Saving Medesha

by DK Land

  As they drove into town, Jefferson’s Jeep pulled into the hospital parking lot, while Harold and Mabel continued down Main Street to the Sheriff’s Office. He began to make a u-turn so that he could park diagonally in front of his office when he noticed Deputy Larry Walsh standing outside of the service station talking to Ollie and Tandy. He commented, “Hmm, I wonder if that’s just a casual conversation, or if something’s going on. Maybe we’d better stop.” He made a sharp right turn and swung his squad car into Ollie’s driveway. As he pulled to a stop, Tandy walked over to the passenger side window.

  “Hi, guys,” she said with a frown. “You’re just in time Sheriff Wheaton.”

  “Oh, great,” moaned Harold. “Now what’s happened?”

  Mabel and Harold stepped out of the car and walked over to the two men. “Hi, Mabel,” said Larry as he tipped his hat. “Hi, Harold. I’m afraid we’ve had a bit of an incident here while you were gone.”

  “Oh, boy!” replied Harold. “Larry, I think that I’m fresh out of need for any more incidents. What happened?”

  Ollie pointed to a boat sitting on a trailer beside his station. “See that little boat over there, Harold?” he asked.

  Harold said, “Uh, yeah? Say, that thing looks like that old boat that George Platte sold to Lester. Why’s it sitting over there?”

  Deputy Walsh replied, “Well, that’s the little incident we had.”

  “Huh?” said Harold.

  Larry continued, “This afternoon, we had quite a few out of towners pull into town for the Boat Parade tomorrow. The campground is well over half full now. Anyway, about the first ones to arrive were those folks from Iowa. You know? The ones with those great big motor homes?”

  Harold nodded. “Mabel and I saw them as we were leaving town.”

  “Well, those guys just love to fish,” said Larry. “After they just about drained Ollie’s gas storage tanks, they all drove down to the Marina and launched their boats. Most of them just tied their boats up at the docks, but one of them went out on the lake to fish for a while. About fifteen minutes later he came back in towing Lester’s boat. He said he found it floating near the south shore of the lake.”

  Harold scratched his head. “So, where’s Lester?”

  “That’s just it,” replied Larry. “Nobody’s seen Lester all day. It appears that the last one to talk to Lester was Ollie when Lester called him last night to tell him that he quit.”

  Harold rubbed his temple in an attempt to quell a rising headache. “Oh, God. So, has anyone called over to Vander Island to see if Lester is there? You know, he might have gone to work for Preston this morning and not tied his boat up very well and it just drifted off.”

  Larry answered, “The first thing I did after talking to the fella that found the boat was to call Vander Island. Julius Benson answered and confirmed that Preston had hired Lester, and today was supposed to be his first day on the job, but he never showed up.”

  Harold looked over at Ollie. “I don’t suppose that Lester is a scuba diver?”

  Ollie chuckled. “Are you kidding? That’s what confused me in the first place when he told me he was going to go to work over on the island. Lester hates water. He never goes near the lake. In fact, Lester rarely even takes a shower.”

  Harold took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Okay, Larry. I suppose you’ll have to take the ‘Lake Patrol’ boat out and scan the area between the island and the south end of the lake. Oh, Lord. If we have to start dragging the lake when the parade is going on, I’m afraid the Mayor is gonna have a coronary.” He turned to Ollie. “Does Lester have any kin folks in this part of the country?”

  Ollie replied, “No. I don’t know if he has any relatives at all. He mentioned that he grew up in an orphanage someplace in Arkansas, but he never really talks about his past at all.”

  “Well, Larry,” said Harold. “Is there anything else that I missed out on that needs to be brought to my attention?”

  Larry thought. “No, nothing of importance. There was a minor fender bender at the campground when two campers tried to park in the same spot, but that’s about all. Oh, that’s right! The Mayor was in the office a while ago looking for you. He said something about you needing to keep better track of the juvenile delinquents around here.”

  Harold exclaimed, “Now, what’s ‘His Holiness’ complaining about?”

