"How's it look?" "The cop's body's about 300 yards down in an abandoned tunnel." "Howie?" "Right behind you, captain." "Keep back till I process the scene, okay?" "Watch out!" "It's falling!" "So where the hell is the car?" "I don't know." "That's the last time I take a goddamn redeye." "We can take a cab." "I'm gonna fire this son of a bitch." "He's always got some excuse." "Well, come on." "We'll be home before you know it." "Yeah." "Excuse me?" "Excuse me, I think you're going the wrong way." "Excuse me." "Honey." "Honey." "Honey, wake up." "We're lost or he's taking us for a ride." "We're in the middle of nowhere." "Where the hell you going?" "I said Fifth Avenue." "We're not tourists here, man!" "Hey, where are you going?" "Let us out." "Stop the car!" "Stop this car!" "Shit!" "Oh, my God." "Son of a bitch!" "Stop the goddamn car!" "Please!" "Stop the car!" "Stop this car, goddamn it!" "Stop this car!" "Good morning." "You're looking a little dehydrated." "How about some juice?" "How about two fingers of vodka?" "A little early for vodka, don't you think?" "Time, as you know, is a relative consideration." "Juice." "Vodka." "Juice." "Coming!" "Join me in a drink, Richard?" "I'd love to." "But a med-tech with liquor on his breath?" "I think not." "Thanks." "So how are you?" "I'm better than your heart-pacing gear." "Every time, it's skewed further out of spec." "You really need a new unit." "I really need a new body." "I can't help you with that, but I'll bring a new unit by tomorrow." "This'll be stable till then." "Thank you." "You take it easy." "I'll take it any way I can get it." "How's he doing?" "He asked for vodka again." "Did you give him any?" "No." "Good morning, doctor." "Hi, Richard." "Hey, would you look at this?" "A peregrine falcon, am I right?" "Yup." "He likes cripples." "There was a piece about them in The Times the other day nesting all over the city." "Something about the architecture of these old New York buildings." "I thought he liked my company." "They're a little shy." "Don't take it personally." "Can I get you a drink?" "No, thanks. I'm fine." "Bed mode." "Got vodka in there?" "No." "And you ain't getting any either." "All right, I'll let you guys talk." "So you can imagine how much sleep I've gotten the past few days considering your request." "Since I made my decision, I've been sleeping like a baby." "After all you have survived, beat all the odds you know there's work on nerve regeneration every day." "One finger, two shoulders and a brain." "That's all I have, Barry." "These dysreflexia seizures are occurring more often." "The buildup of fluid in my spine is a degenerative condition." "We know I'm waiting for the seizure that'll make me a vegetable." "I don't wanna be a vegetable, Barry." "I want to make the final transition on my own terms." "I'll get it done with or without you." "Yeah." "Yeah, I suppose you would." "So?" "Okay." "Okay what?" "Okay, I'll assist you..." "...in your final transition." "Today?" "There are preparations to be made." "This is not a flu shot." "My business is in order." "My bags are packed." "Besides, I've got a medical conference to go to." "I've got a plane to catch." "You're lying." "When do you get back?" "Sunday." "Okay." "Sunday." "I'll see you then." "Get out before you change your mind." "Don't get up. I'll show myself out." "Yeah, I'll race you to the door." "Barry...." "You are a very good friend." "Amelia?" "Hey." "Hey." "Morning." "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "I just couldn't sleep." "What time is it?" "lt's early." "I'll be late for work." "I gotta shower." "No, you don't." "Stay here." "I gotta go." "Make breakfast?" "No, thanks. I'm gonna be late." "Another slam-bam-thank-you-ma'am?" "All right, look...." "My therapist tells me I might not be getting what I need out of this relationship." "What are we doing here?" "I think you and me, we make a great couple." "You know where I stand on this." "You know what I want." "Steve, we've been through this." "All right?" "I care about you." "I can't make a commitment." "Well, go to work then." "You're gonna be late." "You're quitting the cops?" "l'm transferring to Youth Services." "Lucky fuck." "You must have one hell of a rabbi." "We're gonna miss you." "3-post-1 1 here." "Frightened child at Amtrak site." "I'll take it." "Kid found something over at the tracks." "Finish eating." "I'll check it out." "See you, kid." "3-post-1 1 , anything further on that 1 0-1 0?" "Nothing yet." "Wait. I think I see him." "Are you the one who called the police?" "Wait there, okay?" "Are you out of your mind?" "Just shut off the engine." "There's been a homicide." "I can't let you through." "I'm Amelia." "What's your name?" "Chris." "Chris." "Hey." "I got a job for you." "Here's money." "I need you to buy me one of those cheapo cardboard cameras." "You know, the ones you can throw away?" "Okay." "Fast as you can." "3-post-1 1 to Central." "Captain Cheney, Detective Solomon." "First officer on the scene is over there." "on the tracks near the body." "I collected it before it was washed away." "l also took some pictures." "Thanks." "You stopped the train?" "It might have disturbed the physical evidence." "Why not shut down Grand Central while you're at it?" "Patrolman Donahue. ls that right?" "Donaghy." "A rookie, I take it." "No, sir." "Pretty