Coalhouse Walker and his followers had originally planned to hold Pierpont Morgan hostage in his home. This was to put pressure on New York authorities to deliver Conklin, the Fire Chief, to them. However, after some inaccurate reconnaissance, the building they occupy is only his library. Morgan himself is not even in New York at this time, as he is on his journey to Egypt. The Coalhouse movement throws a grenade in the street as a showcase of their firepower and serious intent. District Attorney Charles S. Whitman takes control of the scene. He orders floorplans of the library to be retrieved and creates a plan for a lone policeman to break in and detain Coalhouse. However, when Whitman sends the policeman in, he sees an explosion go off in the library yard and hears a scream. Whitman and his team realize that Coalhouse has laid mines all around the library.

Whitman meets with his advisors. The colonel of New York’s militia advises military action. An employee of Morgan argues that there can be no violence as it could harm Morgan’s rare artifact collection. An engineer claims they can bore through the library’s foundations and break in underground, but that it will take days to pull off.