D A Novel (George Right) - By George Right Page 0,115

on a floor under them. From behind, the coat had been soaked red much more deeply than in the front, and the man rejected the idea of putting on these blood-stained rags (for, of course, he would at first have to remove the corpse from the pipes). He did, however, have the logical thought of searching the coat pockets.

There were only two of them. The right one was empty, but in the left he found a folded sheet of paper. The man unfolded it and brought to the flashlight. It was a list, written by hand (fortunately, this time not in blood):

Dr. Kalkrin - s-e

Dr. Hart - heart attack

Prof. Poplavska - madness

Dr. Silberschmied - s-e

Dr. Nakamura - s-e

Dr. Lebrun - coma

Prof. Ward - fire in lab, supp. s-e

Prof. Streicher - killed h-self in ment. clinic

Dr. Giroldini - death in road accident, supp. s-e

Dr. Wong - stroke

Prof. Kovaleva - took the veil, silence vow

The amnesiac twirled the paper in a hand. The mysterious "s-e" probably meant suicide ("Kill yourself now!"). But what does this list of the lost scientists mean? Not all of them, in fact, have died physically, but, anyway, all were lost for science. Whether is it possible, that all these corpses, which he saw in this place, are the people on this list? And he, in that case, is one of the survivors? For example, professor Poplavska... But no, it is, apparently, a female surname (he looked again at the dead woman standing near him). Then maybe, Lebrun, who had regained consciousness after a coma... Though this place was hardly similar to a functioning hospital... Yes, yes, he already thought of it... But whether a certain hybrid of coma and lethargy were possible, where a patient forsaken without any help for several months would not be capable of just surviving, but would also come round without aid? It seemed to be something out of pure fiction, though he, after all, still did not know what the experiment was essentially, even if it actually were an experiment.

And the others–a fire in the laboratory, a road accident–all this was not very similar to that, to what he saw here. However, he saw only four–more precisely, three, because on the fourth he had only stepped. But, if it were known about the deaths of the scientists, why were the bodies left here? Maybe the list on this piece of paper reflected merely the official version?

Or maybe all of them were left here simply because all those who knew about this place have died, gone mad, or fallen into a coma? No, that would be nonsense, such a huge building cannot be the initiative of a small group, something not reflected in governmental or corporate documents. But what could he tell for certain? He, who cannot remember even his name?

He moved the beam around on the floor, searching for his missing tablet, found it, and stood for a while, without knowing what to do with the paper. He lacked pockets, and carrying three objects was inconvenient. Perhaps he should learn this list by heart? Was it valuable? It was the only item in the pocket of a woman who died a terrible death. Perhaps, this information cost her her life? On the other hand, the murderer had not touched this paper.

But was there actually a murderer? It didn't look like the victim has resisted. Her feet stood on the floor, her legs not bent back as they would have been had she–already dying–been pushed forward, further and further on to the impaling pipes. And the main point: How could the murderer position himself so that the pipes would not hinder him to do what he did? They would bear against his own chest.

But it is was even more difficult to imagine that she had done it to herself. She, applying considerable force, would have impaled her stomach and breast pressing on the pipes pushing forward, sliding on the metal piercing her body, while she still could. What an excruciating pain she must have felt! Is there truly something in this world capable of making a person do such a thing? Even the worm in your guts didn't seem a sufficient cause.

This flashlight–was she the one who had dropped it? After all, the murderer very unlikely would have thrown it here, so far from the exit!

But the dead body made nothing clear. Maybe if he were–what is it called?–a pathologist–and he had the proper tools... But, though he still did not know who