The Therapist

by Kelly Holm

  “That is strange.”

  “Krystal went back later that evening to check on Ashley, and she saw Dr. Blackmore walking out of the operating room in bloody scrubs and walking towards his office; then a few minutes later she watched him get on the elevator and go down to the cafeteria on the first floor.”

  “Tell me she didn’t go snooping around and get herself caught or something,” Leo said, as he was shaking his head back and forth.

  “Oh, Leo, you know her so well, it’s exactly what she did. Krystal used the opportunity to do a little snooping in his office. She said she didn’t know what to look for, so she just started rummaging around, and that was when she found this.” Maggie paused and reached into the side table drawer next to her bed, and pulled out a sheet of paper that listed various body parts with a three- or four-digit number next to it. “I’m not sure what the numbers represent, could be how many they need, a code, or…”

  “Or what?”

  “Or dollar amounts,” Maggie replied hoping that Leo wouldn’t think she’s lost her mind.

  “Dollar amounts? You think he’s what… harvesting organs and selling them on the black market or something?” Leo asked with a smirk. The whole idea seemed ridiculous to him.

  “Yes.”

  “Come on, that sounds ridiculous; black market organ sales coming out of Freyhill hospital? I don’t know; that might be a stretch.”

  “Don’t you find it strange that he would perform these

  secret late-night surgeries, completely off the books, and then the body disappears? Keep in mind he isn’t a surgeon. I’m guessing

  that he has them immediately cremated afterward so that there isn’t any evidence.”

  “That’s quite a stretch, Maggie. I don’t know…”

  “Well, it was strange enough for Krystal to want to go to the hospital administrator the next day.”

  “Well, at least you two got smart and alerted the hospital administrator, now he can look into things.”

  “Not exactly…”

  “What do you mean? I thought you said that you and Krystal went to the hospital administrator the next day.”

  “We were going to…” Maggie began.

  “What do you mean? What happened?”

  “As we were on our way up to his office, we walked past Dr. Blackmore’s office. The outer wall of his office is windows, and the blinds were partially open, so we could see everything going on inside.”

  “What did you see?”

  “We saw Dr. Blackmore give Mr. Layton, the hospital administrator, an envelope filled with cash.”

  “What for… and how do you know it was filled with cash?”

  “We saw Mr. Layton pull some partially out to count it. Just then, I got a phone call from Elsa’s school and had to step away. I kept my eye on Krystal, and when I noticed Nurse Barron walking up behind her, I tried to get her attention to warn her, but she didn’t see me.”

  “Oh, shit.”

  “Oh, shit is right, Nurse Barron pulled Krystal into the office, and the blinds on the windows slammed shut. I couldn’t

  see what was going on anymore.”

  “What happened when she came out?”

  “I had to go back to the maternity ward, but it was about twenty minutes before she came back. She was acting a little weird, but I thought maybe she was just shaken up.”

  “What did she say happened, while she was in the office with Dr. Blackmore, Mr. Layton, and Nurse Barron?”

  “She said they just talked, and they explained that what she saw through the window was Dr. Blackmore giving Mr. Layton a donation that one of his patients brought in. I asked her if she brought up the price list we found or mentioned that Dr. Blackmore was doing the surgeries, and she said she didn’t think it was the appropriate time, and then she threw the pricing sheet in the trash.”

  “That’s strange, why would she do a complete 180?”

  “I don’t know, but when she tossed the pricing sheet, I picked it up and hid it in my pocket. I don’t know why she would toss it in the first place. I tried asking her about this again the next day, but I got the same answer. I think they got to her, I don’t know what they said, but she wasn’t going to do anything against Dr. Blackmore.”

  “I still don’t know; this all seems so hard to believe.”

  “Can I ask you something that’s been bothering me about Krystal’s death?”

  “Sure.”

  “Who called 911? I know you said you never had a chance to call them because the EMT’s showed up right after you found her.” Leo leaned back in the chair and thought for a moment.

