On the black wall of the unfinished studio a flat-screen monitor sparked to life and the digital recording that Ellen had dropped through the mail slot of the carriage house began to play. The first image was of a street sign on the corner of 27th Street and 7th. From there the camera—positioned at waist height—moved down the block, coming to a stop outside her building. With jerky movement, it went up the outside steps of Barrett’s building. A click, and the security door pushed open. The scene shifted to a tile-walled stairwell and to a pair of men’s rubber-soled shoes on worn marble steps. The video grew dark from a missing light on the third-floor landing, then another door and a hallway, and then a gloved hand inserted a pick into the first of two locks. The cylinders clicked, the door opened, and the camera was inside. Enthralled, Jimmy turned the player to a slower speed, needing to catch every detail. He had a chilling sliver of fear as he wondered what would have happened if Ellen were discovered in Barrett’s co-op.
