by Terri Reid
“Is that why I’m still here?” Carol asked.
Mary nodded. “It would seem so,” she said. “Or perhaps you’re here because of someone else’s unfinished business.”
“And who would that be?”
“The Baker’s Dozen,” Mary said.
“Those children? Those poor children are still here?” she asked, aghast.
Mary nodded. “They are still in the hidden unit at the hospital,” she explained. “And they’re frightened.”
A translucent tear slipped down Carol’s cheek and made a darkened path to her jawbone. “I thought they’d move on,” she said. “I thought once their pain had ended…”
“Did you know what they were doing to the children?” Mary asked.
Carol took a shuddering breath, then shook her head. “Not at first,” she said. “These poor children were sick. They had all contracted the HIV virus from their mothers who had died from AIDS. They approached us and said that they would be willing to treat the children with cutting-edge treatments—treatments that might cure them. We just had to agree that they could record the children’s progress for their study.”
“Who is they?” Mary asked.
“Well, the first person to approach me was Dr. Reinsband,” she said. “He’d done work with DCFS before, and the children seemed to like him. And it was just a matter of moving the children from pediatrics to this special, new, isolation unit.”
“After Dr. Reinsband talked to you, who else met with you?”
“The men from the pharmaceutical company came to see me,” she said. “They needed my signature on the paperwork as the guardian ad litem for the children.” She closed her eyes in concentration. “Let’s see. There was a Hickory. Maybe Joe Hickory. And, another plant name.” She smiled at Mary.
“I remembered them as the plant brothers. Now, what was his name?”
She looked up to the ceiling and then nodded. “Ash. That was his name. Simon Ash.”
“Okay, Joe Hickory and Simon Ash,” Mary repeated, raising her voice slightly so Bradley and Alex could hear clearly, “were the two men from the pharmaceutical company.”
“Oh, and the doctor who worked for the company too,” she said. “His name was odd. What was it? Claeys. That’s it. Dr. Samuel Claeys.”
“Dr. Claeys worked for the pharmaceutical company?” Mary exclaimed.
“Claeys worked for them?” Alex repeated. “When was that?”
Carol nodded. “Yes, he was the one that explained how the cutting edge formulations would help the children,” she said.
“Do you remember when this all happened?” Mary asked.
Carol nodded. “Yes, spring of 96,” she said. “That’s when I agreed to let the children participate.”
“Spring of 96,” Mary repeated. “Dr. Claeys is the CEO for Freeport Hospital now.”
Carol shook her head. “Well, that doesn’t surprise me,” she said. “He seemed like the kind of man who landed on his feet wherever he went.”
Chapter Fifty-one
Bradley moved down the hallway a little and pulled out his phone. “Dorothy, it’s Bradley,” he said. “I need you to run a background check on Dr. Samuel Claeys. I want you to check bank accounts, real estate holdings, investments. I want everything you can give me on this guy. Thanks.”
Alex joined him. “Okay, I’ve got my office running checks on Ash and Hickory,” he said. He paused for a moment and shook his head. “Is this for real?”
“Yeah, it’s for real,” Bradley assured him.
“So, is it like one of those Ouija boards?” he asked. “She gets like messages or feelings?”
Bradley shook his head. “No, she can see Carol Ford,” he said. “She is talking to the spirit of Carol Ford.”
Alex shook his head. “I have a hard time getting my head around this,” he said.
“Yeah, so did I until I saw them too,” Bradley said.
Alex looked surprise. “Wait. You can do this paranormal thing too?”
“No, only if I make contact with Mary while she’s talking to one of the ghosts,” he said.
“Make contact?” Alex asked. “Is that a code word for…”
“Touch her hand or her arm, Alex,” Bradley countered. “That’s it, Alex.”
“Good because, you know, that would have been kind of weird…”
“Alex,” Bradley interrupted.
“Yes?”
“Shut up,” Bradley said.
Bradley walked back down the hallway to the cell where Mary was still conversing with Carol. Alex followed close behind him.
“Hey, I’m sorry,” Alex said. “I didn’t mean to be offensive or anything.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Bradley said. Then he turned to Alex and stared at him for a long moment. “Yeah, that might work.”
“What?” Alex asked.
But Bradley just walked away from him and into the cell with Mary. He placed his hand on Mary’s shoulder, and instantly he could see the woman Mary was conversing with.
Mary smiled up at him then turned back to the ghost. “Carol, this is my husband, Bradley,” she said. “He’s also the chief of police.”
“So, are you going to make those men pay for what they did?” Carol asked him.
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am, I plan on making them pay for a very long time,” he replied. Then he looked over his shoulder. “The other man, standing there, his name is Alex Boettcher. He’s the Stephenson County District Attorney. He’s working on this case too.”
“He’s the excitable man,” Carol replied.
Bradley and Mary both grinned. “Yes. Yes, he is,” Mary agreed.
“I wanted to see if Alex might be able to see you too,” Bradley said. “I think it might help with this whole process.”
Carol nodded. “Well, I’m new at this,” she said. “What would you like me to do?”
Bradley turned to Mary.
“I think if you just want Alex to see you, that could be helpful,” Mary suggested.
