“Emotionally disturbed?” Rhyme nodded. “And his company’s in the warehousing business. Just the line of work for a hoarder… Okay, Pulaski, find out where this Carpenter was when Amelia’s town house got broken into.”

“Yes, sir.” Pulaski was lifting his phone from its holster when the unit trilled. He glanced at caller ID. He answered. “Hi, hon-What?…Hey, Jenny, calm down…”

Oh, no…Lincoln Rhyme knew that 522 had attacked on yet another front.

“What? Where are you?…Take it easy, it’s just a mistake.” The rookie’s voice was shaking. “It’ll all get taken care of… Give me the address… Okay, I’ll be right there.”

He snapped shut the phone, closed his eyes momentarily. “I have to go.”

“What’s wrong?” Rhyme asked.

“Jenny’s been arrested. By the INS.”

“Immigration?”

“She got put on a watch list at Homeland Security. They’re saying she’s illegal and a security threat.”

“Isn’t she-?”

“Our great-grandparents were citizens,” Pulaski snapped. “Jesus.” The young officer was wild-eyed. “Brad’s at Jenny’s mom’s but she has the baby with her now. They’re transporting her to detention-and they may take the baby. If they do that…Oh, man.” Pure despair filled his face. “I have to go.” His eyes told Rhyme that nothing would stop him being with his wife.

“Okay. Go. Good luck.”

The young man sprinted out the door.

Rhyme closed his eyes briefly. “He’s picking us off like a sniper.” He grimaced. “At least Sachs’ll be here any minute. She can check out Carpenter.”

Just then another pounding shook the door.

Alarmed, his eyes jerked open. What now?

But this, at least, wasn’t another disruption by 522.

Two crime-scene officers from the main facility in Queens walked inside, carrying a large milk crate, which Sachs had handed off to them before she’d raced to her town house. This would be the evidence from the scene of Malloy’s death.

“Hi, Detective. You know your doorbell’s not working.” One looked around. “And your lights’re off.”

“We’re pretty aware of that,” Rhyme said coolly.

“Anyway, here you go.”

After the officers had left, Mel Cooper put the box on an examination table and extracted the evidence and Sachs’s digital camera, which would contain images of the scene.

“Now, that’s helpful,” Rhyme growled sarcastically, pointing his chin at the silent computer and its black screen. “Maybe we can hold the memory chip up to the sunlight.”

He glanced at the evidence itself-a shoeprint, some leaves, duct tape and envelopes of trace. They had to examine it as soon as possible; since this wasn’t planted evidence it might provide the final clue as to where 522 was. But without their equipment to analyze it and check the databases, the bags were nothing more than paperweights.

“Thom,” Rhyme called, “the power?”

“I’m still on hold,” the aide shouted from the dark hallway.

He knew this was probably a bad idea. But he was out of control.

And it took a lot for Ron Pulaski to be out of control.

Yet he was furious. This was beyond anything he’d ever felt. When he’d signed up for the blue he’d expected to be beat up and threatened from time to time. But he’d never thought that his career would put Jenny at risk, much less his children.

So despite being straitlaced and by the book-Sergeant Friday-he was taking the matter into his own hands. Going behind the backs of Lincoln Rhyme and Detective Sellitto and even his mentor, Amelia Sachs. They wouldn’t be happy at what he was going to do but Ron Pulaski was desperate.

And so on the way to the INS detention center in Queens, he’d made a call to Mark Whitcomb.

“Hey, Ron,” the man had said, “what’s going on?…You sound upset. You’re out of breath.”

“I’ve got a problem, Mark. Please. I need some help. My wife’s being accused of being an illegal alien. They say her passport’s forged and she’s a security threat. It’s crazy.”

“But she’s a citizen, isn’t she?”

“Her family’s been here for generations. Mark, we think this killer we’ve been after got into your system. He’s had one detective fail a drug test…and now he’s had Jenny arrested. He could do that?”

“He must’ve swapped her file with somebody who’s on a watch list and then called it in… Look, I know some people at INS. I can talk to them. Where are you?”

“On my way to the detention center in Queens.”

“I’ll meet you outside in twenty minutes.”

“Oh, thanks, man. I don’t know what to do.”

“Don’t worry, Ron. We’ll get it worked out.”

Now, waiting for Whitcomb, Ron Pulaski was pacing in front of INS detention, beside a temporary sign indicating that the service was now operated by the Department of Homeland Security. Pulaski thought back to all the TV news reports he and Jenny had seen about illegal immigrants, how terrified they’d looked.

What was happening to his wife at the moment? Would she be stuck for days or weeks in some kind of bureaucratic purgatory? Pulaski wanted to scream.

Calm down. Handle it smart. Amelia Sachs always told him that.

Handle it smart.

Finally, thank you, Lord, Pulaski saw Mark Whitcomb walking quickly toward him, the expression one of urgent concern. He wasn’t sure exactly what the man could do to help but he hoped that the Compliance Department, with its connections to the government, could pull strings with Homeland Security and get his wife and child released, at least until the matter was officially resolved.

Whitcomb, breathless, came up to him. “Have you found out anything else?”

“I called about ten minutes ago. They’re inside now. I didn’t say anything. I wanted to wait for you.”

“You okay?”

“No. I’m pretty frantic here, Mark. Thanks for this.”

“Sure,” the Compliance officer said earnestly. “It’ll be okay, Ron. Don’t worry. I think I can do something.” Then he looked up into Pulaski’s eyes; the SSD Compliance officer was just slightly taller than Andrew Sterling. “Only…it’s pretty important for you to get Jenny out of there, right?”

“Oh, yeah, Mark. This’s just a nightmare.”

“Okay. Come this way.” He led Pulaski around the corner of the building, then into an alley. “I’ve got a favor to ask, Ron,” Whitcomb whispered.

“Whatever I can do.”

“Really?” The man’s voice was uncharacteristically soft, calm. And his eyes had a sharpness that Pulaski hadn’t seen before. As if he’d dropped an act and was now being himself. “You know, sometimes, Ron, we have to do things that we don’t think are right. But in the end it’s for the best.”

“What do you mean?”

“To help your wife out you might have to do something you might think isn’t so good.”

The officer said nothing, his thoughts whirling. Where was this going?

“Ron, I need you to make this case go away.”

“Case?”

“The murder investigation.”

“Go away? I don’t get it.”

“Stop the case.” Whitcomb looked around and whispered, “Sabotage it. Destroy the evidence. Give them some false leads. Point them anywhere but at SSD.”

“I don’t understand, Mark. Are you joking?”

“No, Ron. I’m real serious. This case’s got to stop and you can do it.”

“I can’t.”

“Oh, yes, you can. If you want Jenny out of there.” A nod toward the detention center.

No, no…this was 522. Whitcomb was the killer! He’d used the passcodes of his boss, Sam Brockton, to get access to innerCircle.

Instinctively Pulaski started for his gun.

But Whitcomb drew first, a black pistol appearing in his hand. “No, Ron. That’s not going to get us anywhere.” Whitcomb reached into the holster and pulled Pulaski’s Glock out by the grip, slipped it into his waistband.

How could he have misjudged this so badly? Was it the head injury? Or was he just stupid? Whitcomb’s friendship had been feigned, which hurt as much as it shocked. Bringing him the coffee, defending him to Cassel and Gillespie, suggesting they get together socially, helping with the time sheets…it was all a tactic to get close to the cop and use him.