  “I have no idea. You’re right; the EMT’s arrived seconds after I got in and found Krystal. I never had a chance to call.”

  “Did you recognize any of them?”

  “No, but I wasn’t really paying attention to them.”

  “Don’t you find it a little suspicious that you didn’t recognize any of them; they should have been from the Rockville Fire Station?”

  “I guess… I never thought about it. What are you insinuating?”

  “Don’t you find it strange that the EMT’s showed up, but no one called?”

  “Well ya, but someone had to call. You know what; I bet it was Mrs. Geller. She probably stopped by to drop off some fruit for Krystal, and saw her through the window.”

  Mrs. Geller was the eighty-six-year-old widow that lived down the road from Krystal. She didn’t have any children to care for her, so Krystal would often visit her and care for her when she needed help. Mrs. Geller repaid her kindness with fruits and vegetables from her garden.

  “Maybe, you should call and ask her.”

  Leo pulled his phone out of his back pocket and quickly dialed.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Mrs. Geller, it’s Leo Mills.”

  “Oh, Leo, how are you, dear?”

  “I’m doing ok, thank you for asking.”

  “You know, I was thinking about you just the other day. I was driving down Dilly Road, and I drove past Lucky Tat. I almost stopped in to say hello and see how you were doing, but then I noticed Mrs. Latchet coming down the sidewalk, and I didn’t want to talk to her. She has such gall; do you know she actually showed up at the canasta game on Wednesday without a dish to share? I mean really, who does that sort of thing?”

  “I don’t know ma’am, maybe she forgot.” Leo wasn’t sure what to say.

  “She wouldn’t forget, we’ve been playing canasta for years. No, there’s something wrong with her. Oh… maybe she’s

  starting to lose it, you know? She is getting older, she’s almost ninety. Did you know she was that old?”

  “No ma’am, I didn’t; look, the reason I’m calling is to thank you for calling 911 the day that Krystal collapsed. I’m sorry I didn’t call or say something sooner.”

  “Oh, no dear, it wasn’t me that called, I was at my weekly canasta game. Mrs. Taylor hosted that week; she lives on the other side of town over by the old cemetery. I didn’t even hear that Krystal had passed until the following morning when I ran into Mary Jo Cavanaugh, Miles’ wife, at Jasper’s Grocery store.”

  “I see. I was under the impression that you made the call. You wouldn’t have any idea who did call, would you?”

  “No, dear, I’m sorry; I have no idea who called.”

  “Well, thank you so much for clearing this up for me, I appreciate it.”

  “It was my pleasure. You should stop by one of these days, I have more grapes and oranges then I could ever eat. I’ll bundle some up for you.”

  “That sounds great, I’ll stop by later this afternoon,” he said as he hung up the phone.

  “So, what did she say?”

  “You’re right, it wasn’t her either. I’m going to call Patrick Rosen over at the fire station, and see who called it in.”

  Leo and Patrick played football together in high school. After graduation, when Leo went off to college, Patrick joined the fire department and became an E
MT.

  “Is this an emergency?” The dispatcher asked.

  “No, may I speak to Patrick Rosen, please?”

  “Just a moment.”

  “This is Patrick.”

  “Patrick, it’s Leo Mills, how’s it going?”

  “Hey, buddy, what’s up?”

  “Hey, I was wondering if you could check something for me.”

  “Sure, if I can, what do you need?”

  “I was wondering who called 911 when Krystal collapsed?”

  “Can you hold a sec? I’ll check the records… Leo, there isn’t anything listed. In fact, we weren’t the ones who came out. I

  wasn’t working that day, but it doesn’t appear that our station was called.”

  “Isn’t that strange? You are the closest EMT’s, hell; you’re the only EMT’s in town, why wouldn’t your station get the call?”

  “You got me, buddy, maybe it was the Freyhill guys; do you want me to call over to the station house and check?”

  “If you wouldn’t mind…”

  “Sure, give me a couple minutes…”

  Leo waited, hoping Patrick would come back and tell him that the EMT’s were, in fact, from Rockville.

