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Now go to the first store that was hit in New Jersey. None of them are the same height,” Craig said. He looked at Wally. “Wally, sorry, run them again. Slow them down.”
    Wally obliged, and they watched the footage again.
    Mike sighed. “How the hell are you seeing that? Maybe they’re the same size—or maybe they’re not. They could be wearing different shoes, for all you know. The perspective’s so crazy there’s no way to know for sure.”
    â€œI just don’t think they’re the same. I think the second group are copycats. Except that they kill.”
    â€œWhat’s the likelihood of two sets of thieves with virtually identical MOs starting up at the same time?” Mike asked, exasperated.
    â€œWhy not? Some criminal opportunist sees what the first guys are getting away with and figures he’ll give it a shot himself. Only he doesn’t give a damn about human life.”
    â€œLet’s watch them one more time, then start interviewing the first cops on the scene, and the staff and customers who were there,” Mike said. “Wally?”
    â€œYeah, yeah, one more time,” Wally said. “And I can do comparison ratios—tell you who was and wasn’t the same height.”
    â€œGreat. For now, freeze both of the shots I’m talking about, please,” Craig said. “Can you show them to us side by side, split screen?”
    As Wally brought up the two shots, Craig heard Mike’s phone buzzing. Mike picked it up, and Craig watched his partner’s features tighten.
    â€œOn our way,” Mike said. “Wally, hold tight to that footage. Craig, looks like they’re at it again. We have a chance to catch them red-handed and learn the truth. Let’s go.”
    Craig stood quickly, thanking Wally again, and the two men headed out to their car.
    â€œWhere’s it going down?” Craig demanded as they walked. “What’s going on? Did someone trigger an alarm this time?”
    â€œNo. No alarm. People are just getting more nervous and, thankfully, more vigilant. They’re watching for men in hoodies near jewelry stores. And the thieves are right in the Diamond District this time. Sonny Burke from Atlantis Gems just called in to say he saw three men in black hoodies heading down Forty-Seventh Street. That place is a smorgasbord for diamond thieves. Damn, they’re getting bold!”
    â€œI’ll drive,” Craig said.
    â€œI’m back, Craig. I’m good. Honestly. I’ve got it.”
    â€œYou drive like an old woman. Give me the keys.”
    Mike didn’t argue. Craig was the better driver and Mike knew it. He tossed over the keys.
    * * *
    This will all be over soon. It will be fixed. Everything will be okay ,Kieran told herself.
    She had the diamond; she was appropriately dressed to shop in a jewelry store of the stature of Flawless. The store was in the Diamond District, up on Forty-Seventh, so she’d had a ways to go to get there. She would have chosen a cab with the diamond now in her keeping, but she’d been afraid of getting caught in traffic, so she’d headed for the subway.
    She’d been lucky enough to get some traveling in when her father had been alive, but she’d spent the majority of her life in New York City, even attending NYU. She’d taken the subway system all her life.
    Today she found herself looking suspiciously at everyone who boarded her subway car. She shifted and moved to a new spot at each stop. If she lost the diamond to a casual pickpocket, all her efforts to save her brother would be doomed. And with technology being what it was, she wasn’t certain that there still wasn’t some way to prove that he had taken it.
    I’m not his keeper ,she thought to herself.
    But, in a way, she was. She’d been the one girl in the family. Her father had been a wonderful man, as proud of his daughter as he was of his sons—and quite