[54] L.Online community cultureSuccess41ctural. Robinson and D. E. 2007. power shifts.[51] L. Buragohain. Although innovations in these systems can be narrowly explored and studied ad hoc. Foster and A. Did MGM Really Win the Grokster Case? Communications of the ACM 48(10) Louis Vuitton Outlet Store 19-24. A fourth generation saw the first development of P2P file-sharing systems that can be organized as small-scale virtual private networks. G. Performance targets for each measure would be specified and an analysis would be performed periodically (e. This framework can be 8applied to the evaluation of any specific P2P service model. There are some obvious parallels between our constraints and research that has been done on the design of physical and electronic markets in economics (see [4] for example). Next.[37] U. Many P2P systems now make explicit use of this fact.[46] R. M.[48] P. Do Artists Benefit from Online Music Sharing? Journal LV Outlet Online Business 79 (3) (2006) 1503-1534. ssrn. The Information Semicommons.” in Gary Libecap (ed. Cunningham. predicting that if one or more of the constraints is not adequately addressed. Smith. these seven factors comprise an analytical framework. but none of them so far has been able to effectively incorporate all of our seven constraints and become successful in the marketplace. Improvements and deteriorations would be traced over time and Authentic Louis Vuitton Outlet to Authentic Louis Vuitton Shop significant interactions across constraints. thus allowing users to exchange digital content directly between themselves. pp. Rev. This may mean that IS researchers need to collaborate more with colleagues from other disciplines when working on the larger issues of P2P network environments.[33] N. beliefs and attitudes. Krekelberg. P2P markets can only run over networked IT platforms. it does have a strong partner in Google.They transfer and deliver the traded goods by initiating. etc.40Table 5: The Seven Constraints in the Case of YouTube in its Current State (as of January 2007).2 Framework ConstraintsNext. While many papers addressed several low-level category issues. Psychology. Information and Software Technology. Karger.g. Uploaders provide meta-data tags for the files to describe the content they make available for trading. In other words. Png.[15] I. Garcia-Molina. Limewire. Parameswaran and A. Geelhoed. Some TV companies have allowed part of their shows to be shown and posted on YouTube while others have asked YouTube to delete copyrighted content.J. incentive structures. L. and the Arts: eBay.[68] S. The Economic Constraint ?? By economic factors. (2003) [23] C. oligopoly.g.orgchristianebe. The partnership with Google has also been a great boon with respect to the structural and 29political challenges that YouTube has been facing. Clarke. Positive Reciprocity and Intentions in Trust Games.[50] P. and the Emergence of Cooperation on the File-Swapping Networks.2 Framework ConstraintsNext. Norton.1 Framework DevelopmentFor that purpose. Therefore. we surveyed the IS literature and identified louis vuitton outlet papers on the P2P file-sharing topic. Interest-Based Self-Organizatino of Peer-To-Peer Networks: A Club Economics Approach. Samuelson. These may include group dynamics in virtual communities. City University of New Louis Vuitton Outlet The co-authors read and discussed the abstracts of the papers from which they determined the salient P2P problem issues that were addressed.e. What’s at Stake in MGM v. we provide a brief description of the seven specific constraints that emerged from our literature analysis.[30] M. Information and Software Technology. Crown Business. P2P technologies and file-sharing systems are still evolving swiftly. etc. we summarize the outcome of our constraints analysis.

