Hideaway Hospital Murders (7 page)

“
Well,
I
didn’t notice. But Carnie saw
them getting into a limo this morning.”

“
I sent them to Dallas.
Mother needed to see a specialist.”

“
What’s wrong with
her?”

“
I think she has
Alzheimer’s. We’ll know after we get the test results.”

“
So, what does that
mean—that she’s losing her memory? At least it’s not cancer. It’s
not so horrible if you just forget a name occasionally. Or forget
where you put your keys. After all, she is getting old.”

“
No. It’s much worse than
that. Yesterday she was trying to brush her teeth with a hairbrush.
She couldn’t even think of the word ‘teeth.’”

“
Oh. That’s not
good.”

“
Yeah. And that’s just the
beginning. Eventually, you forget how to get into bed, how to put
on your clothes, how to go to the bathroom. Then you can’t walk or
even speak. Eventually, your entire body quits functioning and you
die.”

“
I didn’t know it was that
bad.”

“
And Alzheimer’s victims
only live an average of eight to ten years after the symptoms first
appear. I suspect that she and Macy have been keeping it from me
for quite a while.”

“
Well, can’t you give her
some medicine, or chemotherapy or something?”

“
There’s no cure for
Alzheimer’s.”

“
So, there’s not
anything
you can do
for her?”

“
There are treatments to
slow down the process. And some of those seem to work fairly well.
But only for a little while. Anyway, I should get her test results
tomorrow. And if they come back positive, I want to postpone the
wedding.”

Carsie’s heart sank.

“
I’m sorry,
Sweetie.”

“
Okay. If her tests are
positive, I’ll take care of notifying everybody on the guest list
and canceling everything. But do you mind if Carnie stays with us
for a while? I’m really enjoying having my sister
around.”

Elmo wanted Carnie to move out as soon as
possible. There was something about her he just didn’t like. But
how could he refuse Carsie’s request when she was being so
understanding about postponing the wedding?

“
That’ll be
fine.”

**********

Mallie Mae and Macy were riding in the
rented limo, on their way home from Dallas.

“
What do you say, driver?”
yelled Macy. “Wanna pull over and have sex with me?”

“
Don’t worry—he can’t hear
us,” said Mallie Mae.

“
Just making
sure.”

“
Well, what would you have
done if he started pulling over?”

Macy turned red. “What did you think about
the doctor?”

“
He was rather tall and
handsome.”

“
Medically
speaking,” said
Macy.

“
He was quite good. Very
thorough. He ran every test in the book, including the writing
tests for memory and math skills.”

“
How’d you do? How hard was
the math?”

“
Easy stuff. But I did
poorly.”

Macy smiled. “I hope you
didn’t
overdo
it?”

“
No, my dear, I
under-did
it. But I
answered correctly on
some
of the
problems.”

“
You are so bad, Mallie
Mae.”

“
Well, I needed to be
convincing.”

“
Yeah, but one of these
days Elmo’s going to find out. And then he’s going to disown you
and fire me.”

“
Honey, he’s already
disowned me. But he won’t fire you.”

“
Yes, he will.”

“
Then I’ll rehire
you.”

“
Well, I just feel bad
about tricking him.”

“
Look. You don’t want him
to marry that woman, do you?

“
Well, no.”

“
I don’t know what it is,
but there’s something awful about her. I have a sense about these
things.”

“
But you’ve never
liked
any
of
the women Elmo’s dated. What kind of a woman
would
you approve
of?”

“
One who’s not going to
break his heart and run off with all his money. I’ll know her when
I see her.”

Macy knew that Mallie Mae loved her like a
daughter. She had told her so—many times. But could she love her as
a daughter-in-law? It probably didn’t matter. She and Elmo were
very close—but only as friends.

Was there really any chance they would ever
make the leap from friends to lovers? She had clung to that hope
for so many years. So, why give up now? Monica and Chandler had
made the leap. And Rachel and Ross. And so many of her other
friends on TV.

So, why not Macy and Elmo?

Chapter
9

Carnie was devouring the delicious steak,
mashed potatoes and gravy, peas, and yams set before her. Hadley
had prepared exactly what she had requested. It was diner for one.
Elmo and Carsie were dining at Johnny Caces. Mallie Mae and Macy
were on their way home from Dallas.

But her brain didn’t have
time to analyze the data being sent by her taste buds, or to feel
any sense of loneliness. Her entire being was focused on the
underground laboratory she had discovered. But something was
nagging at her. What was the purpose of that huge mirror in the
bathroom? It was as tall and wide as a big door. You idiot!
It
is
a
door!

Carnie jumped up from the table, still
chewing.

“
Are you finished, Ma’am?”
said Hadley, who had just walked into the dining room.

“
Yeah, I’m done.
Thanks.”

She rushed down the stairs, ran into her
room and closed and locked the door. Then she went down into the
sub-basement, through the lab, and into the enormous bathroom.

She pushed and pulled on the mirror. No
movement whatsoever. Then she remembered seeing a screwdriver in
the lab. She raced back out into the lab, found it, and took it
into the bathroom and began to pry on the frame of the mirror. It
didn’t budge.

Carnie was about to start kicking the mirror
when she had a thought. She opened the cabinet doors under the
sink. All she saw was a few rolls of toilet paper. She ran her
fingers across the underside of the cabinet and felt something. A
button. She pushed it and heard a click. Was she imagining things,
or did the mirror move? She ran to it, and found it ajar. When she
opened the mirror door she felt for the light switch and clicked it
on.

