Stacy Matthews - Dear Mary 01 - Think Twice Before You Order

by Stacy Matthews

  Charlie and I looked at one another. They had been following us since we left the house, and neither of us had noticed a car following us. No wonder we got knocked in the head. I could tell Charlie wasn’t going to tell them anything, and was trying to think of something to distract them. I moved my hand over my head and found a pretty good size goose egg. That was the opening he was looking for. He asked Marple and Fletcher if they would take me to the hospital to have it checked out. The only thing they love more than figuring out a mystery is helping someone in need. They thought the best part was getting to make up a story about me cleaning the house and falling backwards. Those two worked up a story that no doctor was going to question. The bump was nothing serious. The doctor told me to be more careful and sent me home. I knew my house hunting was over for today and maybe tomorrow. I also knew I was going to get the third degree from Marple and Fletcher. They decided I should stay at their house for the night. I tried as hard as I could to get them to take me to Grandpa’s, but they had it stuck in their minds that I could possibly have a concussion and should be woken up every two hours. When I reminded them the doctor said I was fine, the answer I got back was, “He’s only a doctor. He doesn’t know everything.”

  How Charlie escaped the trip to the hospital I’ll never know. I called him from the bathroom at the ER and told him I was being kidnapped and taken home with Mrs. Houtz and Edmonds. He thought that was the funniest thing he had heard in a long time. I told him their plan to wake me up every two hours and he laughed harder. He owes me big.

  He thought going to Mark’s and re-looking into the doctor and all of the people on the list would be a good idea. I knew he wasn’t going to say anything but I could tell his head hurt just as much as mine. We had noticed the two homes that really stuck out were Grandpa’s and Mr. Clark’s. They were nice enough houses but it was obvious that neither of those two men had the kind of money the others had. Charlie knows there is some sort of connection between all of the patients, but he and Mark need to figure out what that is. He was also going to see if he could get some more information on the spouses of the patients.

  Seeing as how we had been knocked out, I asked him if he thought we should call the police. He said he didn’t want to say too much at this point, but he and Mark have a theory and want to check on some things before he tells me what it is. He asked me to give him at least a couple of more days before we call the police. He told me to try to keep as much from Marple and Fletcher as I could. Charlie did have a point, no matter when I call the police the only thing they will be able to do is put out an “attempt to locate” for Grandpa and Tatiana. There isn’t any evidence to indicate foul play or that any kind of crime occurred to warrant an investigation. They don’t have the manpower to spend time figuring out where two adults may have gone. Charlie said he would call tonight as soon as he gets the information he needs from Mark.

  I did talk Mrs. Houtz into going over to Grandpa’s and getting my pajamas and my journal. They put me in one of the guest rooms, and made a small late lunch for me. When I was finished, they came and got the dishes. I was to try to take a nap, and one of them would be in every two hours to ask me my name and if I knew where I was. I kind of played up how much the bump on my head hurt. When I rubbed it they would ask if I was seeing double or felt like I needed to throw up. I know that wasn’t nice on my part, but it did keep them from asking me questions about what Charlie and I were doing.

  Talk to you later

  Later June 12th

  Dear Mary,

  I know news flies fast around small towns, but this is ridiculous. I had gotten up to use the restroom and get a drink of water. I heard women’s voices and thought it was just Mrs. Houtz and Edmonds talking about today’s excitement. As I got to the doorway of the kitchen, I saw Mrs. Fisher sitting in the living room talking with both of them. Mrs. Fisher lives a few houses down from Mom and Dad’s old house. The older kids in the neighborhood used to tell the little kids that she weighed six hundred pounds. She never used to come out of her house, so we all believed them. Well she doesn’t weigh six hundred pounds anymore and she was sitting right there on the couch.

  I was just standing there staring at her. I felt like an idiot. It was the very same feeling I had when I was in third grade and collecting money for muscular dystrophy. I had knocked on her door and heard her say, “Come on in.” I was actually going inside the house and was going to get to see her. I was scared and excited at the same time. I walked through the door, turned to my left and there she was, kind of lying on the sofa. I had never seen anyone that big before. I was just standing there with my mouth open staring at her. She was very sweet about it then and just as sweet about it this time. She stood up and came over to give me a hug. I prayed Marple and Fletcher hadn’t been telling her about today. They had told her something about today, because she asked how my head was. Knowing those two, it was probably the same story they gave the hospital. There was no way they were going to share their mystery with anyone else. After Mrs. Fisher hugged me we all sat down, and she told me how she lost all the weight.

  She didn’t have the bypass, but had one of those lap bands put on. With exercise and better eating she has lost a total of two hundred and fifty pounds so far. She really does look great. She said she does yard work and walks a mile every day. She would like to lose another hundred and fifty pounds, then have the surgery to remove the extra skin. After all of that is done, she will buy new clothes. Until then she is wearing sweat pants and tee shirts. Her goal is to buy an expensive dress and have Mr. Fisher take her to dinner and then dancing. If she keeps on track she thinks she will reach her goal by next summer. We talked until it was time for Mr. Fisher to come home, and she had to go fix dinner. She said he had also lost some weight because she refused to make two different dinners. If he wanted to eat he would have to eat what she fixed. My head was really starting to ache and I made a mistake and rubbed it. Of course, Mrs. Houtz jumped up and said it was time for me to go back to my room and lay down. I was having a nice time talking to Mrs. Fisher, but I was ready to lie down.

