Thirteen

Mr. Scrib’s attacker was too clever to run up or down Hudson, a heavily trafficked and well-lit avenue. Instead, the stranger bolted across the wide intersection and down Leroy, a narrow cobblestone street, leading away from the Village and toward the river.

I could see the figure was wearing a shapeless dark puffer coat with the hood up. What color? Black? Navy? Dark green? I couldn’t tell—and I was so distracted trying to nail some ID details that I nearly ended up under the wheels of a city sanitation truck.

The driver blew his horn. “Look out, lady! You crazy?!”

I kept going.

Moving out of the treacherous intersection, I dodged mounds of plowed snow and hit Leroy. Unfortunately for me, construction on this block left scaffolding running up and down the narrowed sidewalks.

Scrib’s attacker was moving so fast, and the shadows under the endless construction overhang were so deep that I could barely make out more than a silhouette.

Finally, the scaffolding ended, and I could see the figure was still running. Commercial buildings, their windows dark at this late hour, rose on either side of us. Then the solitude of the street was broken by a raucous crowd up ahead.

The laughing, chattering group of college-aged men and women surrounded an unmarked doorway of a newly opened nightclub. The figure I’d been chasing appeared to be heading straight for the mob in front of that club. Fully focused on my target, I followed.

As Scrib’s attacker rushed into the cross street, darting in front of a passing car, I could tell the figure was wearing jeans and the color of that bulky coat was black, but the hood was still pulled up, so I still couldn’t see a face, hair color, or much else!

As I hurried into the street, my only concern was losing this person in the crowd. If Scrib’s attacker peeled off that coat, I would have no way to identify them!

I’d nearly made it to the sidewalk when three things happened in quick succession—

A familiar male voice shouted: “CLARE, WATCH OUT!”

I spied a flash out of the corner of my eye. And when I turned to see what it was, an electric scooter slammed right into me.

The blow to my body was an unhappy shock. The next thing I knew, I was airborne.