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“Secrets have a way of justifying themselves beyond the point of necessity”
Miller looked out over the shady yard “The worst thing is knowing that my father could have been alive all those years” He turned back to Austin “Maybe he’s still alive He’d be in his eighties”
“It’s possible It also ht be someone out there who knows the real story”
“I’d like the truth to come out, Mr Austin Can you help me?”
“I’ll do what I can”
They talked further Before parting they exchanged phone nu He started back for Washington Like any good detective he had knocked on doors and used up some shoe leather, but this puzzle was too old, too complex for ordinary er
19
THE INDIAN VILLAGE was athe network of hard-packed earthen paths that connected the thatched huts, the Trouts could ale included a uar-skin bikini and a silent escort of six armed Chulo Indians painted the color of an executive jet
Francesca led the procession The warriors, three on either side, kept pace a respectable spear’s length away Francesca stopped near the big well in the village center Indian wos of naked children happily chased each other around their s Francesca beamed with obvious pride
“Every irated scheme,” she said with a sweep of her hands “I planned the project as if I were building a new infrastructure for São Paulo I worked foreverything in place, right down to the allocation of capital, sources of supply, and labor I had to establish a subsidiary to manufacture the specialized tools that would be needed to produce wooden pipe, valves, and fittings At the sa without interrupting hunting and harvesting”
“Re around at the neatly ordered huts She couldn’t help coe with the squalor of Dieter’s empire or the relatively civilized settlement where Dr Ramirez had his house “Absolutely remarkable,” Gamay repeated
“Thank you, but once I had the preparations in place it wasn’t as difficult as it looks The key ater flow It’s just as essential to life and living here as it is back in the so-called civilized world I assigned digging crews to divert the river We had the same problems as any project The shovelthehed “It was exhilarating We made a canal to open a tributary from the lake Once we established the water supply, it was a siristy”
“The water wheel is as good as anything I’ve seen in the old industrial towns in New England,” Paul said, stopping in front of a hut no bigger than a one-car garage “But I a in these public coht into the twentieth century”
“I’m particularly proud of the public water closets,” she said as they continued their tour “When I finally admitted to ht of day, I turned es They lived at a Stone Age level Their hygiene was pitiful Mothers routinely died in childbirth The infant ets of every parasite that grows in the rain forest Their traditional medicinal plants were si a clean and reliable water flow not only protected the people frorow the crops that would keep them healthy”
“We ondering whether your talents extended to surgery,” Gamay said “Tessa’s brother had a peculiar scar on his body”