“Town undertaker,” Father Gunter asked, as he shook Mr. Durling's hand.
“Yes,” he answered. “Since this is a small town, I do both jobs.”
Johann again took out his ID and allowed the man to study it. “I'm Bill Berman. An inspector with the CDC.” He put away his ID and took out his notebook and pen.
“I believe Administrator Olson said you're here for the babies,” The coroner said.
“That's correct. How many deceased infants have you seen at this point?”
“I believe,” Mr. Durling said, gazing at the ceiling and squinting in concentration, “there has been about twenty-five altogether, and we are aware of at least ten miscarriages.”
Johann raised his eyebrows. He was hoping for a smaller number. “I see,” he responded, “In how long a period are we talking about?”
“Two weeks.”
“Two weeks? All these babies died in only two weeks,” Johann asked. He was only mildly surprised that the timeline was so short. This meant, to him, that he was almost catching the situation before it could get much worse.
“That's correct.”
“What did they die from?”
“The best I can tell,” the coroner said, “the cause has been Sudden Infant Death Syndrome every time.”
“Have you received the one that came to the hospital about two hours ago?”
“Ah, yes,” Robert said, sadly, “Little Rachel Bridger. This one is especially troubling to me. The Bridger's live on the farm closest to my house. I guess that makes them my neighbors. I'll be doing her autopsy in a little while.”
“Her autopsy,” Johann said, he was surprised that such a procedure is performed in a hospital morgue, “Since when do you do autopsies in a hospital morgue?'
“Well,” proclaims Durling, “I'm also the county coroner.”
“I see,” Johann said, as he held his gaze on the coroner for a moment. He realized he was now presented with a unique opportunity. “I would like a copy of all the autopsy reports for all the babies that have died in the last two weeks, please,” Johann said.
“I can have the reports ready for you about mid-morning tomorrow. Will that suffice?”
“Yes,” Johann answered, “That will be fine.” He handed his card to Robert. “When they're ready, call me on my cell phone, and I'll come pick them up.” Durling took the card and nodded.
The two men continued talking for some time. The coroner took Johann over to where the bodies were stored and allowed him to examine the body of Rachel Bridger. As Johann examined the little corpse, he noticed a small, unobtrusive mark on its neck, behind the right ear. He glanced at Durling to make sure he was not looking, then quickly adjusted his bifocal glasses to look through the bottom for more magnification. The mark was very tiny, but Johann could still recognize it as being comprised of three sixes in a row. This mark was precisely what he was looking for. A death mark from a demon.
After he returned the body to the refrigeration unit, Johann requested permission to look at a few more of the infants. On the three he examined, the same mark was found in the same place on their bodies. Now he had proof he was on the right track. The only thing left to do now was find the demon.
He was returning the last of the bodies to the morgue refrigerator, when Robert walked over to him.
“Miss Olson called. She said the attending physicians are waiting for you in her office,” the coroner said.
“Thank you,” Johann replied. “Thank you for your help. I'll hear from you tomorrow, then.”
“Yes. Like I said, I should have everything ready for you by noon.”
Father Gunter made his way back to the elevator. On his way up to the Administrator's office, the elevator stopped at the ground floor. A young male doctor entered and stood on the opposite side of the car from Johann. Johann didn't notice the young physician was watching him out of the corner of his eyes, but he felt the air, as it became decidedly colder. He also realized there was a very slight aroma in the air. A sulphurous odor the demon hunter recognized all too well. Slowly, he reached into his jacket and rested his hand on the small flask of holy water he had in his inside breast pocket. He shuddered slightly and the young physician gazed at him.
“Just caught a little chill,” Johann said, as he tried to make small talk and watched for the doctor's reaction. The young man gave Johann a smug half-smile, and redirected his gaze forward again, without saying anything to Johann.