Bradley walked back to Alex. “I want to try something,” he said.
Alex shook his head. “Yeah, no, I don’t want to be part of some weird experience,” he said.
“I think it would give you a better feel for the case,” Bradley said. “Give you a chance to interview the witness yourself.”
Alex closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. “I’m going to have nightmares for the rest of my life if I do this,” he said.
Bradley smiled. “If I’m lucky,” he replied. He grabbed hold of Alex’s arm and pulled him into the cell. Then he placed Alex’s hand on Mary’s shoulder.
“Can you—” Bradley began.
“Holy shit!” Alex exclaimed.
“I think he can see me,” Carol laughed. “And I don’t think he’s too happy about it.”
Chapter Fifty-two
“I still can’t get over it,” Alex said when they were sitting in Mary’s office later that morning. “She was right there. Talking and moving, like a real person.”
“Well, she is a real person,” Mary said. “She just doesn’t happen to have a body right now.”
He stood up and paced around her office. “This is amazing,” he said. “Totally amazing. Can you imagine how easy it would be to solve crimes if you could just talk to the dead guy and ask him who killed him?”
“Well, there are a few problems with that,” Mary said with a smile.
Alex turned to her. “What? What could be a problem?” he asked.
She shrugged, and her smile widened. “I don’t know, maybe people thinking you’re nuts and locking you up for a long, long, long time.”
He stopped his pacing and thought about it. “Okay, yeah, that could be a problem,” he said. “But, wow! I mean, wow! Talking to her was so…great. What a great lady.”
“What a great lady who was murdered,” Bradley reminded him.
“Yeah,” Alex said, nodding. “Yeah, it’s hard to think of her as dead.”
�
��I know what you mean,” Mary said. “But we need to solve this case so she can move on.”
“Okay, what else did you find out?” Alex asked.
“She decided to visit the children,” Mary said. “And she found them all in distress. They told her that they got sick after they took their pills. They didn’t want to take their pills anymore.”
Mary got up and walked over the refrigerator and pulled out three bottles of water. She tossed a bottle to Bradley and one to Alex. Then she opened her own and took a drink before she continued.
“She asked the nurse about the pills and the side effects. The nurse told her that it was the AIDS, not the pills, that was causing those effects. But, Carol had been with the kids during the first stages of the disease, and they hadn’t experienced anything like that. She also thought it was odd that all thirteen children would be experiencing the same side effects so soon after being administered the same drugs.”
“Why wasn’t the doctor in charge asking those same questions?” Alex asked. “If a social worker could figure it out, why couldn’t a physician?”
“That’s a really good question,” Mary said. “And I think it’s one we need to ask Dr. Reinsband when Bradley and I visit him tomorrow.”
“We’re visiting him tomorrow?” Bradley asked.
“Do you remember Karen Springler?” Mary asked.
He nodded. “Yes, she was the psychologist who worked with Clarissa,” he said.
“The nursing home where Dr. Reinsband lives lost their psychologist, so she’s doing double duty,” she explained. “So, when I told her I needed to meet with Dr. Reinsband, she set it up for tomorrow.”
“Did she give you a clue as to his state of mind?” Alex asked.
Mary shook her head. “No, she can’t because of the HIPPA laws,” she said. “But we should be able to figure it out tomorrow when we meet with him.”
“Yeah, and we can solve another puzzle,” Alex said.
“What’s that?” Bradley asked.
“The doctor registered to Carol Ford’s care was Dr. Reinsband,” he said.
“What?” Mary asked.
“Interesting, right?” Alex asked. “Carol was on several different medications for her blood pressure and her heart problems.”
“Did you check with the jail’s dispensary about a change in her medications?” Mary asked.
“Funny thing,” Alex said. “The normal pharmacist called in sick, and a temp came in. It’s odd with a place as secure as this. You would think they’d have to do a background check or something, but no one seems to know who the temp was.”
Bradley pulled out his phone again. “Hey, Sheriff,” he said once his call had been answered. “It’s Alden. I’ve got a quick question for you. I’ve got a friend. We used to be on the force together, and now he’s a sheriff in a small town downstate. They’re building a prison, not as big as ours, but he’s a little overwhelmed. He was asking me how we got our medical staff and our pharmacists.”
Bradley nodded slowly. “So, we subcontract with the hospital,” he repeated. “Well, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks. Thanks a lot. That’s very helpful. Have a good one.”
“This really stinks,” Mary said.
“Wow, they’ve got themselves covered all over town,” Alex said as he walked over to the door. “I’m going to go over to the morgue and make sure the coroner is still on our side. You guys be careful.”
“Alex, who’s checking on those samples for us?” Mary asked.
“I’ve got a friend from Bloomington, Illinois, who’s running checks on them,” he replied. “Nick Butzirus is a good guy, and I can trust him completely.”
“Good,” Mary said. “At least Claeys won’t be able to mess with that.”
“Yeah, but watch your back,” Alex said.
“You too,” Bradley said. “These guys are playing for keeps.”
