Hideaway Hospital Murders (9 page)

“
Oh, that’s too
bad.”

“
Yeah. But something the
church secretary said kinda stuck with me.”

“
What?”

“
She said Elmo’s father had
died in a freak one-car accident.”

“
And you looked it up on
the internet.”

“
Well, I was curious. So, I
found a Coreyville Courier article from 1984.”

“
I thought you were busy
teaching lessons this afternoon.”

“
I was. This was during one
of my cancellations. And I had way too many today. Didn’t make much
money.”

“
Well, did you find
anything interesting?”

“
Actually, I did. It said
that Morford Mobley had crashed his car into a concrete wall under
an overpass.”

“
That’s not so unusual.
People drink too much and think they can drive. Or they fall asleep
at the wheel.”

“
Yeah, but he hadn’t been
drinking. And it happened on a sunny morning.”

“
But he still could have
been sleepy.”

“
That’s true. But here’s
where it gets weird. He went to a gas station and filled up two
five gallon cans of gas. A witness reported seeing him put the two
cans in the front seat of his car without the caps. He said gas was
spilling out of the cans as he put them in the car.”

“
That
is
weird.”

“
Yeah. And then, instead of
driving back toward his house, he went the opposite direction. The
investigators estimated that he was traveling at least 90 miles per
hour when he hit the wall.”

“
Whoa.”

“
The car immediately burst
into flames. There was barely enough left of him to make an
identification. Of course, they
knew
it was him
anyway.”

“
It was suicide,” said
Cynthia.

“
Clearly. But the newspaper
reported it as an accident.”

“
The Mobley’s must have a
lot of clout. Sounds like the police and the paper were trying to
protect the family. And you can understand that.”

“
But why would he want to
kill himself?”

“
I would imagine the only
people who know the answer to that are his family.”

Greg pulled into Beverly’s driveway.

Cynthia said, “Well, let’s go in and pack
some more boxes.”

It was a lot of work, but they were having
fun with it. They got out of the car and started walking toward the
back porch.

“
Uh, before we go in, I
have something I wanted to tell you.”

“
Okay.” Cynthia stopped and
turned around to face Greg.

“
I’ve been meaning to tell
you this for while. I mean, I think you know how I feel about you,
but…”

“
Yes?”

“
I love you, Cynthia, and
maybe I’m just a fool, but…”

She moved close to him and put her arms
around him.

Maybe she just feels sorry for me, he
thought. She wants to let me down easy, but she doesn’t know how to
do it.

“
I love you too,
Greg.”

“
Really?”

“
Couldn’t you tell?
Couldn’t you feel it?”

“
Well, I wasn’t sure.
Sometimes I feel things that aren’t really there.”

“
Kiss me, you silly
man.”

Greg was more than happy to
be a silly man. Yes, he would proudly be
her
silly man, and she could
call him whatever she wanted to—as long as she loved
him.

They walked into the house, beaming.

“
What’s gotten into you
two?” said Beverly.

“
What you mean, Mom?” said
Cynthia.

“
You look like you’re on
cloud nine.”

Greg and Cynthia smiled knowingly at each
other.

“
Does it have anything to
do with that talking and kissing out in my driveway?”

“
Mom, you were snooping on
us?”

“
It’s
my
driveway. I think I have the
right to look at it any time I want. Aw, come here and give me a
hug.”

As the three stood there
hugging, Greg thought everything was going to work out just fine.
Even if Beverly lived with them after they were married. But wait.
One step at a time. She said she loved you. She didn’t agree
to
marry
you.
That’s okay, he thought. He would worry about that some other day.
She loves you!

**********

After spending all afternoon and evening at
his computer, Elmo finally dragged himself to his bedroom at 2:15
AM. He was so tired he didn’t even bother to shower or brush his
teeth. He just fell across the bed, fully dressed, and was asleep
by the time his head hit the bedspread.

Carnie waited for Elmo to leave, and then
slipped into his study. She took his stack of notes to the copy
machine and made a copy of each page. Then she placed the papers
back on his desk as she had found them.

She waited until she was in her bedroom to
read through the papers. Her medical training and nursing
experience made it easy for her to comprehend the material. Carnie
had worked as a nurse for a several years. Until some patients on
her floor mysteriously died.

She saw his notes in the margins and
understood that he was planning to try a number of different
treatment options. Her objective was to get Elmo and Carsie
married. And the sooner, the better. How could she use the
information in these papers to her advantage? What if Elmo were to
quickly find an effective treatment for his mother? Then he could
go ahead with the wedding. But it could take months or years to
find something that worked. Maybe he never would. In the meantime,
his relationship with Carsie could fall apart. No, she had to speed
up the process somehow.

What he needed were a few volunteers for a
clinical trial. Some women with AD who would each be given
different treatments, to see which one worked best. And if none of
the treatments were working, Carnie could always alter the results.
Or, what if one of the volunteers didn’t actually have
Alzheimer’s? The woman could pretend to have it, and then
miraculously get better.

Once Elmo saw that his ingenious treatment
idea was working, he would feel free to get married, knowing that
he had done his best for his mother, and that her condition would
rapidly improve.

Carnie could set it up in the sub-basement.
Elmo could work in the lab, and she would act as nurse in their own
little hospital ward. But who would volunteer for such a thing? No
problem. She would bring them in by force, if necessary. And once
Elmo and Carsie had gone off for the honeymoon, Carnie could easily
dispose of the ‘volunteers.’

