Danny positioned himself back from the booby-trapped tile and lifted it again. This time, the fine dust fell harmlessly on the table in front of Danny�s feet. Danny slipped the tile backward until it rested on one of the others. He climbed up on a box to inspect the plenum space, and Greg handed him a flashlight he could shine around.

�Good news. This door here is in a partial wall. I should be able to just climb up and over, drop down on the other side and get us out of here.�

�Be careful, Danny. They may have posted a guard outside of the room,� Greg volunteered. Mercifully, he didn�t see Andy�s face as Andy mouthed, �Duh!� as silently as he could. Diane shushed Andy again.

Danny reached over and lifted the tile on the other side of the partial wall to inspect the space outside the closet. He heard someone speaking Spanish on the other side of the basement, and he could see a black raincoat. He indicated to Baldwin to trade places with him, and Baldwin repeated his move. Everyone waited anxiously while Baldwin eavesdropped on the conversation.

�Dejaremos el cad�ver en el almac�n. V�monos. Hay que encontrarnos con el cargamento.� Footsteps drifted away, and a far door closed. Baldwin listened for more voices or movement, and heard none.

�Okay, it sounds like they are leaving a body in a storeroom and then leaving to meet some kind of shipment,� Baldwin whispered.

�Oh no,� Diane trembled, �Too late. We�re too late.� She was surprised by how upset she was. It was guilt mixed with regret, and something else. A longing of some sort, as if she had, on some level, been in love with Denby. A man who hated himself with so much passion as Denby could only hurt her as he dragged himself down. He was all wrong for her, but she could no longer deny that she had felt a powerful attraction to him. Ridiculous. Absurd. Troubling. She promised herself to re-read Barbara DeAngelis� book, Are You The One For Me? and take the exercises more seriously next time.

Danny and Baldwin traded places, because the plenum space was too small for Baldwin to maneuver his large frame. Danny lifted out the tile on the outside of the closet, hoisted himself up onto the partial wall, and his legs disappeared into the ceiling. Seconds later, the detectives heard him drop lightly onto the object that was blocking the door, and then felt the tremor as he jumped the rest of the way down to the floor. They heard a dragging sound, then the door clicked and popped open. Danny was dusted all over with black powder and sprinkled with perspiration from his acrobatic exertions. His smile glowed in the dark, and everyone smothered nervous laughter at the sight of him.

When they had recovered themselves, Diane said, �Don managed to say there�s some kind of loading dock upstairs, in the back of the building. There are a bunch of old, rusty shipping containers up there that are no longer used. He thought that might be where Denby is.