Saving Medesha

by DK Land

She turned and winked at him as she walked toward the door to the service bay. “I'll go turn on the gas pumps.”

  Ollie laughed. “I don't think the term, taking inventory, will have quite the same meaning to me ever again.”

  When Tandy returned, she was carrying a large pair of binoculars. “Ollie. Why in the world would a pair of binoculars be needed in a service station?”

  As she handed the binoculars to him, Ollie replied, “During the summer fishing season Larry Walsh and I each keep a pair of these handy to scan the lake. You know. Just to make sure that nobody is running into trouble out there.”

  Proudly, Tandy said, “Well, isn't that just like you? Always concerned with other people's comfort and safety.”

  “It's no big deal, really. Besides, with these powerful binoculars, I can see what kind of bait the ones who are catching the fish are using.”

  “Oh, Ollie. I'm sure you can't see their bait when they're way out on the lake.”

  He replied, “Well, they're almost that powerful. C'mon out here, and I'll show you.”

  They walked out to the gas pumps and Ollie looked toward the lake. “Okay, see that blue boat out there, just off the north point of Vander Island?”

  “Uh huh.”

  He handed her the glasses. “Now, look thru these and describe what you see.”

  She raised the glasses and held them to her eyes. “Oh, wow! This is so cool, Ollie. What looks like a solid blue boat with the naked eyes is actually blue with a whole bunch of silver flame like stripes all over the side. And . . . there is two men . . . one of them is smoking a cigarette and they both are holding a can of beer.”

  “It's pretty amazing, isn't it?” said Ollie.

  “It sure is,” replied Tandy as her gaze drifted away from the boat and she began scanning Vander Island. “Wow. The trees on the island look so close, and Mister Vandervork's dock looks like I could walk right out on it.”

  Suddenly, she stopped scanning the island. “Uhm, Ollie? On Mister Vandervork's dock. There are two people standing there. Oh my gosh!”

  * * *

  As Sheriff Harold Wheaton, Mabel, Shauni and Jefferson were all gathered around the massive walnut coffee table in the Cordain living room, Harold announced, “I received some rather strange information this morning.” He glanced at Shauni and Jefferson as he continued, “When you mentioned the strange phone calls you overheard at the hospital, I did some searching of my own. It seems that our Judy Gladden is not nearly as old as she says she is. According to her hospital employment records, she is forty-eight years old and, among other interesting entries, she has a blood type of B positive.”

  Mabel replied, “I guess I can understand why a woman would lie about her age, but why would she make herself seem older than she is?”

  Harold smiled thinly. “Well, here's the strange part. The information I've been able to uncover indicates that Judy isn't even old enough to have a driver's license. She didn't even exist until twelve years ago! That's just about the time she moved here to Medesha and began working at Preston's clinic.”

  “Daddy,” said Shauni. “I don't understand.”

  “I don't either, Honey,” replied Harold. “However, I do know that it's getting to be about time for me to bring Judy in to my office for questioning. But before I bring my suspicions of her out into the open, I want to check all of these records that Ollie and Tandy were able to get from the factory clinic.”

  As they continued studying the medical records by spreading all of the individual copies across the table, Jefferson commented, “Look here, everybody.”

  He held up several individual papers. “These are the records of some of the kids we've just released from the hospital. Every single one of them has a penciled arrow that goes from the child's name down to the line that says, 'Blood Type, AB negative'.”

  “Oh my!” said Shauni. “I've got a couple here that also have the penciled arrow down to the blood type.”

  “Here's some more,” said Harold.

  After a short time, they had all sixteen patient records lying side by side on the coffee table.

  “Well,” said Jefferson. “Every single one of these charts has the arrow pointing to the AB negative blood type. I think that makes it extremely obvious that this blood type was a definite requirement by whomever designed this disease.”

  “Even more important,” said Harold, “These little arrows drawn on all of these charts also seem to be pointing at the culprit, or culprits behind all of the horrible things these poor kids just experienced, and also the death of little Willy Sadler.”

