Zig Zag Read Online Free PDF Page A

them.
    It
was cold in there. The walls and floor were a soft, reflective apple
green, like cut glass. Several individuals wearing surgical gear
stood in a row, surrounded by tables covered with scientific
instruments. They were looking at the door the three men had just
come through, as if their mission was none other than to form a sort
of welcome committee. One of them, his silvery hair parted down the
side, a suit and tie rather incongruously peeking out from beneath
his green scrubs, stepped forward. The young man made the
introductions.
    "Mr.
Harrison, Mr. Carter. Dr. Fontana." The doctor nodded his
greeting; the white-haired man and the burly one followed suit. "You
can speak to them freely, Doctor."
    No
one said a word. The trace of a smile, or perhaps a grimace, played
on the doctor's pale, shiny face; he looked waxen. His right eye was
twitching. When he finally spoke, he resembled a ventriloquist's
dummy, controlled from a distance.
    "I
have never seen anything like this ... in all my time in forensics."
    The
other doctors stood aside, inviting the visitors to step forward. An
examination table lay behind them. Overhead lights shone down on a
sheet-covered shape. One of the physicians peeled it back.
    Aside
from the white-haired man and the burly one, no one looked at what
lay beneath the sheet. They were watching the visitors' reactions, as
if they were
the ones who needed to be carefully examined.
    The
white-haired man opened his mouth, but then closed it again and
looked away.
    For
a moment, the burly man looked at what lay on the table.
    He
stood there, frowning, his body rigid, as though forcing his eyes to
stare at what no one else could keep looking at was the only thing
keeping him from fainting.

    NIGHT had
fallen. Elisa's apartment was an island of light. The apartments
around hers were growing dark. She was still sitting in the same
position, in front of a television that was no longer on, cradling
the enormous knife in her lap. She hadn't eaten all day, nor had she
stopped to rest. More than anything, she wanted to do some exercise
and then take a long, relaxing shower, but she didn't dare move. She
waited.
    She'd
wait as long as necessary, though she had no idea how long that might
be.
    They've
abandoned you. They lied. You're all alone. And that's not the worst
of it. You know what's worse?
    The
teddy bear's arms were outstretched, his heart-shaped mouth smiling.
His black-button eyes reflected a tiny, pale Elisa.
    The
worst is what's to come. What hasn't happened yet. What's going to
happen to you.
    Her
cell phone suddenly came to life. Like so many things we yearn for
(or fear), the arrival of the long-awaited (or feared) event began a
new stage for her, a new way of thinking. Even before she picked up,
her brain had already begun to formulate and discard hypotheses, to
take what had not yet occurred as a given.
    She
answered on the second ring, sure that it wouldn't be Victor.
    It
wasn't. It was the call she'd been waiting for.
    The
message took no more than two seconds. But it was enough to make her
burst into tears when she hung up.
    Now
you know. Finally. Now you know.
    She
cried for a long time, balled up, still clutching the receiver. Once
she got it out of her system, she stood and looked at the clock. She
had some time before the meeting. She'd exercise, have a shower, grab
a bite to eat... And then she'd decide whether to go it alone or try
to find help. She'd thought about trying to ask for help, someone
unconnected, someone who knew nothing about any of it and who she
could explain it to in a logical fashion, someone unbiased. But who?
    Victor,
possibly. Yes, maybe Victor.
    But
that was risky. And there was an additional problem: how was she
going to let him know she needed his help urgently? She had to find a
way to get him the message.
    First,
she had to calm down and think it through. Intelligence had always
been her best weapon. She was well aware that human intelligence was
far more