Rhyme glanced at it. "Dried grass, I'd say, or some kind of vegetation. But I don't recognize that other material. GC it, Mel."

Soon the chromatograph/spectrometer had spit out its data. On the monitor a chart appeared, giving the results from the analysis: bile pigments, stercobilin, urobilin, indole, nitrates, skatole, mercaptans, hydrogen sulfide.

"Ah."

"Ah?" Sellitto asked. "What's 'ah'?"

"Command, microscope one," Rhyme commanded. The image reappeared on the computer screen and he replied to the detective, "It's obvious-dead bacterial matter, partially digested fiber and grass. It's shit. Oh, excuse me for being indelicate," he said sarcastically. "It's doggy do. Our perp stepped where he should not have."

This was encouraging; the hairs and fecal matter were good class evidence and, if they found similar trace on a suspect, at a particular location or in a car there'd be a strong presumption that he was, or had contact with, the Conjurer.

The fingerprint report on the shards of mirror in the alley came in from the AFIS system. It was negative, to no one's surprise.

"What else from the scene?" Rhyme asked.

"Zip," Sachs said. "That's it."

Rhyme was scanning the evidence charts when the doorbell rang and Thom went to answer it. A moment later he returned, accompanied by a uniformed officer. He stood timidly in the doorway, as many young law enforcers did when they entered the den of the legendary Lincoln Rhyme. "I'm looking for Detective Bell. I was told he was here?"

"That's me," Bell said.

"Crime-scene report. From the break-in at Charles Grady's office."

"Thanks, son." The detective took the envelope and nodded to the young man, who, with a brief, intimidated glance at Lincoln Rhyme, turned and left.

Reading the contents, Bell shrugged. "Not my expertise. Hey, Lincoln, any chance you could take a look at it?"

"Sure, Roland," Rhyme said. "Pull the staples out and mount it in the turning frame there. Thom'll do it. What's the story? This about the Andrew Constable case?"

"Is." He told Rhyme about the break-in at Charles Grady's office. When the aide was finished mounting the report Rhyme drove into position. He read the first page carefully. Then said, "Command, turn page." He continued reading.

The break-in had been accomplished by simply shattering the corner of the glass window in the door to the hall and unlatching it from the inside (the door between the secretary's outer office and prosecutor's interior office was double-locked and made of thick wood; it had defeated the burglar).

The CS searchers, Rhyme noted, had found something interesting-on and around the secretary's desk were a number of fibers. The report indicated only their color-mostly white, some black and a single red one-but nothing else about them.

They also found two tiny flecks of gold foil.

The CS team had learned that the break-in had occurred after the cleaning service had finished with the office so the fibers probably had not been left by Grady's secretary or anyone legitimately in her office during the day. Most likely they'd come from the intruder.

Rhyme came to the last page. "That's it?" he asked.

"Reckon so," Bell responded.

A grunt from the criminalist. "Command, telephone. Call Peretti comma Vincent."

Rhyme had hired Peretti as a crime-scene cop some years ago and he'd proved talented at forensics. What he'd truly excelled at, though, was the far more esoteric art of police department politics, which, unlike Rhyme, he preferred to the work of actually running crime scenes. He was now head of the NYPD's Investigation and Resource Division, which oversaw the crime-scene unit.

When Rhyme was finally put through, the man asked, "Lincoln, how are you?"

"Fine, Vince. I-"

"You're on this Conjurer case, right? How's it going?"

"It's going. Listen, I'm calling about something else. I'm here with Roland Bell. I've got the report on the Grady office break-in-"

"Oh, the Andrew Constable thing. Those threats against Grady. Right. What can I do?"

"I'm looking at the report now. But it's just the preliminary. I need some more information. Crime Scene found some fibers. I need to know the exact composition of each one, length, diameter, color temperature, dyes used and amount of wear."

"Hold on. I'll get a pen." A moment later: "Go ahead."

