They closed the distance fast, Bell calling on his handy-talkie for backup and medics. Several other people who were on the east side of the pedestrian bridge were gathering, alarmed at what was going on.
"Help me! I can't pull her up alone!" the rescuer called to Bell and Sachs. His voice was a gasp, out of breath from the effort. "This man, he tied her up and pushed her into the water. He tried to kill her!"
Sachs drew her weapon and trained it on the man.
"Hey, what're you doing?" he asked in shock. "I'm trying to save her!" He glanced down at a cell phone on his belt. "I'm the one called nine-one-one."
She still couldn't see his left hand; it was enclosed by his right.
"Keep your hands on that rope, sir," she said. "Keep 'em where I can see them."
"I didn't do anything!" He was wheezing--an odd sound. Maybe it wasn't exertion but asthma.
Staying clear of her line of fire, Bell grabbed the crane and swung it toward the muddy shore. When the woman was in arm's reach he tugged her toward him, as the man holding the rope let out slack until she was lying on the ground. She lay on the grass, limp and cyanotic. The detective pulled the tape off her mouth, unhooked the chains and began to give her CPR.
Sachs called to the dozen people gathered nearby, drawn by the commotion, "Is anybody a doctor?"
No one answered. She glanced back at the victim and saw her stirring. . . . Then she began choking and spitting out water. Yes! They'd gotten to her in time. In a minute she'd be able to confirm the man's identity. Then she looked past the scene and noticed a wad of shiny navy-blue cloth. She caught sight of a zipper and sleeve. It could be the jogging jacket he'd quick-changed out of.
The man's eyes followed hers and he saw it too.
Was there a reaction, a faint wince? She thought so but couldn't tell for sure.
"Sir," she called firmly, "until we get things sorted out here, I'm going to put some cuffs on you. I want your hands--"
Suddenly a man's panicked voice shouted, "Yo, lady, look out! That guy in the jogging suit--to yo right! He got a gun!"
People screamed and dropped to the ground and Sachs crouched, spinning to her right, squinting for a target. "Roland, look out!"
Bell too dropped to the ground, beside the woman, and looked in the same direction as Sachs, his Sig in his hand.
But Sachs saw nobody in a jogging suit.
Oh, no, she thought. No! Furious with herself, she understood what had happened--he'd mimicked the voice himself. Ventriloquism.
She turned back fast to see a brilliant fireball explode from the rescuer's hand. It hovered in the air, blinding her.
"Amelia!" Bell called. "I can't see anything! Where is he?"
"I don't--"
A fast series of gunshots sounded from where the Conjurer had been standing. The onlookers fled in panic as Sachs aimed at the sound of the shooting. Bell did too. They both squinted for targets but the killer was gone by the time her vision returned; she found herself aiming at a cloud of faint smoke--from more of the explosive squibs.
Then, to the east, she saw the Conjurer on the other side of the parkway. He started up the middle of the street but saw an RMP speeding his way, its lights and sirens frantic, and he leaped up the wide stairway that led to the college and vanished into the crafts fair, like a copperhead disappearing into tall grass.
Chapter Seventeen They were everywhere. . . .
Dozens of police.
All searching for him.
Gasping from the sprint, his lungs stinging, the muscles in his side on fire, Malerick leaned against the cool limestone of one of the college's classroom buildings.
In front of him a fair spread out over the large plaza, which was jammed with people. He looked behind him, west, the direction he'd come from. Already the police had cut off that entrance. On the north and south sides of the square were tall concrete buildings. The windows were sealed and there were no doors. His only exit was east, on the other side of a football-field-size expanse of booths and dense crowds.
He made his way in that direction. But he didn't dare run.
Because illusionists know that fast attracts attention.