  Larry laughed. “It seems that somebody took down a couple of the decorative flags that the Mayor had put up at the Marina and replaced them with a couple ‘Jolly Rogers’.”

  Harold looked puzzled.

  “You know,” said Larry. “Those flags with the ‘Skull and Crossbones’ on them?”

  Harold chuckled. “Oh, for cripe sake! Can’t that man find something to calm his nerves a bit? For his next birthday, I’m gonna take up a collection so we can buy him a year’s supply of Valium. I’ll tell you what, Larry. The next time you see Paul, why don’t you tell him that we’ve put out an all points bulletin for the pirates and we’re going to see if we can get the death penalty. Better yet, ask him if we should just arrest all the local people and put them in jail so none of us tries to bother the out of towners.”

  Larry and Ollie laughed as Mabel interrupted. “Now, Harold! Don’t you be so hard on that poor man. You know he’s just looking out for the town’s best interest. And another thing,” she continued, “Don’t you think that this laughing and joking around is a little callous considering that we may have another one of our citizens drowned out there in the lake?”

  “I’m sorry, Mabel,” he replied. I realize this is a serious situation. But, it just seems that we’ve been having too many serious situations lately, and a person needs to find something to laugh about occasionally.” He turned to Larry. “Okay, Larry. You go ahead and scout out the south end of the lake. Mabel and I are headed over to the hospital.”

  “Got it, Sheriff,” Larry replied.

  * * *

  Ten minutes later, Harold and Mabel were talking quietly with Shauni at the front desk of the hospital. “So, how’s J.T. doing?” asked Mabel.

  Solemnly, Shauni answered, “There’s really been no change. He’s still in a coma, but he’s hanging on, so far.”

  “Who’s on staff this evening?” asked Harold.

  “Well,” she replied. “Jeffer and I are going to stay to see if we can help out, and also to see if anything unusual takes place. Besides the two of us, both doctors are here, and Cindy, Audrey, and Judy.”

  “Have any phone calls been made since you’ve been here?” he asked.

  “No,” Shauni said. “I’ve been sitting here taking care of the switchboard, and there hasn’t been any action at all.”

  Harold asked, “If a call does go out, can you listen in without the caller knowing you’re on the line?”

  “Sure,” she said.

  “How about calls made from one phone to another within the building?”

  Again, she replied, “Sure. That’s not a problem. I can monitor any call made or received within the whole hospital. I can also tell exactly which phone is being used.”

  “Okay,” he replied. “That should help enormously. Where is Jefferson? I’d like to have a few words with him also.”

  “I’m not sure, but I think he’s still in Pathology,” replied Shauni. “If he’s not in there, he’s probably conferring with one of the doctors.”

  “Okay, thanks, Honey.” He turned to Mabel. “I’ll probably be gone for only a few minutes.”

  Suddenly the switchboard telephone rang. “Just a minute, Daddy,” said Shauni. “Medesha Memorial Hospital. This is Shauni. How may I direct your call?” She paused and said, “Of course, Mayor Sorenson. He’s right here. One moment please.” She looked up at Harold. “Daddy, the Mayor wants to speak to you.”

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake!” said Harold as he reached for the receiver. “Can’t he take care of anything himself?” He held the phone to his ear and said, “Hello, Paul. What's the problem now? Are the Briti
sh coming?… The British!… You know?… The British are coming, the British are coming… Never mind, Paul, what's the problem?… Yes, Larry told me about the flags… No, Paul… Where in the world would I get any spare flags?… You’re the hardware store owner, Paul… I would think that you’d be the one that would know how to… Paul! For heaven’s sake, Paul! What do you want me to do, dust the whole Marina for fingerprints? I’m sure it was just some prank… For God’s sake, Paul! I really don’t think there’s any kind of pirate cult here in Minnesota.”

  As Harold was arguing with the Mayor, Shauni's attention was suddenly drawn to a light on the switchboard. Alarmed, she said, “Daddy! Somebody’s making a call! Quick! I need the receiver!”

