Page 75 of Two Kinds of Stranger

This home is protected by Ajax Home Security.

This home is protected by Ring Alarm.

In the marketing trade, it’s free advertising. Someone sees a nice house and the type of alarm system they use. Maybe they can’t afford a house like this, but they can afford the same quality of home security. This works. It sells products.

In reality, from a security perspective, it’s a terrible idea, because it tells every potential intruder exactly whattypeof system is being used. No system is perfect, but knowing the mechanics of an operation of a particular security system is a huge advantage. May as well leave an instruction manual on the porch on how to disable or bypass the security system. It was always an argument in the boardroom of home-security companies: the security professionals wanted their products to have a generic decal–This home is protected by a security system–which has the same deterrent effect for potential burglars, but it doesn’t help sellyourproducts.

Logan’s branded decals won in the boardroom. To hell with security.

‘So you’re just going to break into their house and steal the girl from her bed?’ asked Cross.

‘Yes,’ said Logan.

‘And what happens if the girl screams and wakes up her parents?’

‘Well, then I’ll just have to kill them all, won’t I?’

PART FOUR

26

Eddie

It was a busy morning.

Tricky Dicky had come through, as good as his word, and the release papers were en route to Rosie’s for processing. Kate and Bloch were on their way to meet Elly coming off the prisoner transport from Rikers.

Lake was out pounding the sidewalks, looking for our missing homeless veteran, Joe Novak, the only living witness who had seen Elly and the man with a scar on his chin and his leg in a cast, the man who called himself Logan.

Denise was typing up legal briefs for Kate. Harry and Clarence were in his office, and as usual Harry was glued to his phone watching TikTok.

Bloch had told me we would get some analysis results this morning. First, DNA results–we needed to know whose body fluids those were we’d found on the floor. I guessed it was vomit, from the pattern and the odor, but we needed to be sure. Then a more detailed analysis: whatever unusual chemical or compounds that were in the staining on the floor of Elly’s apartment would be picked up by the lab tech. With any luck, the poison used would be exotic–something we could use to help track down the man with the yellow suitcase and the cast on his leg.

Until then, there wasn’t much I could do but worry.

‘Eddie,’ cried Denise, ‘email hitting your inbox right now. It’s Elly’s medical records from the hospital.’

‘Just print them for me,’ I said.

The printer beside Denise’s desk hummed into life and began spitting out warm pages. I heard Harry coming out of his office, and the little bell on Clarence’s collar jangled. The dog followed Harry into every corner of the office.

I grabbed some pages from the printer, read them and, when I’d done so, held them out for Harry while I grabbed more records hot off the printer. He stood beside me. The only sound was the crinkle of paper in our hands and the buzz and mechanical whirr from the printer.

As if on cue, the printer stopped. I took the last page.

Read it.

Gave it to Harry.

‘Where’s the rest of it?’ I asked.

‘That’s it,’ said Denise.

‘There’s nothing in Elly’s toxicology report,’ I said.

‘I wasn’t expecting anything,’ said Harry. ‘Unless they test for a specific type of toxin, most won’t show up on a standard blood screening. Still, we’ve got something to start with here.’

‘What? What have we got?’ I asked.