There were four hospital beds on one wall.
And there were various other medical devices in the room. It was a
hospital ward. But why would anyone hide a lab and four hospital
beds in their basement—unless it was used for something evil? She
was getting turned on by thoughts of a demented scientist
torturing his victims to their last agonizing breath.

There was a hallway that led to two smaller
rooms. One of the rooms had a couple of cabinets that could be used
to store medicine. They were empty.

There was another door off the main room.
She opened it and saw nothing but a hallway that seemed to stretch
on forever. Carnie couldn’t imagine what the passageway led to,
but she would soon find out.

She practically ran through the winding
wooden corridor. For the moment, she even forgot her fear of
spiders and snakes. By the time she reached the other end and saw
the stairs, she was gasping. She began to wonder if there was
enough oxygen in the underground air to keep her alive.

Once at the top of the stairs, she struggled
to open the door. She finally got it open and stepped into a small
room with a dirt floor and rusty garden tools hung on the wall. A
small snake in the corner made her anxious to get back above
ground. Then she saw the door directly across from where she was
standing. She unlocked and turned the knob. Then she pulled. She
pulled with all her might. She was getting tired of these stubborn
doors.

She grabbed an old shovel from the wall and
began to pry. After working the shovel in at several spots around
the door, it finally broke free.

She had never been happier to see daylight.
There was an old tractor and a new riding lawn mower. And a black
1956 Buick. She was in a barn. She walked to the sunlight, looked
out the window and saw the back of the house. Then she remembered
seeing the barn in the back yard while sitting on the patio.

It felt good to breathe fresh air again.

**********

It was 7:00 PM—finally.
Greg was ready to jump in his car and head for Marshall. He could
get there in fifteen minutes. And even though he was tired, he knew
he would be re-energized the moment he saw Cynthia. And
he’d
need
some extra energy since it would be a late night of packing
Beverly’s things.

His last student on Monday nights was Nancie
Jo Gristel. Even at the age of 81, she was one of his best music
students. Mostly because she listened to everything Greg said and
tried to do it. She truly loved playing the piano—unlike many of
his younger students, whose parents were forcing them to take music
lessons.

“
Looks like our time is up,
Nancie Jo.”

“
Oh, it just goes by so
fast.”

“
Well, you’re making good
progress.”

“
I’m sorry I had to drop
out for while.”

“
That’s okay. I
understand.”

“
I thought I was going to
have to give up my music. But the doctor put me on a new
medicine.”

Greg didn’t know why Nancie Jo had been out
for several weeks. And he wasn’t going to ask her about her health
issues. But he was curious.

She said, “It’s for my Alzheimer’s. The
doctor said it should help for now. He doesn’t know how long it
will work. So, I’m just gonna try to enjoy whatever time I
have.”

“
You have a great attitude
about it.”

“
As long as I can keep
playing the piano, I can be happy.”

“
Well, just keep working at
it. You’re doing great.”

“
Thanks, Greg. See you
Thursday night.”

Greg locked up quickly, hopped into his car
and drove down the alley and onto the street. It was a great night
for driving the big convertible with the top down. The early
evening September air massaged his scalp all the way down Highway
154 to Marshall. There was no concern about messing up his hair,
since he kept it cut short. He only wished he had more of it. His
forehead seemed to get taller by the day.

When he arrived at Cynthia’s mother’s house
it looked like all the lights were on. He could see stacked boxes
through every window.

Cynthia greeted him at the front door with a
full body hug and a very sexy kiss. At 34, Greg was far removed
from his teenage years, but since he had met Cynthia he found that
his body could still jump to attention. It reminded him of those
embarrassing high school years, walking down hallways of pretty
girls, hiding unwanted arousals behind textbooks.

“
Well, hello, Greg,” said
Beverly, who was walking up behind her daughter.

Cynthia instinctively turned to face her
mother, leaving Greg fully exposed. He quickly moved behind his
girlfriend and put his hands on her shoulders. But not before
Beverly saw what he didn’t want her to see.

“
Hi, Beverly.” Greg still
wasn’t comfortable using her first name. And his face was turning
red. But Beverly seemed to take it in stride.

“
Thanks for coming to
help,” said Beverly.

“
Happy to do it,” said
Greg. “Now where do I start?”

**********

By the time Elmo and Carsie got home in
their separate cars, Carnie had closed up the hideaway hospital, as
she had named it, and moved her bed back in place, covering the
secret door. She couldn’t wait tell her sister about it.

Carsie came downstairs and met Carnie in the
Pub Room as she walked out of her bedroom.

“
I need a drink,” said
Carsie.

“
You don’t look so good.
What’s wrong, Sis?”

They sat down at a table.

“
The wedding is probably
going to be postponed.”

“
Why?”

“
Elmo thinks Mallie Mae has
Alzheimer’s disease. He sent her to a specialist in
Dallas.”

“
So, that explains the limo
this morning.”

“
Yeah. They ran a bunch of
tests on her.”

“
And?”

“
They’re still waiting on
some of the results, but the doctor believes that it is
Alzheimer’s.”

“
But we were so close,”
said Carnie.

“
I know. What do you
mean
we
?”

“
You know, uh, we were so
close to all being family. One big happy family.”

“
Yeah, that’s true. I’m
sorry. I was just thinking about me.”

“
That’s okay.
You’re
the bride.
It’s
your
wedding.”