  “Leo, ya, I called, and apparently they didn’t get the call either.”

  “Is it possible someone called the EMT’s from Stogie?” Leo asked.

  “I highly doubt it. The Stogie station would automatically transfer any calls like that to either Rockville or us, just because we can get to the patient sooner. Sorry I’m not much help buddy.”

  “You’re more help then you know. Hey, let’s get together next week and toss the pigskin around.”

  “Sounds great, I’ll give you a call later in the week,” Patrick replied.

  Leo put the phone down and looked at Maggie.

  “He said it wasn’t their station or Rockville that came out. What the fuck is going on?”

  “I don’t know, this just seems to get stranger by the day.”

  “If it wasn’t the Rockville or Freyhill EMT’s, who was it?” Leo asked as he stood up to leave.

  “Are you leaving already?”

  “I’m sorry, Maggie; I have to get back up to L.A. as soon as possible. I have to find out what happened to Krystal, and the only way to do that is to go directly to Dr. Blackmore himself.”

  “Are you out of your mind?”

  “No, I’m just incredibly pissed off, and he’s the one with all the answers I need.”

  “Leo, promise me you will be careful, we don’t know how far this guy will go to protect himself.”

  “I’ll be careful, I promise. I’ll stop by and see you when I get back.” He leaned over and gave her a hug before he showed himself out.

  Leo quickly went back to his house to get some fresh clothes. He unpacked the dirty clothes, threw them into the hamper, and grabbed a few new pairs of jeans and T-shirts from the closet and put them into his bag. He grabbed the mail from the mailbox and rummaged through it to see if there was anything significant in it, before tossing it on the table.

  As he was driving out of town, he thought he better give Ringo a call, and let him know what was going on; Ringo had been incredibly understanding, and Leo didn’t want to seem ungrateful or appear to be taking advantage of his kindness. He explained as much as he could; Ringo was very understanding and told him to take as much time as he needed.

  When Leo got into L.A., he immediately drove to the Chester Inn and checked in. Once he got settled, he tried to figure out a plan to get inside Dr. Blackmore’s office and look around. He thought that if he went during business hours, maybe they wouldn’t be so quick to get rid of him. It was getting pretty late by

  now, and Leo was hungry and tired. He decided to order a pizza

  for dinner so he could relax and be ready for tomorrow.

  The next morning Leo slept later then he wanted. He got up, dressed, and went to the diner down the street for a late breakfast. He got to Dr. Blackmore’s office right around lunchtime; he thought maybe it would be easier to get in, with any luck; the big guy from last time will be away at lunch.

  As he approached the building, he noticed a small sign on the door that said, ‘Will Re-Open at 1:00 p.m.’. He tried the door, but it was locked. As he walked back to his car, he wondered if there was a back entrance. Just as he got in his car and closed the door, he noticed the receptionist that he spoke with last time walking out. He thought about approaching her but decided against it. He didn’t want to come off creepy.

  Leo watched as the receptionist got closer and closer to his car and finally stopped at the silver Chevy Malibu parked next to his. As she rummaged through her oversized, tan leather hobo style purse for her car keys, she stopped and looked at Leo. They locked eyes for a second, before Leo quickly looked away.

  Sofia smiled, put her keys back into her purse, and walked around her car to Leo’s car.

  “Aren’t you the guy who was trying to figure out what kind of medical office this was the other day?” Leo looked up to see Sofia standing right next to his open window!

  “Ya, that was me.”

  “Did you figure it out?”

  “Nope, that’s why I’m back.”

  “They aren’t going to allow you in without an appointment.”

  “Ya, I figured that, but I was hoping to maybe get some information.”

  “What kind of information are you looking for?”

  “I want to know what type of medicine Dr. Blackmore is

  practicing inside.”

  “Dr. Blackmore is a psychiatrist. Does that satisfy your curiosity?”

  “It helps,” Leo said, as he flashed a big smile.