dumb." "Captain, guess who the vic is?" "Talk to me." "Alan fucking Rubin." "Mister "Rebuild New York" himself?" "Yeah." "Great." "No one enters this area except for my crime scene guys." "Knight to H6." "Check." "You got company." "Cops." "Tell them I'm busy." "They said it was urgent." "Tell them I'm out running." "She's too polite for that, Linc." "Hey, look who's here!" "I caught a serious situation." "It's going around, Paulie." "Chief Murphy sent me." "The good chief." "Heard about that couple at the airport?" "Got in a taxi, never got home?" "He don't watch the news." "You used to read four papers a day and tape the news shows." "Yeah, now I just hit the rewind button." "A3." "Things never change." "That was Alan Rubin and his wife in that taxi." "They found him dead, buried, shot in the face hand sticking out of the ground with his wife's ring on his finger which was skinned to the bone." "She's still missing." "Excuse me while you catch up." "Don't go too far." "We'll be letting these nice gentlemen out in 30 seconds." "Sounds like you got yourself an open-and-shut there." "I don't think so." "A man worth several hundred million found dead his wife's ring on his mutilated hand." "What's that tell you?" "The doer is saying he's got her." "He's probably making a ransom demand right now." "l'd have been paged." "Check your batteries." "It's definitely a ransom." "Excuse me, Mr. Rhyme." "Kenneth Solomon." "I've read all your books." "Scene of the Crime, at least a dozen times." "It's great to meet you." "Where do you find these guys?" "They wanna work with the best." "I guess now you're gonna ask me to discuss the crime scene with you." "We got a bunch of physical evidence that doesn't exactly make sense." "Some seriously weird stuff." "It's all in the report." "Thelma?" "You okay?" "Linc, you okay?" "Out!" "Now!" "Anything we can do?" "Asses out of here now!" "Let me get you some air." "Come on." "Breathe for me." "I said out!" "Come on." "Deep breaths." "Deep breaths." "Come on." "Deep breaths." "I'm getting a BP on you." "You gotta breathe." "Look at me." "Breathe." "Look at me." "Deep breaths." "Come on." "Come on." "You gotta take this oxygen." "Stay with me." "Come on." "You can do it." "Don't go out on me now." "Come on." "Look at me." "Thelma?" "Thelma?" "You okay?" "I would be okay if your powers of resuscitation were less adept." "Look, not on my shift, all right?" "If you have a problem, you can fire my ass." "I provide for you in my will." "You ought to keep that in mind." "Rhyme, I'm not interested in having this conversation." "Okay?" "Okay." "Okay." "The crime scene report Sellitto left...." "Could you take the photos and load them in the viewer?" "View scan." "Let's take a look at what we got here." "Where it says location...." "Now what's that--?" "What's it say about that newspaper?" ""Newspaper found beneath a coarse-thread hex bolt..." "...with 4 p.m. circled on it."" "Four p.m." "Zoom." "What about that piece of paper?" "What's the number on there?" ""A torn book page with 1 1 9 on it."" "1 1 9, 4 p.m." "1 1-9." "What's today's date?" "Today's November 9." "Phone mode." "Sellitto, Paulie." "Call." "What?" "Sad fact is, a huge percentage of inner-city kids have their first drug experiences at the fifth grade level." "Here are some of the drugs they'll most likely be offered." "Marijuana." "How'd you like to get your hands on that briefcase?" "Barbiturates." "Amphetamines." "Cocaine." "Rock cocaine." "What's this about?" "You know who Lincoln Rhyme is?" "What?" "The textbook guy?" "Yeah." "So what does that have to do with me?" "You'll find out." "Come on in." "They're right in there." "A patrol cop took these pictures?" "Yeah, first one on the scene." "It started to rain." "Smart cop." "Had the balls to stop an Amtrak from running over the crime scene." "Here she is now." "Officer Donahoe meet Lincoln Rhyme." "Donaghy." "You took terrific photographs." "You know who I am?" "I read your manual at the academy." "What'd you think?" "I'm not a book critic." "You found it useful?" "Yeah, I guess so." "Sure you did." "You stopped that train." "The photos you took." "I'd say you have a natural instinct for forensics." "So what do we got, Paulie?" "We have footprints, size 1 0, thanks to Officer Donaghy using a dollar bill to establish scale." "We have asbestos where there shouldn't be any." "An iron bolt holding down a piece of paper a book page with 1 1 9 written on it." "Decaying oxidation on the bolt but none on the thread." "Someone removed it from somewhere else and placed it there recently." "Wouldn't you agree, officer?" "Wouldn't you agree, Officer Donaghy?" "Paulie, I'm convinced this crime scene was staged." "Perp's telling us something." "What?" "Book, page 1 1 9. 