"I also need electrostatics of all the footprints and photos of their patterns on the floor. And I want to know everything that was on the secretary's desk, credenza and bookshelves. Everything on any surface, in any drawer, on the wall. And its exact location."

"Everything the perp touched? Okay, I guess. We'll-"

"No, Vince. Everything that was in the office. Everything. Paper clips, pictures of the secretary's children. Mold in the top drawer. I don't care whether he touched it or not."

Huffy now, Peretti said, "I'll make sure somebody does it."

He didn't see why Peretti didn't do it himself, which is what Rhyme would have done, even as head of IRD, to make sure the job got done immediately.

But in his present role as consultant he had only limited clout. "Sooner is better. . . . Thanks, Vince."

"Don't mention it," the man said coolly.

They hung up. Rhyme said to Bell, "Not much else I can do, Roland, until we get that information."

A glance at the break-in report. Fibers and backwoods militiamen . . .

Mysteries. But at the moment they'd have to remain somebody else's. Rhyme had his own enigmas to unravel and not much time in which to do so: the notations on the evidence chart about the broken watches reminded him that they had less than three hours to stop the Conjurer before he found his next victim.

THE CONJURER.

Music School Crime Scene Perp's description: Brown hair, fake beard, no distinguishing, medium build, medium height, age: fifties. Ring and little fingers of left hand fused together. Changed costume quickly to resemble old, bald janitor.

No apparent motive.

Victim: Svetlana Rasnikov.

* Full-time music student.

* Checking family, friends, students, coworkers for possible leads.

* No boyfriends, no known enemies. Performed at children's birthday parties.

* Circuit board with speaker attached.

* Sent to FBI lab, NYC.

* Digital recorder, probably containing perp's voice. All data destroyed.

* Voice recorder is a "gimmick." Homemade.

* Used antique iron handcuffs to restrain victim.

* Handcuffs are Darby irons. Scotland Yard. Checking with Houdini Museum in New Orleans for leads.

* Destroyed victim's watch at exactly 8:00 A. M.

* Cotton string holding chairs. Generic. Too many sources to trace.

* Squib for gunshot effect. Destroyed.

* Too many sources to trace.

* Fuse. Generic.

* Too many sources to trace.

* Responding officers reported flash in air. No trace material recovered.

* Was from flash cotton or flash paper.

* Too many sources to trace.

* Perp's shoes: size 10 Ecco.

* Silk fibers, dyed gray, processed to a matte finish.

* From quick-change janitor's outfit.

* Unsub is possibly wearing brown wig.

* Red pignut hickory and Parmelia conspersa lichen, both found primarily in Central Park.

* Dirt impregnated with unusual mineral oil. Sent to FBI for analysis.

* Black silk, 72 x 48". Used as camouflage. Not traceable.

* Illusionists use this frequently.

* Wears caps to cover up prints.

* Magician's finger cups.

* Traces of latex, castor oil, makeup.

* Theatrical makeup.

* Traces of alginate.

* Used in molding latex "appliances."

* Murder weapon: white silk-knit rope with black silk core.

* Rope is a magic trick. Color-changing. Not traceable.

* Unusual knot.

* Sent to FBI and Maritime Museum-no information.

* Knots are from Houdini routines, virtually impossible to untie.

* Used disappearing ink on sign-in register.

East Village Crime Scene Victim Two: Tony Calvert.

* Makeup artist, theater company.

* No known enemies.

* No apparent connection with first victim.

* No apparent motive.

Cause of death: * Blunt-object trauma to head followed by postmortem dismemberment with crosscut saw.

* Perp escaped portraying woman in her 70s. Checking vicinity for discarded costume and other evidence.

* Nothing recovered.

* Watch smashed at 12:00 exactly.

* Pattern? Next victim presumably at 4:00 P. M.

* Perp hid behind mirror. Not traceable. Fingerprints sent to FBI.

* No matches.

* Used cat toy ("feke") to lure victim into alley. Toy is untraceable.

* Additional mineral oil found, same as at first scene. Awaiting FBI report.

* Additional latex and makeup from finger cups.