Day Two
July 22, 1952
Tuesday Night
Su-Moon made it to the roof without dropping to her death. She disappeared over the parapet, checked the access hatch to be sure it wasn’t locked, and shouted down to Waverly, “Come on!”
“Move the rope over.”
“Can’t. There’s nowhere to hook it.”
Waverly swallowed.
Su-Moon barely made it and she was stronger.
A gust of rain lashed at her face and pushed her body sideways. She waited for it to subside, then got up on the railing, shifted her weight onto the rope and climbed up hand over hand with every ounce of strength she had. At the top, Su-Moon grabbed her arm with both hands and pulled her over the parapet.
She landed on her back.
The weather pelted her face.
She didn’t care.
She was up.
She was alive.
“Come on,” Su-Moon said. “No time for naps.”
The access door led to a steel interior stairway. On squishy feet they took it down to Bristol’s floor, hearing no one, seeing no one, encountering no cleaning crews or guards. A trail of dripping water followed them.
So far, so good.
The door to Bristol office suite was locked. Su-Moon busted the glass with her foot, reached through and unlocked the bolt.
They were in.
She shut the door and relocked it.
“Which way to Bristol’s office?”
“Follow me.”
They ended up in a corner office that faced the street. The windows had blinds but they wouldn’t completely seal the lights.
“We should have brought flashlights.”
“Too late now.”
They moved a banker’s lamp from the top of the desk to under it then turned it on. That gave them enough to see by without overdoing it.
Then they searched.
They weren’t careful.
They weren’t neat.
Ten minutes into it they still hadn’t found anything of relevance. Then Waverly had an idea to pull the drawers out of Bristol’s desk and see if anything was taped on the backside or underneath.
There wasn’t.
Five minutes later they found a hidden compartment under a piece of removable wood in the top drawer. Inside was a black address book together with an envelope.
Su-Moon slapped Waverly on the back.
“Bingo.”
Suddenly a noise came from the hallway outside Bristol’s office.
“Shit!”
Su-Moon flicked off the banker’s lamp.
The room fell into darkness.
The women froze.
They didn’t make a sound.