Mrs. Harrington was up and walking around now, the paper bib still chained around her neck following Jaswinder back to receptions speaking in a high pitched voice: “Herbie, where are you, you bad boy? You promised me you would nap while I was at the dentist. I won't be able to bring you places, if you're naughty.” She walked to the front and peeked into the waiting room. No Herbie, of course. Jas decided to let her have Herbie after Dr. Parker was finished with the discussion of treatment options. He'd probably cut that short.
“May I see you, Jaswinder?” Dr. Parker called out.
Oh, here it comes. The big chew-out. Where was Carl? He should be backing her up on this. “Okay, coming,” Jaswinder called out.
This is too much. I'm going to have to talk to Jovan tonight. If he doesn't ramp things up soon, he's going to be history. I'm tired of this working for a living. Mrs. Harrington was peering around behind her workspace and under the counter now. “I'll be right back, Mrs. Harrington. I'm sure Herbie's around here somewhere.”
“What on earth is going on out there? I know you're new here, Jaswinder but this kind of chaos . . .” He stopped and took a deep breath, his face losing some of its redness. Dr. Parker took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, something Jaswinder had seen him do before when faced with a problem. “Okay, I know it's not your dog but didn't you see her bring it in? After the last time . . .” He was speaking in a quiet voice, which Jaswinder appreciated.
“I'm sorry, Dr. Parker,” she whispered back, “but the dog must have been asleep in his tote bag when she came. I never saw him and I looked, believe me.” Had he seen Mr. Buckle? Maybe not. Don't mention him.
“Where's the mutt now?”
“He's not a mutt. He's a Yorkshire Terrier and purebred, according to Mrs. H. I stuck him in the bathroom.”
Dr. P. smiled at that. Must have been the right thing to do. For once. “Okay, I think I've finished with Mrs. Harrington for today. She's going to have to decide about her treatment options. Just get that bib off her before she goes.”
“Sure thing; she's wandering around looking for the dog. I'll go get her.”
Before Jaswinder had a chance to get more than a few steps out of the operatory with Dr. P. there was a loud screech.
“My God. Jaswinder, what now? You don't think the dog fell down the toilet and drowned, do you?”
Jaswinder met Mrs. Harrington staggering back towards the front area. Marnie left the girl getting the wires changed on her braces in the first Operatory and joined her.
The older woman had thrown herself into one of the waiting room chairs and leaned back, her eyes closed.
Marnie sat down beside her. “What is it, Mrs. Harrington? Don't you feel well? Does your tooth hurt?”
Dr. Parker rounded the corner and joined them. Mrs. Harrington looked up at him with a stunned look on her face. “There's a man back there, a dead man, with a . . . with a knife in his eye, lying in the chair.” Her face was now as white as her paper bib. A few stray tears had made tracks in the pink powder on her cheeks.
“What . . . what are you talking about? What man? Jaswinder, what man?” Dr. Parker looked shocked.
“I didn't want to tell you, Dr. Parker, but Mr. Buckle just barged in and headed straight to the washroom. I called Carl for help but then Herbie got loose. I didn't see where Mr. Buckle went when he left the washroom.” Why would he have a knife in his eye? Did Mrs. Harrington mean his hand? Was Jim Buckle lurking somewhere waiting to get one of them?
Marnie looked out the glass front door. “What are you talking about? He's still out there, parading back and forth.”
Jaswinder looked past her. Jim Buckle was outside and there was no knife sticking out of his head.
Cheryl came up to the front, peeling off her blue gloves and tossing them in Jaswinder's wastebasket. “What's going on? I can take your patient now for the pan x-ray, Dr. P. Where is he, Jas?”
Chapter 4
Jaswinder froze. Mr. Plinsky. It couldn't be him. “There was a new patient, a Mr. Plinsky. You thought it might be an impacted wisdom tooth, Dr. Parker, remember? Marnie was busy so I asked Cheryl to do the pan x-ray of him when she was finished with her eleven o’clock.” She felt her throat choking up. “He's in the back operatory, number 4.”
Dr. Parker straightened up. “Okay, everybody stay here. Where's Carl, anyway?”
"He must have gone back to his lab. I think Herbie nipped him."
“One of you go get him then. I'm going to go look at No. 4.” He looked at Mrs. Harrington, whose head was lolling back against the wall. She still looked like she might faint. “Jas, call an ambulance for Mrs. Harrington. I don't want her passing out here or something worse.”
Jaswinder got up and rushed to the telephone, glad to have something to do. Dr. Parker headed to the No. 4 Operatory. They all heard the door open. About twenty seconds later it closed and Dr. Parker came back.
Jaswinder stared up at him. He definitely looked shaken. Maybe there was a dead person in there. But why? . . . Who would have done it?
“I called for an ambulance; they'll be here in a few minutes.”