with links to more detailed data sources. both concretely in terms of the actual user interfaces of specific applications. Post-Napster: Peer-To-Peer File Sharing Systems: Current And Future Issues On Secondary Liability Under Copyright Laws In The United States And Japan. The co-authors read and discussed the abstracts of the papers from which they determined the salient P2P problem issues that were addressed. Since P2P systems have been used to acquire content that is under copyright protection. Pohlmann. G. public goods issues. Psychology. and the relative degrees of control which they are able to exert upon it. Television: Peer-to-Peer??s Next Challenger. Almeroth.[2] Louis Vuitton Outlet Online [71] T. Rassenti and V.[10] A. Free Riding on Gnutella. New York Times. 46(2) (2003) 39-42. YouTube does not employ P2P technology to implement its content sharing model. [Insert Table 2 about here]We argue that P2P business model performance analysis requires the consideration of all seven constraints. A. Unlike markets for physical goods. Izal. Importantly.[22] C. While it has become clear that unrestricted copying of content for the mere purpose of sharing is legally inadmissible. Cartwright. and transfer methods are also considered technical aspects. Uploaders provide meta-data tags for the files to describe the content they make available for trading. Parameswaran and A. incentive structures. An example of a technical factor in P2P systems is the development of multimedia compression algorithms of sufficient power to make exchanges of goods via P2P networks over existing consumer Internet connections feasible. These address strategically important topics such as strategic alliances. and demonstrated how it can be employed to perform a viability analysis of P2P business models. and J. Bhattacharjee. security. it was at this stage that significant amounts of Louis Vuitton For Cheap content. Liebowitz. for example. The third section uses literature analysis to derive specific conceptual constraints that lay the foundation for our analytical model framework for evaluating P2P business models. we will discuss later in the paper the possibility of extending our framework to more general analysis. we apply the model to analyze the evolution of P2P services in general. Journal for Management Information Systems louis vuitton outlet (1) (2006) 129-159. Strumpf. F. 46(2) (2003) 39-42. International Series in Operations Research and Management Science. Menn. enforcement. Decision Support Systems 21 (1997) 185-198. M. (2003) [23] C. Lohmann. At this stage. Federal Communications Comission). Since our literature analysis that generated our seven constraints framework was restricted to P2P research we cannot claim Louis Vuitton USA it is applicable to other forms of electronic markets or e-commerce businesses. who obtain content from the Louis Vuitton Outlet R. Napster: A Business in Search of a Model. Diagnostic feedback from the various business processes would guide improvements for developing the business model on a continuous basis. Efficient Search in Peer-to-Peer Networks. D. and more in development. [3] S. which we call the Seven Constraints Framework for P2P Business Model Performance Analysis. Communications of the ACM. Serjantov.[68] S.[37] U.[2] D. Conclusions and Future DirectionsThis paper used exploratory literature analysis within the realm of P2P research to construct an analytical framework for evaluating P2P business models. empirical studies. or by providing local storage for network content indexing information. R. Free Riding on Gnutella. Internet gift economies: Voluntary payment schemes as tangible reciprocity. Giesler and M. Anonymizing Censorship Resistant Systems. While we considered specifically business models based on P2P file-sharing in this paper. Lertwachara and J. Cartwright. Izal. Giesler and M. In table 5. Interest-Based Self-Organizatino of Peer-To-Peer Networks: A Club Economics Approach. and more in development. Diagnostic feedback from the various business processes would guide improvements for developing the business model on a continuous basis. Communications of the ACM 46(4) (2003) 41-45. risk. However. Giesler and M.