1 1 -9." "That's today's date." "Newspaper, 4 p.m. What time you got?" "1 2:1 5." "She's alive." "And he's gonna kill her at 4?" "P.M." "We have your interest yet?" "I want you to work the case with us." "It's not my area." "Are you being modest, or are you uneasy about doing some real police work?" "Excuse me?" "What department do you work in?" "Youth Services." "I picked her up at orientation." "I see." "Youth Services." "I wait-listed a year, and I won't jeopardise" "Jeopardise what?" "Cushy desk job?" "Forensics is not my area." "l disagree with you." "Well, you can't force me to take this assignment." "I can." "And if I refuse?" "You're putting your career at risk." "You think because of your condition you can push people around?" "That is truly pathetic." "Truly?" "Yeah, damn right." "Truly." "Well, forgive me truly if I insist on having someone with your brains and a fresh pair of eyes." "There's a life at stake here, officer." "We'll need key people and tech support." "l know the guys." "Okay." "What the hell you smiling at?" "Pull up a chair." "Tell me everything you know about the crime scene." "It's in my report." "I read your report." "I want to know what you felt what you feel in the deepest recesses of your senses." "You are in love with the sound of your voice, aren't you?" "It's your voice I want to hear." "Pull up a chair. I won't bite." "The rifling on the .38 slug they dug out of the victim is consistent with a Webley, an old, turn-of-the-century handgun." "On the big board, please." "What about that bolt?" "There's three initials on the head:" "N.S.G." "And the bolt's not steel. lt's iron." "Iron." "Iron." "Iron." "Making it old like the Webley." "Officer Donaghy, what do you know about asbestos?" "lt kills Americans every day." "Very good." "You computer literate?" "A little." "Thelma!" "Thelma?" "Where's my Thelma?" "Yes." "Thelma, meet Amelia." "Amelia, Thelma." "Amelia hates my books and computers but she's got an A-plus nose for evidence so show her how to access D.E.P. files." "See if there's any large asbestos cleanups going on in the city." "ASAP." "Where is Eddie Ortiz?" "Right here!" "How's the world's crankiest criminalist?" "Playing "beat the clock."" "Everybody's worst nightmare." "Get in a cab, and there's a psycho from Jersey behind the wheel." "We don't know he's from Jersey." "Yeah, Bayonne." "It's the toxins in the water over there." "You bring the whole lab?" "Mom always told me to be prepared." "Where do you want this?" "Put it over here in the corner." "How is your mother?" "She's 76, and she's shtupping a guy named Morris." "Can you believe that?" "God bless her." "But it's Morris l'm worried about." "He's 79 with a tricky ticker and an active pecker." "Hey." "Afternoon." "Captain Cheney." "Amelia what about that asbestos?" "There's a dozen cleanups in the five boroughs." "Put it up on the viewer for me." "Narrow it down to the oldest locations." "How you doing, Howie?" "Fine." "How's it going?" "In the middle of the middle, as you can see." "Look what I found on the threading of that iron bolt." "I was hoping to grab a minute if you don't mind." "Excuse me." "Sorry." "Sorry." "We got Donaghy to thank for photographing the crucial evidence." "Crucial evidence?" "We don't know that. I wanted to make sure you had the support you need." "I'm putting the full resources of my department here at your disposal." "I appreciate it." "Thank you." "But the thing is, Linc I've formalized procedures since you were in charge, and so" "Put what you got up on my screen, please." "So I'd appreciate it if you kept me in the loop." "Absolutely." "At all times." "At all" "What the hell is that we're looking at?" "Old paper." "Coarse grade." "I'd say 80, 90 years old." "Turn-of-the-century, it looks like." "The perp likes old." "Fine, then...." "I'll be in my office if you need me." "Yeah, okay, Howie." "Good." "Old paper." "Old gun." "Buries his victim in a vintage Civil War railroad bed." "Sand." "Sand." "Sand...." "Eddie, what do you got on the sand?" "Doesn't really look like sand." "l'm not sure." "Can you individuate it?" "If I had an EDX, I could." "We don't have a goddamn E-the-fuck-X." "Look who forgot their chill pill this morning." "Excuse me." "Come on. I'm all over this thing now." "Okay, we're talking pearly-looking." "Some kind of a shellfish or something." "Oyster shells, maybe?" "Could be." "Definitely. lf l had to bet on it, I'd say it was." "Sure." "I got it." "The oldest asbestos sites are coming up now." "In 1 91 3, when the Woolworth Building was being built workmen found the body of a rich industrialist, Talbot Soames." "He'd been kidnapped, shot and buried in what they thought was sand." "Turned out to be oyster shells." "Crushed oyster shells." "That's what they used as landfill in lower Manhattan." "That's how Pearl Street got its name." "That's where Mrs. Rubin's gonna be, somewhere downtown." "She'll be underground." "She'll be in a basement near or in the Woolworth Building." "Have Emergency Services Unit meet us by the Woolworth Building." "Tell them to start their search." "We may get lucky." "Eddie, did you bring your van?" "lt's downstairs." "We'll need it." "Throw your keys to Amelia." "You guys go with her." "Should I go too?" "You stay here with me and work that bolt." "That's the missing piece." "Should we keep Cheney in the loop?" "Fuck him." "Fuck him." "Amelia." "Just trust me." "Just follow those instincts you were born with. I'll be with you every step of the way." "Jesus, 25 minutes left." "How did Rhyme get that way?" "He was born brilliant." "It happens." "I mean, the physical part." "Four years ago, he was working the body of a cop they'd found shot in a subway tunnel." "Beam came down and damn near cut him in half." "Jesus." "Family?" "Sister in Phoenix." "He never sees her." "Cut himself off." "Technically, he's still on active duty collecting pay." "Insurance picks up 24-hour care and the gadgets." "On weekends, always