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''Put your hands over your head. Now!" |
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Jerry Mars looked more amused than frightened. "Do you always greet visitors this way?" |
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"I said put your hands on your head." Jerry did, and Jack patted him down. He was not carrying a weapon. And his briefcase was full of papers, including a group photo of Stefan Karsky, Maria Terranova, Marcus Wiley and himself. They were closing in. |
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"Where did you get this?" |
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"It was sent to my office anonymously, Mr. Perry, and that's what I want to talk to you about. Do I have to keep my hands like this? You can see for yourself that I'm not armed." |
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Jack let him lower his hands but did not take the gun off him. If this guy was a private detective, how come he didn't carry a gun? |
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"I'll be straight with you. I have been hired to investigate these deaths because it's believed they are related to and part of a coverup of activities involving a scientific project you and they worked on at BiOmega Laboratories." |
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How did it get out? Who was left? Jack looked at the photo. He remembered posing for it, must have been in 1972. Maria Terranova had taken it with her camera set on a time release. She wanted a shot of everybody in the lab. Except somebody was missing. The photo had been cropped just to the right of Wiley. But in the slant of the sun the shadow of the cropped figure fell across Wiley's white shirt. Julius Wick. |
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The man's card said Mars Investigative Services, with a Boston address and telephone number. "Who are you working for?" Jack asked. |
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Mars nodded to say that it was a reasonable question. "As I said, sir, I'm a private investigator, and I do my best to uphold the confidentiality of my clients." |
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Jack raised the gun to the center of Jerry Mars's chest. "Who sent you?" |
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The man stared at him, a mirthless grin spreading across his face. Jack couldn't tell if it came from a perverse kind of pleasure or if he was taunting him. Or if it was just a macho display of arrogance. |
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"Mr. Perry, believe me, I have no intention of dying for professional ethics." As he said it, Mars simply stared at Jack as if watching a movie in his eyes. |
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