She clambered fast down the stairs. Then stopped. A brief sigh. Like most of them in the city, the fire escape didn't go all the way to the ground and she had to drop four or so feet to the cobblestoned alley, wincing in pain as she landed.
But she stayed upright and turned toward the darker part of the alley.
She got ten feet before the shadow reemerged--behind her.
She froze.
The young crime scene officer, Marko, was squinting her way. His weapon was in his hand.
He lifted it toward Sachs, shaking his crew-cut head. On his face was a faint but definite smile--though a cold one. Of victory. Probably the expression on the face of sniper just before he takes his shot to kill an enemy general.
8
Surprisingly silently for such a stocky man, Marko moved closer and pointed to his lips, shaking his head, meaning that she keep still.
Sachs didn't move a muscle.
Then he pointed behind her. And suddenly he shouted, "You! Under the blankets. There're two police officers here. We're armed. Let me see your hands."
Sachs looked to her left. She noted a homeless nest--blankets, piles of clothing, food cartons, grocery cart, empties, books and magazines. At first she didn't see anyone. But then she spotted a human form huddling in a gamy bedspread. A woman. She glanced at Marko, who nodded, and she, too, trained her weapon on the person, though she didn't have any idea what was going on.
"Let me see your hands!" he shouted.
And slowly the middle-aged figure rose, a look of fury and hatred on her face. Sachs moved forward and cuffed the suspect, who raged, "You don't understand. You don't have any idea what he did to me. He ruined my life!"
"Yes, ma'am," Marko said and glanced at Sachs, who read the woman her rights. Then eased her to a sitting position as she continued her rant, while the two officers searched the nest.
"How'd you make her?" Sachs asked. "The profile Rhyme had for the perp was middle-class, lived in a nice place on the Upper West Side."
Marko nodded. "Homeless lady clothes, but not homeless lady shoes."
Sachs looked. True, a torn and dirty dress. But nice Joan and David's on her feet. Also, her face was clean and she wore makeup.
"Good catch."
"Thank you, ma'am."
" 'Amelia' is fine."
"Sure."
They collected the woman's purse--and a few other items. Notably, a pistol, with which she presumably would have shot Sachs in the back if Marko hadn't gotten to the scene as quickly as he had.
Good catch...
They also found a well-thumbed book, sprouting Post-it notes.
A Comprehensive Guide to Evidence Collection and Analysis.
Lincoln Rhyme's textbook.
# # #
The perp was James Ferguson's ex-wife.
In this case, Lincoln Rhyme allowed, this one case, motive was a pretty good clue and led them to the suspect: revenge.
Ferguson, along with Sachs, Sellitto and Marko, sat in Rhyme's townhouse, filling in the details of what Rhyme had deduced an hour ago. He explained that he'd gotten divorced from his wife, Linda, about a year ago. She'd grown increasingly abusive and unstable, paranoid. She'd known his career was important to him before they got married but she'd still resented the long hours and his obsession with his TV production projects. She was also sure he was having affairs with his assistants.