Evil in the 1st House Read Online Free Page A

capable of fighting off certain cancer cells. She’d come to him for some blood work, and he patented her blood type using some discarded samples. It’s all been perfectly legal, although it’s becoming more of a gray area since the recent Supreme Court ruling implying that many DNA patents may be illegal.”
    â€œWhat happened with the lawsuit?”
    â€œNothing. The woman died in a hit-and-run accident before it came to court, and the case was dropped.”
    â€œSo Williamson became more concerned with gene patents than with practicing medicine?”
    Mort waved his arms erratically as he spoke. “Apparently. He does own quite a number of them. He has laid claim to about forty genome abnormalities.”
    â€œIs this common?”
    â€œThe purchasing, or in some cases, stealing of genes has been an escalating business for some years. He owns some that are essential for diabetics, people with Parkinson’s, and several other high profile diseases. His patents are used by the biggest drug companies in the world. And they pay him a percentage of everything they earn on any drug that uses one of them. I’ll bet he’s even richer than you.” Mort smiled broadly.
    â€œWhat else do you have?”
    â€œI’m still chasing down some leads.”
    Lowell took the last sip from his tall cardboard cup of coffee, then crumpled it and tossed it overhand like a basketball into the recycle bin. He looked at the paper Mort had given him. “I’ll get to Williamson’s chart later, once you find out the birth time. Anything else?”
    Mort glanced at his notes. “He was married to Gloria Greenwald in New Jersey in 1998. There is no record of a divorce in New York or New Jersey. But they could have done it in Reno. I’ll keep looking.”
    â€œBirth information for her?”
    â€œNot yet. But later today.”
    â€œAnd after the separation?”
    â€œHe seems to have thrown himself into his work. No record of a new marriage. Edward wanted for nothing. He went to the finest schools and traveled around the world. He even spent one semester in a boarding school in Paris.”
    Lowell nodded knowingly. He understood the extent of elite education in a moneyed life. “Where is his son now?”
    â€œWilliamson owns a small, private hospital outside Clifton, New Jersey, which is where the boy is being treated. There are only eight rooms on the second floor. It appears to be mostly a research hospital.”
    â€œAlright, we’ll look into that later. For now, I need the mother’s birth information if I’m ever going to find her.”
    â€œI’ll get right on it. I’ll work on the computer in the limo on the way to New Brunswick and kill two birds with one stone.”
    â€œWhen can you leave?”
    Mort looked at his phone. “It’s almost ten now. I can be ready by eleven.”
    Lowell buzzed Sarah. “Have Andy pick Mort up outside at eleven.”
    Mort got up to leave and then turned, his hand resting on the doorknob. “You know, David, something’s just not right here.”
    â€œI know. I feel it too.” Lowell stood up and stretched his back, then sat down again. “Let’s use our respective skills to get to the truth.”

Chapter Four
    Waiting was the hardest thing for Lowell to do. Once he had a lead he could follow it like a bloodhound tracking a coyote. But now he felt stuck on the front porch waiting for Mort’s information.
    But he was also working on a case involving the embezzlement of a company’s retirement fund. With the twins’ inquiry on hold, he took out that folder and looked it over.
    It was a particularly nasty business. Someone had absconded with the retirement money that sixty-three people relied on. He carried the charts of the three main suspects over to the turtle tank. Buster perched on the rock waiting for him. She always was more interested in his