on-screen to point out the area. “As far as we can tell, the Hostage Taker has taken the necessary steps to deter our entry. All g-gaps around the door have been filled with what’s probably a construction adhesive; you see that here.”
“Yes.” Eve’s eyes followed the orange dot.
“That d-deters our cameras as well as our ability to inject anything small—including gas—through the doors. Then do you see what looks like barbed wire, attached with concrete fasteners?” Neil pointed out wire loops that created a perimeter surrounding the door frame. “That’s actually concertina wire. Which is expensive—and far more lethal than barbed wire. It’s the choice of prison and military bases. Places where the highest level of security is required.”
Eve thought:
Possible military or security background.
She said only, “Tactical must have the capability to get past it.”
“Absolutely. It’s just window dressing. Since it’s
inside
the church, we believe its purpose is to discourage any hostages from foolishly trying to escape. Except here’s the problem: He’s placed additional obstacles. Do you see the motion-based mercury switch? That’s the detonator. It’s connected to a thin copper filament that’s strung the length of the door. Notice how it then attaches to the scaffolding that covers the north side of Saint Patrick’s—and crisscrosses, rung by rung, until it reaches the pews.”
“Yeah, we see it.” Mace stretched his arms.
“Watch. Two paired wires are connected to that copper filament. We follow the wires along this path…”
Eve’s gaze followed Neil’s orange pointer as it led to what looked like a package. Next to a pew. And sitting in the pew was a figure—with hands and feet bound. Almost as if posed for the NYPD and FBI to see. A visible deterrent.
Proof of life.
Medium height. Medium build. Short hair.
Hard to tell from the angle, but possibly a woman. Eve thought she detected a flash of jewelry on one of the fingers.
“What’s he got rigged there?” Eli squinted, nudging his eyeglasses up his nose.
“Basically, if we breach that door, the motion-based detonator will trigger and the hostage in the pew will die.” Mace said it flatly.
“You’re only partly right,” Neil continued to explain. “Keep following the wire.”
“So we can see more hostages? What I wanna know is: How many are there? When are we gonna talk about getting them out?” Mace slammed his palms onto the table, ready for action. He considered himself effective only when he was in the game, playing offense—not planning the next play on the sidelines.
“We only had a small window of v-visibility, so we couldn’t learn how many hostages are inside. But we have to assume there are others, likely restrained the same way,” Neil cautioned soberly. “All that is a challenge enough, but watch this.” The video feed advanced. “Other wires and more packages are attached to the columns that make up vulnerable points, according to the architects. The whole system is basically a set of IEDs that form a daisy chain. If one point on the chain is tripped, a series of explosions will result.”
“Kind of like a roadside bomb in Iraq or Afghanistan?” Eve hazarded.
“Worse. Basically, the whole system is what we call an HBIED. That’s House Borne Improvised Explosive Device. And you’re right that it comes from the Middle East—specifically, the military practice of clearing houses. Insurgents fought back by rigging entire houses to detonate and collapse moments after our guys entered.” Neil turned to face Eve, frowning. “The problem here is that the house in question is Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.”
“Does this Hostage Taker really have the explosive capability to blow that building up?” Eli shook his head. “Seems way too big—way too much stone—to be brought down.”
“People have said that about buildings bigger and sturdier than this,” Mace countered. “Like the
“Yes.” Eve’s eyes followed the orange dot.
“That d-deters our cameras as well as our ability to inject anything small—including gas—through the doors. Then do you see what looks like barbed wire, attached with concrete fasteners?” Neil pointed out wire loops that created a perimeter surrounding the door frame. “That’s actually concertina wire. Which is expensive—and far more lethal than barbed wire. It’s the choice of prison and military bases. Places where the highest level of security is required.”
Eve thought:
Possible military or security background.
She said only, “Tactical must have the capability to get past it.”
“Absolutely. It’s just window dressing. Since it’s
inside
the church, we believe its purpose is to discourage any hostages from foolishly trying to escape. Except here’s the problem: He’s placed additional obstacles. Do you see the motion-based mercury switch? That’s the detonator. It’s connected to a thin copper filament that’s strung the length of the door. Notice how it then attaches to the scaffolding that covers the north side of Saint Patrick’s—and crisscrosses, rung by rung, until it reaches the pews.”
“Yeah, we see it.” Mace stretched his arms.
“Watch. Two paired wires are connected to that copper filament. We follow the wires along this path…”
Eve’s gaze followed Neil’s orange pointer as it led to what looked like a package. Next to a pew. And sitting in the pew was a figure—with hands and feet bound. Almost as if posed for the NYPD and FBI to see. A visible deterrent.
Proof of life.
Medium height. Medium build. Short hair.
Hard to tell from the angle, but possibly a woman. Eve thought she detected a flash of jewelry on one of the fingers.
“What’s he got rigged there?” Eli squinted, nudging his eyeglasses up his nose.
“Basically, if we breach that door, the motion-based detonator will trigger and the hostage in the pew will die.” Mace said it flatly.
“You’re only partly right,” Neil continued to explain. “Keep following the wire.”
“So we can see more hostages? What I wanna know is: How many are there? When are we gonna talk about getting them out?” Mace slammed his palms onto the table, ready for action. He considered himself effective only when he was in the game, playing offense—not planning the next play on the sidelines.
“We only had a small window of v-visibility, so we couldn’t learn how many hostages are inside. But we have to assume there are others, likely restrained the same way,” Neil cautioned soberly. “All that is a challenge enough, but watch this.” The video feed advanced. “Other wires and more packages are attached to the columns that make up vulnerable points, according to the architects. The whole system is basically a set of IEDs that form a daisy chain. If one point on the chain is tripped, a series of explosions will result.”
“Kind of like a roadside bomb in Iraq or Afghanistan?” Eve hazarded.
“Worse. Basically, the whole system is what we call an HBIED. That’s House Borne Improvised Explosive Device. And you’re right that it comes from the Middle East—specifically, the military practice of clearing houses. Insurgents fought back by rigging entire houses to detonate and collapse moments after our guys entered.” Neil turned to face Eve, frowning. “The problem here is that the house in question is Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.”
“Does this Hostage Taker really have the explosive capability to blow that building up?” Eli shook his head. “Seems way too big—way too much stone—to be brought down.”
“People have said that about buildings bigger and sturdier than this,” Mace countered. “Like the
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