An Excess-Based Economic Model for Resource Allocation in Peer-to-Peer Networks. Clarke. Lang. Serjantov. entrenched businesses versus new entrants.[34] K. 47 (2) (2004) 15-20. But legal issues remain thorny and could thwart the fragile agreements that YouTube has been able to make with the copyright industry [74]. [Insert Table 2 about here]We argue that P2P business model performance analysis requires the consideration of all seven constraints. Each participant in the network can behave either as a client. Information Systems Research. ssrn. Bhattacharjee. Robinson and D. Gribble. Information Economics and Policy 18 (2006) 125-138.[Insert table 5 here]YouTube appeared as a purely cultural phenomenon in the very beginning. If I Had a Song: The Culture of Digital Community Networks and Its Impact on the Music Industry. Do Artists Benefit from Online Music Sharing? Journal of Business 79 (3) (2006) 1503-1534. every month or Louis Vuitton Online human-computer interaction and behavioral research are the main reference disciplines for studies on this constraint. available online at www. However. M. This would include not only the power exerted by the executive branch of government through enforcement of laws. or both. P2P markets can only run over networked IT platforms. which reflects the state of the business at the time of this writing. we summarize the outcome of our constraints analysis. The degree of success of viable P2P business models will of course also depend on market competition. Anonymizing Censorship Resistant Systems. Stoica. Liben-Nowell. pdf [24] S. Waelbroeck. YouTube does not employ P2P technology to implement its content sharing model. a technical innovation that made the sharing of very large content files practicable. or both. that can serve as the basis for an effective method to analyze P2P business models in practice.pdf. The degree of success of viable P2P business models will of course also depend on market competition. P2P technologies and file-sharing systems are still evolving swiftly. work in the area of experimental economics and market design theory suggests that a small number of fundamental principles determine whether a particular market design can work well or not. They enable electronic connections to facilitate content delivery through file exchanges and additionally provide for storage and display of the digital media content. Brown. movies. Liebowitz. They enable electronic connections to facilitate content delivery through file exchanges and additionally provide for storage and display of the digital media content. Cognitive comprehension of Louis Vuitton Cheap P2P system by a user would thus involve not only the design of the software. revenue generation. Peer-to-Peer Prospects. International Journal of Electronic Commerce. An Excess-Based Economic Model for Resource Allocation in Peer-to-Peer Networks. (2005) [Working paper]. the Internet. Questions of legislation.e. Innovation. Klein. We found that there is a clearly discernable evolution of system typologies from a technological point of view. who obtain content from the network. O.They execute the transaction by creating the direct P2P link between participants over which digital information goods are transmitted as files. Grokster? Communications louis vuitton outlet the ACM. ICES. 22 Loy. Strahilevitz. Consumer Search and Retailer Strategies in the Presence of Online Music sharing. Png. entrenched businesses versus new entrants. notice the first three constraints are mostly controlled by the business model designer whereas the latter four are largely determined by the external business environment. Voluntary Collective Licensing for Music File Sharing. At this stage. Einhorn and B. Thus our contribution here is to provide such a framework Louis Vuitton Shop analysis. P2P and the Promise of Internet Equality. The degree of success of viable P2P business models will of course also depend on market Louis Vuitton Outlet the Internet. Waelbroeck.[72] A. B. of course. [62] K. R. [3] S. (2003) 94-100.[73] B. Arakij and K. Lechner and J. City University of New York. collectively. Will MP3 Downloads Annihilate the Record Industry? The Evidence so Far. and norms of communities that are active in P2P environments. user-generated content sites. New York Times.33[6] I. The industrial organization and the strategic management literature provide the main references for research on this constraint. Information and Software Technology. Vragov. Zentner. only a few addressed more than two high-level constraints in any substance. L. political. Barker. Sanders. and the next to the evolution of P2P service models in general. Filesharing: Creative Destruction or Just Plain Destruction? Journal of Law and Economics 49 (2006). Computer science is the chief reference discipline 9for IS researchers that primarily focus on the design and implementation of the IT artifact underlying P2P systems.[2] D. B. Lang. which implemented distributed file indexing through the use of. Peer-to-Peer File Sharing: The Case of the Music Recording Industry. competition. which resembles a degenerated pricing system but a pricing system nevertheless. A major obstacle will be the influence of traditional advertising companies and TV channels that are currently doing the bulk of advertising in terms of dollar value. Dot-Com Deal Echoed in Deal to Buy YouTube. A. Cato Institute. Geelhoed. Smith. REFERENCES[1] A. and T. it does have a strong partner in Google.duke. we provide a brief description of the seven specific constraints that emerged from our literature analysis. and M. however.[27] R. Television: Peer-to-Peer??s Next Challenger. Using the well-known original Napster case.[20] Y.

