NYPD Red 4 Read Online Free PDF

they’re easy to steal. However”—he pulled out the next picture—“this one disappeared about the same time.”
    It looked like R2-D2’s taller brother.
    “It’s an anesthesia machine. Fifty thousand dollars, and at four hundred pounds, you can’t exactly slip it into a backpack. And yes, it has wheels, but it also has an electromagnetic security device embedded in it, and the hospital has guards at all access points. But it still went out the door.”
    “Did Saint Cecilia report the thefts?” Kylie asked.
    “No. We had no proof that anything was
stolen
, and we didn’t report them missing. The hospital decided to write it off and chalk it up to bad security.”
    Kylie and I said nothing. Because so far nothing made sense. A low-level crime that the victim didn’t report, and yet the mayor, knowing we were caught up in the Elena Travers murder, asked us to drop everything and get involved.
    Howard finally dropped the other shoe.
    “I’m also on the board at Mercy Hospital, and two days ago it was hit. This time they got away with a hundred and seventy thousand dollars’ worth of equipment. I don’t believe in coincidences, so I did some digging, and I found out that nine hospitals had been robbed in two months. Total haul, close to two million dollars.” He handed me a printout. “The specifics are all here.”
    “And you’d like us to find out who’s behind the thefts,” I said.
    “Yes, but not in your usual style.”
    “I didn’t know we had a style,” Kylie said, looking at me. “He’s going to have to tell us what it is so we don’t keep doing it.”
    Howard smiled and pulled a newspaper clipping from the folder. It was a picture of Kylie and me leaving the Bassett brothers’ house.
    “The media loves you,” he said. “It’s one thing to be on the front page when you solve a major crime, but last night you interviewed the people whose necklace was stolen, and you made page five of the
Post.
You guys get ink wherever you go, and my goal—and Muriel’s—is to keep a tight lid on this investigation. She called the PC this morning, and he’s on board.”
    “This is a pervasive crime spree, but it’s the first time we’ve ever heard of it,” Kylie said. “Why is it so hush-hush? And why not tell the public what’s going on? Sometimes they can be our best source of leads.”
    “If you ask the head of any one of these hospitals, he’ll tell you that the secrecy is for the well-being of the patients. People want to feel safe when they check in, but if they hear that criminals have stolen a piece of equipment the size of a refrigerator, they’re going to worry.
What else can these villains take? My wallet? My laptop? My newborn baby?
The prevailing wisdom at the hospitals is that it’s better to keep it quiet. Less stress for the patients.”
    “What’s the real reason they don’t want to go public with the thefts?” I asked.
    “Because if this shit gets out,” Howard said, a wide grin on his face, “it would put a serious crimp in their fund-raising.”

CHAPTER 8
     
    “CHANGE OUR STYLE?” Kylie said as soon as she pulled the car out of the mayor’s driveway. “Is he serious? One of the reasons we get press is because we solve crimes. Riddle me this, Batman: how are we supposed to crack this case if we can’t put out any feelers to the public?”
    “Because we can solve anything, Girl Wonder. That’s why the mayor of Gotham City picked us,” I said. “Why don’t we start by talking to the people we’re actually allowed to talk to? Get on the Drive, and let’s shoot down to Mercy Hospital and talk to their security people.”
    She turned left on 79th, and we headed south on the FDR.
    “There’s only one way to get two million dollars’ worth of hospital equipment from New York to whatever third world buyer is willing to pay for it,” Kylie said. “Big fat shipping containers.”
    “Good idea,” I said. “Let’s give Howard’s list to Jan Hogle and see