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Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Love best-selling fiction?
  3. Also by McGarvey Black
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
  59. Acknowledgements
  60. A note from the publisher
  61. Love best-selling fiction?
  62. You will also enjoy:

With unrelenting headlines, Lisa Eng’s murder was front-page news. Her death would be the start of a string of killings that would soon terrorize women across the Upper West Side of Manhattan. That investigation would remain a major headline until March of 2020 when a deadly virus hit New York and bumped the murders right off the front page.

6

Monday—June 1, 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic had turned the 24th Police Precinct into a beehive of activity that had taken its toll on police resources. With an uptick in violent crime, increased homelessness along with numerous protest marches, New York City was nearly at its breaking point. Add to that, a serial killer had strangled six young women on the West Side of Manhattan. Stretched thin, the NYPD on permanent high alert had no time to humor people touting wild conspiracy theories about murder plots hatched in Central Park.

Partners for more than two years, Detectives Daryl Williams and Heather Kim headed up the now five-month-old West Side Strangler task force. Williams, a six foot tall former US Marine with dark hair and brown eyes instantly conveyed tough and smart. Gruff but kind at his core, Williams had been an NYPD police officer for nearly twenty years. Immigrating to New York from Jamaica with his family when he was ten, he had long ago lost the gentle island lilt in his speech and now sounded like a born New Yorker. Petite but tough, Heather Kim, eight years his junior, wore her shiny shoulder-length black hair pulled back in a no-nonsense ponytail to ‘keep it out of my freakin’ eyes’. Before joining homicide, Heather had worked in the NYPD cyber division. A serious technology geek who missed nothing, she was all business and got straight to the point. Both highly decorated, Williams and Kim were considered the gold standard by NYPD brass.

The first Strangler killing occurred at the end of 2019, months before an unknown virus would change everyone’s lives. With a city-wide lockdown, adding a serial killer into the mix pushed the city resources to the brink and the mayor wanted the murders stopped—yesterday.

On the third floor of the 24th Precinct, every inch of wall space in the “Strangler War Room” as it had been dubbed, was filled with intelligence and notes about the case. A large whiteboard with lists of locations and possible suspects were written in blue, red and green and fixed at one end of the room. Pictures of victims, the buildings where the crimes took place along with timelines were pinned on a battered corkboard wall. Stacks of folders and photos were piled in every corner.

Seated at the beat-up rectangular wooden table with more coffee cup stains on it than clean surface, five police officers combed through witness interviews and other data related to the case.