March 13, 3.51 p.m.
Harper and the team left Crime Scene at Lucy Steller’s apartment. Harper called Blue Team together.
‘The coffee cup on Lucy Steller’s floor was still warm, which means that the killer was only a few minutes ahead of us,’ said Harper. ‘He’s coming out of the shadows. We should have protected this woman. She’s in real danger now.’
‘We didn’t see it coming. It’s a form of escalation,’ said Denise. ‘He’s trying to cover his tracks and he’s likely to try something more dramatic, something that gives him a bigger thrill than the kills.’
‘It’s hard to think what,’ said Greco.
‘We need to get going. We’ve got the vigil at Union Square to help with. The killer risked himself with Lucy, just like with the children. That means Lucy holds a clue to his identity, right?’ The cops nodded. ‘I’m going to leave Denise and Ratten here to go through everything from Lucy’s apartment. My guess, based on the stolen diaries and hard drive, is that she either knew who he was or met him in the last two years. So we need to know when it was, who he was and how they met.’
Denise nodded.
Harper then pulled up the map of Union Square. Eddie looked at it. ‘How the hell are they going to police that place?’
‘It’s going to be hard, that’s all we know,’ said Harper. ‘But it’s going to be peaceful. We’re there with Hate Crime Unit, just to keep an eye out. We don’t know that he’ll try anything, but he may enjoy turning up, so we’re videoing every entrance and exit. We’ve got face recognition software, and Heming’s face plus every face that Hate Crime has on record is now in the database.’
‘How does it work?’ asked Garcia.
‘Mathematics,’ replied Ratten. ‘Although you’re pretty, your face can be reduced to a number of measurements and ratios. The software calculates those measurements for every face it sees and if it matches anything in the databank, it’ll flag up.’
‘So if Heming or any known neo-Nazi turns up, they’ll be flagged and arrested.’
The team were just taking in the information when Captain Lafayette flew through the door. He was red-faced and full of excitement. ‘Listen up, the press have just had another communication from the 88 Killer. A new email.’ He held up a piece of paper. ‘He emailed all the newspapers again. The boys downstairs have traced it, it’s no fake. This comes from the same account.’
‘So, what the hell does he say this time?’
Lafayette eyed the room. ‘You’re not going to like this, not one bit.’ He drew the email in front of his eyes. ‘Police Press Notice: March 14, Union Square Park. During the night-time vigil in Union Square Park to remember those killed in the recent spate of attacks on the Jewish community, NYPD detectives discovered the dead bodies of five Jewish citizens. As the vigil went on, the suspect known as the 88 Killer executed five people. Senior police officials are at a loss to explain how the killer managed to fool the NYPD and kill in such a high-security operation. In the words of one bystander: “The government and the police stood by watching, while someone walked in and killed five innocent people.” ’
‘How seriously are we going to take this?’ said Lafayette. ‘Every news station in America is going to be down in Union Square after they receive this. He’s just set his stage.’
‘Can he do it?’ said Denise. ‘I mean, is it possible?’
‘Can we evacuate?’ asked Harper.
‘It’s too late and the Mayor thinks it will be a PR disaster to pull the plug on this.’
‘Then what?’
‘We’ll have police on every square inch of the place,’ said Lafayette.
‘And what if it’s a bomb?’ said Kasper. ‘Then what do we do?’
The team looked at each other. ‘Then we’ve got to hope that the sniffer dogs will find it. We’re going to have to scramble everyone – Counter-Terrorism, the army, the Feds – on this. This is going to be big.’
Harper took the piece of paper. He read the email and passed it to Denise. ‘It’s a challenge,’ he said. ‘I don’t like it. He’s already three steps ahead.’
Lafayette looked at Harper. ‘Can he do it?’
‘Anything can be done,’ said Harper.
‘Not with the whole of the NYPD on his case.’
Harper shook his head. ‘You’ve just had a message from a killer saying he’s going to make fools of the whole government as we all pay our respects to the dead. You think we can police this? There’s going to be thousands and thousands of people out there and we’ve got to find one determined and clever individual. He can do anything. We don’t have a chance. Captain, you need to speak to the Commissioner and tell him that if he’s not going to stop it, then he needs to prepare for the worst.’