DEADLY BONES ripples with humor , quirky characters and thrilling plot spirals . Like Sam Spade phoning his reports in to Effie , Jake Wanderman himself talks us through this corkscrew case in the same , inimitable Brooklyn - wise - guy style that made SCRAMBLED EGGS read like salted peanuts . Never missing a chance , of course , to add a pinch of Shakespeare for taste . In the beginning I used to go directly to his office , which was on the fourth floor of a medical building , one of those facilities put up on the cheap by speculators , usually with doctors fronting the capital . The parking area was in back , and I had to drive my Mercedes carefully through a narrow alley to get to it . The lobby floor was a grayish vinyl tile that looked as if a trainload of muddy boots had trampled it . For decoration artificial ficus trees grew out of clay - colored plastic pots filled with scraps of paper and cigarette butts . His outer office was the size of a large closet . There were two uncomfortable chairs along with a wooden coffee table that held a scattering of dated magazines . There was never anyone waiting . As soon as I opened the door , I checked my watch . For some reason I was always five minutes late . This prompted the same tired bullshit regarding lateness in general and mine in particular . " Give me a break , will you , Bogdan ? I 'm late because this god damned building has a hundred quacks but parking for only fifty . Somebody must have paid off the zoning board . " He wasn 't anything like what I would have imagined for someone with the name , Bogdan Shipkowski . He should have had a degree from a university in Mittel Europa , an Uncle Joe mustache , deep set eyes , that sort of thing . Instead , he had gone to school in Pittsburgh , was tall , fair , with brown eyes and thinning red hair . His one distinguishing feature was a small , round , silly putty - like nose with two large nostrils . Reddish strands of hair hung out of those holes like Lilliputian carrots . His response was to write a few notes on his pad , pull on the lapels of his three piece suit , then lean back in his chair and look up at the ceiling . He didn 't speak . He wanted me to start the ball rolling . Fuck that . I leaned back in my chair . No desk between us , it was over in a corner . Obviously set up that way to make the patient feel he was just having a nice cozy shmooze with a friend . I clamped my teeth together and stared at the flowered bow tie drooping from his collar as if it needed watering . Ten minutes went by before he caved . He didn 't sigh . I admired him for that . He knew I was pulling his chain but he stayed patient . " Tell me why you are here . " Headaches , I thought . Rotten , miserable headaches that wake me up in the middle of the night with pain so fierce I want to scream . I 'd never had a headache before in my life . And sex . Or no sex . And other things . Like I didn 't much care about work anymore . But I didn 't tell him about any of them . That day I didn 't say another word . I sat in my 530SL , shut my eyes tight , and tried to get my breathing regular . I sucked in the smell of expensive leather and thought , what do I need this for ? To hell with him , I 'm never going back there again . I went for a month with very little being said . Sometimes the whole session would go by without my saying anything but hello and goodbye . After the time went crawling by , he would go over and pick up the wristwatch that lay on his desk , and say , " That 's all for today , " as if it all had gone according to plan . I sensed there was a power struggle going on . This was something I understood . I knew how to play the game and it was one I didn 't remember ever losing . Bev glared at me . I wasn 't sure if it was hate or hurt I could see in her eyes . It was hard to tell , but it was a look I now saw every day . We 'd been married more than twenty - five years with no complaints on my part . I 'd fooled around but never seriously . I took it as part of my job . I had a lot of women clients . Sometimes they wanted more than a business lunch , was all . I didn 't think Bev had ever fooled around . All she ever wanted was to have a baby . But it didn 't happen . Then , after almost ten years she finally had Debby . She was the happiest I 'd ever seen her . That baby could do no wrong . Fill her diaper every ten minutes , it didn 't matter to Bev . Wake up howling for a bottle in the middle of the night , no problem . Eat , sleep , wash , dry , Bev never asked me to do a thing . It was her pleasure to do it all . After I 'd been going to him for two months , he said something that surprised me , and I was not easy to surprise . When I was eight years old I had been what you might call " surprised " by my sixteen year old Uncle Brandon , and one of his friends . That went on until I was thirteen . Then I got hold of a hammer . I broke Uncle Brandon 's nose and laid out his friend with a concussion . They never bothered me again . We had reached the end of yet another frustrating session , and I was putting on my coat , when he said , " I 'd like you to come to my house from now on , instead of here . " " I 'm well aware , " he said , " that you