one or two cops there lending a hand." "Tough deal." "You won't hear him complaining." "He likes pushing other people's buttons." "In your case, that's a compliment." "You gotta learn to relax around a compliment, especially from Rhyme." "You can be a little grating." "Me?" "Kiddo, if you were any more wound up, you'd be a Timex." "He was a human dynamo, writing books, lecturing all over the world giving expert opinion in trials, working crimes in the city." "You know what he'd do for fun?" "No, I can't imagine." "He'd collect things." "Dirt, metals, plastics hubcaps, plants, musical strings medical tools, anything." "Obsessive." "He'd analyse and catalogue it for his, what you call it, database." "Jesus Christ!" "I'd like to get there in one piece if possible." "New York Security Gate Company." "That's good." "What else?" "Nicholas Steven Gerard, elevators." "No, underground." "A subway builder." "Subway builder sounds" "Excuse me!" "N.S.G." ""Niagara Steam Generation." "Bought by Eastern Gas and Electric in 1 928." "The six-inch iron bolt was used mainly for steam pipe assemblies."" "You got 1 1 minutes." "Where are you?" "We just hit the financial district." "There's a steam junction with big asbestos-coated pipes." "That's where she'll be." "I'd bet my legs on it." "She'll be at Wall and Nassau." "Wall and Nassau." "Has ESU been notified?" "On their way." "They'll get there first." "Steam is released through that junction every day at 4 p.m." "Shit, what's this asshole up to?" "I don't know, but it'll happen in about 1 0 minutes." "We're here." "We're going down there." "Amelia?" "Yeah, I'm here." "It's their job to save Mrs. Rubin." "It's yours to get ready and work the crime scene if necessary." "There's some things you'll need." "Look in the truck." "You'll see an aluminium suitcase and a radio headset." "See it?" "Yeah, I see them." "There must be a way in." "What's the problem here?" "Fucking valves freeze up easy." "Come on." "Shut it off!" "You there?" "I'm here." "I'm inside the pipe." "Go!" "I think I hear something." "I hear something!" "What's that?" "Someone's there." "I hear her crying!" "Everyone, quiet now!" "Mrs. Rubin?" "She's there." "Mrs. Rubin!" "We're on our way in now!" "Come on, guys." "Come on." "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Let's hurry the fuck up!" "Get a drill and a tap." "Somebody cut this halfway through." "There's no way to turn it off." "Back!" "Paulie?" "Linc, she's gone." "The whole place is scalded in steam." "Let's go!" "Move away!" "ESU are gonna blow a hole in the subbasement wall." "I understand I'm working with Chief Murphy's authorization." "That's right." "I don't want Emergency Services guys in there trampling the evidence before we run the scene." "What do you want?" "When they blow the hole, I want Donaghy in first." "She's not trained for this." "We could get our asses in a sling." "My ass has been in a sling for four years." "Tell Hanson and his beasts that's what I want." "Period." "All right." "You got it." "Okay, let's move!" "I'm doing this under protest." "The perp could still be in there!" "Rhyme's in charge, and they're his orders." "You can't handle it in there, get your ass out." "Amelia, you ready?" "Yeah." "You listen to me." "I'm with you every step of the way." "Go on." "Good luck." "l'm in." "Tell me what you see." "Everything's been boiled to hell." "Oh, God." "What is it?" "It's an awful smell." "Means you're close." "I can't believe I'm doing this." "You're fine." "Just fine." "You're doing great." "Now, just remember the academy." "When you walk move in a straight line." "Don't disturb any footprints he's left." "Yeah, assuming he's gone." "There's no footprints." "There's nothing yet." "Oh, God." "What?" "Talk to me." "Talk to me, Amelia." "I can see her." "The steam pipe was opened and she's tied down right in front of it." "Okay." "There's nothing you can do." "You can't do anything but help her by working the crime scene." "That's your job." "Open your suitcase." "Get your camera." "I can't do this." "You can do it." "Yes, you can." "Yesterday you stopped a train." "You can do anything you want." "Don't work me, Rhyme." "Just tell me what to do next." "Very slowly, walk the grid one foot in front of the other." "I want you to look around you now." "Crime scenes are three-dimensional." "Floors, walls and ceilings." "Rhyme." "Yeah, I'm here." "There's something strange." "Things he left for us?" "Yes." "ln a cluster again?" "A piece of wood and looks like some hair." "I'll walk you through collecting the evidence." "Do exactly as I say." "Oh, Jesus." "Talk to me." "lt's a bloody bone." "Where is it?" "It's in my fucking hand." "Human?" "I think so." "Yeah." "Photograph it." "Bag it." "Okay, that's it." "I'm out of here." "One more thing." "We gotta process the body." "What?" "I'm not a medical examiner." "I can't do that." "It's not an autopsy." "I just want you to...." "Just describe the restraints." "They're strange-looking handcuffs." "They look more like old shackles or something." "And there's a chain across her waist." "And her feet are bound with a rope." "Hands above her head?" "Yeah." "There's also a large piece of flesh missing from her right forearm." "It's right down to the bone." "It was surgically removed." "This is what I want you to do." "We're gonna need those