The Silk Code by Paul Levinson

Author:Paul Levinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

NINE

“You daydreaming, Doctor?” Sheila Jameson, my nurse, finished taping up the new bandage. “It looks quite good for a wound just two days old.”

“Thank you,” I said. I was trying not to think about my stomach. It made me wince to even think about not thinking about it.

“That hurt?” she asked.

“No.”

“It will, don’t worry,” she said, and smiled. “You still have some drugs in your system, so you’re feeling a bit better than you should. But you’re on the road to recovery.”

Jenna and Mallory walked in. Jenna ran a cool hand over my bandage, kissed me, and frowned. Nurse Jameson left, closing the door behind her.

“She says it’s healing OK,” I said, and squeezed Jenna’s hand. “Shouldn’t have happened in the first place—my reflexes are usually sharper.”

“There’s no self-protection from that kind of attack,” Mallory said. “Happens all too often in London these days—we’re becoming more like New York City every day.”

“Hey, crime rate in New York has been down for a while now,” I said, managing a smile.

“You can’t think what happened to Phil is coincidence,” Jenna said. This was the first time she and Mallory had been in my hospital room at the same time. She was not smiling at all.

“I don’t know what to think,” Mallory said. “Antonescu turns up alive in New York. Phil, the New York man in this investigation, turns up slashed at Heathrow. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. If someone, whoever it is who is behind this, wanted to shut down the New York part of the escapade, that one-two punch would be a good way of doing it. Damn good thing that knife wasn’t a few inches higher.”

“But killing Phil, if that’s what they wanted to do, only calls attention to this,” Jenna said.

“Yes, but it’s the ancient calculus of assassination, love,” Mallory replied. “If the death of someone has a net result of less adverse knowledge afoot, even with the publicity the death brings, then you kill that person. Assuming the folks who do the calculus have no moral qualms about murder.”

“I’m enjoying this conversation immensely,” I said, sourly. “What do you know about the guy—you said the ID in the bill-fold was Joey Beiler—who apparently lacked that qualm, at least regarding me? His grunts sounded Cockney, with maybe a German or Swiss undertone.”

“Lots of nuances for a grunt,” Mallory said. “And an odd combination. Germans are usually closer to royalty than Cockney hereabouts.” He said this with a faint air of disdain, directed to the royalty part of the comment.

“What made you think it was Swiss?” Jenna asked.

“I don’t know…”

“The Amish have Swiss-German roots,” she said.

“Amish?” Mallory asked. “You think they have a connection to this?”

“Well, Chautauqua has an Amish community,” she replied. “My aunt used to go there every summer. That’s where Gerry Moses died.”

Mallory took it in. “Righto. In any case, we’re still checking after Joey Beiler. Nothing on that name anywhere as yet.”

“Great,” I said.

Mallory exhaled slowly. “Well. I’ll go ring up my man to see if our car is ready for you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.