The Skin Collector (Lincoln Rhyme 11)

After two or three minutes Pulaski disconnected and jotted notes.

'And?' Rhyme asked.

Pulaski said, 'They transferred Logan's body to the Berkowitz Funeral Home.'

'Where?' Rhyme asked. It sounded familiar.

'Not far from here. Upper Broadway.'

'A memorial service?'

'No, just somebody's coming to pick up his ashes on Thursday.'

Without looking up from the large computer monitor, Rhyme muttered, 'Nothing from the FBI on sources for the poisons and not a goddamn thing about "the second". Though I suppose we can't be too optimistic about that. Who?'

Neither Pulaski nor Cooper responded. Sachs too was silent.

'Well?' Rhyme called.

'Well what?' From Cooper.

'I'm asking Pulaski. Who'll be where? To pick up Logan's ashes? Did you ask the funeral director who'd be there?'

'No.'

'Well, why not?'

'Because,' the patrol officer replied, 'it'd seem suspicious, don't you think, Lincoln? What if it's the Watchmaker's silent partner coming to pay his last respects and the director casually mentions that somebody was curious who's going to be there - which isn't really a question you'd ask--'

'All right. Made your point.'

'A good point,' Cooper said.

A fair point.

Then Rhyme was thinking again about the message of the tattoo on Chloe Moore's body. He doubted that 'the second' was part of a findable quotation at all. Maybe it was something that the unsub had spontaneously chosen and couldn't be tracked down. And maybe there was no meaning at all behind it.

A distraction, a misdirection.

Smoke and mirrors ...

But if you do mean something, what could it be? Why are you playing your thoughts out like fishing line?

'I don't know,' Cooper said.

Apparently Rhyme had spoken the query to the cryptic perp aloud.

'Damn message,' he muttered.

Everyone in the room looked at it once more.

'... the second, the second ...'

'Anagram?' the tech suggested.

Rhyme scanned the letters. Nothing significant appeared by rearranging them. 'Anyway, I have a feeling the message is mysterious enough. He doesn't need to play Scrabble with us. So, rookie, you'll be going undercover to the funeral home. You okay with that?'

'Sure.'