How did you know I would be at the Jewish library?

INSTANCER

Uncanny, wasn’t it?

MANNING

Why me? Why am I part of this?

INSTANCER

Because I picked you. Because you’re the man!

Instancer crosses back to Manning, seizes him, and hauls him upright.

INSTANCER

Wake up, Manning! Get your head back into the game!

Instancer wallops Manning across the temple with his open right hand. When Manning tries to defend himself, Instancer backhands him across the opposite temple.

MANNING

The game? What is the game?

Manning lunges at Instancer. His feet slip. He spills into the wall. The crucifix falls and shatters; the framed photo of Manning’s wife and son crashes to the deck.

Instancer seizes Manning by the collar. He lifts him off the floor, one-handed. Instancer carries Manning to the window that faces out, four stories up, onto West Sixty-Eighth Street. Instancer smashes the frame and glass using Manning’s head and back as a battering ram. Glass and splintered wood blast everywhere. The gale from the storm screams in, filling the room.

INSTANCER

How do you like this weather, Manning? Apocalyptic, wouldn’t you say?

Holding Manning suspended, Instancer thrusts him bodily through the shattered window and frame, out into the gale.

INSTANCER

How pissed off do you think the Almighty is right now? At you. At all of humanity. Look what you’ve done to this beautiful world He gave you.

At this moment Rachel, Ben-David and I screech up outside in my self-driver.

INSTANCER

(to Manning)

The only thing standing between the human race and annihilation is the existence of the Thirty-Six Righteous Men. And they’re dropping fast, aren’t they?

Instancer suspends Manning fully outside the building, four stories above the sidewalk. He holds him by one hand.

INSTANCER

What’s the game, Manning? The game is global extinction. The game is the end of the world. You get it, Manning. You understand me. That’s why I like you. That’s why I want you with me at the end.

From the street, Rachel, Ben-David, and I can see Instancer, twisting Manning into the gale. Instancer harangues him, jaw-to-jaw. We can see Manning’s arms flailing and the soles of his shoes dangling in thin air.

Rachel, Ben-David, and I bolt to the rear alley, hurtle through the kitchen entrance and into the stairwell. I’m taking the steps two at a time. Rachel and Ben-David follow, half a flight behind.

In the room, Instancer hauls Manning back from outside. Shards of window glass crunch beneath his soles.

INSTANCER

You’re going to tell my story, Manning. That’s the detective’s role, isn’t it? To get inside the villain’s head. To “become” the villain.

I kick the door at the latch plate with my right butch-heeled stomper. The jamb splinters. I burst into the room with my nine-millimeter extended in both hands. Rachel and Ben-David push through behind me.