The Destroyer 015 - Murder Ward by Warren Murphy & Richard Sapir

Author:Warren Murphy & Richard Sapir [Murphy, Warren & Sapir, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Pulp Action
Publisher: PINNACLE BOOKS
Published: 2010-03-19T14:52:59.031000+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

The lobby of the Robler Clinic was three stories high. All three stories were filled with a Christmas tree, a massive thirty-foot-tall fir, decorated with multi-colored lights and thin glass balls, and festooned with red felt stockings with white names on them.

It was the first thing seen by the two men who entered the lobby through the heavy revolving doors. They paused just inside the doors.

"Ptahhhh," spat the old man, a wizened tiny Oriental who, despite the late December cold, wore only a blue robe.

"Stop it, Chain," said the man next to him. He was apparently a young man, but his face was obscured by almost black sunglasses. The collar of his overcoat was pulled up around his ears and the lower part of his face was obscured by a white silk scarf. The elderly Oriental held him by the right elbow as if to help support him.

"Ptahhhh," Chiun spat again. "Look at it. You Westerners have a way of taking anything and turning it into garbage. How can a tree be ugly? Easy. Give it to a white man to beautify."

"Chiun," Remo said, his voice muffled by the silk scarf. "There's the reception desk over there. Just check us in. And remember who we are."

"I would gladly abandon my knowledge of our identities, if with it I could discard my memories of that monstrosity."

Remo sighed. "Just check us in." He walked toward a row of leather couches and sat waiting.

A uniformed security guard sat behind the desk, doing double duty as receptionist and switchboard operator.

He looked up at the old Oriental standing at the high counter, his face barely visible above its top.

"Yes?" he said.

"Merry Christmas," Chiun said.

"Merry Christmas?"

"Yes. I thought I would bring holiday cheer into your life. Do you like that tree?" he asked, pointing over his shoulder but not deigning to turn around.

"We have one every year," the guard said.

"That is a non-answer to a perfectly good question," Chiun said. "Do you like the tree?"

"I guess so," the guard shrugged. "I never really look at it."

"Save yourself the trouble. Do not look at it."

"Do you have something to do with Christmas trees?" the guard asked.

"No," Chiun said. "I am Doctor Park. A room is ready for my patient, Mr. Williams. What room is it?"

"Oh, yes," the guard said, sitting up straighter on his backless, high-legged wooden stool. "You're in the new wing. Suite 515." His voice conveyed a new respect-while he had no idea who Mr. Williams was, or who this old man in front of him was, he had been cautioned right from the assistant administrator's office that a very important patient named Williams was coming and he should extend all courtesies. And that meant all courtesies.

"How do we find it?" Chiun asked.

"I'll take you there." The guard rose to his feet

"That is not necessary. Just point."

"That corridor there. Take it to the end. That's the new wing. Take the elevator to five."

"Thank you," Chiun said.

"Doctor?" the guard said, still standing.

Chiun nodded to indicate he was listening.

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