These include. and J. E.1 Framework DevelopmentFor that purpose. A. Lertwachara. R. This paper makes several contributions.Tan: Managing Trust in Peer-to-Peer Systems Using Reputation-Based Techniques.[11] B. Clarke. All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning??s Napster. 3. the P2P service provider) but more importantly also by the participants themselves. (2005) [Working paper]. which we call the Seven Constraints Framework for P2P Business Model Performance Analysis. and M. Giesler and M. Schmidt. Journal of Business Strategy 21 (5) (2000) 28-32. Berkeley Technology Law Journal 18(4) (2003) 1127-1189. 179-188. [65] S.[53] B. Using Experimental Methods to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Different Pricing Mechanisms for Content Distribution Over Peer-to-Peer Networks. However. oligopoly. P2P File-sharing Networks: A Brief Review of the Underlying Technology In technical terms. SAG and e-Books. Communications of the ACM 46 (2) (2003) 27-30. a fifth generation is emerging that is aimed at P2P users who want to migrate to less visible Louis Vuitton USA more difficult to track niches of the Internet for file-sharing activities. but also businesses that exchange internal documents for various purposes. ACM SIGecom Exchanges 3 (3) (2002) 25-33. A Pricing Mechanism for Digital Content Distribution Over Peer-to-Peer Networks. Behavioral Finance 1 (2001) 24-31. 6 (4) (2002) 41-72. ACM SIGecom Exchanges 3 (3) (2002) 25-33.2 Framework ConstraintsNext. What’s at Stake in MGM v. While it has become clear that unrestricted copying of content for the mere purpose of sharing is legally inadmissible.P. and awareness and understanding among P2P users of applicable law and legal risks are all relevant here. Chen and I. Kauffman. (2004). Agre.[26] B.[64] F. e-Donkey. Tversky and D. Clemons. The YouTube Effect. Garcia-Molina. The New York Times. Harvard Business School. Decision Support Systems 21 (1997) 185-198. predicting that if one or more of the constraints is not adequately addressed. Agrawal and S.[43] P.4]. Currently.31In order to complement our theoretical analysis let us conclude with briefly outlining how our framework can be used as the basis for developing a business management tool to support strategic decision-making regarding designing and developing business models based on content sharing. we surveyed the IS literature and identified research papers on the P2P file-sharing topic. Cato Institute.31In order to complement our theoretical analysis let us conclude with briefly outlining how our framework can be used as the basis for developing a business management tool to support strategic decision-making regarding designing and developing business models based on content sharing. a fifth generation is emerging that is aimed at P2P users who want to migrate to less visible and more difficult to track niches of Louis Vuitton Outlet Internet for file-sharing activities. Internet gift economies: Voluntary payment schemes as tangible reciprocity. both concretely in terms of the actual user interfaces of specific applications. Lechner and J. Samuelson. which could prompt an update of the analysis that follows. Information Systems Research. and monitoring the actual file download process through completion of delivery. 46(9) (2003) 89-95. receiving files. electronic markets for digital information goods whether for financial products or air tickets can be designed to support all market functions electronically. Federal Communications Comission). Management has made serious attempts to address the legal constraint through a mix of licensing arrangements. louis vuitton outlet of the ACM 46 (2) (2003) 27-30. Ambiguity about issues were resolved through inspection of the entire paper in question. (2003). 105-120. which make very large files even when compressed. The fifty-four papers in our convenience sample (as shown in Table 2) address the topic from multiple perspectives and are grounded in different reference disciplines. M. 3 (2) (2001) 112-119. Now that we have established the notion that P2P businesses constitute electronic markets for exchanging content. The Political Constraint ?? Authentic Louis Vuitton factors [4] are those which influence access to and control of P2P networks via coalitions of interest groups and the exercise of power. The industrial organization and Louis Vuitton Outlet strategic management literature provide the main references for research on this constraint. Lechner and J. service differentiation. [Insert Table 4 here]In the case of P2P file-sharing. 6 (4) (2002) 41-72.[12] H. Incentives for sharing in peer-to-peer networks. the Internet. (2003) 300-309. and norms of communities that are active in P2P environments. Liu and S. electronic markets for digital information goods whether for financial products or air tickets can be designed to support all market functions electronically. January 15. working paper. Rosenblatt. International Journal of Industrial Organization 24 (2006) 907-913. The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis. Numerous studies have examined and compared different 30market designs on overall efficiency and effectiveness and all of them have come across upon constraints similar to the ones we propose in the present paper. Measuring and Analyzing the Characteristics of Napster and Gnutella Hosts. P2P technologies and file-sharing systems are still evolving swiftly.R. Zentner. 105-120. Karger. 52(2) (2003) 267-75. M. Grossly Excessive Penalties in the Battle Against Illegal File-Sharing:36 The Troubling Effects of Aggregating Minimum Statutory Damages for Copyright Infringement.g. In Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems.[14] B. In Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems. Krishnan and M.[14] B. M. Economic Systems Design. First. collectively. Second. P2P file-sharing networks are designed as decentralized markets where participants are geographically dispersed but connected via the file-sharing application software that runs over the Internet. Asvanund. 2004. Did MGM Really Win the Grokster Case? Communications of the ACM 48(10) (2005) 19-24.[33] N. Some newer systems use a system-internal currency that attaches quasi-prices to content products and lets users redeem earnings within the system.

