Phantom Limb by Dennis Palumbo Read Free Book Online

Your understanding. So that you don’t get the wrong impression when you meet him.”
    â€œAnd what impression would that be?”
    A pause. “How much do you know about Harland Industries?”
    â€œWhat most people do, I guess. Family business that Charles Harland inherited from his father. Manufacturing, mostly. Made a fortune during World War II and afterwards.”
    â€œThat’s right. The company developed and built armaments, in partnership with Pittsburgh’s steel industry. Though by the time Charles took over the reins, the company had begun to diversify. A prudent move, too, given that the city’s industrial base was disappearing. Under Charles’ leadership, particularly in the past twenty years, Harland Industries has morphed into a major supplier of high-end electronics and innovative software. Enhanced by some important mergers with foreign firms. The city’s economic foundation has changed, obviously, and Mr. Harland made sure his business changed with it.
    â€œQuite remarkable, in my view, given his advanced years. Many businessmen his age have grown hidebound and intransient in their thinking. Dinosaurs oblivious to the changing environment. Which is why most of them are extinct.”
    â€œBut not Charles Harland.”
    There was more than a trace of pride in his voice. “I’m pleased to say that Harland Industries has never been more profitable, nor more relevant in terms of meeting the demands of a globalized marketplace.”
    â€œNice talking point. You trying to get me to invest?”
    Another cool, placid smile.
    â€œI’m trying to impress upon you that Charles Harland is not a rich, doddering fool who was tricked into marrying some gold-digging failed actress thirty years his junior. He has a sharp, calculating mind. He’s also a man of strong likes and dislikes. Of unbending judgment.”
    â€œSounds like you are, too, Mr. Drake. At least where Lisa Campbell is concerned.”
    â€œAs I say, my opinion of her is irrelevant. I merely want you to know that Lisa means a great deal to Mr. Harland, and that you shouldn’t misunderstand if he comes across as brusque or unfeeling. Or somewhat condescending.”
    â€œIn other words, that just happens to be who he is, whether or not his wife’s been kidnapped.”
    He didn’t comment. Instead, he finished the rest of his drink and turned toward his window, feigned looking out at the sweep of the night stars as we rounded a tree-crowned hill.
    I sat back in my seat. By this point, I, too, wanted a stiff drink. But I also wanted to keep a clear head for whatever lay in store tonight.
    Suddenly, face still in profile, Drake spoke.
    â€œI am curious about something, Dr. Rinaldi. Something in Mike’s report on you. I wonder, may I ask a personal question?”
    â€œYou can try.”
    He swiveled back to face me. “It’s about Troy David Dowd. According to Mike, he’s the reason you started working with the police. That was a good many years ago, correct?”
    I nodded carefully. Dubbed “the Handyman” by the media, Dowd was a serial killer who tortured his victims with screwdrivers, pliers, and other tools. Though he was eventually captured and convicted, he’s been sitting on Death Row ever since, his attorney managing to win appeal after appeal.
    Dowd would snatch people outside of roadside diners or highway rest stops in isolated rural areas throughout the state. Only two of his intended victims managed to escape. One of these, a single mother of three, was so devastated by her ordeal that she was sent to me for treatment. It was my work with her that led to my signing on as a consultant to Pittsburgh PD.
    â€œWhat about Dowd?” I asked Drake.
    â€œLike everyone else at the time, I followed that case quite closely. In fact, I know his lawyer. Well, just socially. From Bar Association events, my club, that kind of thing. Good