City of Brass Read Online Free PDF Page B

persistent, aren’t you? All right, I’ll tell you everything I know—but I warn you, it isn’t much. The whole thing was Cathy’s doing, really. She came to me in May—nearly two months ago—with a story of being in Wilber’s lab one day and glancing through some of his secret notes. She told me, or rather she didn’t tell me, what it was all about—though she hinted that he was going against orders and doing some basic research in a forbidden field. We were both afraid that the news might break just at the start of my fund-raising activities.”
    Simon Ark cleared his throat to give warning of an impending interruption. “The good Professor Wilber led us to believe that women were never allowed in his laboratory.”
    I nodded in agreement. “Something about being afraid the apes would attack them.”
    Mahon snorted. “I think that Wilber’s really nuts. Anyway, all I know is what she told me. And now she’s dead.”
    “You think Wilber had a hand in it?”
    “I don’t really know what to think,” he said. “I’m baffled. I can only suppose she took up with a bad crowd—those hotrodders from the end of town.”
    “Do you know any of their names?” Simon asked.
    “No … Zenny was one of them. Zenny something. There were others too. She seemed to think she was learning about life or something, hanging around with that wild crowd. At times she even talked about writing a book on sociology, but I don’t think she was ever serious. Jean couldn’t do a thing with her.”
    Quite suddenly Simon Ark was on his feet, thanking Mahon for the drink and making it obvious he wanted to leave. It was an odd action for him, but I had no choice but to follow. I shook hands with Mahon and assured him I’d be talking with him.
    “Are you staying for the funeral Tuesday?” he asked.
    I hesitated, not knowing what Simon had in mind. “We may, though I should be back at Neptune Tuesday morning. I’ll see.”
    We went back to the car, and Mahon went back to his flowers. I headed in the general direction of the hotel, waiting for Simon to say something, but for a long time he was silent. Finally he said, “I think this situation is worth looking into further.”
    “You want to stay?”
    “I think so. Until tomorrow, at least.”
    “Well, maybe I can get you a room at the hotel. What are you going to do?”
    He thought about it. “Two fields must be investigated a bit. The University and the hotrodders. Do you have any preference?”
    “Look, Simon, it’s like Quinn said—we’re not detectives. Why not stay out of it? There’s nothing here to interest you. No witchcraft or ghosts or anything.”
    “Still …”
    “You want to stay. All right, we stay, but just overnight. I’ve got no reason to stick around for the funeral of a girl I hardly knew. But if you’re going to do any sneaking around you can do it on your own.”
    Our route had taken us back toward the funeral parlor, and I swung the car around the grassy triangle to see what might be going on.
    “Interesting,” Simon said.
    “What? Did I miss something?”
    “Professor Kane Wilber, just going in. Since he said he didn’t know her it’s interesting that he should leave his work to come here.”
    “Maybe he wanted to make sure.”
    “Perhaps,” Simon mused. “Please leave me off at the next corner. I will probably see you at the hotel later tonight.”
    There was no talking to him when he got in one of those moods. I dropped him off as he’d requested and circled the block to the hotel. But my curiosity got the better of me. I parked the rented car and went back around the corner on foot.
    Simon was easy to spot, even with the late afternoon’s sun in my eyes. Tall and black against the brighter colors of summer foliage, he was a man apart. I watched a moment and saw the door of the funeral home open. It was indeed Professor Wilber, and now he was leaving, walking with a quick firm pace back in the direction of the campus. Simon waited