When the elevator reached the first floor, the doctor moved to the center of the car at the door, to exit when it reached the next level. Seeing this, Johann relaxed his grip a little on the container of blessed liquid. He began to think perhaps he was wrong, and possibly misjudged the young physician. All the same, Johann watched him intently. The doors opened and as the doctor was stepping out of the car, he hesitated for but a moment and turned to Johann. “Happy hunting,” he said, with an almost evil elf grin, “Priest.” The word exploded from his lips as though it was dirty. At the same time, his skin took on a pale gray pallor and his eyes became two black discs, void of life and soul. He quickly turned and ran away from the elevator. He emitted an evil, high pitched scream as he ran from Johann.
Johann, not caught entirely off guard, began to give chase. “You son of a bitch,” he yelled, as he ran out of the elevator. He stopped when he realized his young tormentor was nowhere in sight, and all the doctors, nurses and patients in the hall had stopped what they were doing, to stare at him as though he were a madman.
Johann slowly glanced at everyone, and tried to come up with a plausible reason why he would run out of an elevator screaming profanities. He slowly backed into the elevator making little twitches with his arms and neck. “Sorry,” he apologized to everyone, “It's this God Damned Tourette.” He raised and lowered his voice as though he had little control over it. Johann re-boarded the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. While the door was closing, he kept up the fake twitching.
The door closed and the elevator resumed the trip to the top floor. Johann fell back against the wall and tried to relax. “Well,” he thought, “Somebody knows I'm here, and that only proves I'm right. There is a demon at work here.” He looked up at the ceiling of the elevator “Sis,” he whispered, " I know you can hear me. Guide me to this son of a bitch, so I can take it out."
The elevator stopped, and the door opened. Johann walked out, and once again his footsteps echoed off the walls in the barren hallway. He reached the office of the administrator where Miss Olson sat with the two attending physicians. They hadn't noticed him yet, so he used the moment as an opportunity to observe directly.
Johann could see the female doctor and administrator were talking amongst themselves, but he could barely make out anything they were saying. The only thing he could tell for certain was the female physician was talking the loudest and seemed annoyed at having to be at this meeting.
Johann stopped, and positioned himself so as not to be seen and tried to listen as best he could. It was now obvious to him the female physician did not wish to be away from the ER for any length of time, citing she was on duty and could be needed there at any moment. It did seem a reasonable assumption.
The female physician was pacing and waving her hands in the air, as though angry.
“I don't understand why you need me here,” she said, “I may be needed down in the emergency room at any moment. We have a crisis going on if you haven't noticed.”
“Of course, I've noticed, Doctor Zou,” Olson said, emphatically, “But I am the administrator of this hospital, and you will cooperate with the inspector. Am I making myself clear?”
Doctor Zou leaned on Administrator Olson's desk and glared at her.
“And what is this inspector going to do,” she asked, “I'll tell you. All he is going to do is question us all, create an upheaval in everything we do and afterward only say 'Yes, there is an outbreak of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome going on here.' Something we already know.”
&n
bsp; The other attending physician sat quietly while the argument raged around him. He appeared unaffected by the goings on, and merely glanced at his watch every few minutes as though impatient to get the meeting started and over with.
“Doctor Zou,” Miss Olson said, sternly, “Please sit down, and when Mister Berman gets here we can have our meeting, and you can get back to the emergency room. And, I'm telling you now, turn on the charm and be as pleasant as you can be.” She shuffled some papers on her desk, and glared at Doctor Zou over the top rim of her glasses, “If that's at all possible.” Doctor Zou rolled her eyes and looked away from the administrator, almost mimicking an angry child.
-4-
Johann approached the doorway. The three people inside the office ceased talking, as they noticed his approach. He entered the room and glanced at all three. He detected a slight odor in the area. Administrator Olson stood and addressed the person she believed to be the inspector from the Centers for Disease Control.
“Mr. Berman, this is Doctors Zou and Silverstein,” she said, as she gestured to the two, “Doctors, this is Bill Berman, an investigator with the Centers for Disease Control,” She sat back down in her seat.
