.'

I got suit jacket and shoes out of my locker. 'You should have been a lawyer,' I said.

Chapter Two

The next day, the weather was just what Rose predicted, and I woke up thrilled. As stores were opening, I set out to stock up for trick-or-treaters and dinner, and I drove far out on Hull Street to my favorite gardening center. Summer plantings had long since faded around my house, and I could not bear to see their dead stalks in pots. After lunch, I carried bags of black soil, boxes of plants and a watering can to my front porch.

I opened the door so I could hear Mozart playing inside as I gently tucked pansies into their rich, new bed. Bread was rising, homemade stew simmering on the stove, and I smelled garlic and wine and loamy soil as I worked. Marino was coming for dinner, and we were going to hand out chocolate bars to my small, scary neighbors. The