“Tell you the truth,” Turk said slowly, “it must have taken more than one fella to get this in here. It’s got to be a good hundred pounds or more. Nope. No address, just your name scrawled on the side. Want me to open her up?”

I started the car, peeled away from the curb, headed his way. “No. Get away from it, and keep everybody else away, too.”

“It’s early yet. Nobody here but me.” I could hear the confusion in his voice.

I took a red light, then two others, weaving around slow traffic. “Leave it. I’m on my way. Three minutes.”

Turk was changing a lightbulb down in the lobby when I rushed through the front door.

“It’s still there,” he said calmly as he climbed off his ladder. “I blocked off the hall so no one could get at it. What’s going on?”

“I’ll let you know in a minute. Stay here.”

I brushed past him and raced up the stairs to the third floor. I couldn’t miss the box. It was a big cardboard sucker, the kind refrigerators or stoves come in, and I was absolutely certain I hadn’t ordered either appliance. I approached slowly, studying it. Like Turk said, no address tag, no stamps, no UPS bar codes, just my name in black marker scrawled on the side. Standing over the box, I was relieved to discover that it wasn’t ticking, but that meant very little, really. Bombs didn’t have to tick. And who’d send me a bomb, anyway? Scratch that. I could come up with a few names. The box was taped along the top and sides with heavy packing tape. No nicks, no scrapes. It looked brand-new.

“See? Just a regular old box.”

I jumped, startled by the voice. So engrossed in the box, I hadn’t heard Turk walk up behind me.

“I told you to stay put.”

Turk nodded, staring at the mystery box. “I heard you.” “Then why are you here?”

“This is my building. I run it—it don’t run me.”

“This thing was here when you got here?”

“Nah. I got here at six, the hall was empty. I spent the morning upstairs waxing the floors. When I got down here to do this one, the box was sitting here. I asked Gupta and some of the third-floorers if they saw who hauled it in, nobody did.”

“What time was that?”

He shrugged. “Just before I called you. I needed to get to the floors. The box is in the way.”

We both peered down at the box as though our combined concentration would unlock its secrets. Turk suddenly hauled off and kicked the side of it, the loud thud caused by the steel toe of his heavy boot echoing off the walls. I reeled. “What are you doing?”