handcuffs." "It's probably our best chance for good prints." "The M.E. can remove them." "M.E. is all thumbs." "They'll mess up the prints." "Look in the suitcase." "There's a small saw." "Okay." "I want you to saw her hands off at the wrist line." "We gotta have those cuffs for prints." "I can't." "Cut her hands off." "We need the handcuffs." "I can't." "No." "Saw off her hands." "Take off the cuffs." "I can't." "Listen to me." "We need those cuffs." "I can't!" "Amelia, we need" "No!" "Fuck you!" "Amelia!" "Amelia!" "If he wants her hands cut off, he can come and do it himself!" "Amelia?" "Amelia." "Amelia." "That'll be $1 6.50." "Hello?" "Who is it?" "Hello?" "Hey, take it easy!" "Shit!" "Solomon, what are you doing?" "Are you okay?" "What the fuck are you doing?" "Rhyme's been trying to call you for hours." "Your phone's down." "He was concerned." "My phone's fine." "I don't need his concern." "He needs you at his place right away." "I don't work for Lincoln Rhyme." "He thinks the evidence says there's another vic in play." "And he's laying that at my feet?" "Don't shoot the messenger." "Did you just move in?" "Yeah, about a year ago." "Really?" "You were a model." "Yeah, when I was a kid." "Kid model to street cop." "There's a leap." "For whatever it's worth I thought what you did today was terrific." "Hey, you guys, I'm out of here." "I'll grab a cab." "I got a paper to finish." "l'm gonna hang." "No problem." "I'll be there in a minute." "Can I finish that?" "Go for it." "Okay, I'll see you outside." "Taxi!" "That bone's definitely not human." "And the hair?" "Not human either." "Well, what is it?" "I'm working as fast as I can." "Glad to see you could join us." "I got Cheney on the line." "He wants you to brief him." "Tell him I'll call him back." "Two things." "First, you did a hell of a job locating the evidence." "There's no question the perp knows forensics." "Now, as for the other thing the victim's hands, well, maybe it was too much to handle." "Forget it." "Is that your version of an apology?" "An apology?" "Is that why you came over here?" "You really are a piece of work." "Well, aren't we a pair?" "I think you're terrific." "You got a hell of an arrest record." "High marks from all your bosses." "Definite gold-shield potential." "Why you wanna throw it away to chase youth offenders?" "I have no need to explain that to you." "Come on, cop to cop." "Cop to cop, let's just leave it at personal reasons." "Okay." "Doesn't have anything to do with your father, does it?" "You keep charging at walls." "Stubbornness is something we both share." "They say we come into this world with a preordained destiny." "I don't believe it." "Neither of my parents had more than an eighth-grade education." "Never read more than one book between them, not one." "I've read thousands." "I've written a dozen." "What's your point?" "My point is that destiny is what you make it." "What happened to your dad won't necessarily happen to you." "You're a great cop." "You'd make a terrific detective." "It's a gift." "Don't throw it away." "Report from the Taxi Commission." "An NYU student was abducted last night." "His girlfriend saw him try to get out as the taxi driver hit him with a flashlight." "No description of the driver." "Okay, everybody." "This could be our next victim." "Did you get a deadline off that evidence yet?" "Not yet." "That's something I hoped you'd help me with." "Anyone for some osso buco?" "What?" "The bone we found at the Wall Street scene." "Veal shank." "Braised and overly salted to boot." "A cow bone?" "I also found a piece of that old paper embedded in the bone." "Take a look." "What's going on?" "Do what you need to do quickly." "The hair follicles, they're not human." "A rodent." "Probably a rat." "They were shaved off." "We're looking for a rat that shaves." "l really like that." "l've known a few in my time." "How about you, Amelia?" "More than a few." "He's consistent with underground, that's for sure." "What's he trying to say?" "He's communicating in our language leaving clues, forensic clues at that." "Maybe it's a cop." "Maybe." "Maybe he's sharing the responsibility of these murders." "If we don't figure out the clues, the blood's on our hands." "If we can't find the victim, we're as responsible for the murders as he is." "What do you got on that dirt from the wood?" "I don't have 1 00% individuated, but it does appear nitrogen-rich." "Ready to rock 'n' roll." "Thanks for rushing." "I appreciate it." "All right." "Thank you, Richard." "Nitrogen-rich, explosive carbons." "Where do you find those in New York?" "Bomb sites." "Shooting ranges." "Maybe an old fort or an armoury?" "Don't forget the shit factor." "The what?" "Manure becomes a nitrate when it's aged." "That's true." "Then you got cow bones, huh?" "Old cow bones." "Old manure." "Turn-of-the-century." "Cows, farms, pastures." "Rats." "Dead cows." "Where do you find--?" "In stockyards." "Look for slaughterhouses." "Stockyards and slaughterhouses from turn of the century." "Check the Internet." "I want tax records, sanitation records and building-code inspections." "Last 1 00 years." "Okay?" "Man, your blood pressure is way up." "You're pushing it too hard." "l understand." "What do we got on the stockyards?" "We're almost there." "You okay?" "No, I'm not okay." "I can't figure out this time line or these shards