Manitou Blood Read Free Page A

what language that is?”
    â€œNone. But it frightens me, because the boy sounds so frightened.”
    Frank said, “We’re going to have do some more tests. Some allergy tests, and some eye tests, and at least one more X-ray, to see if we can find an ulcer. I think we need to contact your parents, don’t you, and let them know what’s going on?”
    â€œMy dad’s real sick. I don’t want him upset.”
    â€œWell, maybe we could talk to your mother first, and let
her
decide how to tell him.”
    Susan Fireman thought for a moment, and then she said, “No . . . leave it for now. Please. I’ll tell her myself.”
    â€œIs there anyone else you want us to talk to? How about the people you share with?”
    â€œNo—don’t tell them.”
    â€œDon’t you think they’re going to be worried, when you don’t come home?”
    â€œ
Please
. . .”
    Frank tucked his notebook back in his pocket. “Okay, you’re the boss. I’ll come back later and see how you’re getting along.”
    He was walking back through his office door when his beeper went off. It was Dr. Gathering, and it said urgent. He pressed his phone button and said, “George? What’s happening?”
    â€œWilly’s sent me up the final results of Susan Fireman’s bloodwork. She’s anemic, no question about it, but there’s something else, too. Willy says that she has some enzyme in her bloodstream that he can’t identify. He might have to send it off to Rochester.”
    â€œWell, I’ve just been down to talk to her, and there’s definitely something unique about her.”
    â€œThat’s not all, Frank. Willy also tested a sample of the blood that she vomited.”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œIt’s not hers. In fact, it’s two different blood types altogether.She’s type AB, but the blood that she vomited was a mixture of type A and type O.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI’m afraid so, Frank. That blood didn’t get into her stomach from internal bleeding. She
drank
it.”

2
B LOOD T HIRST
    While Frank and George sat on the low-slung leather couch and watched him, Dr. Pellman skimmed through the results of the blood tests, tapping his ballpoint pen furiously against his teeth. Eventually he threw himself back in his chair and said, “
Christ
.”
    â€œWe thought you ought to see it ASAP,” said George.
    â€œWell, you’re damn right about that. We need to call the police, and we need to call them now.” He leaned across his desk and flipped his intercom switch. “
Janice?
”
    â€œYes, sir?”
    â€œGet me Captain Meznick at Midtown South, and make it snappy.”
    He read the blood tests again, more slowly. “We’re sure about this? There’s no room for any mistake?” He was a small man with a high white pompadour and compressed, Hobbit-like features. His staff called him The Death Troll, but they respected him. He was fierce and quick-tempered and a formidable stickler for detail.
    â€œNo mistake, sir,” George told him. “Willy repeated histests twice, just to make sure. It’s human blood, and there’s no question that it isn’t hers. Unless she stole it from a blood bank, or she’s been keeping it refrigerated, there have to be at least two people out there who have lost a serious amount of blood. Almost certainly, a fatal amount.”
    The intercom buzzed. “
Lieutenant Roberts on the phone, sir. Captain Meznick is away in Philadelphia, at a law-enforcement convention
.”
    â€œOkay, that’s okay.” Dr. Pellman picked up his phone. “Lieutenant Roberts? This is Harold Pellman, senior VP and medical director at the Sisters of Jerusalem. I won’t beat around the bush: We have a young woman here who appears to have been drinking blood.”
    Frank could only guess what Lieutenant Roberts’ reaction was