DC By the Book

Excerpt: Rock Creek Cemetery was an older cemetery, dominated by mausoleums with stone archangels standing sentinel on the rooftops. His favorite crypt had four statues, located on the corners of the slab roof. Each angel held a sword, as if they were guarding the souls of the people inside.

Excerpt: The precinct didn’t have a counter up front separating the entrance from the central room. It was packed with metal desks and file cabinets, mug shots and two-way radios, police officers and criminals. The precinct wasn’t what Mulder had expected. The place felt like the Wild West. Criminals were handcuffed to the desks, yelling and cussing over one another.

Excerpt: The building at the end of the sidewalk was a solid mass of concrete, modern and utilitarian compared to the detailed Gothic architecture that surrounded the quad. Inside, the building stretched skyward, with floor after floor of narrow shelves facing the railings and the lobby. Students were crammed beside one another, scouring the shelves.

Excerpt: The Hoover Building dominated Pennsylvania Avenue between 9th Street and 10th Street, like a concrete fortress. It wasn’t the only massive building downtown, but the fact that the FBI and its subdivisions were the only occupants made a formidable impression.