The Cold Moon (28 page)

The full Cold Moon is in the sky,
shining on the corpse of earth,
signifying the hour to die
and end the journey begun at birth.

— THE WATCHMAKER

• Not in any poetry databases; probably his own.
  

• Cold Moon is lunar month, the month of death.
  

• $60 in pocket, no serial number leads; prints negative.
  

• Fine sand used as "obscuring agent." Sand was generic. Because he's returning to the scene?
  

• Metal bar, 81 pounds, is needle-eye span. Not being used in construction across from the alleyway. No other source found.
  

• Duct tape, generic, but cut precisely, unusual. Exactly the same lengths.
  

• Thallium sulfate (rodent poison) found in sand.
  

• Soil containing fish protein — from perp, not victim.
  

• Very little trace found.
  

• Brown fibers, probably automotive carpeting.
  

Other:

• Vehicle.
  

   
  

• Ford Explorer, about three years old. Brown carpet. Tan.
  

• Review of license tags of cars in area Tuesday morning reveals no warrants. No tickets issued Monday night.
  

• Checking with Vice about prostitutes, re: witness.
  

   
  

• No leads.
  

INTERVIEW WITH HALLERSTEIN

Perp:

• EFIT composite picture of the Watchmaker — late forties, early fifties, round face, double chin, thick nose, unusually light blue eyes. Over 6 feet tall, lean, hair black, medium length, no jewelry, dark clothes. No name.
  

• Knows great deal about clocks and watches and which timepieces had been sold at recent auctions and were at current horologic exhibits in the city.
  

• Threatened dealer to keep quiet.
  

• Bought 10 clocks. For 10 victims?
  

• Paid cash.
  

• Wanted moon face on clock, wanted loud tick.
  

Evidence:

• Source of clocks was Hallerstein's Timepieces, Flatiron District.
  

• No prints on cash paid for clocks, no serial number hits. No trace on money.
  

• Called from pay phones.
  

CRIME SCENE THREE

Location:

• 481 Spring Street.
  

Victim:

• Joanne Harper.
  

• No apparent motive.
  

• Didn't know second victim, Adams.
  

Perp:

• Watchmaker.
  

• Assistant.
  

   
  

• Probably man spotted earlier by victim, at her shop.
  

• White, heavyset, in sunglasses, cream-colored parka and cap. Was driving the SUV.
  

M.O.:

• Picked locks to get inside.
  

• Intended method of attack unknown. Possibly planning to use florist's wire.
  

Evidence:

• Fish protein came from Joanne's (orchid fertilizer).
  

• Thallium sulfate nearby.
  

• Florist's wire, cut in precise lengths. (To use as murder weapon?)
  

• Clock.
  

   
  

• Same as others. No nitrates.
  

• No trace.
  

• No note or poem.
  

• No footprints, fingerprints, weapons or anything else left behind.
  

• Black flakes — roofing tar.
  

   
  

• Checking ASTER thermal images of New York for possible sources.
  

Other:

• Perp was checking out victim earlier than attack. Targeting her for purpose. What?
  

• Have police scanner. Changing frequency.
  

• Vehicle.
  

   
  

• Tan.
  

• No tag number.
  

• Putting out Emergency Vehicle Locator.
  

• 423 owners of tan Explorers in area. Cross-reference against criminal warrants. Two found. One owner too old; other is in jail on drug charges.
  

   
  

• Owned by the man in jail.
  

WATCHMAKER'S EXPLORER

Location:

• Found in garage, Hudson River and
  

• Houston Street.
  

Evidence:

• Explorer owned by man in jail. Had been confiscated, and stolen from lot, awaiting auction.
  

• Parked in open. Not near exit.
  

• Crumbs from corn chips, potato chips, pretzels, chocolate candy. Bits of peanut butter crackers. Stains from soda, regular, not diet.
  

• Box of Remington .32-caliber auto pistol ammo, seven rounds missing. Gun is possible Autauga Mk II.
  

• Book —
  Extreme Interrogation Techniques.
  Blueprint for his murder methods? No helpful information from publisher.
  

• Strand of gray-and-black hair, probably woman's.
  

• No prints at all, throughout entire vehicle.
  

• Beige cotton fibers from gloves.
  

• Sand matching that used in alleyway.
  

• Smooth-soled size-13 shoe print.
  

Chapter 20

"I need a case file."

"Yeah." The woman was chewing gum. Loudly.

Snap.

Amelia Sachs was in the file room at the 158th Precinct in Lower Manhattan, not far from the 118th. She gave the night-duty file clerk at the gray desk the number of the Sarkowski file. The woman typed on a computer keyboard, a staccato sound. A glance at the screen. "Don't have it."

"You sure?"

"Don't have it."

"Hm." Sachs gave a laugh. "Where do we think it's run off to?"

"Run off to?"

"It came here on the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth of November from the One Three One house. It looked like it was requested from somebody here."

Snap.

"Well, it's, like not logged in. You sure it came here?"

"No, not one thousand percent. But —"

"One thousand?" the woman asked, chewing away. A pack of cigarettes sat next to her, ready to be scooped up in a hurry when she fled downstairs on her break or left for the night.

"Is there any scenario where it wouldn't've been logged?"

"Scenario?"

"Would a file always be logged in?"

"If it's for a specific detective it'd go directly to his office and he'd log it. You've gotta log it. It's a rule."