  “Why do you care so much about Dr. Blackmore, anyway?”

  “I have reason to believe that he is involved with something illegal that might have killed my wife. She was a nurse, and she was looking into some of his activities at the hospital right before it happened. The timing, ya know?”

  “I’m really sorry for your loss, when did she die?”

  “Three weeks ago. Perfectly healthy woman; she had a massive stroke and died,” Leo said, as he looked away so Sofia wouldn’t see his eyes tear up.

  “You must have really loved her. Were you together long?”

  “Almost thirty years.”

  “That’s really beautiful. Do you really believe that Dr. Blackmore had something to do with her death?”

  “I don’t know. I just want some answers. I’m not here to cause trouble; I just need to find out if Dr. Blackmore had anything to do with her death.”

  Sofia liked Leo, he seemed really genuine, not to mention handsome. She thought he had kind eyes.

  “I’m Sofia by the way,” she said, as she extended her hand towards Leo.

  “Leo; nice to meet you.”

  “You seem nice. I’ll make a deal with you, if you buy me some lunch, I’ll tell you what I know.”

  “You would do that?”

  “Sure, you seem nice, and I’m a pretty good judge of character. You’re not going to try and kidnap me and sell me to some sex traffickers, right?” Sofia asked with a somber look on her face.

  “What?! Absolutely not,” Leo replied, as Sofia laughed.

  “Great; there’s a great deli just around the corner.” Sofia walked around Leo’s car and got into the passenger side.

  As they pulled up and parked in front of The Deli Shack, Leo was surprised to see a line coming out the door.

  “Is there always such a long line?”

  “Ya, but it goes really fast. There’s a huge patio area in the back. Trust me, their subs are the best in the state, hence the long lines.”

  “What do you recommend?”

  “Everything here is delicious, I especially like the Dirka, its corned beef, and pastrami with Swiss, mustard, and jalapeño coleslaw. Oh, and the Gerber is to die for.”

  “The Gerber? Oh, I see it now,” he said as he found it on the giant menu board above the counter. “I think I�
��ll try that Gobbler, with the pan-seared turkey breast, caramelized onions, bacon and cream cheese.”

  “Would you like jalapeños on that sir?” the deli worker asked.

  “Yes, please, that sounds great.”

  They waited while their sandwiches were prepared and then took them and found a place to sit on the large patio in back.

  “So, Leo, what do you do for a living?”

  “I’m a tattoo artist.”

  “How cool, maybe one day, you can give me a tattoo.”

  Leo was surprised how easy it was to talk to Sofia, she was sweet and intelligent, not to mention easy on the eyes.

  “So, what’s your story? Do you like working for Dr. Blackmore?”

  “It’s not bad, it’s just until I finish school.”

  “What are you studying?”

  “Psychiatry, I’m in my fourth year.”

  “Wow, that’s impressive. Why are you working as a receptionist if you are that far along in school, if you don’t mind me asking.”

  “I need a job, and he pays double what other places pay. Plus, they don’t mind if I bring books and study while I work, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the patients. For me, this job is all about the money, but I have to admit, saying I work for Dr. Blackmore will look good on my resume. He’s incredibly respected in the psychiatric world.”

  “I’ve heard that.”

  “Look, I know some weird things go on in this office, but like I said, they pay double what everyone else pays, and I need the money.”

  “What do you mean weird things?” Leo asked.

  “What exactly do you want to know?”

  “Anything you can tell me about Dr. Blackmore and the work he’s doing.”

  “First off, Dr. Blackmore is a psychiatrist, so he deals with the mind, but I bet you didn’t know that he’s also a master hypnotist.”

  “A master hypnotist? Like the guys at the carnival sideshows?”

  “Kind of, but he isn’t going to make you walk around quacking like a duck. He hypnotizes the patients so he can administer the medication.”

  “Why?”

  “Just so that they don’t feel any pain or discomfort.”

  “Why would they feel pain or discomfort?”