don 't like coming to this office . " " Don 't like ? I hate everything about it . Especially the parking . The parking drives me crazy . " " But you do come , " he said . " And I am trying to make it easier for you . I have an office in my home . I sometimes see patients there . It 's no more than you have to drive now , and you 'll have no trouble parking . " I looked carefully into his soft brown eyes to see if he might be needling me , but I saw nothing other than the usual impenetrable stare . I was extremely disappointed by where he lived . I think I expected to find him in a witch 's house , something dark , hidden in deep woods , with a thatched roof , and black ravens hopping about . Instead , he was ensconced in an ordinary house on an ordinary suburban street , with one ordinary house side by side to another . They were the same : split level , garage driveway to the left , four brick steps with a wrought iron handrail leading up to the entry door which had an aluminum storm door hiding it . In front , a small , neat lawn , and shrubs trimmed into the immaculate squares that only gardeners and my wife , Beverly , like . A desolate looking Corrolla slumped in the driveway . I parked in the street . I 'd stopped at a car wash on my way over . My dark green paint gleamed . Sunlight dazzled off the chrome trim . The telephone antenna rose like a black arrow from the rear glass . The license plate , RE DEAL , told the world how I made my living . The car itself told the world how good at it I was . The door behind the storm door was open . I rang the bell and went inside . I found myself in the living room , a staircase directly in front of me . Bogdan appeared at the top and called down to me , " Close the door please , and come on up . " A quick glance showed me a room with nothing to distinguish it from the hundreds I 'd seen over the years except that it had a baby grand piano in one corner . The stairs were carpeted in a gray berber . I went up to the landing where he directed me into what once must have been a bedroom . It now contained a desk , a couple of upholstered armchairs , and the familiar leather slab . " Let me take your coat , " he said . I handed him my topcoat . It was that time of year when the air was cold at six o ' clock in the morning , which was when I left the house to go to work . I liked to get to the office before anybody else . I liked the idea of being there alone , going through everybody 's paper work , sizing up the deals , the offers , the counter - offers . I 'd sit there with a container of coffee from the 7 - Eleven at the corner , and I 'd think about the deals that were going on , and how all these deals were being done by people who worked for me , people who made their living because of me , whose lives depended on me . I would think about this and I would get an awesome rush . It was incredible how it made me feel . It was better than almost anything . Yes , it was even better than sex . We sat . I did what I always did . I crossed my legs , put the tips of my fingers together , and stared at his bow tie . After a while my eyes shifted and I noticed that the desk here was quite different from the mahogany one in his office . The legs were chrome and the top was glass . The walls were painted white , hung with colorful flower prints , and light from two large windows filled the room . Before I could stop myself , I said , " This is nice . " Bogdan didn 't smile . He held the pencil between two fingers the way old world spies in the movies used to hold a cigarette . " I 'm glad , " he said . " I 'm hoping it will help . " " I doubt it , " I said . " I 'm not in a hurry , " he said . " Sure . It 's my hundred and fifty bucks every time I show up . " I looked away from him , wary . He had never confronted me this way before . " Did my wife say anything ? Is that why you asked for my permission to speak to her ? " " I wanted to speak to your wife because I thought it was important to hear her viewpoint . I had no idea what she was going to tell me . But yes , as a matter of fact , she did mention your daughter . " " Anything you care to tell me . " " You know what ? I don 't think I care to tell you anything . " I turned away and looked at a painting on the wall . The colors were a mish - mash without shape or design . I stood up suddenly feeling dizzy , went to the closet , took my coat , opened the door , stumbled down the steps two at a time out to the street . I sat in my car and tried to insert the key into the ignition but couldn 't . While I sat there , banging the steering column with the point of the key , Bogdan came and opened the door . He put his hand on my shoulder . " This is not good , " he said . " Come out of the car . Come with me . " I couldn 't move . Every few seconds a tremor went through my body like the aftershock of an earthquake . I squeezed my eyes shut , and realized they were wet . I walked as if my feet were in desert sand . Streaks of sun attacked my eyes . I let him lead me into the house , his hand firmly gripping my arm above the elbow . He led me into the living room where I sat on the couch , sinking into fat cushions . " I 'm going to make some tea , " he said . I kept