But the whole idea was insane. Elmo would
never go along with any of it.

Carnie hashed through plan after plan for
hours. There had to be a scheme that would work. And given enough
time, she would think of it.

Chapter
12

Wednesday was Greg’s assigned hospital
visitation day. The pastor took care of it on other days of the
week, as needed. Greg would spend time visiting church members who
were patients, and sit with the family of those having surgery. But
first, there was time for breakfast at Jane’s Diner.

“
The usual?” Jane poured
him a cup of coffee.

“
Yeah.”

“
By the way, how’s it going
with your girlfriend?”

It seemed like Jane asked that question
every day.

“
Couldn’t be better. She’s
absolutely wonderful. And I’m so in love with her.”

Jane smiled. “Have you told her?”

“
Yes. I told her last
night.” He beamed with pride.

“
Well, all I’ve got to say
is: what took you so long?”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
I’ve known you were in
love with her for months. Practically the whole town
has.”

“
But how could everybody
else know before
I
knew.”

“
You
knew
.”

“
No…”

“
Yes, you did, Greg. You
had feelings for that gorgeous redhead on the very first day you
met her.”

“
No, that’s not true.
Besides, she was married then.”

“
So? You can still love
somebody, even though you know you can’t act on it or tell
them.”

Was Jane right? Had he been in love with
Cynthia all along? Before he could come back with a zinger of his
own, Jane had turned to walk away. Did Jane learn this wisdom
through personal experience? He wondered who the man could be.

As Greg picked up his newspaper and began to
read, Jane watched him from behind the counter. He could be so
clueless sometimes, she thought. But in all fairness, why should he
suspect? After all, Jane was 59 years old. But it had been a
lonely life since her husband had died four years ago. Only her
customers kept her going. Particularly the one she was currently
admiring.

Greg was still reading the sports section
when Jane delivered his scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, and
buttermilk pancakes. “So, you’re on your way to the hospital?”

“
Yeah.” He lowered his
voice. “And I hate it.”

“
Why?”

“
I’m just no good at it. I
never know what to say. The person is lying there dying and I’m
supposed to comfort them somehow. Today one of our men is having
surgery. But at least it’s only back surgery. He’s not likely to
die on the operating table. Those aren’t too bad. It’s the heart
surgeries and the terminal patients that get to you.”

“
But you’re so empathetic,
Greg. I’d just tell people to shut up and get a life. Or at least
make the best of whatever time they’ve got left.”

**********

“
Hello?”

“
Carsie, how are you
holding up?”

“
Hi, Grandma. I’m
fine.”

“
No, you’re not. How
could
you be? Your
wedding got called off. I’m sorry, Honey.”

“
But I’m okay. Elmo just
needs some time to find the best kind of medicine for his mother.
Then we’ll reschedule the wedding. It’ll all work out
soon.”

“
Well, I hope so. But in
the meantime, I want you to come stay with me for a few
days.”

“
Thanks, Grandma, but I
need to stay here and support Elmo.”

“
But Carnie tells me he’s
spending every waking hour in his study. And that he’s totally
ignoring you.”

“
No, he’s not ignoring
me—he’s just busy doing research. And that’s good. Because the
sooner he decides how to treat Mallie Mae’s condition, the sooner
we can get married.”

“
I understand. But I really
miss you, Sweetie. And since your sister moved out, I get so
lonely.”

“
I’m sorry, Grandma, but
you know you’re gonna have to get used to that.”

“
But just think, Dear—being
here with me would make the time go by faster for you.”

“
I guess so.”

“
You
know
it would. And I’ll even
make a batch of my cherry divinity.”

“
Now you’re bribing
me.”

“
Well, is it
working?”

“
I’ll talk to
Elmo.”

“
Great. I’ll make meatloaf
and yams for dinner.”

Her grandmother could be so pushy. And she
nearly always got her way. But maybe she was right. A few days with
Grandma Sylvia might do her good.

She found Elmo in his study, glued to his
computer.

“
Honey?”

Elmo didn’t even look up at her. “Yes?”

“
Grandma wants me to drive
up to Jefferson and spend a few days with her.”

“
That’s good.”

“
So, you don’t mind if I
go?”

“
Sure.”

“
Elmo! Are you even
listening to me?”

He stopped reading and looked up at her.

“
I’m sorry, Baby. What were
you saying?”

“
Grandma wants me to go
stay with her for a few days.”

“
Well, that’s fine. You
should go. At least I wouldn’t feel so guilty about ignoring
you.”

“
Yeah. You’ve dealing with
enough guilt already. I don’t want to add to it.”

“
Then go to your
grandmother’s house. Stay a few days. Maybe it’ll make us both feel
better.”

“
Okay.”

Elmo stood and took Carsie in his arms. “I
love you, Baby. You know that.”

“
I love you
too.”

After a quick kiss, Carsie went to her
bedroom to back a bag.

**********

On his way to the hospital, Greg called
Cynthia’s cell phone.

“
Hello?”

“
Who do you love, Baby?
said Greg.

There was a slight pause before Cynthia
responded.

Had it all been dream? Had she changed her
mind? Was she wishing she had not told him she loved him? How many
doubts can the human mind conjure in a mere second?