The Twelfth Card (Lincoln Rhyme 6)

"Which mystery would that be?" Rhyme said this gruffly. His moods, forever fragile, tended to sour toward the end of a case, when boredom loomed.

" 'Winskinskie.' "

The Indian word on the ring Sachs had found around the finger bone beneath the ruins of Potters' Field tavern.

"And?"

"This's from a professor at the University of Maryland. Aside from the literal translation in the Delaware language, 'Winskinskie' was a title in the Tammany Society."

"Title?"

"Sort of like a sergeant at arms. Boss Tweed was the Grand Sachem, the big chief. Our boy"--a nod toward the bones and skull Sachs had found in the cistern--"was the Winskinskie, the doorkeeper."

"Tammany Hall . . . " Rhyme nodded as he considered this, letting his mind wander back in time, past this case, into the smoky sepia world of nineteenth-century New York. "And Tweed hung out in Potters' Field. So he and the Tammany Hall machine were probably behind setting Charles up."

He ordered Cooper to add the recent findings to the chart. He then spent some moments looking over the information. He nodded. "Fascinating."

Sellitto shrugged. "The case is over with, Linc. The hitmen, excuse me, hit people've been collared. The terrorist is dead. Why's something that happened a hundred years ago so fascinating?"

"Nearly a hundred and forty years, Lon. Let's be accurate." He was frowning as he stared intently at the evidence chart, the maps--and the placid face of the Hanged Man. "And the answer to your question is: You know how much I hate loose ends."

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"Yeah, but what's loose?"

"What's the one thing we've forgotten all about in the heat of battle, if we may tread through a minefield of cliches again, Lon?"

"I give," Sellitto grunted.

"Charles Singleton's secret. Even if it doesn't have anything to do with constitutional law or terrorists, I, at least, am dying to know what it was. I think we should find out."

VAN BOMBING SCENE

* Van registered to Bani al-Dahab (see profile).

* Delivered food to Middle Eastern restaurants and carts.

* Letter taking responsibility for jewelry exchange bombing recovered. Paper matches earlier documents.

* Components of explosive device recovered: residue of Tovex, wires, battery, radio receiver detonator, portions of container, UPS box.

THOMPSON BOYD'S RESIDENCE AND PRIMARY SAFE HOUSE

* More falafel and yogurt, orange paint trace, as before.

* Cash (fee for job?) $100,000 in new bills. Untraceable. Probably withdrawn in small amounts over time.

* Weapons (guns, billy club, rope) traced to prior crime scenes.

* Acid and cyanide traced to prior crime scenes, no links to manufacturers.

* No cell phone found. Other telephone records not helpful.

* Tools traced to prior crime scenes.

* Letter revealing that G. Settle was targeted because she was a witness to jewelry heist in the planning. More pure carbon--identified as diamond dust trace.

* Sent to Parker Kincaid in Washington, D.C., for document examination.