rear-end sticking out of a lower cupboard. He asked, with a volume loud enough to carry over the banging pans, “Did you find anything, Pete?”
“Just some cockroaches.”
“I think I’ve found what I needed. Pop some tape on the door and seal this place off until CSA can get over here. The hard drive on the computer has been wiped clean, and I don’t think Hallman did it himself.”
“You got it.” Alvarez stood and walked out the front door to get his yellow crime scene tape.
Taking the papers from his coat pocket, he scanned through them to see if there were any directions to other possible hiding places in the apartment. There were several photocopies of old letters and a few computer printouts. Hallman had scrawled notes onto most of the pages. The notes were sometimes in pencil, sometimes in blue ink, and sometimes in black ink. Once or twice, Hallman had taken a yellow highlighter to the notes.
A plain white page topped the stack. It began by contradicting John’s most confident assumption of the whole day:
I reformatted my hard drive to lessen the chance that the people who helped us find this information will be put at risk.
Please see that Detective Fullman gets these: Information on the Brethren.
--
T.J. Hallman
Just as in Dunglison’s letter, there was yet another reference to Detective Fullman.
Since the homicide division bumped into other police units all over the city, John should have met another detective—even one from another division. He strained his memory trying to recall Fullman, and generated a picture of a fat detective with a handlebar mustache. Unfortunately, that guy’s name was Feely, not Fullman; he recalled that name association by envisioning that the mustache twirled out into feelers. He gave up on trying to recall Fullman’s face and returned to the papers.
A sticky note, lower on the same page, read, “Contains letters donated by Alice Mortimer and other supporting documents, arranged in the order I found them: Why I believe the door and Le Coeur Codex in Phila, PA.”
He flipped past the first page and found what looked like a long letter written in a fancy script. Hallman had jotted some notes on a sticky note attached to the page. The fancy and faded script looked like it would be hard to read, so John decided to save it for later.
The next page was a clear and crisp computer printout that contained the words:
Revelation 3:7-11:
To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth;
I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them who dwell upon the earth.
Behold, I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Hallman had written in the margin, “St. John had reportedly written Revelation according to the information given to him by Christ. Did they come to Philadelphia to use the words of ‘the Rock’ against him? To remind St. John that he was just a man and could not take the crown?”
John’s face contorted in confusion, but then his attention was captured by the sound of tape being ripped off a spool.
As he stretched the yellow crime scene tape across the doorway, Pete Alvarez met John’s gaze and asked, “Did you find everything you need, Detective, or are you still looking for more?”
John folded the papers and slid them back in the evidence bag. “I think I have most of it, you’ll need to watch
“Just some cockroaches.”
“I think I’ve found what I needed. Pop some tape on the door and seal this place off until CSA can get over here. The hard drive on the computer has been wiped clean, and I don’t think Hallman did it himself.”
“You got it.” Alvarez stood and walked out the front door to get his yellow crime scene tape.
Taking the papers from his coat pocket, he scanned through them to see if there were any directions to other possible hiding places in the apartment. There were several photocopies of old letters and a few computer printouts. Hallman had scrawled notes onto most of the pages. The notes were sometimes in pencil, sometimes in blue ink, and sometimes in black ink. Once or twice, Hallman had taken a yellow highlighter to the notes.
A plain white page topped the stack. It began by contradicting John’s most confident assumption of the whole day:
I reformatted my hard drive to lessen the chance that the people who helped us find this information will be put at risk.
Please see that Detective Fullman gets these: Information on the Brethren.
--
T.J. Hallman
Just as in Dunglison’s letter, there was yet another reference to Detective Fullman.
Since the homicide division bumped into other police units all over the city, John should have met another detective—even one from another division. He strained his memory trying to recall Fullman, and generated a picture of a fat detective with a handlebar mustache. Unfortunately, that guy’s name was Feely, not Fullman; he recalled that name association by envisioning that the mustache twirled out into feelers. He gave up on trying to recall Fullman’s face and returned to the papers.
A sticky note, lower on the same page, read, “Contains letters donated by Alice Mortimer and other supporting documents, arranged in the order I found them: Why I believe the door and Le Coeur Codex in Phila, PA.”
He flipped past the first page and found what looked like a long letter written in a fancy script. Hallman had jotted some notes on a sticky note attached to the page. The fancy and faded script looked like it would be hard to read, so John decided to save it for later.
The next page was a clear and crisp computer printout that contained the words:
Revelation 3:7-11:
To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth;
I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them who dwell upon the earth.
Behold, I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Hallman had written in the margin, “St. John had reportedly written Revelation according to the information given to him by Christ. Did they come to Philadelphia to use the words of ‘the Rock’ against him? To remind St. John that he was just a man and could not take the crown?”
John’s face contorted in confusion, but then his attention was captured by the sound of tape being ripped off a spool.
As he stretched the yellow crime scene tape across the doorway, Pete Alvarez met John’s gaze and asked, “Did you find everything you need, Detective, or are you still looking for more?”
John folded the papers and slid them back in the evidence bag. “I think I have most of it, you’ll need to watch
Similar Books
