OLD MAN MALONE RETURNS

by Marianne Spitzer

  “No, but I think you lost yours when you burned my things last night. I’m upset. They were my only connection to who resided there, or what might have gone on. They may have helped us when we investigate.” Her attitude only angered him more.

  Kellie’s anger showed in her eyes, and Drew felt a bit of guilt about burning her things, even if it was for her own good. He moved the chair back and sat down. He fidgeted with his silverware before filling his plate from the breakfast platter in front of him.

  “I’m sorry, it was an impulse. I’m worried about you, Kellie. Who knows what might be out there? It seems even when he’s dead, Old Man Malone returns to torment us. The police are satisfied that both men who robbed the grave are dead. After this news, I’m not so sure.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Hunter.

  “Everyone assumed the old man faked his own death, came back to be sure no one found out anything new which of course we have. He was worried his name would be soiled most likely, or his fortune would disappear. I think he was working on a plan to steal it from Kellie and Kyle. Then he was murdered, and he haunted us. He branded Kellie. He must have wanted her to know about this. He’s gone and everything’s great, but what if there was another person involved?” Drew shoveled in more of his breakfast that was rapidly getting cold.

  “If there was, what difference would it make? Detective Stellion said anyone else would be long gone.”

  “I would agree, if this asylum business didn’t come up. If there is another person, he may be the son or grandson of one of the criminals that worked for Malone and Morgan. He would know about the money and illegal activities. If he couldn’t blackmail the old man, he may come after Kellie. Austern said she wasn’t safe.”

  Kellie said, “We’ll find out today. We’re leaving in less than a half-hour. Are you coming? I’m not afraid. I want answers. I intend to look for them.”

  Drew nodded as he quickly finished his breakfast, and tried to drink enough coffee to keep him alert.

  ########

  It was a thirty minute drive, on country roads, to reach the rural area that was home to “Petal Gate Rest.” Kellie pulled up to the large arched gateway that was now more rust than metal. The two gates were open. They were rusted in place from years of neglect. A light snow covered the ground. Kellie pulled the papers she obtained at the library from her glove compartment. She glanced at the beautiful building shown in the photo with the rose petals covering the ground. Looking up and out the windshield of the car at the rundown gate with wild bushes and twigs curling around the fence in both directions, she couldn’t tell if they were dormant or dead. A thirty foot yard lay in front of her and beyond that loomed the four-story asylum. She shifted the SUV and slowly drove up the driveway. Unable to see exactly where the drive ended, she stopped several feet from the front stairs of the building. Grass and weeds had overgrown the sidewalk. Bushes that once adorned the front of the building grew wild and tall resembling untended trees.

  “Here we are. Now what?” Drew moaned.

  “Not sure, I’m looking at how run down this place has become. It’s beautiful in the picture. It also shows the drive goes around the building on both sides. I’ll bet it goes all around the back. Let’s drive around before we get out.” Kellie pressed her foot to the accelerator and Drew yelled. He glared in her direction.

  “Get out?” Drew’s eyes grew big. “Are you crazy? I’m not getting out.”

  She gripped the steering wheel and glared back at him. “Well, we are. How do you expect us to get inside if we stay in the car?” Inhaling deeply, she blew out the air and her frustrations with Drew. Kellie turned to the left and slowly drove around to the side of the building. She felt the paved drive turn to gravel. Knowing her SUV could handle the gravel and snow, she kept moving forward.

  Drew groaned and sunk down in his seat.

  Pulling around back, the building began to take on an industrial look. Although the window boxes on the front of the building were rotting and dilapidated, they proved the building was cared for, at least to the public eye. The rear seemed cold and unattended. All the windows had black metal bars mounted on the outside of the building. Two large double metal doors sat above a metal receiving dock. Basement windows ran the length of the back of the building. Most of the windows were broken. Kellie wondered if the bars were there to keep the truly insane from escaping or jumping, or to hold the old man’s prisoners where he wanted them.

  Kellie drove the SUV around to the front of the building and put it in park.