“You'd better call 911 again. This time call for the police. And no one goes back to the No. 4 operatory. Marnie, send home Krystal; she'll have to come back another time. Then help Jas on the phone. You'll have to cancel the rest of the day's patients. No, cancel tomorrow also. Might as well.”
Cheryl came back with Carl. “What's up, boss?” Carl looked like he was expecting another enquiry about Mrs. Summer's crown. Jaswinder dashed back to the switchboard and dialed 911 again. Her voice was shaking but she tried to speak softly. She gave a little wave to Krystal as the girl went out the door
“What is the address you are calling from?”
Jaswinder gave it quickly. “We’re a dental clinic.”
“And what is nature of the emergency?”
“I think someone was killed in one of our operatories.”
“Is the assailant still present?”
Was he? “There's nobody here but the staff and one patient. But the patient is old, we had to call an ambulance for her because she's in shock, I think.”
“Police have been dispatched to your location and will be arriving shortly. No one should leave the premises until they arrive.”
“Well, I'm afraid the old lady might have a heart attack. The ambulance for her just pulled up. I've got to go.”
Another siren could now be heard in the distance. Jaswinder watched the paramedics unload a gurney. The protester was nowhere in sight. He and his sign had disappeared.
What's that whimpering? Oh, Herbie, what now? A couple of people had stopped in front of the fried chicken place across the plaza to look at what was happening. Where was Jim Buckle? You'd think he would be interested in all this.
The male and female paramedic moved Mrs. Harrington onto the stretcher, paper bib still on. Marnie placed the red beanie askew on her head as she lay there. The female paramedic was taking vital signs and the man turned to Dr. Parker after looking swiftly at the rest of them. “What happened?”
“She's had a shock. Not from dental treatment, nothing like that. We were just discussing her treatment options when . . . well, she saw something that gave her a shock.”
“Like a picture of an extraction or something?” The paramedic looked doubtful.
Two police cars pulled up behind the ambulance, lights flashing and didn't bother parking. The ambulance would have difficulty getting out. A couple of people came out of the bookstore a few doors down and stood watching.
“What the devil is going on here? I think we're entitled to some kind of explanation.” Carl crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked even more annoyed, if that was possible.
“Look, everybody stay away from Operatory 4, including you, Carl.” Dr. Parker was turning red in the face. Carl seemed to have that effect on him sometimes.
“Okay, okay, no problem.” He glared at Dr. Parker before sitting down in o
ne of the chairs in the waiting room, farthest away from the rest of them.
Dr. Parker addressed them all. “The patient, the new patient, did not die of natural causes; he has a scalpel stuck in his eye. The police will no doubt investigate everything.”
Mrs. Harrington groaned from the stretcher.
“What!?” Jaswinder and Marnie spoke together. Carl jumped to his feet. “What the hell has happened?” Cheryl looked stunned.
“Carl, I think we'll all be here for long to enough to hear whatever explanation there is.” Al Parker looked back to the paramedic. “There's a dead body in the back room and this lady wandered in there by mistake. Looks like the police are here to deal with that now.”
“Okay, well, I'd better just check that he is dead,” the male paramedic decided. “I’ll wait to accompany one of the officers.”
Dr. Parker nodded. “He's dead. I checked his pulse.” He looked grim. One of paramedics headed out, Mrs. Harrington on the stretcher, three police officers holding the door open.
“That the victim?” The question was directed at the paramedics by one of the police officers looking at Mrs. Harrington.
“Nope, a possible heart attack. One of you guys want to accompany us?”
“I'll go with her and take a statement.” One of the police officers turned and went with the paramedics and the other two officers came into the clinic with the second paramedic. The paramedic was out within thirty seconds and got in the front of the ambulance. The siren started up and the vehicle drove over the sidewalk to get around the police cars. The remaining two police officers looked at the three staff members standing in the hall and then at Carl and Cheryl who had sat back down in the waiting room chairs at opposite ends of the room. Herbie let out another whimper.
“Who's that?” One of the officers started walking towards the bathroom.
“Don't . . .” Jaswinder croaked. “Don't open the door.” She continued, a little louder. “There's a dog in there. The old lady's dog. Don't let him out or we won't be able to catch him again.”
Al looked at the police. “My name is Al Parker; this is my dental clinic. You were called about a dead man in the Number four operatory, around the corner there.” He indicated in the general direction with his head.
“Okay, okay, got it.” The police were looking from one to the other and then back at Dr. Parker.
“The patient, the new patient did not die of natural causes. He has a scalpel stuck in his eye. I haven't touched anything, except I took his pulse. I felt I had to do that.”
Marnie sat down in a waiting room chair next to Cheryl.
“This way?” The two police were half way past the reception. Al nodded. Their boots clomped around the corner and the door to the Operatory was heard opening. Less than five seconds later, one of them came back out.