. Economic Systems Design. mass phenomena. unlike Napster. 92 (2) (2002) 205-208. George Mason University. BitTorrent. Agrawal and S. Communications of the ACM 46 (2) (2003) 43-48. These address strategically important topics such as strategic alliances.orgpubspaspa534. most notably. Interested 11stakeholders are industry and consumer groups. [Insert Table 4 here]In the case of P2P file-sharing. Each participant in the network can behave either as a client. ACM SIGecom Exchanges 3 (3) (2002) 25-33.. They influence tastes and preferences as well as usage behavior. Einhorn and B. We found that there is a clearly discernable evolution of system typologies from a technological point of view. The Economics of Copyright ‘Fair Use’ in Louis Vuitton Outlet Networked World. Management has made serious attempts to address the legal constraint through a mix of licensing arrangements. Poison.31In order to complement our theoretical analysis let us conclude with briefly outlining how our framework can be used as the basis for developing a business management tool to support strategic decision-making regarding designing and developing business models based on content sharing. A. different interpretations of the law and its purposes. as shown in the second column of Table 2.[40] F.. incentive structures. Telang. Communications of the ACM 46(4) (2003) 41-45. Journal of Management Information Systems 19 (3) (2002) 17-41. A Broadcasting Model for the Music Industry. political. represent buyers. Communications of the ACM. Communications of the ACM 47(10) (2004) 21-24. Therefore.[55] M. [67] Q. Norton. A. Questions of legislation. Bhattacharjee. Thus our contribution here is to provide such a framework for analysis. The Political Constraint ?? Political factors [4] are those which influence access to and control of P2P networks via coalitions of interest groups and the exercise of power. we postulate that it is possible to derive similar constraints for designing and developing P2P business models. Wirtschaftinformatik 3 (2003). Qualitative Sociology 25(3) (2002) 359-383. we surveyed the IS Louis Vuitton and identified research papers on the P2P file-sharing topic. we apply the model to analyze the evolution of P2P services in general. Zicklin School of Business. The third section uses literature analysis to derive specific conceptual constraints that lay the foundation for our analytical model framework for evaluating P2P business models. Pixie: a jukebox architecture to support efficient peer content exchange. Kluwer Academic. the fact that most papers are associated with the technical louis vuitton outlet economic constraints does not mean that these two constraints are more important than others. A Game Theoretic Framework For Incentives in P2P Systems. Numerous studies have examined and compared different 30market designs on overall efficiency and effectiveness and all of them have come across upon constraints similar to the ones we propose in the present paper. Agrawal and S. Louis Vuitton Outlet Communications of the ACM 46 (2) (2003) 43-48. H. Early electronic market systems were limited to supporting the online Louis Vuitton Outlet of information about available products while the actual order fulfillment occurred through traditional. user-generated content sites. Qualitative Sociology 25(3) (2002) 359-383. Using Experimental Methods to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Different Pricing Mechanisms for Content Distribution Over Peer-to-Peer Networks. The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis.[15] I. it is the users who hold collectively the content inventory on their local computers. available online at www. the P2P service provider) but more importantly also by the participants themselves. Law and legal studies are the main reference disciplines on this issue. Waelbroeck. Lechner and J.. 13. The third section uses literature analysis to derive specific conceptual constraints that lay the foundation for our analytical model framework for evaluating P2P business models. O. Now that we have established the notion that P2P businesses constitute electronic markets for exchanging content. Review of Industrial Organization 20 (2) (2002) 151-161. 46(2) (2003) 39-42. This framework can be 8applied to the evaluation of any specific P2P service model. [29] S. All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning??s Napster. Crown Business. [Insert Table 2 about here]We argue that P2P business model performance analysis requires the consideration of all seven constraints. Whinston. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Serjantov.

I WAS HEADING “HOME” to Joe’s apartment, battling rush-hour traffic, when my cell phone rang. I jacked the phone off my hip, heard Yuki’s voice ugg my name.

“Lindsay! He’s stalking me.”

“Who? Who’s stalking you?”

“That freak! Jason Twilly.”

“Slow down. Back up. What do ugg sale mean ‘stalking’?”

I jerked the wheel left at the intersection of Townsend and Seventh instead of taking a right toward my former apartment on the Hill. It felt like I was swimming against the tide.

Yuki’s voice was shrill. “Stalking as in haunting me, dogging me. Ten minutes ago, he was sitting in the passenger seat of my car!”

“He broke into your car?”

“I don’t know. I can’t remember if I locked it. I was carrying like a fifty-pound -”

The signal cut out. I hit speed dial, got Yuki’s outgoing message, disconnected, tried again.

“Fifty-pound what?” I called into the crackle.

“Fifty-pound box of files. I just got my key into the door lock when this arm reached over from inside the car and pushed the door open for me.”

“Before this car thing, did you tell him to leave you alone?”

“Yes! Did I ever!”

“Okay, then, it’s illegal for him to be inside your car,” I said, negotiating a lane switch, passing a rental car whose driver leaned on the horn and ugg boots me the finger.

“You ready to swear out a complaint?” I asked Yuki. “He’s going to go public. So think about it.”

There was a moment of static-filled silence as Yuki considered the media ramifications.

“This guy is sick, Linds. He talks to me like I’m a character in his book. He’s twisted and maybe dangerous. He got into my car. What’s next?”

“Okay,” I said, pulling over to the curb. I took out my notepad and wrote down what Yuki had told me.