Doctor Zou appeared to be in her late thirties. Her slim build and olive complexion went well with her black hair and dark eyes. Being the physician on duty, she was, of course, dressed in the traditional white doctor's smock with a stethoscope around her neck. The name tag she wore on her left breast said she was Doctor A. Zou. Johann noticed the name tag and couldn't help but to feel something was oddly familiar about her name. When she realized that Johann was looking - almost gawking - at her, Doctor Zou began to feel uncomfortable. She moved her hand to half cover her name tag. Johann made an apologetic facial gesture and looked away.
Doctor Silverstein was male. He was shorter than Doctor Zou, and a bit older, perhaps in his mid-forties. His short, curly brown hair was thinning on top, which gave his clean-shaven face with brown eyes and almost cherub-like appearance. Although not as rotund as the coroner down in the morgue, he did seem like he had, perhaps, eaten a few too many pizzas. Today was his day off, so he was dressed in a pair of black slacks with a casual blue button-down shirt.
“Pleased to meet you both,” Johann said, politely, and glanced at Doctor Zou. “I believe we've already met.”
“Yes,” said Doctor Zou, “I recall meeting you at the nurses' station earlier.” She glared at him for a moment. “I apologize for being so abrupt.”
“No apology necessary, doctor,” Johann said.
“Good to meet you, too,” said Doctor Silverstein.
Father Gunter walked over and stood between doctor Zou and the administrator. From this vantage point, he could watch both the doctors as he interrogated them. As he passed by doctor Zou, he realized the slight odor teasing his nostrils became a little more noticeable and he could now identify the fragrance as the smell of death.
Having him so close to her made doctor Zou nervous and uncomfortable. She glanced at him for a moment, and forced a smile.
He took the pen and notepad out of his pocket and began to question the two doctors.
“So, tell me, Doctor Silverstein,” he said, “How many infants expired while you were on duty and in what time span?”
“Fate was kinder to me than my colleague here,” said Doctor Silverstein. “I've only been present on the passing of two infants -”
“Only two,” Johann said, as he gazed at the doctor.
“Yes, only two. Both were about a week ago, and they happened a day apart.”
“Can you tell me the cause of death?”
“Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.”
Johann shifted his gaze to Doctor Zou who appeared to be almost glaring at Doctor Silverstein. “So, I assume you to be the attending physician for the rest, doctor,” he asked.
“Yes,” Doctor Zou answered, trying as best she could to sound pleasant, “You are correct.”
“Would you please tell me how many cases you've seen and the time span?”
“I have attended to twenty-three. All in the last two weeks.”
“Cause of death?”
“The same as the two with Doctor Silverstein. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.”
“I see,” said Johann. He glanced at the two doctors. “Tell me about miscarriages. How many have there been and in what time frame?”
“I believe we have only seen about six,” Doctor Silverstein said.
“Fifteen.” Doctor Zou said, as she corrected her colleague. Doctor Silverstein turned to face her, surprised. “Fifteen,” he said, as he dropped his gaze for a moment and murmured “My God, it's worse than I thought.”
“In the same time frame,” Johann asked.
“Yes,” Doctor Zou answered. Johann glanced at the administrator, who made a small facial gesture, then back to the two doctors.
“Were the women healthy,” he asked. The two doctors gazed at each other for a moment; then Doctor Silverstein glanced up at Johann.
“Healthy,” the doctor asked, “I'm not sure what you are asking.”
“I'm asking, were they healthy? Meaning, was there a clear reason why they would have a miscarriage,” Johann said, clarifying the question for the doctor. Doctor Silverstein glanced at his colleague for a moment, then back at Johann.
“Yes. They all seemed healthy. There was no reason I was aware of why they should have miscarried,” Doctor Silverstein said.
“Nor do I,” said Doctor Zou. Johann glanced at the two doctors, waiting to see if their body language would tell him anything. After a moment, and not getting any clues from their body language, Johann continued his questioning.