my eyes closed and listened to my breathing gradually change from quick intakes of breath to a slower , steadier rhythm . I was no longer trembling . After a while I cautiously opened my eyes . The light was filtered by curtains and blinds . A ray of sunlight had managed to sneak through ; it touched the baby grand revealing a blemish on its shiny surface . When Bogdan came back with the tea , I was feeling somewhat better and able to hold the cup in a hand that was almost , but not quite , as firm and solid as the Prudential rock . The next time I went , there was a white Volvo station wagon in the driveway . To me that meant suburban matron , plenty of money , children in school , nothing to do between tennis and bridge , so she might as well massage her psyche . A note taped on the door read , " Please ring bell , enter , and wait in living room . " I sat on a chair , not the couch . I placed each of my arms on the chair 's arms , and attempted to keep my back straight and my head erect . In the last few months my neck had been causing me unceasing pain . Sometimes it was so sore I could barely move it an inch in either direction . I followed Beverly 's suggestion that I go to our internist . He in turn conferred with his nurse or his maid , told me it was probably arthritis and to take two aspirin and forget about it . He mentioned x - rays but I 'd only just read an article that said too many x - rays could cause cancer so I eighty - sixed that . I heard someone on the stairs and quickly looked . Because Bogdan cleverly arranged his hours so that one head case wouldn 't stumble into another , this was the first time I 'd had a chance to see another patient . Not a suburban matron , a girl . She wore jeans and an oversized sweater . Her hair was long , blonde , hanging loose down to her shoulders . She moved rapidly , looking straight ahead , avoiding eye contact . Bogdan went and sat behind the glass desk . He picked up the ubiquitous pencil and rolled it between his fingers . " You think that woman looked like your daughter ? " " What gives you that idea ? " " All right . I thought so at first , but the more I think of it the more I realize she didn 't look like Debby at all . " " Is that your daughter 's name ? " He wrote something . " What am I getting , a demerit ? " " Think about it , " he said . " Why does this young woman concern you ? " " She doesn 't . It 's just that she looks like my daughter . Or I thought so for a minute anyway . " He rotated the pencil between his fingers as if it were a talisman . It was the waiting shtick again . He ought to recognize by now how well that was going to work . So far , not much more than a drop had he gotten from me , although for what must have been a milli - second , I had an impulse to tell him to fuck off . I stood up . " I have to use the john , " I said . Those were the only drops I would give him . On a day when I didn 't have an appointment I drove by Bogdan 's house to see if the Volvo was there . It wasn 't . Then I drove to his office , even went around the lot in back and covered the streets in the area . For my next appointment , I went a half hour early . The Volvo wasn 't in the driveway . Perhaps she only saw him once a week . In that case , she would surely be there the next time I went . She wasn 't . I drove past Bogdan 's house and his office whenever I could take a break from work . It got so that I was spending a couple of hours every day looking for the girl 's car . Wherever I went I was on the lookout for the white Volvo wagon . I 'd see Volvo station wagons everywhere , especially going in the opposite direction . I 'd spot one , make a U turn and try to catch up to it . Or I 'd see one parked in a lot at some shopping center , and I 'd pull off the road and wait to see who owned it . It was never the girl . One day I sat in my car at the end of Bogdan 's block for several hours drinking lukewarm coffee out of a container like a P . I . I knew what P . I . 's were like because I 'd hired one to look for Debby after she 'd run away . He 'd turned in worthless reports and exorbitant bills . The lady in front of whose house I was parked kept peering at me from behind the curtains of her picture window making me feel like I was a threat to the community . I did the same thing around his office . I put in a few mornings there , and a few afternoons , but no white Volvo wagon , and no blonde . When I ran out of patience , I asked Bogdan as casually as I could , what happened to the girl I 'd once seen at his house . " She stopped coming , " he saBogdan rolled his pencil . " As a matter of fact , no . " " Why did she stop then ? " I stood up and began walking around the room . I went back and forth , from one end to the other . There was a prickly sensation in my jaw , my tongue felt swollen in my mouth . " Do you want to tell me about Debby ? " he asked . I lay back on the couch and closed my eyes . Images came to me , Debby at two years of age going into the kitchen in the middle of the night to get a snack out of the refrigerator , at five , running across the street when I 'd told her to stay on our side , at thirteen , the two of us in the ocean , waves lifting us like