Andy added, �They beat him up pretty good before they separated the two.�

Danny and Baldwin braced Don on either side and brought him along as they climbed the stairs, cautiously advancing to make sure they were not surprised again by the man in the black raincoat. The door at the top of the stairs was unlocked, and the detectives carefully advanced into the main warehouse. The ambient light was much brighter and they had no trouble seeing the sign indicating where the loading dock was located. They squinted as they made their way into the cavernous loading bay because the enormous bay doors were open and the early afternoon sun was aimed directly at them.

The detectives moved swiftly across the room, directly toward a collection of four old shipping containers that looked like they were made entirely of brittle rust. Diane hung back a little. She did not want to be the first one to find Denby�s body. She was still too shaky after her private confession of love for the man. She was afraid her reaction to the sight of his beaten, dead body would be too extreme to be accounted for by their publicly adversarial relationship.

All four containers had fairly new padlocks on them. Andy went to the first one and banged on the wall.

�Denby? Are you in there?�

A cough and a loud sniffle drifted out of the third container, and the detectives ran over to it, dragging Don along.

�Denby? Is that you?� Andy asked again.

A faint �Yes� could be heard through the air holes that the merciful rust had made for him in this giant gerbil box.

Diane�s stomach began to ache, and her legs nearly gave out. She leaned on the edge of the container to steady herself and catch her breath.

�Stand back,� Andy said, and aimed his gun at the bolt of the padlock. He shot through the bolt, then grabbed and twisted the lock off the hinge. Greg grabbed the handle of the locking mechanism and swung the big lever around to disengage its hook from the side of the door, then pulled back with all his might to swing the container door open. Andy helped pull the heavy door all the way open.