The next morning, Felicity Shaw received an instruction from Richard to schedule work in the vacant apartment next to the Washingtons. He called it an emergency repair and told her to arrange access before seven. She asked what had broken. He looked at her over his expensive glasses and said, "I don't pay you to argue about repairs."
By the following Monday, the Washingtons would understand that Richard had mistaken their politeness for weakness. They would also discover that a man desperate to empty a building was willing to make that building nearly impossible to live in.
The first blow came at six forty-five on Monday morning. It was not a knock at the Washingtons' door or a new letter slipped beneath it.
It was a hammer striking the wall behind their bedroom with such force that Eleanor woke thinking someone had dropped furniture onto the floor above. The next impact rattled the glass beside her bed. Then came another, and another, quick enough that the noise became one continuous assault on the room.
James sat upright. "What in the world?"
The ceiling light trembled. Eleanor reached for her robe and listened to the drill beginning on the other side of the wall. The Rodriguezes' former apartment had remained untouched for weeks, and now a crew seemed determined to demolish it before the sun rose fully over the roofs. James went into the hallway and found fine dust drifting beneath the neighboring door.
The building superintendent, Daniel Kim, lived in a small ground-floor apartment near the basement stairs. James knocked until Daniel opened wearing slippers and a sweatshirt, already looking tired. Daniel said Richard had called at six, describing an emergency pipe failure that required a contractor's immediate attention. When James asked where the pipe had broken, Daniel admitted the work crew had not shown him a report or even explained which room they would open.
"Mr. Kim, you're a careful man," James said. "Does it sound like a burst pipe to you?"
Daniel stared toward the stairwell. "It sounds like somebody tearing out cabinets."
"Then why did they tell you to call it an emergency?"
"Because he owns the building." Daniel lowered his voice. "And because my wife has been out of work for four months. I can't lose this job."
James understood more than the young man wanted to explain. He had supervised enough crews to know the difference between a worker making a poor decision and a worker obeying someone who controlled his paycheck. He asked Daniel to keep the work orders if he could. Daniel gave a small, troubled nod.