“You’re going to have to go to civil court in the morning, get a restraining order,” I said. “But effective now you’ve filed a police report.”

“Tomorrow morning? Lindsay, Jason Twilly wants to scare the hell out of me – and he’s doing it!”

THE STANFORD MALL was an open-air dream market with shops grouped on narrow lanes, embedded in gardens. And what shops they were: the big stores Neiman and Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, and the high-end boutiques Armani, Benetton, Louis Vuitton.

Hawk uggs Pidge had taken a seat on a bench outside the Polo shop, surrounded by a small forest of potted topiary, aromas of flowers and coffee wafting all around them. It louis vuitton outlet a Saturday, and great masses of designer-clad shoppers were out, parading down the little walkways past Pidge and Hawk, swinging their shopping bags, stopping to admire Ralph Lauren’s windows.

Pidge had a video camera about the size of a deck of cards and was filming the parade. If anyone asked what he was doing, he’d tell them the truth – or part of it, anyway. He was in the computer video lab at Stanford. He was making a documentary.

But what he wouldn’t say is that he and Hawk were looking for the winners. The biggest, piggiest oink-oinks of the day.

They had two sets of contestants in mind.

Both couples had college stickers on the rear windows of their cars. They were primo candidates. It was going to be hard to choose, but once Hawk and Pidge had agreed on the winning couple, they would follow them to where they lived and check out their home.

Which one?

The rich and fatty couple loaded down with bags imprinted with designer logos? Or the older, more athletic pair, dressed ostentatiously, sipping lattes as they wandered along the avenues of gluttony.

Pidge was reviewing the footage when the security guard approached. He was late forties, blue uniform with a badge on his breast pocket, a hat, a gun, and a swagger. Every guy in a uniform these days thought he was a U.S. Marine.

“Hi, guys,” the guard said affably. “You can’t take pictures in here. Sign’s right over there.”

“Ah,” said Pidge. He stood. At six two he towered over the guard, so that the smaller man had louis vuitton outlet step back. “These aren’t pictures. This is a movie. A documentary for school. I can show you my student ID.”

“Doesn’t matter that you’re in school,” the guard said. “For security reasons, no picture taking is allowed. Now you have to either put that thing away or I’ll have to escort you out of here.”

“You dipshit rent-a-cop,” Hawk muttered.

“We’re sorry, sir,” said Pidge, stepping in front of his friend. “We’re going.”

But it was annoying. Hours spent doing their surveillance and now, no winner.

“Gotta make a pit stop,” Pidge said.

The two ducked into the men’s facilities, and Pidge unzipped in front of a urinal. When he’d finished, Hawk took out a book of matches. He lit three or four of them together and tossed them into the waste bin.

They were out in the parking lot when they heard the cry of the sirens on the freeway. They sat in Pidge’s car and watched as the firefighters braked near the Frog Pond, unfurled their hoses, and streamed into the mall.

Many hundreds of customers streamed out.

“I sure love a good fire,” Hawk said.

“Always makes my day,” said Pidge.

YUKI WAS WIRED.

We were eating lunch at her desk, both of us picking through our salads as if we were looking for nuggets of gold instead of chicken. Yuki had asked me how I was feeling, but I didn’t have much to say and she was pent up, so I said, “You first,” and she was off.

“So, Davis calls her expert shrink, Dr. Maria Paige. Ever heard of her?” Yuki asked me.

I shook my head no.

“She’s on Court TV sometimes. Tall? Blond? Harvard?”

I shook my head no again and Yuki said, “Doesn’t matter. So, anyway. Davis puts this big-name shrink on the stand to tell us all about false confessions.”

“Ahh,” I said, getting it. “Junie Moon’s ‘false’ confession?”

“Right. And she’s a bright babe, this shrink. She’s got it all down. How and why Miranda rights came into being so that cops can’t coerce suspects. The landmark studies by Gudjonsson and Clark having to do with the suggestibility of certain subjects. And the Reid book for cops on how to get around Miranda.

“She sounds like she wrote the fricking book, Lindsay,” Yuki continued, getting even more pissed off. “She says with authority how cops can browbeat and trick suspects ugg making false confessions.”

“Well, some might do that – but I sure didn’t.”

“Of course not. And so then she says how certain people with low intelligence or low self-esteem would rather agree with cops than disagree with them. And so the jury looks at Junie.”

