61

It was all in Trevor Bridgwood’s book. And the knowledge was horrifying.

“The Red Shoes” was a fable about a girl named Karen, a dancer who has her feet amputated.

“The Nightingale” was about a bird that captivated an emperor with its song.

“Thumbelina” was about a tiny woman who lived on a lily pad.

Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano, along with four other detectives, stood speechless in the suddenly quiet duty room, looking at pen and ink illustrations from a children’s book, the realization of what they were facing a raging stream beneath their thoughts. The anger in the air was palpable. The feeling of frustration was worse.

Someone was killing the citizens of Philadelphia in a series of murders based on the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. The killer had struck three times that they knew of, and now there was a good chance that he had Sa’mantha Fanning. Which fable would she be? Where was he going to place her on the river? Would they be able to find her in time?

All these questions paled in the light of one other gruesome fact contained between the covers of the book they had borrowed from Trevor Bridgwood.

Hans Christian Andersen wrote nearly two hundred stories.