corks . She put her arms around my neck , holding on , and with her small body against mine I felt as close to believing in a benevolent God as I ever would . " She ran away , " I said . " I don 't know . " My fingers felt like worms . " All of a sudden , she hated me . She wouldn 't stay in a room with me . If I asked her anything she 'd give me a yes or no and duck out . But I could feel the hate . I wasn 't dreaming . " " One day she was gone . I asked Bev what happened . She said Debby went away . What do you mean , went away ? She 's only seventeen . ' She said she had to go , ' Bev says . Why ? ' Think about it ' , Bev says . ' Maybe you can figure it out . ' " " No . I mean , yes . She was trying to suggest it was my fault . But it wasn 't . The kid just took off . " Bogdan went back to the chair behind his desk . " When did she leave ? How long has it been ? " I drove around for hours through parts of the South Shore I hadn 't been to in years . I passed developments I 'd helped build , shopping centers I 'd bought and sold . The phone rang . I didn 't answer . At one point I found myself driving through an area of beautiful homes . There were interminable , perfect lawns and winding Belgian block driveways . The road went in circles so that I had no idea where I was . After a while , the monotony of streets without sidewalks and massively overfed ilex made me decide it was time to find my way out . That was when I saw the white Volvo wagon . It stood alone in a wide driveway leading to a three car garage . I stopped and stared at the car for several minutes . I saw the Triple " A " sticker on the bumper and remembered there being one . It was hers . My fingers gripped the steering wheel . I was breathing in gasps . The house was a Tudor with a gray slate roof , casement windows , off white stucco and dark wood trim . The entrance door had brass fittings and stained glass panels set at eye level . I drove into the driveway and pulled up next to the Volvo . I went to the front door and pushed the button . I could hear chimes clanging inside the house like Big Ben . The door swung open . I stared at this fairy tale princess come to life . She looked at me suspiciously but without fear . " Yes ? " I took a deep breath . " You look just like my daughter , " I said . " She has the same hair . Long and blonde , and it shines just like yours . " The words I 'd just spoken sounded tinny , as if they 'd been plucked off the strings of a banjo . The perfect features of her face remained immobile . I watched one hand rise slowly from her side and come to rest on the edge of the door . She began to close it . " Get lost , mister , " she said . The massive door swung silently on well oiled hinges and with a thud slammed shut . " It doesn 't matter if she was like her or not . She 's not Debby . And finding a look - a - like is not going to help . Face it . Debby 's never coming back . " " You don 't know that for a fact . " " Don 't I ? I know it as sure as I know one rotten day follows another . I know that I should 've left when she left . " Bev stared hard at me . I could tell she wanted to say something but held it back . She went out of the room and returned with a piece of luggage from the new set I had bought last year . We 'd been planning to go on a cruise . But that was before Debby left . " I believed in us . But maybe I was wrong . " She put the suitcase on the bed . The bedspread was patterned in pink roses and green foliage . She opened the suitcase , then looked at me and shook her head slowly from side to side . I watched two tears emerge from her eyes and roll slowly down her cheeks , leaving trails . " Debby was here . " Now in addition to my fear , something terrible took hold of me . My brain was a kaleidoscope of static . It made me want to howl like Lear . But I didn 't . " So it 's true , " I said . We stopped talking . We were each in our own circle of solitude , a strange silence between us . I had no idea what Bev was thinking , even less what I was thinking . After what seemed like a long time , but probably wasn 't , I got up , went downstairs and into the garage . I had saved the hammer I 'd used on my uncle and his friend . The Mercedes ' profile was low and sleek . It sat there in the pale light glistening with the energy and power I had strived for all my life . I hit the windshield with the hammer and saw spidery cracks spring across the glass . I hit it again . It took a lot of blows before it finally shattered . I did the same to the side windows and the rear . I smashed the headlights and the taillights . I attacked the hood , the fenders . It wasn 't enough . So I broke the windows in the garage door . Then I hit the door itself but it wouldn 't break . I went to my workbench and threw down every tool as hard as I could . The screwdrivers , the wrenches , the chisels , everything I could get my hands on . I pulled the ladders from the walls , the brooms I had neatly hung , the cans of paint from the shelves . Finally , there was nothing left to smash or throw . I was running with sweat . I left the garage and went into the bathroom . I could feel the tendons in my neck tightening into knots . It was an effort just to