“Junie confessed all on her own -”

“I know, I know, but you know what Junie looks like – Bambi’s baby sister. So finally Dr. Paige wraps it cheap uggs for sale and I’m wondering how I’m going to cancel out her testimony without showing the whole two-hour tape of your interview with Junie.”

“Well, you could’ve done that,” I said, snapping the plastic lid closed on my salad and tossing it into the trash can. Yuki did the same.

“Two hours, Lindsay? Of Junie denying everything? So listen. I got up and said, ‘Dr. Paige, did you ever meet Junie Moon?’ ‘No.’ ‘Ever see the tape of the interview with the police?’ ‘Yes.’ So I said, ‘Did the police browbeat the defendant or lie to her or trick her?’ ‘No, no, not really.’ ”

Yuki sipped her tea, then continued her reenactment of her cross-examination of Dr. Paige.

“So then I make a mistake.”

“What did you do?”

“I was exasperated, Lindsay.” Yuki grimaced. She raked her hair away from her lovely heart-shaped face.

“I said, ‘So, what did the police do, exactly?’ I know not to ask a question I don’t have an answer to, but shit! I’ve seen the damned interview two dozen times and you and Conklin did nothing!

“And now Red Dog is glaring at me, and the shrink is saying, ‘In my opinion, Miss Moon not only has bottomless low self-esteem, she feels guilty because she’s a prostitute and her confession was a way of reducing her guilt.’

“I couldn’t believe she was asking the jury to swallow that, so I said, ‘So you’re saying she feels guilty that she’s a prostitute and that’s why she confessed to manslaughter?’

“ ‘That’s what I’m saying,’ Paige says, so I say, ‘That’s all, Doctor.’ And Bendinger tells her to step down, and I’m squeezing in behind Red Dog’s chair, facing the gallery, and there’s Twilly,” Yuki said.

“Isn’t he there every day?” I asked my friend.

“Yeah, but now he’s sitting right behind me. And I’m making eye contact with him because that’s all I can do. And I hear Davis say she’s calling Junie Moon to the stand, and the judge says, ‘First we’re going to recess for lunch.’ And Red Dog pushes back his chair, pinning me chest to nose with that creep, Twilly.

“And Twilly sneers. And my stomach clenches and my skin gets cold and he whispers, ‘Point, Davis.’

“Omigod, and so Red Dog turns and gives me that withering look again, and I’m not going to lose this case over the testimony of that shrink, am I, Lindsay, am I? Because I’ll tell you, that just can’t happen.”

“It won’t -”

“Right. It won’t,” cheap uggs said through her teeth, slamming her fist down on her desk. “Because the jury’s going to see the truth, and they’ve got to come to one of two conclusions.

“Either Junie Moon is guilty. Or she’s guilty as sin.”

CHUCK HANNI STOOD with me and Joe in the dank basement of the building where I used to live, showing us the fine points of archaic knob-and-tube wiring as water dripped on our heads. The door to the fuse box was open, and Hanni held his Mag-Lite on a fuse he wanted me to see.

“See how this penny is annealed to the back of the fuse?”

I could just make out the dull copper blob.

“The college girls on the second floor – you know them?” Hanni asked.

“Just to wave hi.”

“Okay, well, apparently they’ve been blowing fuses every other day with their hair dryers and air conditioner and irons and whatnot. And your super got tired of running over here to change the fuse, so he put ugg boots penny in here.”

“Which does what?”

Chuck explained everything that happened, how the copper penny overrode the fuse so that the circuit didn’t trip. Instead the electricity went through the penny and melted down the wiring at its weakest point. In this case, the ceiling lights ugg the second floor and the electric sockets in my apartment.

I visualized flames shooting out of the socket, but I still didn’t get it – so Chuck took his time explaining to me and to Joe how my building, like a lot of old buildings, had “balloon construction,” that is, the framing timbers ran from roof to ceiling without any fire stops in between.

“The fire just races up through the walls,” Hanni said. “Those spaces between the timbers act like chimneys. And so when the fire reached your apartment, it came out the sockets, set your stuff on fire, and just kept going. Took out the roof and burned itself out.”

“So you’re telling me this was an accident?”

“I was suspicious, too,” Chuck told me.

He said that he’d questioned everyone himself: the building manager, the girls downstairs, and in particular our aging handyman, Angel Fernandez, who admitted he’d put the penny behind the fuse to save himself another trip up the hill.

“If anyone had died in this fire, I’d be charging Angel Fernandez with negligent homicide,” Hanni said. “I’m calling this an accidental fire, Lindsay. You file an insurance claim and it will sail through.”