  Almost in unison, Shauni and Jefferson replied, “Judy Gladden and Preston Vandervork.”

  “Exactly,” said Harold. “During those years at the Vander-Wear Clinic, it seems that Judy and Preston were very likely the only people with access to these records.”

  “Say, everybody,” said Mabel. “I know I'm way more qualified to tell somebody how to make a really good beef gravy then to be doing medical investigation, but . . . could you look at these for a second?”

  “What have you got there?” asked Harold.

  “Well . . . one thing that I've been curious about is the fact that all these kids had bad headaches about six weeks ago. As I've been looking at the charts from the hospital, not the ones from the Vander-Wear clinic, a light came on in my head.”

  “A light?” asked Harold.

  “Yes,” replied Mabel. “Remember a couple months ago when the hospital announced that they were giving free tetanus shots to anybody that hadn't had one in the last five years?”

  “Sure I do.” said Harold. “I went in and had Gerard punch a hole in my arm right after they announced it.”

  “I did too.” said Mabel. “In fact, Shauni, you were the one that gave me the shot.”

  “I know,” replied Shauni. “We had quite a run on tetanus injections for a few days there.”

  “But, that was a good thing.” she added. “We were able to protect a lot of people in a very short time.”

  “The point I'm trying to make is . . . well . . . here, look for yourself. Look at whose name is listed as the person that administered tetanus shots to every single one of those poor kids.”

  They all studied the charts and Jefferson exclaimed, “Oh my God! Judy Gladden.”

  As he held up the hospital charts, he looked at the others. “Judy gave injections to every single one of those boys, and I'd be willing to bet that is when the Tin Lizzie was introduced into their systems.”

  “Now that we are relatively sure who did these things,” said Harold, “I think we need to round up the suspects and find out exactly why they did it.”

  As he rose from his chair, his PCD clicked, “Sheriff Wheaton, this is Irene. Are you there?”

  He grabbed the mic that was clipped to his shirt pocket. “Go ahead Irene. This is Harold.”

  “Oh, Sheriff. Thank heavens. Tandy Williams just called here looking for you. She seemed quite distraught and asked that you call her at Ollie's Service Station.”

  Harold replied, “Okay, Irene. Thanks for the message. I'll call her right away.”

  He looked over at Shauni.

  She pointed over his shoulder. “The phone's right back there in the hallway, Daddy.”

  While Harold was in the hallway talking to Tandy, Mabel said, “This is all so confusing for me. Jefferson, I know that Preston Vandervork is an intelligent, educated man, but do you really think he would have the ability to create such a terrible thing as this Tin Lizzie? And if he could create it. . . why would he even want to?”

  “When it comes to Preston,” replied Jefferson, “I'm not sure of anything, Mabel. I only worked with him for a relatively short time. However, within that time, I was able to make many observations and also reach a few conclusions. For one thing, I don't think the personality that the citizens of Medesha see is the true Preston Vandervork. To me he is a very unhappy and vindictive person. If you are anywhere within the realm of his authority,
you would be well advised to never disagree with him. As far as his medical ethics, well, I don't think his concerns have ever been just for the good of the community. There has got to be something else going on that he has kept to himself all these years.”

  From the doorway to the living room, Sheriff Harold Wheaton interrupted, “Listen everybody. We seem to have another possible emergency on our hands. I just talked to Tandy. She told me that, a short time ago, she and Ollie were standing outside of his gas station looking at the lake with binoculars. She was looking at Vander Island when she zeroed in on Vandervorks boat dock. Standing on the dock were Judy Gladden and Lester Rawlings.”

  “Oh my!” gasped Mabel. “Lester. He's the one that attacked Tandy.”

  “And Judy?” said Shauni. “Both of them are suspected of totally unrelated crimes. I didn't even know they knew each other.”

  “What were they doing on the dock?” asked Mabel.

  “Tandy said they were hugging and kissing.” said Harold as he removed his cap and ran his fingers through his hair.

  “What?” said Shauni. “How can that be? Lester's maybe, what, twenty-six years old? And, Judy's either twelve years old, or she's forty-eight years old. Either way, they're from completely different generations.”

