Read The Pandora Directive: A Tex Murphy Novel for Free Online Page A

a fingerprint testing kit, a magnifying glass, and other investigative paraphernalia. In the centre of this mess were the two notes Emily had given me. Three hours’ worth of analysis, and I was no better off than when I’d started.
    One note read: I’m watching you. I take pictures. Be afraid. It was written on a plane 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet in block letters with a standard No. 2 pencil. At the bottom of the sheet was a symbol shaped like an arrow. It seemed familiar to me, though I couldn’t think of where I’d seen it before. The second note was identical, except for the content. It read: It won’t be long now. You and I will be together.
    Whoever had sent the notes was one sick, creepy bastard, but he was also very careful. There were only two sets of prints on the sheets: mine and Emily’s. No stains, no marks of any kind. Everything he’d used to create the notes was standard, easy to get, and untraceable. There was one unique thing about the notes: the arrow symbol. It wasn’t much, but it was my only angle.
    “Certainly has been a long time, Tex.” Patty Baker’s full, rosy cheeks glistened under false eyelashes and peroxide-friendly hair.
    “Yeah, well, you know how it is for me, Patty. Work, work, work.”
    It was a slight exaggeration, but Patty required excuses. She and I had gotten chummy a couple of years ago. It had been an unintentional foray into the world of one-night stands, but the resulting ungentlemanly obligation that came with it would make me uncomfortable every time I paid a visit to the San Francisco PD Main Precinct. One night had been enough to convince me that she must be someone else’s type.
    Patty pursed her lips and pouted in a somewhat revolting fashion. “I’ll bet you could squeeze me into a busy shadow for an evening or two.”
    “I’ll have to take a rain check, sweetheart. I’ve got a big case going — could keep me busy for months… years, even. As a matter of fact, that’s why I’m here. I need to bend Mac’s ear for a bit.”
    Patty gave me a coy, girlish look and ogled me in a way that was supposed to leave me wanting more. She leaned forward, reaching for the Vid-phone control panel. A deep, raspy voice jumped out of the speaker behind the front desk. “What?!”
    Patty pressed down a button and looked up at me, seductively. Nothing about her look made me change my mind.
    “Mr Tex Murphy to see you, sir.”
    “God… all right! Send him back!”
    Patty punched the door release, and I step through the security scanner.
    “Thanks, Patty.” As I passed her, a paw cupped my backside. I jumped slightly and quickened my pace to Mac Malden’s office. I felt violated.
    I only saw Mac when I needed a favour from the police department. It was a friendship of convenience, at least for me. I unintentionally helped him solve a couple of cases in the past, including the murder of Marshal Alexander. Mick Flemm’s robbery spree, and the mysterious death of Rusty the Clown. Mac was old school and knew when he owed someone, even if he bitched every time I asked for anything.
    The crusty cop was sprawled in a high-backed swivel chair, a bent smoke sticking up from under his moustache and a police report in his hands. His desk was piled with papers, plastic freezer bags full of various items, at least a dozen Styrofoam cups, and a handful of petrified doughnut chunks. Mac set the police report on the desk, took a deep drag, and leaned back. He always tried to look like he was busy doing important work whenever I came by.
    “Make it quick, Murphy. I’ve got about a million things to do, and wasting my time on you isn’t one of them.”
    “Geez, Mac. I don’t see you that often. I worry about you… you don’t look too good.”
    “Yeah?! Well, neither do you! You look like crap!”
    “Oh, I’ll admit, I’m not twenty-eight any more, but, you know, I feel great. I’ve got one of those juicers, and it really works! I think you could do with the nice cabbage and