  As I walked back to my room I couldn’t help but remember when I was in the third grade. Mom and Dad took me to the State fair in Topeka, and I paid a dollar to see the “Worlds Fattest Man.” I felt like an idiot then too. You walked in one door and to the right they had an area roped off. There he was, the world’s fattest man, just sitting in a chair. He didn’t talk to you or anything. You just stood there, looked at him for a few seconds and then left out the other door. I was really disappointed. He wasn’t nearly as fat as Mrs. Fisher. I told Mom and Dad I wanted my money back. Dad said they wouldn’t give me my money back just because I had seen someone bigger than him, and they both thought it would be best if I kept my idea of Mrs. Fisher doing that job instead of him to myself. I have to admit it has been fun talking to everyone.

  I must have fallen asleep because I woke up as Mrs. Houtz was putting my dinner tray on the bed. We had meatloaf, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, bread, and chocolate pie for dessert. It was the cutest thing. They brought in TV trays and had dinner in my room to keep me company. I guess they had decided to wait and grill me in the morning. The dinner conversation turned to sports. They wanted to know what I knew about any of it. They told me which ones their grandkids play, and I did my best to explain each of them in a way that would be easy for them to remember the differences between them.

  They were also trying to figure out what to do about three of Mrs. Edmonds children, and their children, and both of the Houtz children and grandchildren wanting to come and visit on the same weekend. I suggested that the Edmonds family stay at Grandpas, and I could stay there with the two of them. There’s enough room for all of the Edmonds at Grandpa’s, and that way it would only be five extra people at Mrs. Houtz’s. The Edmonds could take up as much room as they needed at Grandpa’s. If Grandpa and Tatiana come back, we’ll make room. They thought it was a great idea as long as it wasn’t going to be
an inconvenience for Grandpa or me. I knew right then and there they had big plans for interrogating me in the morning. They hadn’t asked a single question since we got back to the house.

  Of course while I was staying there, dinner would be ready for all of us, Edmonds, Houtzes, and me every night. I think it will be kind of fun being in a house with all those people, as long as I don’t get interrogated. With that many people around I don’t think I will be. But to play it safe I will make sure I’m never alone with Marple and Fletcher. I had always wanted brothers and sisters when I was growing up, so this will be my chance to see what a big family is like. I can only imagine how good the food is going to be. I’ve come to the conclusion if I can’t get my walking done outside I’m going to have to buy a treadmill, and get it done inside. This food is just too good to pass up.

  When I talked to Charlie at the hospital, he said he would call and see how I was doing. Thankfully, I happened to be awake when he called. He wanted to know if I thought I would be up for a little snooping in the morning instead of the afternoon. My head was feeling better, and I think the bump had gone down. He stressed that it would be very little snooping and more like a stakeout. Finally I get to take some food. We were going to go to each of the houses and watch from the street. Since it looked as though someone had been taking in the mail at each of the homes we had been to, he thought we might be able to see the person or people doing it. He wanted to start with the house where we got knocked out. We would watch it for a little while and then go in and see if we could find any evidence as to who it was that put our lights out. I told him I thought I could handle sitting in the car and watching.

  It did make me a little nervous thinking about going back into that house, but this time we would be much more aware and looking for someone that may be hiding in there. He wanted to get an early start in case one of the homeowners was actually home and leaving for work. He asked if Marple and Fletcher and been grilling me. I told him how I would rub my head if I thought they were going to start asking questions. He was very impressed that I had come up with that all by myself. Now the only thing I have to worry about is getting out of the house in the morning without waking up the ladies.

  Talk to you later

  June 13th

  Dear Mary,

  Charlie picked me up around six o’clock this morning. He was waiting a block down the street for me. I was able to sneak out of the house without waking either of them. We drove to the house where we were knocked out, and parked four houses up the street. I had brought coffee and some rolls. My head was feeling just fine, and the rolls were going to make it feel even better. I’m not a doctor but that’s my professional opinion.

  Charlie and Mark hadn’t been able to come up with any more information on the list of names we had gotten from Dr. Niemeyer’s office. I guess Mark had run every kind of search on them he could. None of those people had so much as a ticket. Mark checked to see if any of them had any family or had ever been married before. There were two that had been divorced and the rest were widowers with no family. They all seemed to be well off, but by no means millionaires. The only two that would be considered middle class were Grandpa and Mr. Clark. Grandpa and Mr. Clark also seem to be the only ones that have any kind of friends or social life. From the sound of it, these other men were practically invisible.

