Tuesday Tales: From the Word Orange

Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. It’s April and yet, things don’t seem much better than they did at this time last year. Here’s hoping that with enough people vaccinated, we can salvage something of summer.

This week, those of you following the scenes from The White Dahlia will notice a big jump in the plot line. For months, I’ve nursed this story, but now I’m working on it full time. The White Dahlia has an end of April deadline, so the story will be moving along far more quickly. To bring you up to speed, signs point to the return of The Chosen and a new Harvester. There has been a bombing. Today’s scene uses the word prompt ORANGE.

Traffic was heavy, but as usual, the cabby drove like a man possessed. Neither of them spoke. When they arrived, Al paid the fare and then followed her to the yellow tape.

She pulled out her credentials.

“Detective Sergeant Reynolds. This is my partner Lieutenant Foster. We’re looking for Lieutenant Mack Rivers.”

The uniformed officer nodded.

“We were told to expect you, ma’am.”

He handed them each an orange hard hat.

“Thank you.”

She put it on, and Al followed suit.

“The lieutenant told me to send you right up. He’s on the third floor. That staircase has been cleared.”

He indicated the exit to his left.

She nodded. “I assume the power’s still out?”

“Yes, ma’am. There were a lot of ruptured gas tanks. It took a while to put out the fire around the van, and it would only take one spark to ignite all the fumes remaining in the structure.”

“Understood.”

She led the way to the stairwell. Once the door closed behind them, Al put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.

“So are you going to let me in on what the hell’s going on?”

His frustrated tone was hard to miss.

“I didn’t want to say anything in front of the cabbie. Jack Ogden has a habit of making those guys talk.” She started up the stairs. “Knowing him, he’s probably standing across the street with the ambulance chasers and other ‘concerned’ citizens. I’m sure you saw them milling around Friday morning. Why go to the movies when you can watch ‘Crime in the City’ for free? If Jack saw us arrive, his nose for news will be twitching like a rabbit’s. He’s probably already hunting down that cab driver, which is why I didn’t say a word.”

He chuckled. “Good point. So what is going on?”

“When I first came to the NYPD, it was with the bomb squad. I acquired a lot of expertise in that area working The Harvester Cases, especially the last two. Chad Markell called Mack Rivers and insisted I have a look at the scene before anyone touches anything. I have a feeling he believes me now, and that this is their work.”

“Son of a bitch. As I recall from what you said, they like to make big, loud exits. When you look at the remnants, will you know if it’s them?”

“Not positively, that will take lab results, but I’ll know if it isn’t. Every bombmaker has his or her own signature.

That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales