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of the redbrick Hyde Street Psychiatric Center, lunching on egg salad sandwiches

“It was always a long shot,”with no trace, no nothing on it”

“You knohat I hate?” I asked him

“Yep, I do You hate square one and egg salad with pieces of shell—”

“I hate waiting now for another murder so we can hope for another chance at this—”

“Look,” Conklin said, pointing past my nose and out the side

“What a at?”

“That guy He’s a patient What’s he doing outside?”

I saw hi out of an alley that ran between the brick face of the psych center and a blank concrete side of the Walgreens His hands were in his pockets, eyes down, and his posture and gait were purposeful, entirely different froo

My partner and I exited the car and began following Neddie from a distance I wasn’t ready to question him until I knehat he was up to

He was directly ahead of us when he took a right turn onto Jones Street We were so close to him that I was shocked e turned the corner and he was just not where I thought he should be In fact, I didn’t see hi, not buying a paper fro the street It was as if he’d stepped through a portal into a fourth dimension

“Oh, coo?”

“He wasn’t carrying a knapsack, right? Didn’t have a bag?” Conklin asked

“No Hands in pockets Nothing on his shoulders or in his hands, I’m sure of it,” I said

“Then he’ll be back”