  “Okay, everyone, looks like we’re going in the front door.” She opened her door and began to get out of the car.

  “That’s breaking and entering,” Drew snapped.

  Turning back to look at him, her long blonde hair flew over her face. Brushing it aside, she said, “Look at the building. Every window in the front door is broken. Are they going to arrest us for ‘entering’? I doubt it. Besides my grandfather used to work here, ran a business here, a sick, twisted business, but it’s enough to keep us from being arrested. Remember I told you at times the Malone name comes in handy. We’ll be fine. Is everyone ready?” She turned her back on Drew and got out.

  “I don’t care what you think or what name you tell them. We’re going to get arrested.” Drew was grumbling as he got out of the car. He slammed the car door and Kellie glared at him. “I’m serious, if I get arrested, I’ll lose my job,” he yelled.

  Kellie spun and looked at him. “Do you see any cops? We’re in the middle of nowhere. The last ten miles we didn’t even see tire tracks. If you don’t want to go in, stay in the car, or walk home. Then you don’t have to worry about being arrested for looking around an abandoned building. Get a grip, Drew.” She rolled her eyes at him.

  Kellie stood beside her car and looked up at the century old building. Until forty or fifty years ago, it had been well cared for. Now, what had once been warm tan brick appeared darker brown and dirty. Four stories high made her wonder how many patients they cared for, or held prisoner and what each floor represented. If the old man kept people here against their will for money, what type of accommodations would he have offered? Shuddering at the thought of what life was like behind these walls, she swallowed, took a deep breath, and headed for the twelve stairs leading to the large, wooden, double doors.

  ########

  Cole pulled himself up in his bed, and sat there watching Andrea sleep. He was careful not to make any sudden moves or noise. Cole knew Troy was on duty and would rush in if he tried to get out of bed alone. Ugh, he thought. Tired of things being done for his own good, he needed to feel like a real man again. Watching Andrea sleep filled him both with longing and despair. Cole wanted to be with his wife, but was afraid he never would.

  Andrea stirred. She rolled over and saw Cole staring at her. “What are you doing?”

  “I can’t admire my beautiful wife?”

  Andrea blushed, “Yes, but you should’ve woken me up.”

  “Why, I’m enjoying this alone time. I’m tired of sharing our lives with doctors, nurses, and medical helpers. I want to dance, slide down the banister, and make love to you until you beg me to stop.” He grinned at her.

  She buried her head in her pillow. Peeking out she asked, “Did you take too much medicine this morning?”

  “I haven’t had anything. What’s wrong, you can’t handle a frisky me?”

  “Not until the doctor gives his okay.”

  Cole’s shoulders rolled forward, “He’s old. I’ll bet he’s forgotten what it’s like to make love to his wife, if he has one.”

  Andrea slipped on her robe as she said, “I’ll get Troy, he can help you and we’ll have breakfast.”

  Troy walked in. “Good morning Cole, how are we this morning?”

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m…”

  “Cole!” Andrea’s eyes let him know not to say another word.

  “Hungry,” Cole said. “I’m hungry.”

  Troy smiled, “L
et’s get you ready for breakfast.”

  ########

  Kellie began to climb the stairs to the front doors followed by Hunter and Taylor. Drew was at the bottom mumbling about not following them. Nothing was going to stop Kellie from going in, and looking for what she hoped to find. That worried Drew more than anything. Kellie was too stubborn for her own good. Taylor would always follow her lead, and Hunter was as interested in investigating as Kellie. Couldn’t any of them sense the danger?

  Kellie stood in front of the huge wooden double doors that might be hiding the secrets she needed to learn. Ornately carved panels on each door made them appear inviting. She wasn’t sure what waited inside, but she swallowed and pulled on one of the door handles. It opened, the lock already broken. “Look, Drew, it’s unlocked. We’re not breaking and entering.” She laughed as she walked in, but stopped the moment she entered.