Chapter Fifty-three
The nursing home was located on Park Avenue across the street from Krape Park. It was the oldest nursing home in the area and the most respected. The stately home had assisted living and full-care suites for its residents. The gathering rooms were bright and sunny, with highly polished woodwork that carried the scent of lemon oil. It was, Mary thought, a place she wouldn’t mind spending some time in if she had to.
Dr. Karen Springler met them at the receptionist desk and escorted them to a family meeting room off one of the main gathering rooms.
“Have you ever met Dr. Reinsband?” she asked.
Mary shook her head. “No, I haven’t,” she said. “But I’ve heard wonderful things about him. How long has he been here?”
“Almost thirty years,” Karen replied. “He was working at the hospital when suddenly he seemed to lose his ability to concentrate, it kept getting worse and he never quite regained his…” She paused, trying to come up with the right word. “Well, I suppose you’ll be able to see for yourself.”
They walked into the room, and Mary was surprised to see a fairly fit-looking man sitting at a table looking at them. “Hello,” he said with a kindly smile. “Do I know you?”
Mary shook her head. “No, you don’t,” she said. “My name is Mary, and this is my husband, Bradley.”
His smile grew. “I thought for sure I knew you,” he said. “You look so familiar to me. Were you one of my patients?”
“I don’t think so,” Bradley said. “But I believe I know some of your patients.”
“Do you?” he replied happily. “That’s wonderful. Who do you know?”
“Carol Ford,” Mary inserted.
His smile turned into a thoughtful frown, and he slowly shook his head. “No. No, I can’t say I remember her,” he said. “Ford, like the car?”
Bradley nodded. “Exactly.”
“No, I’ve never met her,” he said.
“How about Jack Dunne?” Mary asked.
His smile returned. “Little Jack,” he said. “What a whippersnapper—so full of life and what a trickster. I remember him gluing all of my tongue depressors together.” He chuckled heartily. “How’s Jack doing these days?”
“When was the last time you saw Jack?” Bradley asked.
Once again, his smile turned thoughtful as he pondered the question. “Well, as best I recall,” he said slowly, “it was back when we were administering this wonder drug to him.”
“Wonder drug?” Mary asked.
“Yes. It was the only drug that could fully cure AIDS,” he said. “We used it on thirteen children. All wonderful children. Gave them a new lease on life.”
“Did you work with the study when the children were given those drugs?” Mary asked.
He stopped and thought about her question for a long moment, then smiled sadly. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “But about that time was when my condition appeared. So, I supervised the study, but I relied on my nurse and Dr. Claeys for the details.”
He shook his head. “But they were miraculous details,” he said. “Simply miraculous.”
“Did you sign off on those reports?” Bradley asked.
Dr. Reinsband grinned and then peeked around. “I suppose it doesn’t hurt to tell the truth now,” he said, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “especially since the results were so positive. But, yes, I signed off on everything. I had to, or they wouldn’t have been able to bring those drugs to market. And at that time, AIDS was a horrible disease.”
“Your condition,” Mary asked. “Do you know what caused it?”
He shook his head. “Darndest thing,” he said. “All of the sudden, I can’t think straight. I can’t remember where I put my car, my keys, my house. I can’t seem to function for an entire day. Luckily for me, Dr. Claeys was willing to cover for me so I could work long enough to get credit for the study and get the bonus from the pharmaceutical company. That’s the only way I could afford to live here.”
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Mary inquired, “how much was your bonus?”
He became thoughtf
ul again. “I can’t remember if I had to sign one of those non-disclosure agreements,” he said slowly.
“Oh, we won’t tell anyone,” Mary assured him.
He smiled widely. “Well, it’s okay then,” he said. “They paid me ten million dollars.”
“Ten million?” Bradley asked. “That’s a lot of money for a small drug study.”
Dr. Reinsband nodded his head in agreement. “I know,” he said. “But they make so much money from those drugs, I suppose having those children cured was worth it.”
Mary glanced at Bradley and shook her head. “I can’t do this,” she said.
“What can’t you do?” Dr. Reinsband asked.
“Those children did not make it,” she said. “They did not get cured. They all died.”
“No, that can’t be true,” he said. “I saw the reports. I signed the reports. The drugs cured them.”
“No, the drugs did not cure them,” Mary replied. “The drugs were never released to the public because the children died. They all died.”
“Did I kill them?” Dr. Reinsband asked anxiously.
Mary shook her head. “No, you didn’t,” she said. “But they used your name, so the children were afraid of you.”
“But…but I would never hurt any children,” he said. “I wanted to help them.”
“They didn’t know that,” Mary said. “They still don’t know that.”
He stared at her. “Are they still there?” he asked, his voice soft.
She nodded. “Yes, they are,” she said. “Do you believe in spirits remaining here on earth after death?”
“I have to believe,” he replied. “I’m a doctor. I’ve seen them.”
“If you could just come over to the hospital,” Mary said, “to that unit…”
He shook his head adamantly. “No. No, I can’t leave the nursing home,” he said sadly. “My condition has gotten much worse. I can barely remember anything. No, I’m afraid that I’m frightened too.”
Mary pulled a card out of her purse and handed it to him. “If you change your mind,” she said, “please call me. Those children deserve to know the truth so they can be free.”