  Harold was exasperated. He rubbed his temple as he said, “Paul, will you please try to solve this mystery all by yourself for a change? I really have to go, Paul.”

  He handed the receiver to Shauni. She quickly disconnected the Mayor, and pressed another button. She frowned as she said, “Oh, no! They already hung up. Darn it! I’m sorry, Daddy. I should’ve just told him you weren’t here. That’s probably the call we were waiting for.”

  Harold leaned on the counter with his forehead resting in the palms of his hands. “That’s okay, Honey. It’s not your fault. Sometimes I just get the feeling that this town is more cursed than blessed with a Mayor who cares. I guess I don’t need to talk to Jefferson now. I was going to ask him if he could keep an eye on Judy to see if she made any phone calls, but I guess that won’t work now.”

  He looked at his watch, and then over at Mabel. “How soon would you like to get back to the diner?” he asked.

  “Harold,” she replied. “Why don’t you just do what you need to do. What’s taking place here is far more important than what’s taking place at the diner right now. I’d like to have it locked up in about an hour, but if we can’t get there by then, maybe I’ll have to call Marti and ask her to come and get the keys. Remember, you’ve got that warrant now so you can start investigating patient files.”

  “Well,” said Harold. “At this point, my main concern is J.T. But, we do need to get all of those patient files pulled and taken into the Maintenance Room so we can get copies made.” He motioned for Shauni to come closer as he looked around to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard. “I know the doctors are just as concerned as we are about solving this thing, but I feel that I need to conduct a completely independent investigation away from the hospital.”

  Shauni nodded and said, “Sure, Daddy.”

  Harold continued, “While Mabel and I were driving to Plentywood this afternoon, we were discussing the need for complete privacy for this investigation. Although I appreciate the doctor’s offer of the use of an office here at the hospital, I feel that it wouldn’t be prudent to make it quite so obvious to the general public and the rest of the staff.”

  Shauni answered, “Yes, I guess that it would be better to be away from the possibility of prying eyes.”

  “Right,” said Harold. “Now, as complex as this whole thing has become, I am going to need a great deal of assistance and a lot of medical expertise on this.” He leaned over the counter. “I know that you have volunteered to assist in this investigation. If at all possible, I would like you to get the schedule changed so that you are always working the same schedule as Judy. Being that Irene is… well… the type of person that she is, I don’t think that it would be wise to use my office. So, if Jefferson would be willing, I would like him to work with Mabel and myself at his house up on the lake. With the four of us putting our heads together, maybe we’ll be able to get this thing figured out.”

  “Sure, Daddy,” said Shauni. “I would be more than willing to help out, and I know that Jefferson would also.”

  Harold smiled, “That’d be great, Honey. Now, if you would take Mabel back to the Records Room and get the files on those kids, maybe we can get busy with the copy machine. I want to make copies of every single thing those kids have been through since they were born. Maybe, with a bit of luck, we’ll find some kind of common denominator between all of them.”

  As Shauni rose from her chair, she said, “Okay, Daddy. We’ll get started on that right away.” She began to say something to Mabel, when she noticed a light on the switchboard. She sat back down in her chair and said, “Whoa! Just a minute, Daddy. We’ve got another phone call coming in.”

  As Harold and Mabel crowded in by Shauni’s chair, she picked up the receiver and pushed a button. She began to listen with a questioning look on her face. She looked up at Harold and waved her hand to indicate that something strange was occurring.

  Harold whispered, “Who is it?” as he held out his hand for the receiver.

  Shauni handed the receiver to him and said, “I don’t know. It’s just a bunch of screeching and clicking. You know? Like the sounds you hear when a phone is connected to the Internet?”

  Harold listened with his brows furrowed. “Yeah! It must be an Internet connection. What telephone is this connection going to?”

  Shauni looked at the switchboard. “Oh, oh! There’s only one light on the board, which means that it’s coming from outside the hospital, and it’s connected to J.T.’s room!”

