"Destroyer 078 - Blue Smoke and Mirrors.pdb" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Remo)

"If she's a fake," Remo said, watching her hips in motion, "then I'd be interested in meeting the real thing."
"She said her name is Robin," Chiun said coldly.
"Yeah. So?"
"Robins are red."
"Yeah."
"And her other name is Green."
"Yeah?"
"Robin Green. Obviously a fictitious name. It should be Robin Red."
"Or maybe Red Robin," Remo suggested lightly.
"I saw a Robin on television once," Chiun ruminated, stroking his beard. "He was a boy. He wore very nice clothes but also a mask. He followed a fat older man, whom I suspect of leading him into evil habits. He called himself a batman, but he did not carry one of your baseball bats. He dressed like the flying bat. Obviously delusional. Like this woman."
"Uh, I'm losing the chain of this logic. Besides, this Robin's a redheaad, in case you didn't notice."
Chiun dismissed Remo's comment with a wave. "A typical white misconception, like calling brown people black. Are you all color-blind? Her hair is orange, not red."
Remo threw up his hands. "I give up."
"Mark my words, Remo. She is a fake. Do not trust her."
"I'll keep it in mind," Remo said as Robin Green came to a halt before a padlocked door. She opened it with a passkey.
"This is the room," she told them, holding the door open for them to enter. Remo noticed that her hand,
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resting on the knob, shook. She was still rattled by her experience.
Remo started to enter, but Chiun brushed past him.
"Polite, isn't he?" Robin remarked, arching an eyebrow.
"Don't let him fool you. He knows what he's doing. Maybe not what he's talking about all the time, but in his field, he's an expert. The expert."
As they watched, the Master of Sinanju padded back and forth. Remo noticed that the room was pleasant, more like a hotel room than military living quarters. There was even an air conditioner. It hadn't been like this in the Marines, Remo recalled ruefully.
"You! Female," Chiun said, suddenly turning on Robin Green.
Robin blinked. "Female?"
"Humor him," Remo whispered. "His wife was a real battleax."
"This was the room where you saw the feet of the apparition?" Chiun demanded.
"Yes. I was concealed under the bed. His feet were suddenly just . . . there. There was no sound. By the time I crawled out, he was gone."
Chiun knelt down to peer under the bed. He straightened up and examined Robin Green critically.
"I feel like a piece of meat," she whispered to Remo.
"Don't sweat it. He's a vegetarian."
"With those cowlike things," Chiun said, pointing with his long fingernails, "how did you fit?"
"What cowlike . . . ? Oh! Now, that's an impertinent question."
"I am conducting a serious investigation. Answer me."
"All right. Fine. I held my breath. Okay?"
Chiun's hazel eyes narrowed. "And the alleged car battery, where did you see it?"
"There. See the wall above the dresser? It went
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through there. One minute it was plain as day, the next it was like a soap bubble. Just pop! And gone."
Chiun pushed the dresser set aside. It was solid maple and Robin Green was surprised at the frail Oriental's strength.
"He must eat a lot of spinach," she said wryly.
Chiun stoked the wall area with the palm of his hand.
"Here?" he demanded, turning his head.
"No, a little higher," Robin told him.
"Here?"
"I think so," Robin said slowly. Then, firmly: "Yes, there."
Chiun placed the flat of his hand to the wall. He closed his eyes and there was a long silence in the room.
"It is cool to the touch," he said, opening his eyes. "Cool, but not cold."
"I don't understand," Robin said.
"There is often a cold spot in hauntings such as this."
"Hauntings!" Robin exploded. "Wait a minute. I didn't say anything about ghosts." She turned on Remo, her eyes striking sparks. "I thought you said he was a technical consultant. What's this chickenshit about a haunting?"