Chapter 81

CHAPTER 81

ON STATEN ISLAND , Marple watched the rear guard of the search team walk out of the brush and back into the staging area as bright streaks of sunlight broke through the trees at the edge of the compound. Stopping in pairs and small clusters, the officers shed their vests and slung their rifles casually over their shoulders.

The equipment had been hauled out and laid on a canvas tarp behind one of the SWAT vehicles. Paper scraps and loose parts had been placed in clear evidence bags. One by one, the bags were being logged and loaded into cartons in the back of a black NYPD van.

Marple saw Duff emerge from between two camo-patterned trucks. He paused mid-step and looked over. “I guess you’ll need a lift back to the city,” he said.

“Unless you’d prefer that I hitchhike,” Marple replied.

Duff pointed at a patrol car idling near the van. Marple saw the rookie from earlier behind the wheel, talking on her radio. “That car right there,” said Duff. “Officer Amy Polacco will take you.” Duff rapped his knuckles on the hood. Polacco looked up. Duff pointed at Marple, then toward the exit road. Polacco got the message. She nodded and lifted a bag off the passenger seat to make room.

Marple walked over. As she passed the evidence van, an officer started to put yet another bag inside. “Wait. Stop,” said Marple, grabbing the officer’s arm. As the bag hung suspended from his glove, Marple leaned forward and lifted the clear plastic toward her face. Inside was a coil of narrow-gauge connector cable with gold-plated jacks at both ends.

What had caught Marple’s eye was a strip about one inch from the end of the cable, where the manufacturing specs were often inscribed. It was an adhesive label. Same bright leaf green as the baby ankle bands. She looked closer. There was lettering on the label, small and faded, barely legible.

Novartis…? NovaTech…?

NovaGen!

Marple yanked out her phone and googled “NovaGen” and “New Jersey.” She whirled around and spotted Duff standing in a cluster of detectives. “Captain!” she shouted. “I know where to look! I know where they took the kids!”

Duff broke from the group. Marple ran over to meet him, pointing at the Google map on her screen. “The baby-band company,” she said. “They have a warehouse in Elizabeth. I think that’s where the truck was headed.”

For a second, Duff just looked at her. Then she saw a tiny shift in his expression to something vaguely resembling trust. He turned and started shouting orders. Marple texted Poe and Holmes the address. MEET ME HERE.

As she slid into the front seat of the patrol car next to Officer Polacco, Marple’s heart was pounding. She realized that her attitude toward speed had evolved quickly over just the past few minutes. She fastened her shoulder harness and looked over.

“I know where the other babies are,” she said. “How fast can this car go?”

In seconds, Polacco had the Ford Interceptor in gear, pulling away, lights flashing. “Let’s find out,” she said.