Genesis of Evil Read Online Free Page B

eliminated. But he would have to bide his time and try to look busy in the interim.
    When Arthur Konig hired Joseph Lucas, he welcomed him with open arms. Konig had traveled north to witness the designs of the talented Romanian and was more than overwhelmed at the purity of line and the imagination displayed in the structures. Arthur Konig might not have been a technical person, but he knew talent when he saw it. The two became as close as employer and employee could become and settled down to seek a mutually rewarding future.
     
    Norbert Hicks spent a lot of time talking to architectural firms before deciding on one to design his super mall. When he finally settled on Southeast Commercial Design he went home convinced he had picked the best firm for the job. Arthur Konig was amiable, knowledgeable and had a solid background of success in the design and construction of commercial buildings. When Konig realized that Hicks really wanted something spectacular, he mentally tagged Zoltan for the job of aesthetic design.
    Konig, however, wasn’t stupid. When the contract was signed, he put a memo on the bulletin board asking for anyone who was interested to sketch their ideas for a mall project and turn them over to the boss. They had two weeks to prepare a proposal. Of the forty-seven employees, only nine of them were architects. Twelve were engineers, nineteen were draftsmen and seven were clerical. Of the nine architects only four were interested in commercial designs and Zoltan stood head and shoulders above the other three. Arthur knew all of this, of course, but his “contest” gave the idea of an open competition, thus quelling any complaints of bias toward the new kid on the block. Zoltan made a watercolor presentation that absolutely blew away the competition. Even Winston, who had trouble telling the difference between French Provincial and Early American Log Cabin, was impressed. So impressed that he decided to do something positive. But the trouble didn’t really start until Arthur suffered his first stroke.
     
    Although Arthur had theoretically retired in 1993 at the age of seventy, he still kept his hand, and money, in the firm. He understood Winston’s limitations better than anybody and remarked to his wife on numerous occasions that Winston would be better off working in, perhaps, city government. Like driving the Elgin Pelican that gathered up curb trash twice a week at four in the morning. The stroke, however, changed everything.
    Arthur had instructed Zoltan to begin on the architectural renderings of both the inside and outside of the mall entry, as well as three-quarter views from the northeast and southwest. About the time Zoltan finished, Arthur suffered the stroke and was hospitalized for three weeks. It was massive and left him paralyzed on most of the left side—and nearly mute. Fortunately, he was right handed and could communicate with a pad and pencil. But, at the moment, the business was the farthest thing from his mind.
    Winston was more than willing to take up the slack left in his father’s absence. The first thing he did was order Zoltan to deliver the finished renderings of the mall to his office. He then sent the architect back to his workstation with a new project. That was the last Zoltan saw of his work for almost a month.
    One morning, as he was going down the aisle between the workstations, headed for the coffee pot, he glanced at one of the computer screens and stopped dead in his tracks. The engineer working at the computer was in the process of developing a framing plan of Zoltan’s mall entry. Zoltan stepped up behind the engineer and tapped him on the shoulder.
    “Eric,” he said, “what are you working on?”
    Eric finished what he was doing and looked up at Zoltan. “That mall of Winston’s,” he said. “This is the framing.”
    “I know it’s the framing, Eric, but who said it was Winston’s mall?”
    Eric looked puzzled. “Winston. Look.” He picked up a