“I visited the morgue downstairs, and the coroner is performing autopsies on all the deceased infants. I assume this has been done all the while,” Johann asked.
“Yes,” Sylvia replied, “Our policy is to perform an autopsy so we can state with the fullest of confidence the cause of death.”
“How about adults? Did any adults come to the hospital with any unexplained symptoms in this time period, or perhaps beginning a little while before this,” Johann asked.
The three remained silent for a moment. Doctor Silverstein broke the silence. “No. I haven't seen anything like that. Have you, doctor,” he asked Doctor Zou. She shook her head slowly “No.”
“So,” said Johann, “Whatever is happening is only affecting infants, correct? What is the average age of these babies,” he glanced at Doctor Zou. “You attended to most of them. What would you say the average age is?”
“About three months,” she answered.
“I concur,” Doctor Silverstein said.
A moment of uncomfortable silence filled the room. Johann made it a point not to speak, and merely used this time to study the three. Doctor Silverstein, he concluded, was the most nervous of the three.
“I assume,” Johann said, after a moment, “All the hospital equipment is kept properly sanitized and sterilized?” He glanced at the administrator.
“Absolutely,” she said. She almost sounded as though she were personally insulted by the question.
Johann turned his attention back to the two doctors. “How long have you been on staff,” he asked Doctor Silverstein.
“Ten years,” the doctor answered, as he wiped some sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. This action was not lost on Johann.
“Feeling warm, Doctor,” he asks, suspicious this may be a clue as to who the demon was.
“Well, frankly, yes,” the Doctor said, huffing nervously. “If it's not glaringly obvious to you, I'm a little overweight and being so would naturally make me warmer than the three of you. And, frankly, I'm not used to being grilled by the CDC. So, of course, I'm going to be nervous.”
Johann held his gaze for a moment. “Relax, Doctor. No one is accusing you of anything. I'm only here to investigate and find out if there is a disease going around that we need to be prepared for, or if this is some horrible coincidence.” He turned his attent
ion to Doctor Zou.
“Doctor Zou. How long have you been on staff here?”
“Three weeks,” she answered, retaining her cool.
Johann allowed this to sink in for a moment and managed a polite smile.
“Thank you both for your time,” he said, “Unless Administrator Olson wishes to ask any questions, you are free to go.”
“No questions,” Sylvia said.
The two doctors stood and turned to leave. Doctor Zou walked out the door, but as he exited the room, Doctor Silverstein stopped at the door and turned to face Johann.
“Mister Berman,” he said, “I certainly hope you can help us here. I hope you can find the reason this is happening.”
“I assure you, Doctor Silverstein, I will.”
After the two doctors were well away from the office, Johann turned his attention to the administrator.
“Thank you for arranging this meeting,” he said.
“Like I said, Mister Berman, we'll do anything we can to assist.”
“Glad to hear it,” he said as he returned to the side of the desk opposite Sylvia, so he was facing her. “I'll need the records of both of those doctors, please, and anyone else in attendance with the infants at the time of their demise.”
Sylvia was almost surprised by this request. “Surely, you don't suspect -,” she said, sputtering her words.
“We suspect everything until the answer is found, Miss. Olson,” he said. “In order for me to determine the answer, I must know everything about everyone.”
“I'll let Personnel know to prepare the records for you,” she said, almost with a tone of surrender in her voice.
“Thank you,” he said while he handed her his card. “Please ask them to call me on my cell phone when the records are ready, and I will pick them up. Oh…One more thing,” he added, “I noticed there seems to be only one church in this town. Are the people here very religious?”
Sylvia was a little bewildered by this strange question. “To be honest, no. Most of the people here are not religious at all. Why do you ask,” she said as she took the card from Johann.
He held his gaze on her for a moment before he answered. “Nothing, really. I was just curious,” he said, with a smile. He turned and walked out the door.
The Bucktown Babies Page 3