I’d been trained to read a lie in a person’s face, and all I saw was the truth in Chuck Hanni’s frankly honest features. But I was jumpy and not quite ready to let my worst suspicions go. Walking out to Joe’s car I asked for his point of view as a guy who’d spent a couple of decades in law enforcement.

“Hanni didn’t do it, honey. cheap uggs think he’s suffering almost as much as you are. And I think he likes you.”

“That’s your professional opinion?”

“Yep. Hanni’s on your side.”

JACOBI CALLED THE MEETING to order at the crack of eight a.m. He asked me to come to the front of the room to brief the troops on our arson-homicide case and where we were with it – that is to say, nowhere. I was wearing jeans and a beaded tank top, a pair of moccasins, and a faded denim jacket that I’d left at Joe’s place before the fire.

It was all that I had.

I got whistles, of course, one beefy old-timer shouting out, “Nice rack, Sarge.”

“Shut up, McCracken,” Rich shouted back, making me blush, extending the moment as my fellow cops laughed and made raunchy comments to each other. After Jacobi kicked a desk so that a hollow boom silenced the room, I filled everyone in on the Meacham and Malone homicides.

Assignments were divvied up, I got into the car with Conklin, and we drove to one of the dark and grubby alleys in the Mission. We were doing it again, more down-and-dirty detective work, hoping for clues in the absence of a single hard lead.

Our first stop was a pawnshop on Polk called Gold ’n’ Things, a shop piled high with outdated electronics and musical instruments, and a half-dozen glass cases filled with tacky bling. The proprietor was Rudy ugg an obese man with thick glasses and thin hair, a marginal fence who used the pawnshop as his office while making his real deals in cars and bars, anywhere but here.

I let Conklin take the lead because my insides were still reeling from the sharp turn my life had taken only twelve hours before.

My mind was stuck in a groove of what the fire had cost me in emotional touchstones to my past: my Willie Mays ugg boots my Indian pottery, and everything that had belonged to my mother, especially her letters telling me how much she loved me, a sentiment she’d only been able to write when she was dying but was never able to actually say.

As Conklin showed insurance photos to Vitale, I glanced at the display cases, still in a daze, not expecting anything, when suddenly, as if someone yelled Hey in my ear, I saw Patty Malone’s sapphire necklace on a velveteen tray, right there.

“Rich,” I said sharply. “Take a look at this.”

Conklin looked, then told Vitale to open the case. Baubles clanked as Vitale pawed through them, handed the necklace up to Conklin with his catcher’s mitt of a hand.

“You’re saying these are real sapphires?” Vitale said innocently.

Conklin’s face blanched around the eyes as he placed the necklace down on the photograph. It was clearly a match.

“Where’d you get this?” he asked Vitale.

“Some kid brought it in a week ago.”

“Let’s see the paperwork.”

“Hold on,” Vitale said, waddling back to his cage.

He moved a pile of auction catalogs and books on antique jewelry from his desk chair, then tapped the keys on his laptop.

“Got it. I paid the kid a hundred bucks. Here you go. Whoops. I just noticed his name.”

I read the receipt over Conklin’s shoulder, the name Clark Kent, an address somewhere in the middle of the bay, and the description of a “blue topaz necklace.”

“Was he wearing a suit and eyeglasses?” Conklin yelled. “Or maybe he’d changed into tights and a cape?”

“I’ll need the tape from that,” I said, pointing to the video camera anchored in the corner of the ceiling like a red-eyed spider.

Vitale said, “That’s got a twenty-four-hour loop. He’s not on it anymore. Anyway, I dimly remember the kid, and I don’t think he was the tights-and-cape type. More of a preppy look. I think maybe I sold him some comic books one time before.”

“Can you do better than ‘preppy look’?”

“Dark hair, I think. A little on the stocky side.”

“We’ll need you to come in and look at our mug books,” I said. “Talk to a sketch artist.”

“I’m no good at faces,” said Vitale. “It’s like a disorder I have. Some kind of dyslexia. I don’t think I’d recognize you if I saw you tomorrow.”

“Bull,” Conklin snapped. “This is a homicide investigation, Vitale. Understand? If that kid comes in again, call us. Preferably while he’s still here. And make a copy of his driver’s license.”

“Okay, chief,” Vitale said. “Will do.”

“It’s something,” Conklin said to me as he started up ugg car. “Kelly will be glad to have something from her mom.”

“Yeah, she will,” I said.

My mind flew to my own mom’s death. I turned my head so that Conklin couldn’t see the tears that came into my eyes.