Read The Jigsaw Man for Free Online

so it's not so much
    of a shock. It*s true Dr. Marshall wants to remove your
    right arm, but he won't just hack it off Like I said earlier,
    he's a world-class surgeon. He's working on damaged
    nerve regeneration. Don't ask me to go into the specifics
    because I haven?t got a clue. Dr. Marshall will explain ev
    erything when you meet him. All I can say is that a long
    time ago, he progressed as far as he could go in his re
    search, using test animals and computer simulations. He
    needs to test out his advanced theories using Hve human
    subjects. Themedical community would never allow this
    type of thing, of course, which is precisely the reason Dr.
    Marshall funds his own research. Although this might be
    frowned upon, that doesn't make it illegal You have every
    right to donate your arm to medical science, just as he has
    every right to compensate you for your trouble. People do
    it all the time. All over the country people are selling part
    of their livers, or one of their kidneys, and they're getting
    compensated for it. Why shouldn't you?"
    I sat rigid as a stone, not even sipping my expensive
    scotch. I'd heard the stories of people selling their kid
    neys for big bucks but hadn't really thought much about
    it. This wasn't that much different, was it? I wasn't com
    pletely convinced it was legal, but who really cared? Dr.
    Marshall wouldn't be calling the cops to report me;
    that was for sure. By the time anyone found out, if ever,
    Arlene and I'd be nestled away on some warm tropical
    island somewhere.
    "Where and when would all this happen, if, and I do
    mean if I decided to go through with it?"
    "This weekend. You'll be brought to his private medi
    cal center about three hours from here, where you'll
    meet Dr. Marshall and his top-notch medical staff. You'll
    get a tour of the facility and have a chance to ask any and
    all questions you have before giving your final consent.
    The money will be wired into a bank account for you
    and you'll receive confirmation of its deposit before the
    operation begins. The operation itself I'm told is simple,
    a couple of hours, tops. You won't feel a thing.
    "After it's over^ you'll be eared for and pampered for
    as long as it takes your wound to properly heal. About
    the worst thing you have to worry about will be fevers
    and the risk of infection, but the doctors and nurses will
    be monitoring you closely. They won't release you from
    the hospital until you've been given a one hundred per
    cent clean bill of health and you're free of pain. Hell,
    they'll even give you a rehabilitation course to help you
    cope with getting by using only one arm. Luckily you're
    left-handed, so that should make things-—"
    "How do you know that?" I interrupted liim, more
    than a little shocked that these strangers knew so much
    about me. I was in fact left-handed, as he'd said.
    "What? Oh, well that's easy. You're holding your
    drink in your left: hand,"
    I screwed up my face and started to protest but Drake
    immediately started laughing.
    "I'm kidding, Mike. I'm a little more professional
    than that. I asked around, found out your name, and
    then anything and everything about you can be found.
    I checked all your records. You name it—financial, med
    ical, educational. I checked them all.
    "When are you going to realize this is the real deal
    here, Mike? We're not just fucking around, wasting
    time. Dr. Marshall is a very important man who's will
    ing to make you rich if you'll help him. Obviously, los
    ing a limb will be hard on you for a while, I know that,
    and he knows that. That's why he's willing to give you
    so much money. It's a huge sacrifice you'd be making.
    Huge, but I'm willing to bet within a year you'll be
    mighty happy you met me.
    "Just say yes and show 'Tip. Meet Dr. Marshall and ask
    him anything you/ want. Spend a few months in the
    hospital and bang, you're a multimillionaire. It's up to
    you, Mike. What do you say?"
    It was a good question. One I didn't have an answer
    for