Bug Man Suspense Bundle (1,2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the door behind them.
    “Nicholas,” he began, wagging a spindly finger, “it has been brought to my attention that you failed to appear for another of your classes yesterday.”
    “Sorry, Noah, I had to make a house call.”
    “It is my responsibility as chairman of this department to remind you that your contract involves a certain amount of teaching—and your colleagues have reminded me that it is my duty to discipline you appropriately.”
    Noah picked up Nick’s right hand and slapped him on the wrist.
    “Consider yourself disciplined. Please do not force me to resort to such extreme measures again.”
    The old man motioned for Nick to sit.
    “I have good news and I have bad news, Nicholas. Which would you like first?”
    “Give me both at the same time.”
    “Very well. The good news is the National Science Foundation has granted funding for your summer research proposal—continuing study in your beloved field of forensic entomology. The bad news is that the grant is woefully inadequate, hardly more than a one-way ticket out of town.”
    Noah slid a check across the desk. Nick glanced at it and rolled his eyes.
    “Can’t we do any better than this, Noah? Aren’t there any departmental funds?”
    He shook his head. “I control the purse strings, Nicholas, butnot the size of the purse. I’m afraid that’s it; take it, as they say, or leave it.”
    Nick studied the check again, hoping to discover a floating decimal point. “What am I supposed to accomplish with this?”
    “You have the faculty committee’s permission to spend the summer at our Extension Research Facility in Holcum County. And you may take your research assistant, Dr. Tedesco, along with you.”
    “Holcum County? Is that in North Carolina? Please, tell me it’s not.”
    “Forgive me, Nicholas.” Noah smiled. “Sometimes I feel like the poet Virgil, leading you to ever deeper levels of hell.”
    “Holcum County.” Nick groaned. “Just the sound of it.”
    “Try not to think of it as a place, but as an opportunity—an opportunity to get away from the university, away from the classroom, away from students … and, I might add, away from the authorities.”
    “The authorities?”
    “I received a rather belligerent phone call this morning from the Wake County Sheriff’s Department regarding the way you—how shall I put it—expedited one of their investigations. I’ve spoken with the chancellor; he agrees that this would be a propitious time for you to take an extended leave. Purely in the name of science, of course. May I make a suggestion, Nicholas? As a friend? The next time you desire to assist the authorities, you might consider—just once—asking them first.”
    Nick grinned at the old man, slid the check from the desk, and headed for the door.
    “One more thing, Nicholas. This is to be a summer of theoretical research, not applied science. Please … for the sake of the university, the department, and your weary old mentor—for the sake of your job—try to stay out of trouble.”
    “Noah,” Nick said yawning, “what kind of trouble can you get into in Holcum County?”

Holcum County, North Carolina, June 1999
    Sheriff Peter St. Clair stood in the center of the knee-high meadow, staring at the decomposing body of his oldest friend. The cadaver lay on its back, fully stretched out, both arms extending down and to the sides. It was dressed in khaki pants and a mottled blue corduroy hunting shirt. The torso was bloated and distended, causing the seams of the shirt to split apart between buttons as if the shirt were three sizes too small. The skin was stretched and shiny, and the face was badly decomposed around the eyes and mouth. The only thing that looked at all natural about the corpse was the hair, which still lay neatly and almost comically combed to one side. The left hand was missing almost entirely, thanks to occasional visits by some forest scavenger; the right hand held a gleaming chrome handgun bearing