Blind Eye Read Online Free PDF Page B

coat and stood next to the car for a couple of minutes. A light drizzle was falling from the gray October sky. He considered asking the driver to get an umbrella for him from the trunk but he decided against it. He hoped he wouldn’t be out here long.
    As he watched, two long Vs of geese appeared in the distance. As the flocks passed within range overhead, Martin Durr and his guests began firing. They were shooting senselessly, like children at a carnival booth. Despite all the fine weaponry they were sporting, only two geese dropped with a splash into the marsh. Joseph was certain that at least one of the birds belonged to his boss. Probably both.
    Martin Durr turned and saw the car. Joseph assumed his boss saw him, too, but Durr didn’t bother to return the discreet wave. The older man handed his gun to the guide standing near him. He said something to one of his guests and started toward the car.
    Joseph knew this was his cue to start walking, too. If he didn’t meet Durr at least halfway, he’d hear about it.
    He looked down at his four-hundred-dollar wingtips and at the muddy path straight ahead. There was no dry route to take. He reluctantly stepped into the mud and felt his shoes sink in.
    Martin Durr didn’t believe in cell phones or e-mail or even sending a trustworthy messenger when it came to taking care of business this sensitive. And Joseph was too smart to question the older man’s judgment. Durr not only had survived but thrived in a very tough and dirty business for over thirty years. There were still a few things that Joseph could learn from the man.
    â€œWell?” Durr asked when they reached each other.
    As he knew he was expected to do, Joseph took one quick look around to make sure he was out of earshot of everyone and that no surveillance equipment was anywhere in sight.
    He turned back to his boss. “There was a plane crash this morning. Or rather, a charter plane exploded in midair before crashing.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œFive R & D staff scientists from the New Mexico Power Company, along with two key administrators and the pilot and copilot, were killed. They were coming back early from a seminar because of the problem in the Gulf. It was a charter flight. They were the only passengers.”
    Joseph watched as Durr took off one glove and vacantly stroked the fat of his double chin. The nearly translucent skin on his doughy face was normally pale. But now, with the cheeks red from the cold, Joseph thought Durr was looking more and more like an old woman. The thought disappeared, however, when his boss’s steely blue eyes focused directly on his face.
    â€œThe cause of the accident?”
    â€œThe unofficial reports from the airport and from an unidentified source in the NTSB South Central field office are that the pilot radioed in just before they exploded, saying that they were experiencing a malfunction in the fuel system,” Joseph told him. “The official reports won’t get released for at least a month…but they will confirm the early findings.”
    The older man looked off into the distance. He reached one hand into a pocket, took out a handkerchief and blew his nose loudly. Joseph refrained from saying anything. He knew he was expected to be silent.
    â€œWhere does this leave us?” Durr finally asked.
    â€œI believe it would be safe to say, clean.”
    â€œNo loose ends remaining? You’re certain.”
    â€œI’m certain. There are no loose ends, sir.”

8
    University of Connecticut Health Center
Department of Neurology
    â€œI t’s absolutely ridiculous to lose the funding on a program this important just because we can’t get enough test subjects,” Sid Conway complained.
    â€œWhat happened to the two patients you had ready to go?” Ahmad Baer asked.
    â€œThe families backed out. They wouldn’t sign the papers at the last minute.”
    Ahmad moved down the cafeteria line with