Rachel nodded, finally managing to center her mind back on the case. And it all came back to the eyewitness hearing the yelp of surprise just before she saw the body falling. Shed have to talk to the coroner or someone with Forensics in terms of the trajectory of the falling body and how it made no sense but for now, the report of that cry of surprise was enough for her.

Without saying another word, Rachel started walking slowly back the way they had come. Looking through the rails to the street below, she realized she could almost identify with a willing jumper. And with that realization, she found herself in a desperate hurry to get the hell off the bridge.

CHAPTER SEVEN

When Rachel knocked on the door of the Newkirks apartment, the wife answered the door quickly. The modest apartment sat just a mile and a half away from the Williamsburg Bridge and Rachel could swear she could still feel the shadow of the bridge on her.

The wife was dressed in a Giants T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. While it did not look like shed been crying a lot, her eyes did have a tired sort of glaze to them. She regarded Branson, Rachel, and Jack with a cursory nod as she invited them into her home. She led them into the kitchen, where shed apparently been in the middle of eating a late breakfast of fruit and oatmeal. She resumed her meal without much thought in front of her three visitors.

Hannah Newkirk, these are Agents Gift and Rivers, with the FBI, Branson said. Theyre out of Richmond, Virginia, and have some experience with cases like Edwins.

Suicides? Hannah asked, spooning at her oatmeal. Jumpers?

Deaths that look like suicides at first glance, Jack explained.

Detective Branson has told us about the oddities surrounding your husbands case, Rachel said.

And I know its been painful to already tell me all you could, Branson said, but I thought it might be best if you told them yourself. Would that be okay?

Sure. What do you want to know? Rachel noticed that she looked directly at her when she asked the question. This was nothing new to her; when they questioned a recently traumatized female, they typically seemed to gravitate to her. Shed heard the same thing from other female agents.

Well, Detective Branson tells us that Edwin had been having a rough time lately. Could you tell us a bit about that?