of cardboard." "We got three defunct stockyard sites." "One on Lexington and the Harlem River viaduct." "Solomon, put the box down turn the viewer on and mark it down as she calls them off." "Your blood pressure will blow a gasket if you don't slow down." "My body has a mind of its own." "It doesn't listen to me." "What else?" "There's another on the Hudson up at 1 55th." "Mark it down, Solomon." "Your sats are going down." "You saw him have a seizure." "What else?" "There's one underground at Greenwich and Houston." "Mark it down." "Why don't you knock it off?" "l don't need to knock it off!" "What was the first one you mentioned?" "Lexington and the Harlem River viaduct." "When did it close?" "1 91 0." "Okay, what about Houston and Greenwich?" "1 898." "And Hudson and 1 55th was closed in 1 906." "1 906, 1 898" "All right, let's...." "1 898." "Houston and Greenwich." "Call Emergency Services and tell them to meet us at Houston and Greenwich." "Solomon, you get on to Hanson." "He'll need about 20 guys." "You go with them." "Let's go." "Linc, you there?" "Yeah, ready." "We're here." "Okay." "Amelia?" "Yeah." "All right." "Same drill." "I want you in first." "Let's do it." "You watch yourself, Amelia." "Oh, man." "I don't like this." "I don't like this." "I got a bad feeling about this." "All three of us ought to get in there." "Not yet." "Just hold back." "I'm going down some stairs." "Cement walls." "Wood crates." "Large columns." "Smells like manure down here." "Ortiz sure knows his shit." "Always has." "Metal hooks and a pen." "It's a slaughterhouse." "Get inside, guys." "Go, go, go." "ESU are here." "Hold them off." "Don't want them contaminating the scene." "All right, hold it." "Hold up." "Hold up." "You're not to go in." "Why?" "Rhyme's orders." "Fuck him!" "Get me Cheney on the line." "Crime scene C.O. on air." "Switch to channel 2-2 for ESU." "Fuck Rhyme." "Maybe this one's still alive." "Perp didn't leave a deadline." "What does that mean?" "We're probably too late." "You don't know that, Rhyme." "Get off the line." "Let's move on, Amelia." "There's five basic contaminants to every crime scene." "I'll skip to the worst one." "Other cops." "I think I hear something." "I hate this shit." "I see something." "I think I found him." "I can't tell if he's alive." "Oh, Jesus." "He's covered in rats." "They're all over him." "We're going in." "No, you're not." "No, you're not!" "Go!" "Go!" "Central, we have shots fired." "Shots fired." "You were right." "We never had a shot." "He cut him up pretty bad and left him for the rats." "There's a cut in his leg down to the bone." "The blood attracted the rats." "Goddamn son of a bitch." "You okay?" "I'm fine." "Step aside so I can walk the grid." "Let's give her some room." "Move out, guys." "Rhyme, I'm gonna walk the grid." "Okay." "You know what to do." "Rhyme, I found it." "Another cluster." "A piece of old paper like the other two." "And a matchbox." "Bring that black suitcase over here." "Pull out the brown envelope." "Sounds like you're starting to enjoy this work." "Damn!" "The press is here." "Park it right there." "Lincoln Rhyme is no longer working this case." "I'm taking over." "Do what you want to do, but you ought to check with Murphy first." "Fuck Murphy and fuck Rhyme." "This has been cleared downtown." "We got a dead kid on our hands and I, for one, am not taking the heat for that." "Tell Ortiz and his crew to vacate Rhyme's place tonight." "The victim was already dead when we arrived." "And you, half-assed patrolman working a crime scene those days are over." "I'll take that evidence bag now." "You can take it with a chain-of-custody voucher, sir." "Are you out of your mind?" "Let's go." "You're coming with us." "Are you arresting me?" "Just get in the car and keep your mouth shut to the press." "You won't find any prints." "He's too good for that." "It looks like we have a nice, clean friction print." "Unless of course, it's yours." "No, I was wearing gloves." "We'll know soon enough." "Put this through." "Highest priority." "You got it." "Thank you." "I got a feeling this perp's been in business for a long time." "I hear you, but you know, it's Cheney's problem now." "Yeah, that's what scares me." "See if there's been any homicides in the last 1 2 months involving surgically-removed flesh exposing bone." "No problem." "See you soon." "Hope so, Eddie." "Thelma, don't you let him run no circles around you." "Stay right, Eddie." "Oh, that print." "We just got a positive ID on it." "The guy has three extremely violent priors." "Oh, look at that." "Taxi licence, no less." "We got him." "Let's go, boys!" "Somebody call ESU." "Now slide out, nice and easy." "That explains your print." "Hey." "Hey." "He was hoping you'd show up." "He's been worried about you." "Yeah, sure." "I didn't expect to see you again." "Poor Cheney, huh?" "Grabbed the ball with both hands, scored for the other team." "I warned him that the perp was too smart to leave a print." "How you doing with that stuff?" "Not too good." "Two pieces of the puzzle, but I don't know what it means." "Maybe this'll help." "Cheney will have your badge for that." "He wouldn't give me a voucher." "What could I do?" "You could take it back to him." "The man is a living monument to ineptitude." "True." "Let's take a look." "What do you got there?" "Third piece of the