“Okay, this is a crime scene now. No one in or out.” He walked over to the door and stepped out, taking a roll of yellow crime scene tape out of his pocket. Jaswinder sat down with the rest of the staff in the waiting room,, unsure if they could leave that location.
Dr. Parker remained standing by the front reception counter. After a few minutes he opened the front door and walked over to the policeman who was outside attaching yellow tape in an arc around the soggy planters. “I think it's best that we close the office for today. I don't really want any of my patients seeing this . . . this situation.”
The officer gave him an appraising glance. “I can understand that.”
“I'd like one or two of my staff to call to cancel the rest of the day . . . and tomorrow, too, I think. You okay with that?”
“Yup. Nobody goes in the back. Or calls the media. They'll probably be here soon enough, anyway. My partner will have called someone from Homicide to come over and take statements. The fingerprint squad will be here as well. Can't really see you working on any patients.” A small crowd had now gathered on the sidewalk.
“Right.” The dentist started to head back in then turned to the officer again. “There was a guy here most of the morning, outside, I mean. Jim Buckle is his name. He comes around from time to time and marches up and down with a sign. He had a beef with the previous dentist who is long gone. I've been trying to get rid of him. I mean, I've asked the mall security to deal with it. He intimidated some patients. But I don't see him or the sign around now. I don't even know the man and I've never treated him,” he added.
“Okay, well you can give the details to the detective from Homicide who interviews you.”
When Dr. Parker went back into the clinic, Jaswinder studied his face. He looked worried. He'd been trained to be calm in a medical emergency but this probably wasn't something he was prepared for. The rest of the staff hadn't moved, except for Carl who was pacing back and forth. Who could have done this? She looked around at the other staff members; she'd known them all for the two and a half months she had been working at the clinic. They all looked normal, sort of. Okay, Jaswinder, did you expect one of them to have a capital letter 'M' for Murderer on their forehead?
“Right, this is what we're going to do. Marnie and Jaswinder, I need you to call the patients with appointments for this afternoon and tomorrow and re-schedule everyone. Leave a message cancelling their appointment if you don't get a response. Be sure to tell them we will be closed. And call the alternate telephone numbers we have and give the same information. Just say there's been a . . . a. . . an emergency. Don't give any details.” Dr. Parker sighed. "I guess it will be in the papers and on T.V. soon enough.”
“But, who did this, Dr. P.? I mean nobody was here but us.” Marnie was definitely pale behind her freckles.
“That guy, that protester was using the bathroom just before, just before, before Mrs. Harrington came out.” Jaswinder remembered the smell.
“What? How did that happen? You let him in?” Cheryl looked indignant.
“I didn't let him in. Why would I do that? He just barged in and didn't even stop at reception.” Jaswinder felt tears starting. This was all too much.
“Okay, okay, everybody relax. I know this is difficult for all of us. As soon as the police give the okay, everybody head home and take the day off tomorrow. With pay, of course.” Two more cars pulled up in front of the clinic and two men and a woman came towards the clinic, carrying cases. They stopped to exchange words with the officer outside, now finished with the taping. They weren't wearing police uniforms but it was obvious that's what they were.
“Jas and Marnie, would you make those calls now? The policeman outside said it was all right.”
The two young women got up and headed towards the reception. “What about Herbie?” Jaswinder asked.
“Who?”
“Mrs. Harrington's dog.”
Dr. Parker frowned and closed his eyes for a moment.
Carl contributed, “Flush him down the toilet?”
Dr. Parker looked at him and shook his head slightly.
“Do you think he would go back in the bag he got out of, Jaswinder?”
“I guess I could try. But he figured out how to open it in the first place; that's how he got loose.”
“When you've finished with the calls you can give it a try, if you feel up to it. I guess we could call the pound to come and get him.”
“Don't do that; Jas and I will take care of it.” Marnie had a soft spot for little kids and animals.
“All right, thanks,” Dr. Parker said. The two women turned and went toward reception.
“Don't go down to Operatory 4!” Dr. Parker insisted.
“Don't worry, we won't.” Marnie's voice was subdued.
The two spoke quietly, bending over the appointment book and divided up the calls. Each sat in front of a computer and called up the patient's data to get the emergency contact numbers. Soon the murmur of their voices could be heard.
Three officers opened the front door and two of them, the younger two, headed straight into Operatory 4 with their bags of supplies after a nod in the general direction of Dr.
Parker. The other, older man, wearing a grey overcoat stood for a moment in front of them all and made eye contact with each of them. Even Carl stopped pacing.
“All right, ladies and gentlemen, the entire clinic is a crime scene. Until you're cleared, everyone here is a potential suspect. For now, let's just say you're witnesses. My name is Detective Osborne and I'll be taking statements shortly so no discussing this matter amongst yourselves.”
Operatory of Death: A Jaswinder Mystery Page 3