Free Liberty Falling-pigeon 7 by Nevada Barr Page B

carrying something. A minute's concentration brought out a camera, two waist packs--one in purple, one in green--and two backpacks. The boy nearest--the one in the huge shorts--had carried one. Behind him she'd seen a part of another, as if someone held it by a single strap.
    She opened her eyes. It was no use. She couldn't recall anyone's face clearly. She was unsure of the color of the packs or who, precisely, carried them. Even in cities packs were ubiquitous, and there was no reason to believe the person who stole it would have hung around. From her conversation with Patsy, Anna got the idea that the missing pack had only been missed later, after the crowd had dispersed. Not too great a loss from an interviewer's point of view. When people ran in herds their senses became dulled. One good witness in twenty was a small miracle.
    The happy growl of a small motorboat caught her attention. It was the Liberty IV making its last trip back from Manhattan. Any Liberty Islander who missed the ten-fifteen boat was marooned in the city for the night. The roar of the diesel engine reminded Anna she had a question for Dwight. When she tried to get to her feet, the cut on her thigh raised such a fuss that she had to push off the stone with both hands.
    At a limping trot she managed to reach the end of the pier just as Cal was reeling the Liberty IV dockside. Ever the gentleman, he handed her on board with a grace and dignity rare in modern times.
    "Hey, Dwight," she called up the narrow steps to the bridge. "Got a minute?"
    "One," he returned.
    It was the end of his shift. Dwight was a family man and not one to dawdle when his working day was done. Pulling herself up in a vain attempt to spare her leg, Anna was annoyed to find she was breathing hard. Physical stamina after forty wasn't a given, it had to be earned.
    "What time did you see me on Island Three and radio it in?" she asked.
    "You're not mad, are you?" he asked with surprise.
    "Nope. Just curious."
    "I don't know. Maybe eight or so."
    "Where was I?"
    Dwight laughed nervously. "This an IQ test?"
    Anna waited.
    "Sort of in the trees there between the buildings."
    "Earlier you said something to Patsy about my being a middle-aged mutant ninja ranger. What was that about?"
    Dwight looked pained. "No offense meant," he said.
    "No, no," she reassured him. "None taken. Just curious about the image."
    Dwight was still uncertain whether or not he was being taken to task in some arcane manner. "You know those turtle things from a while back? That's all."
    "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?" Anna asked.
    "Yeah. Just trying to be funny. We got any comers, Cal?" he hollered out the window to let Anna know it was time to leave. The dock was obviously deserted.
    "The rhythm. I get it," Anna said hurriedly. "Teenage/middle-aged, turtle/ranger. What put the picture in your head?"
    Dwight was suddenly absorbed in fiddling with his radar.
    "Other than me being middle-aged?"
    "You said it, not me." Then: "You know, just those ninja men all dressed in black. Got a stowaway, Cal," he called to the deckhand in hopes of getting rid of Anna.
    "That's it?" she asked. "The person you saw was dressed in black?"
    "That's it," Dwight said.
    "Terrific." Anna backed down the stairs. "Thanks a heap. Regards to Digby. Good night." Cal handed her off the boat and for another brief moment she was allowed to feel like a lady.
    Around eight o'clock, Dwight said. She'd been inside the wards from five-thirty till she'd stumbled out to be caught by Billy Bonham. Black, Dwight had said, a ninja. She'd been dressed in khaki shorts and a red shirt. Whoever Dwight saw, it wasn't her. Whoever he saw hadn't been authorized to be there. And whoever it was had been leaving the area immediately after the stairs fell from under her.
    It had to be coincidence. Surely even she couldn't make a mortal enemy in only three days.
     

7
    Anna caught an early boat for Manhattan, the Liberty IV captained this morning by Kevin. He wasn't