Bill Pronzini: Beyond the Grave

The romantic in me wouldn't let go of the story of these two people. I could feel my curiosity stirring even now.

From the librarian's letter, I gathered there were many more documents from Carpenter and Quincannon's files at San Francisco's California History Room. During the past two months, I'd often thought of calling there and asking if they would send copies of the remainder to me, but I'd kept getting sidetracked in the preparations for this exhibit. Now I decided maybe I should take some time off, go up there, look through the whole lot. Perhaps after Arturo's show opened, he would want to go with me; it would be a nice vacation for both of us….

Once again I shook my head. Why was I planning such a trip? Did it really matter what had happened to the long-dead detectives?

Yes, I decided, it did. John Quincannon and I had shared an adventure; our lives were forever entwined. The detective had reached out beyond the grave- mas alia del sepulcro -to me; he'd somehow enabled me to finish what he'd begun. And my life had changed for the better because of that.

There was only one more thing I wished I could do: I wished I could tell him the way it had ended….