  Kellie looked at what must have once been a lovely, inviting foyer, but now was dirty and rundown. She felt the eeriness of the building knowing the horror that occurred there. Thoughts of at least twenty deaths made her shudder. The floors were covered with gray marble that ran half-way up the walls. A damaged chandelier hung overhead. In front of her sat a large oak desk. Behind the desk were marble stairs leading to the second floor. A hall ran to the left and right of the desk. Paintings torn and faded hung on some of the walls. Other paintings lay on the floor. It appeared as if it had once been beautiful and now completely ransacked.

  “I guess this would be the check in and reception desk. Where to first? Right hall, left, or upstairs?”

  “Can we at least stay on this floor?” pleaded Drew.

  “Okay, right hall first.” She slowly made her way down the hall. There were two smaller offices to her right and what appeared to be a large activity room to her left. It was strewn with broken tables and chairs, damp books, and two large, empty metal cabinets. Each of the offices held an oak desk and large oak cabinets. She opened one of the cabinet doors, a mouse ran out, and she screamed. Drew ran in, his face showing heart wrenching terror, “What is it? What happened?”

  “Nothing,” Hunter laughed. “Kellie’s afraid of mice.”

  “Not funny,” Kellie hit Hunter in the arm. Then she noticed Taylor standing on the desk. “You think I’m afraid?” Kellie pointed at Taylor.

  Everyone, except Drew, had a good laugh. Drew wandered off to search alone. Hunter and the girls searched the cabinets and the desks. They didn’t find anything and had the same results with the second office.

  “Okay, follow me, onward to the other hallway.” Drew thought Kellie was having too much fun.

  The hall led to a single office on one side and what appeared to be a dining hall on the other. The dining hall held several long tables, many of them damaged. There were remnants of broken wooden chairs. Hunter guessed at least thirty to forty chairs. Kellie crossed the hall to the office.

  “This must have been the main office. Maybe Morgan or the old man used it. The floors are dirty and scuffed, but you can tell they were hardwood, and match the four inch high mahogany baseboard and crown molding.”

  “Expensive,” Taylor said. “I think the desk, cabinets and that closet door are also mahogany. Look at this paining, it’s larger than the desk. I think the handles on the cabinetry and desk are brass. A lot of money was spent in here.” She walked around touching the hardware and looking into drawers.

  “If there’s anything to be found, it could be in here. We need to look for loose floor boards and a secret compartment, maybe in the closet,” Kellie suggested.

  “We’d need tools for that. We don’t have any with us. Let’s go home,” Drew grumbled.

  “I’m not leaving, Drew. Stop trying to force me. We’ll come back another day with tools. Let’s look at the rest of the building first.”

  Her expression let him know she was serious. She wasn’t going to quit.

  Taylor and Kellie began the climb up the marble stairs to the second floor.

  Hunter patted Drew’s shoulder. “C’mon this won’t take long.” Let Kellie get this out of her system. Drew continued to grumble.

  When they reached the second floor, Taylor said, “I wonder if all the roses and marble was for show. I doubt any family members came up here. Look at this place. It looks as if it was built to sub-standard specifications.”

  Kellie looked around and agreed. Cheap wood was used for the baseboards along the linoleum floors. There wasn’t any crown molding or mahogany doors. A central hallway led to five closed doors. Hunter opened the first door that led to a room which faced the front of the building. The room was small with a gurney in the middle of the room. Cabinets hung on the wall with labels describing their contents.

  “I think it’s an operating room,” Hunter offered.

  “Why would an asylum need an operating room,” asked Taylor.

  “Lobotomies,” quipped Drew.

  “Not funny.”

  “I’m not joking. They did them before they found better drug therapies.”

  Taylor grabbed Hunter’s arm. “Let’s get out of this room.”

  Across the hall was another small room. It held a lot of metal cabinets and some broken shelving. “Storage,” mumbled Drew closing the door behind him.

  The three remaining rooms on the second floor led to two large wards containing dozens of broken metal beds. Drew said, “There are a lot of beds in here. There’s barely room for someone to walk between them. It looks to me as if the old man was warehousing people and not treating them.” The last room was a single bathroom with two toilets side by side. “No privacy either.” Drew commented.

