The Wall

The Wall - Steeland

Tai Ling smiled at Norwood from across the table, her crescent-moon eyes reflecting the lantern light in a dark corner of Gilroy's Pub House. Her immigrant parents helped build the railroad, and their harsh lives made Tai a hard woman.

"Norwood, my sources are always reliable. That's why you pay the premium. Premium price for premium information, dear", she said, still smiling.

Norwood tried not to snort. "The last two weren't even close to reliable. I should ask for my money back, except I know you've probably spent it on your... habits," Norwood said, deliberately glancing at the large African man in the corner.

As an information broker, Tai was always hiring "bodyguards" and then firing them when she got bored. Slavery was illegal in Steeland, but Norwood never bothered investigating when Tai crossed the line. It'd be bad for their professional relationship.

"I want the information. You want the payment. But I've been disappointed lately in your quality. Let's say I pay for your disappointing information with a mediocre sum of money and just forget about your premium habits?" Norwood said.

Tai inhaled sharply and began a tirade when the door flew open with a bang. Dedrick Gordon's figure filled the doorframe. Cold and snow rushed in around his feet. Pubmaster Gilroy started shouting, and Norwood started cursing at the intrusion.

Dedrick's eyes found Norwood. He came bumbling towards him, knocking patrons and spilling drinks. "Dedrick, what the hell..." Norwood said and then paused when he saw his partner's terrified eyes.

They always called him for the gruesome ones, Norwood mused. Nancy Williams was covered with a light grey dusting, but Norwood could still make out the blood and signs of burned skin as he hunched over the dead woman at the end of the alley. A priest had found her just before dawn.

Two gaping holes went clean through Nancy's chest and out her backside. The skin around the holes was blackened as though someone had run two large hot pokers through her. One of the local policemen found part of Nancy's heart about 20 feet away. He was still sick behind the station's autobuggy.

"Well, this is a new one for all of us I think", said the Chief, squatting next to Norwood. "One of the lieutenants identified her. She was a cleaning girl to one of the family's in Shaker Heights. And a courtesan on the side, it seems," he told Norwood, glancing at Boylan. "You'll notice that the exit wounds show that she was attacked from behind", said the Chief, raising his voice over Boylan still being sick.

Norwood circled the woman contemplating the Chief's assessment. Based on the position of Nancy's corpse, her back would have been to the blackened brick wall when she was stabbed. No footprints were visible in the short distance between Nancy and the wall. Norwood reached down and began gently handling the woman's body, searching for clues. He was at the bottom, her ankles, when he realized that both were dislocated. Norwood's gaze followed the frosty brick wall until it stopped at the roof.

Atop the roof of Snyder's shoe factory, the wind was harsher and visibility was low. It had started to snow again, even harder this time.

While the killer had left little below, the picture was different on the rooftops. Two sets of footprints, lady's boots and men's boots led to the roof's edge. Here the lady's prints stopped but the men's carried on. So Norwood followed.

The prints went to the other side of the building and then abruptly stopped at the edge. The man had either jumped four stories down or leapt the alley to the nearby rooftop.

The snow came harder now. Soon, any tracks would be covered and long gone. Norwood took this precious remaining time to inspect the boot prints further. Hard outlines revealed a heavy military cut. They left a reverse embossed pattern that was unmistakable.