"Destroyer 023 - Child's Play.pdb" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Remo)

THE DESTROYER: CHILD'S PLAY
Copyright (c) 1976 by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
An original Pinnacle Books edition, published for the first time anywhere.
ISBN: 0-523-41238-X
First printing, April 1976 Second printing, April 1978 Third printing, May 1980
Cover illustration by Hector Garrido Printed in the United States of America
PINNACLE BOOKS, INC.
2029 Century Park East
Los Angeles, California 90067
For Megan

CHAPTER ONE
The left arm came sailing over the schoolyard fence ... without a body on it. The left leg skittered into a sandbox, where the blood pumped out of the thigh stump and onto a rubber play shovel. There were no sharp edges on this yellow shovel the size of a large serving spoon because it was guaranteed by the National Parental Council as "child safe." In the playground of the Fairview, Oklahoma, Country Day School there was also no left side of Robert Calder.
Jimmy Wilkes and Katherine Poffer remembered that was the side on which Mr. Calder had been holding the "froobie."
"Tell the men what a froobie is, Katherine," said the nurse in the infirmary of the Fairview Country Day School as two men in polished cordovan shoes and neat gray suits with white shirts and striped ties took notes on a small tape re-
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corder. They had told the Fair-view County Sheriff's office they wanted to talk to the children first, and afterward the sheriff could get all the information he needed. He had complained that homicide was not a federal crime but a state crime, and if the Justice Department wanted the assistance of the Fairview County Sheriff's Office, they should tell him what the hell was up. Especially since November was four months away and while they had assured jobs, an elected county official sure as hell didn't, and one hand washes the other if the FBI knew what the Fair-view County Sheriff's office meant. They did, and they didn't want him talking to the children first.
So Katherine Poffer, seven, explained to the two FBI agents what a f roobie was.
"It's nice," said Kathy.
"Tell them what it does, dear," said the nurse.
"It's like a frisbee. It's plastic, only it squiggles if you get it right," said Jimmy Wilkes, six.
"She said me. She said I should say what a froobie is," said Katherine Poffer. "It's like a frisbee only it squiggles," Kathy said with righteous triumph.
"Now when did the bang happen?" asked one of the agents.
"Me or Jimmy?" said Katherine Poffer.
"Either one," said the agent.
"When he threw it, sort of," said Jimmy.
"Sort of?"
"Yeah. Like the froobie was up at his ear, like a quarterback ready to throw."
"Yes," said the agent.
"He was left-handed," said Jimmy Wilkes.
"Yes."
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"And then, wow, boom," said Jimmy, his hands going out to show a big explosion.
"You didn't see half of him at all," said Katherine Poffer.
"A leg went in the sandbox, and there's no going in the sandbox during afternoon recess," said Jimmy.
"Did you see who brought the froobie to the schoolyard?"
"Nobody brought it. It was there," said Jimmy.
"Somebody must have brought it," said the agent.
"The new boy maybe brought it," said Katherine.
"Some grownup," said the agent. "Was any grownup standing near the schoolyard?"
"The ice cream man for a while," said Jimmy. The two agents went on with the interview. They had talked to the ice cream vendor already, and he had seen nothing. He was also not the kind of person to withhold information. This wasn't Brooklyn, where people stuck their noses behind doors and kept them there for their safety. This was heartland America, where if a strange dog wandered into town, everyone knew and was willing not only to talk about it but to tell you if it was a Communist dog or a Mafia dog. This was pin-clean small-town USA, where everyone not only knew everyone else but talked about everyone else. And no one knew who had killed Mr. Calder and while everyone was downright glad to cooperate with the FBI-"We're on your side, fellas"-no one knew who had planted the bomb. And what was the FBI doing here in Fairview
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anyway? This wasn't a federal crime, you know. Was Mr. Calder a secret spy?
No, ma'am.
Was he a secret scientist?
No, sir.
Was he a big Mafia cappucino who split with the family?
No, sir.