Project Moses - A Mystery Thriller (Enzo Lee Mystery-Thriller Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

user to tear apart complex structures of molecules into their constituent parts and reassemble them, adding certain modifications in the process. It saved months of laboratory time.
    The short, squat man, who resembled a friar with a large bald spot on his crown surrounded by a fringe of thick black hair, was using the computer for a much more simple purpose. He was reviewing files of electronic mail and financial records, most of it not his own. Finally, he found what he wanted and printed the documents on an HP Laserjet. He folded the printed pages and inserted them into a plain white envelope. He looked at the copies of the San Francisco News that lay on a white, melamine desktop beside him, scanning the bylines. In block letters he addressed the envelope to “Enzo Lee, Reporter.”

Chapter 5
    AS LEE LEFT Sarah’s flat, he turned his Fiat east on Bush Street. If he was going to keep his promise and report on the cause of death of Judge Gilbert, he might as well start now.
    The San Francisco’s Medical Examiner’s Office was located in an annex behind the Hall of Justice. Lee checked his watch. It was only 3 p.m. He might have to wait a while, but he guessed he’d be able to see Chief Coroner Michael Santos even if he dropped by unannounced.
    Santos had a reputation as being a brilliant but eccentric forensic pathologist. His office was located just off the main laboratory where the autopsies were performed. Like the laboratory, it was decorated in modern industrial style with square, commercial quality linoleum tiles in mottled gray, light-green walls and fluorescent lighting overhead. Tall, dark file cabinets lined the walls of the office waiting area.
    On top of the file cabinets sat large bell jars filled with fluid and what appeared to be human organs. Some of the fluid in the jars was tinted red and blue. Lee hoped there was some professional reason for the display but suspected it was someone’s bizarre taste in office art.
    When Lee was ushered into Santos’ inner office by his secretary, he found the coroner behind his desk wearing a white lab coat. Santos was about 50. He was tall and thin with sunken cheeks and thick, Coke-bottle glasses. In front of him sat a melon-sized model of a human brain with removable parts. Off to one side was a small cluster of pill bottles.
    “Uhh…Hello, Mike,” said Lee. “We’ve talked on the phone before. I’m Enzo Lee from the News.” Lee thought about shaking hands, but Santos hadn’t offered his or even stood up. So, the reporter took the single chair sitting in front of the desk.
    Santos opened his mouth as if to say something, and then closed it. He did it again. Lee realized Santos was just stretching his mouth as if to exercise his jaw muscles. It was disconcerting. It made Lee feel as if he was trying to conduct a conversation with a fish.
    “Mike, I’ve come about Miriam Gilbert.”
    Santos stopped his mouth exercises. The dull glaze in his eyes brightened into a gleam and his thin-lipped mouth turned up at the corners.
    “Ahhh,” he said. “Our judge.”
    Lee half expected Santos to invite him next door for a viewing of “our judge” so he decided to hurry along the interview.
    “Mike, let me cut directly to the chase. Do you have a cause of death?”
    Santos didn’t say anything for a moment. He gave Lee a long, sly look. Lee thought if Santos had had a mustache, he would have twirled it. Instead, Santos began disassembling the brain in front of him. He did it without looking, his eyes still on Lee as the plastic pieces of the model brain made a clicking noise.
    “I do and I don’t,” said Santos.
    God, thought Lee. Was this going to be 20 questions? It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn’t eaten any lunch and was starving. “Okay,” said Lee, pulling off his glasses and massaging his eyes wearily. “Let’s start with the ‘I do’ part.”
    “A clot,” said Santos. “A basic blood clot cut off blood to the brain. A massive