  “The thing that Tandy is so concerned about is Ollie's reaction when he saw Lester standing on that dock. He got quite upset and told Tandy to call me. Then he ran down to his fishing boat and headed toward Vander Island to try to confront Lester.”

  “Oh no!” said Mabel. “Ollie is furious with Lester for what he did to Tandy. For that matter, so am I, but he should have waited for you and Larry Walsh to get there. I'm worried Harold. This could end badly.”

  “Yes, I know it could,” replied Harold. “That's why we've got to move fast. Mabel and Shauni, I'd like the two of you to head on over to Ollie's station to try to calm Tandy down. Jefferson, if you would be willing, I'd like you to come with me and Deputy Walsh over to Vander Island. I hope not, but your medical knowledge just might be required.”

  * * *

  Tandy ran out to meet them as they arrived at Ollie's service station. “Hi, everyone,” she said. “I'm so worried for Ollie. I watched him through the binoculars as he tied his boat up at the dock over there on the island. Then he walked down the dock and disappeared into the trees.” She reached for Mabel's hand as tears began to well up. “I haven't seen any movement at all since then.”

  “Now don't you worry, Missy,” said Mabel as she put her arm around Tandy's shoulder. “Shauni and I will stay right here with you while Sheriff Wheaton, Jefferson and Deputy Walsh take the patrol boat over to the island and check things out.”

  As Harold walked around his squad car from the driver's side, he said, “Mabel's right, Tandy. As soon as Larry gets here, we'll head on over to the island and get everything under control. Now, are you absolutely positive that it was Judy Gladden and Lester Rawlings that you saw through those glasses?”

  Tandy nodded. “Yes, Sheriff. It really was Judy and Lester, but . . . Sheriff Wheaton . . . you're not really gonna . . . uhm, you're not really gonna go out on the lake in a boat are you?”

  Everyone looked at Harold.

  “I have to Tandy. Lester's over there, and he's the one that attacked you. We need to take him into custody. Actually, everybody on that island except Ollie is under suspicion and I need to get answers to some very important questions.”

  Deputy Walsh's squad car pulled up next to Harold's car and Larry got out. He tipped his hat and said, “Good morning everybody. I'm ready when you are, Sheriff.”

  Harold replied, “Mornin' Larry. Why don't you go fire up the patrol boat.” Then he took Mabel's hand and said softly, “Don't worry. I'll try not to let this take too long.”

  “Just be safe,” said Mabel.

  Chapter 16

  “Are you sure you're okay being out here in a boat, Harold?” asked Jefferson. “Shauni has told me the reason for your hatred of being near the lake.”

  “Surprisingly,” said Harold as he looked down at his hands, “I'm doing just fine. Look. They're not even shaking. I think the reason is that, in a small way, I might be able to relieve some of the guilt I've felt for so long over not being able to save my brother. I know I can't save little Willy Sadler, but I might be able to bring some closure for his family by bringing his killers to justice.

  Then he glanced over at Jefferson. “Ya know, Jefferson, I guess when you think about it, we actually do have something more in common than just my daughter. We both have lost a brother that we loved very deeply. And to tell you the truth, I would also like to feel assured that his spirit still exists and that he's still the happy little hellion that he was so many years ago.”

  Jefferson smiled, “Happy little hellion! That's a nice way to remember your little brother. Maybe. . . just maybe. . . some day soon, we'll be able to prove that that 'happy little hellion' does still exist and he's watching over his big brother and his beautiful niece.”

  “I would like that, Jeffer,” replied Harold. “I would like that a lot.”

  As the patrol boat pulled up to the Vandervorst dock right behind Ollie's fishing boat, Larry Walsh said, “Jefferson, would you grab that bowline and tie 'er up to the dock?”

  They climbed out of the boat and cautiously looked around.

  “Not a soul in sight,” said Larry.

  “I've never set foot on this island before,” said Harold. “Have either one of you guys been here?”

  Larry shook his head.