  “Let’s head to the third floor,” said Kellie as she hurried up the stairs.

  The third floor also had five rooms. They found one bathroom, a small storage closet, and another large ward. The ward held metal beds that were mostly intact. The walls were fairly clean considering the age of the building. The unbroken, barred windows overlooked the back of the asylum. The grounds appeared more overgrown and wild from the third floor view.

  Hunter mumbled, “The land goes on for as far as I can see. I doubt anyone could escape from this place.”

  Drew said, “I’ll bet kids were too afraid to come up to this floor. There’s less destruction up here.”

  “That could be,” said Hunter as he opened the fourth door. It held six bathtubs.

  “What the hell?” asked Kellie. “Did they make them bathe together?

  “No,” said Drew. “This looks like a hydrotherapy room. They used warm water for patients who were violent. They would soak for hours to help calm them. They also used the tubs for ice baths.”

  “Oh my God, that sounds frightening,” Taylor said covering her face with her hands.

  “It could be, they sometimes wrapped depressed or lethargic patients in towels and made them soak in ice water. It was supposed to help bring up their mood.”

  “It sounds barbaric,” Kellie shuddered.

  “In its day, it was accepted medical treatment, but since these tubs were not removed when the asylum closed, Morgan and the old man may have used them to ‘convince’ those unfortunate women to obey their husbands.”

  Taylor threw her hands over her ears, “I can’t hear any more of this. It’s awful.” She ran out into the hallway.

  “Last room on this floor,” said Drew as he opened a door to a nearly empty room. No machinery, but it held two exam tables and a lot of electrical cables and outlets in the wall.

  “Drew, what might this room have been used for? You seem to know the most.” Kellie asked.

  Drew looked around and said, “Electroshock therapy.” Taylor screamed and ran back out into the hallway.

  Hunter followed her.

  Kellie said, “This is a horrid room. I’m glad the machines are gone.”

  “What concerns me is whether or not the old man and his cohort ever used the machines, if they got rid of them, or if some psycho stole them.”

  “That’s m
ore than I can stand to think about. I’m going to join Taylor.” Kellie rushed from the room.

  One more floor and we go home, okay,” said Drew.

  “Yes, we’ll go. It’s supposed to snow later today and I’d like to be home before then.”

  The four friends headed up to the fourth floor. All they found were two bathrooms and four sleeping rooms. Each room had four twin beds, not medical cots. There were four chests of drawers in each room, a mirror and two closets.

  “Sleeping rooms for workers maybe?”

  “That would make sense, Kellie.” Drew said. “If the two maniacs hired criminals they might have needed housing.”

  As they walked down the stairs to the first floor, Kellie’s mind began to wander back to Austern’s letters and the journal Drew threw into the fireplace. She stopped on the second floor landing, stared down the stairs, and out the front doors.

  “What’s on your mind?” Drew asked.

  Her eyebrows raised, she stared directly at Drew, “The journal you burned had initials, illness and a monetary amount listed. That last piece that I saved from being cremated in your fit of rage also contained the same info, but the last thing entered was capital letters and a word.” She turned back to stare out the doors again. “They have been bugging me. I didn’t have an idea until now what they might be.”

  “What are you thinking?” Drew stared at her.

  “The old man had a list of twenty names and a box containing twenty wedding bands.” She twisted her finger in her long hair. Taking a step forward, she dropped her hands to her sides.

  Drew shrugged. “So, we all know that.”

  Her fingers opened and closed as she paced on the large landing. “Listen, I don’t remember all of them, but one pops into mind. ‘SE side,’ I think I know what it means.”

  “What,” Taylor’s voice filled with excitement.

  “If a woman died here, wouldn’t her family want all her belongings?”

  Taylor nodded. Drew shook his head, he was getting bored. Hunter’s eyebrow’s lifted. He had an idea what Kellie had in mind.

  “I believe those rings belong to the twenty women who died here. More may have died, but I don’t think their families wanted them back. They are buried here on the grounds in unmarked graves. ‘SE side’ could mean the side of the building to the South East. They owned several acres around this building.”