soap my hands and rinse them . I avoided looking at myself in the mirror . " That 's good , " he said . " That 's very good . " I could picture him looking at his calendar . " Can you come in tomorrow at ten o ' clock ? " Lucienne Beginning of the story . . . . Vera said . You are a fool , Baruch . Therefore , you are a man . Or is it the other way around ? It doesn 't matter . " Baruch smiled at her . Vera was his sister , the eldest . She had been on this theme for a long time . It was almost a year since Natasha had died ; it would soon be time for the unveiling . " And what is your own way ? " Vera 's blue eyes speared him . She was a woman of forty , attractive . Her eyes were her best feature now , and she accented them with green eye shadow . " What is your own way … to board them out with one of your sisters at a time for the rest of their lives ? We cannot take care of them forever . We have our own children . And you know I do not speak selfishly . " " Of course not . " Baruch looked down at his rough hands . " I thought I would hire a woman to watch them during the day until they were old enough for school . " " Enough to raise them . Not enough to pay someone to raise them . " She leaned across the kitchen table and touched his arm . " Baruch . We all love your little ones . They are wonderful children . But they need a mother . All children need mothers . " Baruch laughed . His teeth were widely spaced and his gray eyes closed at the corners . " You are very wise , Vera , to think of such a thing . " Vera had no sense of humor . " I don 't take credit for the thought , " she said . " We have all discussed it and decided that is the only solution . " Baruch stood up . He was angry , and he wanted to impress on Vera that he was angry . He was younger than his three sisters , but he was the oldest male , and they all looked to him for advice when it was needed . Now they had proceeded to turn the tables on him and he didn 't like it . He spoke quietly . He had gained a great deal of control over himself since Natasha 's death . Outward displays of emotion had always been common in his family and in their circle of friends , but he no longer indulged himself . " Listen to me , Vera . When it comes to what is best for my girls , I will make the decision . Nobody else . I won 't inconvenience my sisters any longer . Tomorrow night I will come for the children . It is the last day you will have to take care of them . " He walked to the door of the kitchen . " I am going home now . Good night . " Vera ran after him . " Baruch , " she cried . " I didn 't want it to sound like that . " She held his arm . " Don 't be angry . Come back . " He went into the street and buttoned his coat up to the collart . It was cold and raw . It was nearly a mile to where he lived . He decided to walk . As he walked he felt the irritation that had been within him for some time growing in size . He had been aware since Natasha 's death of the problem his two children represented . It was a difficult task to raise two young ones without a mother . And as of this time he had not come to any solution . During the year they had been staying with his sisters one month at a time . He had been contributing to their upkeep , but needless to say , it was an unsatisfactory arrangement . It was not good for the girls . It did not please his sisters . It did not please him . There were few alternatives , however . He had not found another woman he wished to marry - nor had any woman expressed an interest in him . He would never place them in foster homes under city guidance / He could not really afford to hire a woman to care for them during the day while he worked . He knew what the answer was as well as his sisters , who had been trying to force it on him for months . Even Eugene had hinted that it was the only solution . Eugene was Natasha 's brother , but in no way like her . Where she was lively and free , he was a traditional person who saw no wrong in anything if there was a precedent . But he , Baruch , was not made the same way . He did not consider himself a poet , a man of extreme sensitivity , although he painted in oils and played the piano . But his sensitivity was affronted by the proposal , set down in Jewish tradition , that the widower left with children marry his wife 's sister , since she is closest to the wife in nature and appearance and closest to the children in love . Theoretically it might be a good idea but he could not bring himself to do it . He tried to recall an image of Natasha 's sister . It had been six years since he had seen her , and then only briefly , not really seeing her , not seeing anyone but Natasha , his bride . He remembered her having dark eyes similar to Natasha 's but there was little other resemblance . Natasha was delicate ; her sister , Genia , was sturdy , a little heavy , with a round face , a longer nose than Natasha 's , a thinner mouth , although with the same black hair . He remembered her only vaguely because he could not think of her and Natasha at the same time . He could not put them together in his mind . Natasha was the most beautiful thing in the world . No one could compare with her , no one could replace her .