  Harold threw the receiver down on the desk. “We’d better get down there immediately!”

  As the three of them rushed toward the corridor, the light on the switchboard suddenly went out. They entered J.T.’s room, and Mabel said, “He doesn’t look like he’s sick. He just looks like he’s sleeping.”

  Shauni walked over to the boy’s bedside and held his wrist as she looked at her watch. She then reached in the pocket of her uniform and withdrew a small flashlight. She leaned over and shined the light in the boy’s eye as she opened one of his eyelids. Then she turned to look at the EEG machine. She looked back at Harold, as he stood at the foot of the bed. “Everything appears to be completely normal.”

  Suddenly, J.T.’s eyes opened and he smiled at Mabel. To everyone’s amazement, he said, “Hi, Miss Marten. Did everyone get their newspapers on time?”

  With tears streaming down her cheeks, Mabel walked over and sat on the bed next to J.T. She leaned over and brushed the boy’s hair from his forehead with her hand, as she smiled down at him. Her voice broke as she began to speak. “Yes, J.T.,” she said. “Every single one of those people received their newspapers on time.”

  * * *

  In the shadows of a room which was lit only by the phosphorus glow of a computer monitor, one lone person leaned over the keyboard with his face in his hands. With muted voice, he said, “Thank God! He’s back, and he’s complete. One dead child is far more than enough.”

  In a darkened corner of the room, a disgusted voice replied, “You weakling! God had absolutely nothing to do with this! Why should you care about one dead child? Of course, mistakes have been made. But, don’t you realize what we’ve accomplished? We are on the very edge of eternal life!”

  The figure sitting at the computer raised his head and scowled into the darkness. “Yes!” he screamed. “Eternal life!” He then turned back to the computer and placed his face in his hands. “But, at what cost?” he said quietly.

  Chapter 12

  It was six-thirty in the morning, and Harold and Mabel were sitting in the back booth of Mabel’s Coffee Shop eating breakfast. Harold was laughing. “Don’t you ever tell Paul Sorenson, but, Charlie Deimert called me about an hour ago.” He leaned across the table and whispered, “It was the Deimert brothers!”

  “Was it really?” asked Mabel with a smile.

  “Yeah!” he grinned. “Charlie said that he was cleaning in the boy’s room and found those two fancy flags of Paul’s under their bed. He said he asked the boys about it and they finally confessed that they took their pirate flags down to the Marina the night before last and switched ‘em. He apologized to me and said that the boys were really sorry. He asked if they were in trouble, and I said that, as long as they ran down to the Marina before anybody else got there and re
placed them, we’d just forget about it.”

  “So, are they going to do it?” asked Mabel.

  Harold laughed again. “They already did it! I was pulling up to the diner when I saw the two Deimert boys walking by wearing their pajamas, and carrying their pirate flags all rolled up under their arms. You should have seen them. I’ve never seen two more meek and mild boys walking down Main Street wearing pajamas before.” He wiped the tears from his eyes as he continued. “It was so funny. Both of them walked by me without saying a word.”

  Mabel giggled. “That must have been cute.”

  Harold replied, “Then, to top it off… after they walked by me, I looked at them from behind, and the youngest one… what’s his name? Stevie? Well, he was trying to look so nonchalant, and all the while, his little pajama bottoms were open in the back and his little bare butt was hanging out.”

  Mabel laughed until she had to wipe the tears away. “You know?” she said. “You never have a camera when you need one.”

  Harold said, “Boy, isn’t that the truth? Well, I guess we’ve identified the members of the ‘pirate cult’ that Paul Sorenson was so concerned about.”

  Just then, the cowbell rang and Ollie Torgerson walked in. Mabel waved and said, “Morning, Ollie! Come on back and sit with us.”

  Ollie grinned and waved as he walked past the counter. “Good morning, Mabel. Good morning, Sheriff. How are you folks doing today?”

  “We’re just wonderful!” answered Mabel.

  “We’re doing great, Ollie. How’d your first day with your new employee go yesterday?” asked Harold.