  Charlie and I thought it was more than a little strange that not one person (that was supposed to be there) at any of the four houses we had gone to yesterday was home. We watched the house where we had been knocked out, then went to three other houses. Three hours had passed without a sign of anyone. Charlie really wanted to go back into the house where we had our little run-in. Everything seemed to be the same, from what little I remember. We went upstairs to see if anyone had been staying there. If anyone was staying there, they did a great job of cleaning up and making it look like no one had been there. We looked around to make sure the house hadn’t been burglarized, it hadn’t. That was the only house we went in, the rest we just sat a few houses away, watched and waited for someone to come get the mail. We spent all day doing this. No one showed up to take in the mail at any of the houses, and no one came home, at all. Not for lunch or at the end of the day. This was the second day that none of these people were home, not one of them. I could tell by the look on Charlie’s face that this was somehow adding up to something in the theory he and Mark had. I knew better than to ask what he was thinking, and wasn’t sure I wanted to know at that point.

  We went back to Charlie’s house. We sat at the kitchen table looking at the list. Charlie decided it was too much of a coincidence that none of the people were home two days in a row. I could tell by his face he was trying to figure out a way to get rid of me and let himself into some of the houses. I knew he was afraid of me getting hurt again, but I headed him off at the pass and told him I want to be with him every step of the way on this. He said that was fine but he didn’t know what we might find. Meaning he wanted to know if I was going to lose it if we came across any bad information about Grandpa.

  I had to think about that for a little bit. Grandpa and I aren’t as close as I would like us to be, but we were on our way. He is the only family I have left. I decided I wanted to be in on every aspect of this, good or bad. Charlie said he was all right with that, so then we had some pizza delivered. While we were eating, Charlie took the list and put the houses in order of the last date they had an appointment with Dr. Niemeyer. The first house on the new list hadn’t been to Dr. Niemeyer since early April. The second’s last appointment had been in mid-April. Charlie took me back to Mrs. Houtz and Edmonds’s, and said he would be over early in the morning to pick me up; should be an interesting day.

  When I walked into the house the ladies were sitting in the living room watching one of their programs. Mrs. Edmonds turned the TV down, and they both turned towards me. They asked how I was feeling and I told them fine. Then came the surprising part. Both of them said they knew Charlie and I were looking into something, and knew he had most likely told me not to fill them in on any of it. They would agree not to ask any questions if I promised to fill them in on everything once we were finished.

  I thought this was very considerate of them, knowing how much farther they were in the art of interrogating people than I was, and would have most likely gotten the entire story out of me. I promised I would tell them everything the minute I could. They accepted my promise and asked if I wanted anything to eat. I thanked them for their understanding and said Charlie and I had grabbed a bite to eat earlier. I excused myself and came into my room to catch you up on everything.

  Boy that pizza didn’t match up to the home cooking I’ve had these past few days. I need to make sure I either get out for a walk or make sure I don’t eat fast food anymore. This thing is setting on my stomach like a paperweight. I’m leaning towards no fast food anymore.

  Mrs. Houtz knocked on my door wanting to let me know the Edmonds family were coming in early, and would be here tomorrow. She said she found the key to Grandpa’s house and had gone over and made sure everything was ready to go.

  Thankfully when I had come back from Mrs. Bartley’s in that cleaning mood, I changed the sheets in all the bedrooms, cleaned the bathrooms and gave the house the once over. I have to say the house looked pretty good the last time I was there. Maybe if I had people come over to my apartment to stay I would clean it more often. All of the kids and grandkids will be spending most of their time with Mrs. Houtz and Mrs. Edmonds, but I still wanted Grandpa’s place to look nice, and make them feel like they could spend as much time there as they want. I’m just glad all the cooking is being done over here and I’ll be home for dinner every night.

  Talk to you later

  June 17th

  Dear Mary,

  If you’ll notice it’s been four days since I last wrote you. I’ll explain all of that in a few. First let me back up to June the 14th.

  I had gotten up a little early, I could tell Mrs. Houtz was
awake, I could smell the coffee and something was baking. She had some lovely homemade biscuits with homemade berry preserves. We sat and drank coffee, ate biscuits and talked about the family coming into town. They were both so excited about having all of the kids in town. She and Mrs. Edmonds had planned on having a big dinner the day before they all left and wanted to make sure I would be there. She didn’t tell me what we would be having, but I can imagine how much food is going to be at that table and how good it’s going to be.

  It was getting close to the time Charlie was supposed to be picking me up, so I got my things together. He was sitting in the driveway waiting for me. He had stopped somewhere and had gotten coffee and rolls. I couldn’t tell him I had just eaten with Mrs. Houtz that would have been rude, so I had some more coffee and a roll. Charlie wanted to drive by all of the houses on the list before going into any of them to make sure there were no obvious signs of anyone being at any of the houses. I tell you what, there is a lot of what I would consider back tracking in this spy business; but Charlie said its not back tracking. It’s all about spy safety…those aren’t the exact words he used but you know what I mean. By the time we had gone to each of the houses, sat out in front for a little bit, it was lunchtime. We found a deli, got a couple of sandwiches and went back to the last house on the list. We sat in the car, ate our food and talked.