officers in uniform were standing with their backs to some blue wooden barriers, preventing any pedestrians who were unwise enough to want to see what had happened from getting any closer. It was easier said than done.
The body was covering about an eight foot radius, concealed under a series of hastily placed sheets. The impact of the fall had left a grisly aftermath. Luckily, no one had been hit by the falling man, although a handful of people had been walking nearby on the sidewalk at the point of impact. They were all in an ambulance nearby being cleaned up and treated for shock.
Inside the lobby and relieved to be back down on street level, Archer looked at the spread of white sheets covering the ground. A four-man team from the CSU, the forensics specialists, had arrived. Archer had just finished speaking to two of them, providing them with the details of what had happened up on the roof, including every word that had been spoken between him and Peter. Standing with the pair of investigators, he watched as a third member of their team knelt down and lifted the sheet with a latex-gloved hand. The fourth dropped to a knee beside him and took photographs of whatever was underneath. Some detectives from the 20 precinct had arrived and were standing together watching the investigators work. Although the death was on their turf it wasn’t a homicide, so they were letting Archer and Josh take the reins on this one.
The two CSU investigators thanked Archer. He nodded, then turned and walked back into the main building. A large group of workers from upstairs had gathered in the lobby, some asking what had happened, others trying to catch a glimpse as building security and two other NYPD officers kept them from going outside. Given that the possibility of terrorism was on everybody’s mind these days, New Yorkers liked reassurance and word had clearly spread fast about the number of police officers, squad cars and ambulances suddenly gathered outside their building. To the left of the cluster, Archer saw Josh approaching, clicking off a cell phone and tucking it back into his pocket.
‘I just spoke to Rach,’ he said. ‘His full name was Dr Peter Flood.’
‘Flood Microbiology.’
‘Exactly. He owned the company. He was the senior scientist and the guy we were supposed to be meeting.’ Josh looked over Archer’s shoulder at the scene outside. ‘Poor guy.’
‘You hear what he said?’
‘You need to get out of New York right now. Thousands of people are going to die.’
‘I don’t like this. It’s too coincidental.’
‘You think it’s related to the dead guy in the Park?’
Archer nodded.
‘I looked into his eyes. Something was scaring the shit out of him.’
‘Well Rach is checking out everything she can find on him. We’ll know more about him soon.’
Archer looked past Josh and saw the young woman who’d been up on the roof when they’d arrived. She was sitting across the lobby on a bench against the wall, a navy-blue NYPD jacket draped over her slender shoulders. She was alone, staring straight ahead with a cup of coffee in her hands. She’d been hysterical after the man had stepped off the roof to his death, but now seemed to have cried herself out. Josh noticed his partner watching her.
‘Her name’s Maddy,’ he said. ‘Twenty eight years old. She’s a doctor too.’
He paused.
‘And Peter Flood’s daughter.’
Archer looked at him. ‘Oh shit.’
‘Yeah. That’s her daddy out there on the sidewalk.’ He paused. ‘Hey. You did a good job up there, by the way.’
‘Yeah, right,’ Archer said. ‘Perfect outcome.’
‘He’d made up his mind. He was stepping off regardless. Nothing you could have done or said would have changed his mind. Was he your first jumper?’
Archer nodded. He went to say more but felt his phone ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out and took the call as Josh turned and headed across the lobby towards the female doctor.
‘Archer.’
‘Arch, it’s Shepherd. I heard Rach speaking to Josh, but I wanted to get your take too. How’s everything going?’
Archer looked over his shoulder at the white-sheeted area cordoned off on the street.
‘Getting cleaned up. CSU and some local detectives are here. It’s going to take a while.’
‘How’s the girl?’
Archer watched Josh take a seat beside the woman. He was talking to her quietly.
‘Better. She’s calmed down.’
‘We’re drawing a blank over here. Rach can’t find anything on Flood or his company that could be relevant to this virus. But I think there’s a connection.’
‘Yeah. I’m