puzzle." "There's something really strange about it, though." "You gotta smell it." "Sure." "Well, you" "Shoot." "Sorry." "lt's okay." "Take your time." "You have to put it closer to my nose." "What do you think it is?" "Kerosene?" "Possibly." "This just came in from Eddie Ortiz." "Could you load these into the computer for me?" "Sorry about that, Thelma." "ECU." "View scan." ""Dear Linc, I am enclosing photos of four unsolved homicides which took place in the last 1 2 months." "Flesh has been removed from the victims' extremities." "I miss you." "Love, Eddie."" "I'll spare myself the pleasure if you don't mind." "Okay, Thelma." "Zoom." "Same mark." "Right." "Zoom." "Same messages." "It's him." "He was trying to make contact even then." "But Cheney never put it together." "Thelma!" "Dysreflexia seizure." "A bad one." "Hang on." "Hang on." "Breathe, Rhyme." "Come on, breathe with me." "Damn catheter's blocked." "Just let me get a BP on you." "Stay with me!" "Breathe." "Hang on." "Hang on." "Just let me check you." "Diastolic's over 1 25." "I gotta get it down now." "Just give it a few seconds to work." "Come on, breathe with me." "Come on." "Hang on, man." "Is he gonna make it?" "If he does, he won't be happy." "What are you talking about?" "He's finalized arrangements to self-terminate." "He convinced some doctor to help with his final transition, as he calls it." "But suicide?" "It's the seizures." "Any one of them could put him into a vegetative state." "That's what he fears more than anything." "Who is it?" "Captain Cheney." "Can I help you?" "Police business." "Open up." "Mr. Rhyme is asleep." "Well, wake him up." "I need to see him now." "Let me deal with this asshole." "You watch him." "Anything, just call me." "He's all right." "Look, lady." "I hope you know that obstructing justice is a felony offence." "Look, don't "lady" me." "Unless you have a warrant, you can't come in here." "I'm coming in." "I have reason to believe there's stolen evidence in there." "What's your full name?" "Thelma what?" "So you wanna get official?" "What did you say your name was?" "You got a smart mouth and it'll get you in trouble." "It may bite your ass if you don't stop aggravating my patient." "I'm gonna leave now, but I'll be back." "And when I come back, it'll be with a warrant." "And I looked everywhere." "And I thought the conductor would be angry." "And I kept searching everywhere, and finally it was right on my lap." "Grandma can't wait to see you, you know." "What'd I do?" "You're carrying a fare and your meter's not on and your hack licence is not properly" "There's laws against molesting the handicapped, you know." "Yeah?" "I wasn't a pretty sight, was I?" "Thelma told me about your plans for your final transition." "Cop to cop, that subject's not open to discussion." "Why?" "Would you miss me?" "Well, destiny's what we make it, right?" "Touché." "You seem to have your reasons for checking out." "I expected more from someone like you." "Well, I might surprise you and live forever." "Nothing you'd do would surprise me." "Well, look who's still in the land of the living." "For the moment." "Cheney was here huffing and puffing." "He promised to return with a warrant." "Sorry I missed him." "If that's him, tell him..." "Say no more." "..." "I'm skiing." "Hello." "Hey, Paulie." "Hang on." "I don't know if it's just a coincidence but an inspector was killed by a cabby who was off the meter." "The thing is, a male witness who wouldn't give his name saw the taxi with an old man and a little girl inside." "Probably the doer that called." "Jesus, he's got a kid." "And an old man." "Thank you, Paulie." "Okay." "We'd better look closer at that third piece of the puzzle." "Close." "Three murders." "Three evidence clusters." "Three pieces of paper." "View scan." "You're the queen of puzzles." "What do you see?" "I'm looking." "I'm looking." "Lower the little one." "That one." "Twist that big one around." "Doesn't that kind of look like a face?" "Mouth, nose, eye." "Enhance." "Fade." "A woman's face." "Yes, it is." "It's a logo." "An old turn-of-the-century publisher's logo." "You know it?" "I used to own a few of the books." "Gothic stories." "Crime stories." "The killer is pointing us to an old book." "Can I help you?" "I called about old crime books." "Around the corner." "Help yourself." "Thanks." "Aviation Two to Central." "We're taking a flyby at the Brooklyn Bridge." "Report appears unfounded at this time." "Will check East River shoreline and advise." "I need more small boats to search under the piers." "By the heliport." "Under the piers." "It was the last murder in the book." "They've gotta be along the shore." "Listen, the lab says the odour we smelled on the third piece of the puzzle is probably diesel fuel." "There's an old boat refueling station at the Staten Island Ferry pier." "Check the pilings under the pier." "Found them!" "Over here!" "Here!" "I can see someone with a light signalling us from the old Staten Island Ferry pier." "There appears to be two bodies in the water." "Be advised, subject signalling is most likely NYPD officer." "Over here!" "Here!" "Watch the pilings!" "We've got divers coming in to you now." "Over to the ladder." "Be advised, aideds are out of the water and ESU is working on them at this time." "Rhyme, are you there?" "Yeah." "Looks like we're too late." "Forget