five men were sprawled on the sidewalk. They also saw the big man in the center still looking at the man sitting against the wall. The camera paused and, before it swung away, they could see the two men on the screen talking. When the camera swung back again the big man and the man against wall were gone and only the four dead bodies remained.
“Just a little more,” said Major Daniels. “One of my monitors took over manual control of the cameras in this area when one of them picked up the sound of gunshots.” He then started the video again, and they saw the big man running down the street until he came to an entrance into a building and went through it. The view then switched to the corridor that the big man entered. There were hundreds of people moving and they lost sight of him. “We lost him in the crowd.”
“How far were you able to follow the man sitting against the wall?” Esa asked.
“I’ll get to that in a minute,” Major Daniels said. “When our system detected two gunshots, one of the monitors on duty immediately took manual control of all the cameras in this area.”
Inspector Connor said, “Victim number two fired his gun twice. I don’t think he hit anyone, because the four dead men had no bullets in them, and there was no blood where the big man was standing or where the other man was sitting.”
Colonel Ortiz then said, “I think I can tell you what happened.”
“John, I want you to record what the colonel says, and also, if you don’t mind, please get a copy of Major Daniels’s videos.”
“Yes sir.”
Then Inspector Connor said, “Go ahead, Colonel.”
Just as Colonel Ortiz started to explain, two men walked up to the group. “Just a moment, Colonel,” Esa said.
Jack Chin, one of John Sinclair’s assistants, said, “Inspector Connor, you asked me to bring Sergeant Garcia when he arrived.”
“Thank you, Jack. Good evening, Sergeant.”
“Good evening,” said Sergeant Garcia. “Don’t let me interrupt you.”
“I’ve invited Sergeant Garcia here because he might have something that relates to the man sitting against the wall,” Major Daniels said. “I was working with him on another issue when the attack took place here.”
“If it’s all right with everyone, I’d like to stay on task,” Esa said. “We’ll get to Sergeant Garcia after I hear from Colonel Ortiz. Go ahead, Colonel.”
“Thank you,” said Colonel Ortiz. “The first one to attack was this man to the right of center. He thrust his knife at the person sitting against the wall. Whoever the person against wall was, let’s call him the victim, he stepped inside the thrust, twisted the arm, and broke the elbow with a hand blow that caused the attacker to drop his knife. The victim then caught the knife before it hit the sidewalk, as he was rolling under the man on the left who was slashing at his back. The victim placed his knife in the path of the attacker’s arm to use the attacker’s own slashing motion to sever his tendons and ligaments, which also caused him to drop his knife. The victim came out of his roll holding both knives. He immediately threw the serrated knife into the eye of the gunman on the right, who I am certain was about to begin firing.”
He paused for a moment and said, “I feel certain about everything so far, and I can see in my mind the moves that the victim made.” Then the colonel walked over to the four bodies and stood facing the gunman on the right with his back to the gunman on the left. “It’s this next move that I’ve never seen before,” he said. “There’s only one thing the victim could have done within the time restraints that Miss Ash has given. The gunman behind the victim fired a shot at him, but the victim anticipated that and had begun a roll. He threw the knife back between his legs, upside down in the middle of his roll, into the gunman’s heart, causing his second shot to go wild. His roll would have brought him in front of the first attacker, probably still holding his broken arm since only a few seconds had passed. The victim grabbed this arm and swung him face-first into the wall, then he rotated and kicked the second attacker with the severed wrist between the legs and then slammed his knee into the attacker’s face as he bent over. The attacker died when he flipped over backwards and hit his head on the concrete. He had a broken nose, which tells me how the victim flipped him backwards. The victim then sat back down against the wall just as the camera returned.”
“Colonel, what did you mean by the victim using a move you’ve never seen before?” Esa asked.
Colonel Ortiz looked at Inspector Connor, who could tell he was struggling with how to answer his question. “Inspector, the victim never saw the second gunman when he threw the knife.”
“What!”
“Let me demonstrate.” Colonel Ortiz walked over to the street and picked up a small rock. He then walked back to where he was facing the gunman on the right. “Now I want you to imagine that I’ve just rolled under the attacker on the left, cut his wrist, and picked up his knife as I came to my feet. I then throw the serrated knife at the gunman in front of me.” Colonel Ortiz demonstrated the motion of throwing a knife. “This rock in my left hand represents the other knife. I want you to notice at this point that I cannot see the gunman behind me, but I know he’s got to be lining up a shot at me, and remember that according to Miss Ash, whatever I do now must be done within one second, and I have to slam the attacker with a broken arm into the wall within two seconds after that.”
“Hold that position for a moment, Colonel,” Esa said. “Jack, go down there where the second gunman was about to shoot and take a position like you were going to take a shot.”
“Yes sir.”
“Okay, Colonel, continue.”
“As I was saying, notice that I can’t see the gunman behind me. The only thing I can do with the time I have left is to roll forward and throw the knife between my legs in the middle of my roll, then come to my feet in time to grab the first attacker’s broken arm. The problem is that when I have to release the knife I still wouldn’t be able to see the gunman. Let me show you with this rock.”
The colonel then rolled forward and threw the rock between his legs at Jack. The rock completely missed.
“Thanks for not hitting me, Colonel,” said Jack.
“Don’t thank me; I was doing my best to hit you.”
Esa noticed that when Colonel Ortiz released the rock his vision was blocked by his body making the roll. “Colonel, are you sure that he made the throw the way you’re describing? It looks impossible to hit that gunman anywhere, much less in his heart.”
“Inspector, there’s nothing else he could have done in the time he had. And yes, that throw is impossible, but there’s one thing that you’re missing.”
“What’s that?”
“Remember, he threw the serrated knife into the first gunman’s eye socket with his right hand, and he hit a moving target the size of a dime. He was holding in the other knife in his left hand, which means he made that blind throw left-handed.”
“Holy groad,” said Esa.
“Exactly,” said Colonel Ortiz.
“Colonel, do you know anyone that could have done what you’ve seen here tonight?” Major Daniels asked.
“Major, I have won six planetary hand-to-hand competitions over the last fifteen years, and I know the other nine winners. I am not bragging when I tell you that I am considered the best at hand-to-hand combat on the planet. However, the other nine winners and I could not come close to doing what happened here tonight. We could, perhaps, take out the first two attackers, but catching that first knife before it hit the ground, then finishing a roll holding both knives; that’s impossible. Something else that I should tell you: the victim hit two targets the size of a dime while avoiding knife thrusts and gunshots in less than three seconds. No one, and I do mean absolutely no one, that I’ve ever known or seen could do that. And remember, one of those throws was made with his non- dominant hand.”
“Colonel, are you saying that this was done by more than one person?” Esa asked.
“I would really like to believe that if for no other reason than to save my ego, but it’s just not possible.”
“Why not, Colonel?” Major Daniels asked.
“The other persons would have to come into the fight, help the victim accomplish this, and then disappear