"If there was no recipient name on the request?"

"Then it'd come here." She nodded at a large basket holding a card that said
Pending.
"And whoever wanted it'd have to come down and pick it up. Then he'd log it in. Has to be logged in."

"But it wasn't."

"Has to be. Because otherwise, how do we know where it is?" She pointed to another sign.
Log it!

Sachs prowled through the large basket.

"Like, you're not supposed to do that."

"But see my problem?"

A blink. The gum snapped.

"It came here. But you can't find it. So what do I do about that?"

"Submit a request. Somebody'll look for it."

"Is that really going to happen? Because I'm not sure it would." Sachs looked toward the file room. "I'll just take a look, you don't mind."

"Really, you can't."

"Just take a few minutes."

"You can't —"

Sachs walked past her and plunged into the stacks of files. The clerk muttered something Sachs couldn't hear.

All the files were organized by number and color-coded to indicate that they were open or closed or trial pending. Major Cases files had a special border on them. Red. Sachs found the recent files and, going through the numbers one by one, sure enough — the Sarkowski file wasn't there.

She paused, looking up the stacks, hands on her hips.

"Hi," a man's voice said.

She turned and found herself looking at a tall, gray-haired man in a white shirt and navy slacks. He had a military bearing about him and he was smiling. "You're — ?"

"Detective Sachs."

"I'm DI Jefferies." A deputy inspector generally ran the precinct. She'd heard the name but knew nothing about him. Except that he was obviously a hard worker, since he was here, still on the job at this late hour.

"What can we do you for, Detective?"

"There was a file delivered here from the One Three One. About two weeks ago. I need it as part of an investigation."

He glanced at the file clerk who'd just dimed her out. She was standing in the hallway. "We don't have it, sir. I told her that."

"Are you sure it was sent here?"

Sachs said, "The log at the transferring house said it was."

"Was it logged?" Jefferies asked the clerk.

"No."

"Well, is it in the pending basket?"

"No."

"Come on into my office, Detective. I'll see what we can do."

Sachs ignored the clerk. She didn't want to give her the satisfaction.

Through the nondescript halls, turning corners here and there, not saying a word. Sachs struggling on her arthritic legs to keep up with the man's energetic pace.

Inspector Jefferies strode into his corner office, nodded at the chair across from his desk and closed the door, which had a large brass plaque on it.
Halston P. Jefferies.

Sachs sat.

Jefferies suddenly leaned down, his face inches from hers. He slammed his fist onto the desk. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Sachs reared back, feeling his hot, garlicky breath wash over her face: "I... What do you mean?" She swallowed the "sir" she'd nearly appended to the sentence.

"Where are you out of?"

"Where?"

"You fucking rookie, what's your house?"

Sachs couldn't speak for a moment, she was so shocked by the man's fury. "Technically I'm working Major Cases —"

"What the hell does 'technically' mean? Who're you working for?"

"I'm lead detective on this case. I'm supervised by Lon Sellitto. In MC. I —"

"You haven't been a detective —"

"I —"

"Don't you ever interrupt a superior officer. Ever. You understand me?"

Sachs bristled. She said nothing.

"Do you understand me?" he shouted.

"Perfectly."

"You haven't been a detective very long, have you?"

"No."

"I know that, because a real detective would've followed protocol. She would've come to the dep inspector and introduced herself and asked if it was all right to review a file. What you did... Were you about to interrupt me again?"

She had been. She said, "No."

"What you did was a personal insult to me." A fleck of spittle arced between them like a mortar round.

He paused. Would it be an interruption to talk now? She didn't care. "I had no intention of insulting you. I'm just running an investigation. I needed a file that's turned up missing."

"'Turned up missing.' What kind of thing is that to say? Either it's turned up or it's missing. If you're as sloppy with your investigating as you are with your language, I'm wondering if you didn't lose the file yourself and're trying to cover your ass by blaming us."

"The file was checked out of the One Three One and routed here."

"By who?" he snapped.

"That's the problem. That part of the log was blank."

"Were there any other files checked out that came here?" He sat on the edge of his desk and stared down at her.

Sachs frowned.

He continued. "Any files from
anywhere
else?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Do you know what I do here?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What's my job at the One Five Eight?"

"Well, you're in charge of the precinct, I assume."

"You assume," he mocked. "I've known officers dead in the streets because they
assumed.
Shot down dead."

This was getting tedious. Sachs's eyes went cold and locked onto his. She had no trouble maintaining the gaze.

Jefferies hardly noticed. He snapped, "In addition to running the precinct — your brilliant deduction — I'm in charge of the manpower allocation committee for the entire department. I review thousands of files a year, I see what the trends are, determine what shifts we need to make in personnel to cover work load. I work hand in glove with the city and state to make sure we get what we need. You probably think that's a waste of time, don't you?"

"I don't —"

"Well, it's not, young lady. Those files are reviewed by me and they're returned... Now, what's this particular report you're so goddamn interested in?"

Suddenly she didn't want him to know. This whole scene was off. Logically, if he had something to hide, it was unlikely that he'd behave like such a prick. But, on the other hand, he might be acting this way to divert suspicion. She thought back. She'd given the clerk only the file number, not the name Sarkowski. Most likely the scatterbrain wouldn't remember the lengthy digit.

Sachs said calmly, "I'd prefer not to say."