Play dead

EIGHTY-SIX

4:55 AM

Jessica parked on Market street. The facade of the Thirtieth Street train station loomed in the near distance, its lights reflected on the calm surface of the Schuylkill River.

She replayed the last video over and over in her mind. The Bridal Chamber. She thought of the way the girl looked in that antique dress, how frightened she had been. She thought of the blood. She had called the hospital on the way across town. The girl was being prepped for surgery.

Jessica was just about to get out of her car and enter the building when her phone rang. It was Byrne.

"What's up?" Jessica asked.

"We have him."

"We have him? What are you talking about? Where?"

"We got a call from the AV Unit two minutes ago. Three street cams saw someone dragging a big box across Nineteenth Street."

"Where on Nineteenth?"

"Right at Logan Circle."

Jessica realized the significance. "It's his square in the tangram puzzle," she said.

"It's his square."

When William Penn planned the development of Philadelphia in the 1600s, he designed five squares-one central square, with four others equidistant from the center. Today those squares are City Hall, Franklin Square, Rittenhouse Square, and Washington Square. The fifth square, located at the midway point between City Hall and the art museum, was originally called Northwest Square. Once a burial site and scene of public executions, the square was renamed Logan Circle in honor of William Penn's secretary James Logan. Logan Circle, Logan Square-it went by both names.

More important, at the moment, was the fountain at the center. Designed by Alexander Calder, it had a name of particular interest to the police right now.

Swann Memorial Fountain.

This is going to be spectacular. It will light up the night.

"Is he still there?" Jessica asked.

"Cams are locked on him. He's sitting at the edge of the fountain. Box is next to him. SWAT is getting into position right now."

Special Weapons and Tactics, headquartered in East Division, generally needed a twenty-four-hour notice for an entry. Getting them to mount an operation on the fly was rare, but it spoke to the urgency of the situation.

"You said there's a box?"

"Big box," Byrne said. "Right next to him."

"Bomb squad on scene?"

"Deploying now."

"Where are we setting up?"

"Nineteenth and Cherry."

Jessica looked at her watch. She hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'm on my way."

Byrne knew the tone. He knew her. "Jess. Are you-"

"I'll meet you there."

Before Byrne could say anything more, she folded her phone, and got out of the car.