Page 54 of The Midnight Lock (Lincoln Rhyme 14)

“I’ll lay out what I’ve found. His wife, the detective, she’s working this crazy case, the Locksmith.”

“He’s married?”

“That’s right.”

“Is he not …?” Buryak hesitated. Not trying to be politically correct. He just couldn’t recall the man’s condition.

“Quadriplegic,” Douglass said. “Tetraplegic, they say in Europe. But that doesn’t mean he can’t be married.”

“No. Of course not.”

Married. An interesting fact, ahelpfulfact. Maybe.

“And this Locksmith case?”

“That’s what he calls himself, or the media calls him that. He breaks into women’s apartments and rearranges shit in their house and then leaves. He can get through any lock in the city in like thirty seconds.”

“Pervert.”

“I guess, but no rape, no assault. He doesn’t kill anybody.”

“So. Robbery?”

“No. He fucks with their minds.”

Going to all that effort and risk … and not making money? Insane.

“Why?”

“No idea.” Douglass shrugged. “I spent the morning following her—Amelia. Oh, here’s her picture, by the way. I took it at the scene.”

“Attractive.”

Douglass shrugged. He had never mentioned women, or men, in his life. Maybe sex didn’t interest him. He was one of the few men over whom Buryak did not have the leverage of a vulnerable family.

But Douglass had another secret that kept him in line.

“Her name’s Amelia, like I said. Detective. Works crime scenes, mostly. So I followed her to see if she was running something to do with us, with you.”

“Did she make you?”

“No, she might’ve seen the Caddie, so I swapped out for my SUV.”

“Then the big question I must ask: Is Rhyme—and her, too, I

guess—looking into me?”

“I think so. Here’s what I found. Amelia went back to his town house, where he works. He’s got a lab—”

“Yes, yes, I know it well,” Buryak said darkly. “The three hundred block of Central Park West.”

Douglass cocked his head. Then, when Buryak said nothing more, continued, “Only there was something odd. There was a cruiser parked up the block.”

“A Land Cruiser? What is that, Toyota?”

“No, I mean, a police cruiser. Two guys inside, was all I could see. After a while, this guy leaves Rhyme’s apartment and Amelia comes out and waves the guys in. They grab some crates from the trunk.”

“Crates?”

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