The Cold Moon (Lincoln Rhyme 7)

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?"