[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

one of the bodies that was awaiting disposal.
"Bring that one inside," she commanded. "I think better on a full stomach."
Wheeling, she headed back for the bottling plant.
Chapter 14
Dusk was creeping slowly in by the time Remo and Chiun arrived at Folcroft.
Long Island Sound was visible through the trees, slivered with shimmering
streaks of twilight, as the cab steered between the great granite columns with
their attendant stone lions. At Remo's instruction, the driver brought them to
the sanitarium's main staircase.
"Why are we entering this way?" the Master of Sinanju asked suspiciously.
Behind them the yellow taxi was making its crunching way back down the great
gravel drive.
"Stairs are stairs," Remo said as they headed up.
"Yes," Chiun replied, padding up beside his pupil. "And the stairs that are
the stairs we always use are on the other side of the building."
"I thought you liked front doors."
Remo held the door for his teacher. Chiun swept inside. As he walked, the old
Korean stroked his thread of beard thoughtfully.
"I notice that this route avoids passing the Prince Regent's office," he
commented.
"I know, Chiun," Remo sighed. "And before you start on me, too, I admit it. I
think the kid's okay. He was pretty stand-up for us in Sinanju when he didn't
have to be. Smitty is doing a good jab bringing him onto the team. He's
working out. There, I said it. Happy?"
In the lobby Remo's raised voice caught the attention of a receptionist and
two nurses. The receptionist recognized Chiun as a former patient who
occasionally stopped back at Folcroft to visit. She thought Remo to be his
nurse. Her frown of disapproval at Remo's raised voice was interrupted by a
ringing telephone. She was answering the phone as the two men slipped by.
"I am pleased to hear that," the Master of Sinanju said. "Since one day you
will be the Regent's royal assassin."
"Can't happen, Chiun," Remo said, shaking his head firmly. "I'm not getting
too chummy with the kid because Sinanju rules forbid me from working for
Smith's successor."
Page 51
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Do not be so certain, white man," Chiun said knowingly.
"And here we go," Remo said. "Back to that famous loophole you claim you
discovered ages ago and refuse to tell me about."
Chiun smiled slyly. "Are you not the least bit curious?"
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, the way you manage to contort supposedly unbendable
rules into pretzel shapes always fascinates me. But just 'cause I like to
watch the magician saw the woman in half doesn't mean I'll be running to the
nearest Tupperware party with a chain saw. Rules are rules."
"They are not always as inviolate as you seem to think," Chiun replied. "Take
your Smith, for instance. You agree that everyone finds him mad?"
"I don't agree with that."
"As I said," Chiun sniffed. "No one of consequence disputes his madness. And
yet we have served him well lo these many years. Your House has not always had
such tolerance for crazed emperors."
Remo's brow furrowed. "What does that mean?"
"It means that rules are only sometimes rules. Other times they are
guidelines. It is for the wise to know the difference. Thankfully, you have me
here to point the way."
He swept ahead of his pupil, through a set of fire doors and into Folcroft's
administration wing. Watching his teacher's purposeful stride, Remo smiled.
"Amen to that, Little Father," he said, shaking his head.
Allowing the fire door to slip from his fingers, he trailed the wizened Korean
up the hall.
SMITH ALWAYS KEPT a change of clothes at work just in case. He had been more
than eager to slip out of his golf clothes and back into his more familiar
uniform
Back in his three-piece gray suit and starched white shirt-green-striped
school tie knotted tightly at the collar -he was hard at work in his familiar
Folcroft environs. Day had bled into night, and still Harold W. Smith remained
at his desk.
The CURE director had scarcely noted the change of hour or scattering of
daylight. He was far too busy monitoring the events taking place along the
East Coast.
There had been many more incidents throughout the afternoon. And the tristate
area was no longer alone. There had been like occurrences in Massachusetts and
New Hampshire. To Smith, the pattern indicated a product being shipped by
ground. He had already come to this conclusion even before Remo had phoned [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]