  Jefferson replied, “I was here once, when Preston's dad was still alive. He had invited my parents over for some kind of discussion about the wildlife preserve. I was just a kid, so all I did was wander around the house and part of the island.”

  “Do you remember any of the layout at all?” asked Harold.

  “Pretty much,” replied Jefferson. There's a path through these trees that leads up to a good sized clearing in the center of the island where the big house sits facing south. Just to the rear of the big house is the caretaker's cottage where Julius and Ingrid Benson live.”

  “Great,” said Harold. “Larry, I want you to try to hide yourself in the trees where you can keep an eye on the path and the dock. If anybody wanders down this way, I want you to detain them until I get back. Jefferson and I will go check out what's going on at the house.”

  “Got it, Sheriff,” said Larry.

  “Oh. And another thing,” said Harold. “Make sure your pistol is loaded just in case you need it.”

  Larry swallowed hard. “Uh, okay. But Harold, who would be coming down that path that would require the use of a gun? Surely you can't expect me to point a gun at Preston Vandervork or old Julius?”

  “Larry! Listen to me,” said Harold. “I know that neither one of us has ever pointed a gun at a person before, but we've never dealt with a situation like this before either.”

  Then he placed his hand on Larry's shoulder. “Come on, Buddy. I just want everyone to be safe. We're not really sure just how violent Lester is willing to get and we have to be prepared.”

  Larry nodded. “Okay, Harold. I'll be ready.”

  “Thanks Larry. I'll call you on my PCD if I need your help. Hopefully, we'll be back soon.”

  They turned and quickly disappeared into the trees and bushes that grew in tight formation right to the edge of the path. The farther they walked along the path, even though it was not yet noon, the darker their surroundings became.

  Jefferson said, “It sure is easy to tell that poor old Julius Benson is getting less and less efficient in his caretaker duties as he gets older. As I recall, this path was meticulously laid flagstone and was much wider and meticulously trimmed when I was here before.”

  “Well, ya sure can't blame the old codger,” replied Harold. “That guy should have been able to retire twenty or thirty years ago. I hope that when I'm his age all I'm expected to do is lift my feet while somebody sweeps the floor in front of my rocking chair.�
��

  Jefferson put his hand up. “Wait! What's that? It sounds like somebody is running this way.”

  Harold put his hand on the butt of his gun as Ollie came running as fast as he could from around a curve in the path. “Ollie!” shouted Harold. “Slow down. What's going on?”

  Shocked at seeing friendly faces, Ollie skidded to a stop. “Sheriff Wheaton! Jefferson! Boy am I glad to see you guys. I was just running to my boat to try to get back to shore so I could tell you.”

  “Tell me what, Ollie? asked Harold. “What the heck are you even doing over here on this island?”

  As he bent over and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath, he said, “Whew! When I saw Lester standing on Vandervork's dock, I guess I saw red. All I could think about was coming over here and ringing his bell a couple times for what he did to Tandy.”

  “And?” Harold asked.

  “When I got over here they were gone, so I followed this path til I came to that huge Vandervork mansion.”

  “Ollie, did you beat up Lester?”

  “Ha! Did I beat up Lester?” grinned Ollie. “No, Harold. I didn't beat up Lester. The place looked deserted. I walked around the whole outside of the building. The grounds look like they haven't been tended in a long time. Everything's so overgrown.”

  “Really? That seems a bit odd,” said Harold.

  “I know it's odd. Then, when I got around to the back, there's this small house that looks like it must be where that old guy, Julius and his wife, Ingrid are supposed to live. The only thing is that, when I looked in one of the windows, everything was covered in dust and spiderwebs like nobody's been in that place in many years.”

  “I don't understand,” said Jefferson. “That must mean that Julius and Ingrid must have moved into the big house long ago. When I was over here as a kid, I looked inside that little cottage and someone was definitely living in it then.”

  Ollie continued, “After I left the little house, I kept walking around the rest of the big house. All the windows are covered with drapes or canvas or something, but a few feet away from one of those cellar door bulkheads I found one basement window behind a bush that wasn't covered.”