it." "He's dead." "The old man's gone." "They're working on the girl, but it doesn't look good." "Try again." "I know she's still there." "Come on, kid." "Come on." "Try for me." "Come on." "You can do it." "Come on." "Breathe." "She's breathing." "She'll be okay." "She's breathing." "Can you hear me?" "l think she's gonna make it." "Good." "Good." "You gotta find the clues that he left for us." "See what you can find around the fuel tanks." "All right." "I found it." "It's a map of some kind, some chunk of a clean bone and a piece of a medal or a badge or something." "There's initials engraved." "It looks like a P and a B." "It's definitely a D." "P.D. Sounds like a cop's badge." "Think he'll kill a cop?" "Could be." "Thelma." "Maps?" "Tell me about the map." "Looks like an old subway map." "I don't recognise the stations." "When I scanned asbestos sites, I came across stations that aren't in use anymore." "There it is." "The oldest station." "On your map, is there an old station indicated at the tip of Manhattan?" "Navy Street." "It's right next to the pier." "Oh, shit." "Cheney's here." "You talking to Rhyme on that thing?" "Give me the radio." "This is Cheney." "What the hell do you think you're doing?" "Stealing evidence is a goddamn felony." "I understand there's no chain-of-evidence voucher." "Oh, yeah?" "I got some news for you." "You're not a cop anymore." "Understand?" "What you are is a fucking meddling cripple." "I'm gonna place your little gofer under arrest." "You don't mind that, do you?" "Lock her up." "Where'd she go?" "I'm inside the Navy Street tunnel." "There's grey dust everywhere." "It's all over my shoes." "There's footprints." "One set of footprints." "Hello?" "Lincoln, hello?" "Amelia?" "Hello?" "The mobile unit you've called is not responding." "Re-call." "No dust." "He changed the numbers." "7-8-4-9-9." "What is that?" "7-8-4-9-9." "What does it mean?" "Help me, Rhyme." "Help me." "He's gonna kill Rhyme." "Coming." "Hey, what are you doing here?" "Thelma?" "Is that Amelia?" "Bed mode." "Thelma?" "Thelma, is that you?" "No, it's me." "Richard." "Richard?" "What's up?" "Thelma asked me to come by, check the heart-pacing machine." "Where is Thelma?" "Out in the hall." "Phone mode." "It was time we had a quiet moment together." "You and I, no interruptions." "Okay." "What's on your mind?" "I think it's time to set the record straight." "Syracuse." "You remember Syracuse, don't you?" "You wrote an expert opinion." "I wrote thousands of opinions." "Don't fucking tell me you don't remember Syracuse." "They called it an investigation." "It was a witch hunt." "There was a forensics cop up in Syracuse, New York." "Marcus Andrews." "Okay, that was the cop that was suspected of tampering with evidence in some homicide cases." "Nothing was tampered with." "Six innocent people went to jail." "They went to jail because they were guilty." "They were scum." "He doctored the reports." "Nothing was doctored." "He planted blood evidence." "My work was impeccable." "Where are we going with this Marcus?" "Your report destroyed my life." "My report was not a legal finding." "You never let me defend myself." "l never even met you." "I was sent to prison for six years!" "I spent two more years getting to you." "Do you know what happens to a cop in jail?" "Every day, every single day over and over, I was brutalized." "I became a human toilet because of your expert opinion." "Well, you will never point the finger of blame at anyone ever again." "You were never as good as they said." "I played you." "I tested you." "I gave you every clue." "You and your helper couldn't save them." "Their blood is on your hands." "You failed." "You failed, you fuck." "Game of chess, Mr. Rhyme." "Some people win." "Some people lose." "I win, Mr. Rhyme. I win." "You lose." "What kind of vegetable would you like to be?" "A carrot?" "How about a zucchini?" "Zucchini?" "You wanna be a zucchini?" "Thelma!" "l'm sorry, I didn't hear you." "Did you say zucchini?" "You want to play?" "Shall we cut out your tongue, Mr. Rhyme?" "How about your eye?" "Your eye?" "I'll just pop it out of there." "Let's leave that for now." "You can watch me." "You can watch me while I gut you open right down the middle." "What?" "Can you hear me?" "Lincoln?" "Oh, God." "Step aside." "We'll take care of him." "l've always loved this view." "l like it too, doc." "It's looking better every day." "How you guys doing?" "Good." "You got an operating licence for that?" "I got a learner's permit." "How's your boyfriend?" "He's in Florida." "He play golf." "Playing golf?" "Captain Flash on wheels." "Merry Christmas." "Merry Christmas, everyone." "If you'll be cruising, you might as well be amusing." "There you go." "Thank you, Eddie." "Come on in." "Merry Christmas." "Merry Christmas." "Merry Christmas." "Hey, how you doing?" "You're looking real good, Mr. Rhyme." "Mr." "Rhyme?" "It's Lincoln to you." "Loosen your shorts." "Oh, my goodness." "Oh, my goodness." "What are you doing here?" "Merry Christmas, Uncle Linc." "Give me a kiss." "Merry Christmas, Kimmy." "How are you?" "How you doing, Tony?" "I didn't know you'd make this trip." "Wouldn't be a surprise if you knew." "I'm sorry." "Amelia, this is my sister, Janine." "Her family." "Yeah, I know." "Hi." "You know?" "We've met." "On the phone." "How you doing?" "Merry Christmas, Lincoln."