by Diane Roads
CHAPTER 9
The drive to the Big City had turned into being a peaceful one. Jasper took the riverside route that took a little longer, and always relaxed him. He could see the campsite from here. There must be more than two dozen trailers in the park today. Most of them belonged to Looneys. The wildlife was spectacular this time of the year. Jasper figured in a few years the Big City was going to swallow up the river route, but for now it was still free and unencumbered. This was what Jasper guessed he could call his woods and he didn't want to lose them any more than Helen did hers.
The highway straightened out as it came up to the city. Orange cones lined the left lane for the last eighth of a mile. Jasper turned the radio on to the news station. The first story was about a Van Gogh, being worth three quarters of a million dollars, still missing after being gone for about a month. He laughed as he thought how much the news media blows things out of proportion. The information he had was that it was only worth a half a million. The newsman ended the report with “hopes of finding it are getting slim.” Jasper then thought the longer Mr. Twilliger is gone, the more his chances of finding him also grow slim.
When he turned onto Main Street the guardrails came down signifying the oncoming train. Like a kid, he sat and counted; two engines and 86 cars. He noticed several of the cars having some colorful artwork on them. He thought what a waste of talent. The Van Gogh was worth over half a million. Jasper wondered how many of the graffiti painters might have been as good. He thought “we will never know” then drove the remaining six blocks to the hospital. He pulled into the Main Street garage entrance, and found a spot on the second level. Jasper went up to the third floor to the maternity ward, and as he entered the hall he heard...
"Well, Jasper, it sure is good to see you. I haven't seen you since the picnic last year."
"Oh, hello, Mr. Sutton. How are you doing? You're looking every bit the proud grandfather."
"I am? I wonder if the fact that this is my first grandchild has anything to do with it. I am so happy for Becky and Harry, and she looks just like Becky did when she was a little girl. I wish Molly could have been here for this. Becky and Harry were getting so cooped up in that little room, we decided to come down here. They gave us a private waiting room with a great view. Come on over and meet Melissa Sue Wolf."
"So I see you picked a name, Harry. Well how do you do Melissa?" Jasper was thinking to himself. Where did I just hear that name? Then he remembered, Helen had said that Melissa was just fine. How in the world did she know that is what they were going to name her? Maybe he should put a little more stock in what she was saying.
Harry started..."Well, we couldn't leave the hospital until we had named her. I once knew a guy that when his parents finally named him they were leaving on the steps of the hospital. Poor guy, when he wanted to get his driver’s license, he needed his birth certificate. When he finally found it, it said "Baby Boy Jones." His folks never thought to change it after they named him. I didn't want Missy going throughout life as 'Baby Girl Wolf.' "
As Becky was offering the baby she said, "Here, Jasper, would you like to hold her?"
"Ah, ha, I've got some police work to do, so I'll just take a rain check, maybe when she's five or six," Jasper replied thinking quickly.
"Oh, Jasper, don't be so scared. She won't break."
"No, really, I do have police work to do. I need to check on the John Doe they have here, and Harry, I have some bad news to report. Helen Brolin is a patient here at the hospital. It seems after I talked to her she tried to climb a tree. The short story is that Doc Lewis found her with a broken wrist. He says she will be okay. I am going to go see her now."
"Harry was telling me about the John Doe, and that is too bad about poor Helen. Let us know if we can do anything Jasper," said Becky.
"Becky, I think you will have your hands full for a while. She is here in the hospital for now, and when she gets out we'll cross that bridge then. But thanks for thinking about her. I will let her know."
"Jasper, they say he couldn't remember anything when he came in, and he just drifted off to sleep and hasn't woken up yet. He's down at the other end of the hall in the next wing. Jasper, I know I've seen him before, and it hasn't been that long ago. See what you think."
"I will Harry. I am going to check on Helen first. Well, Beck, I'd better go. She really is beautiful; it's a good thing she takes after you. You know, a girl with a lot of hair on her face is not that cute looking. It was nice seeing you again Mr. Sutton."
"Thanks Jasper, we'll be seeing you soon."
"Goodbye, it was nice seeing you again," replied Becky's father.
Jasper took the elevator up to the 5th floor. Room 523 was on his right. He had to pass the nurses station to get to the room. "Nurse, I would like to stop in on Helen Brolin. Is she awake?"
"Yes Sheriff, she is. We told her that you were coming to see her, and that seemed to be the only thing that calmed her down. She just kept yelling ‘it's him.’ I am so glad you made it. I sure didn't want to give her anything, but we just couldn't have her waking up everyone. Go on in. She will be happy to see you."
Jasper nodded and walked three doors down. Helen was lying in her bed stroking a hot pink cast.
"Sheriff, can you’s see what Lewis did to me. I didn't need no cast. I have lived years without one, and then he puts one on me. He calls this hot pink, can you’s imagine hot pink? If’n you’s ask me, pink is pink. Well didja see him?"
"See who, Ms. Brolin?"
"Why, Mr. Tom! …and quits calling me Ms. Brolin! My name is Helen!"
"No Helen, I came to see you first. My next stop is to see this mystery man everyone is talking about, your ‘Mr. Tom.’"
"Ain't no mystery ‘bout him. It's Mr. Tom. I know’d I'd seen him before. He was always nice t’ me. Like Matt was. He give me a warm coat one time when he saw I didn't have one. He was a nice man. Not like some of them others who live in Quagmire. You’s go ‘n see him, and then try and tell me it's not Mr. Tom. I know’d Mr. Tom when I sees him."
"Okay Helen, I am going right now. You just wait right here, and please don't give the nurses a hard time. Helen there are sick people here, and some of them are trying to get some sleep. I'll make sure Mr. Tom is Okay."
"You'd better if’n you’s know’d what's good fer ya. We needs more people like him. Now gets. I gotta figure out how t’ get this thing offa my arm. Lewis says I’m s’posta to wear it fer six weeks, then what am I goin’ to do. How’m I gonna to get it off. I can'ts wear it forever. How am I going to do my chores? What ‘bout Old Blue? Did Lewis think ‘bout that? Humph!"
"Helen, don't worry about that. The Doc did think about that, and he has a special tool just for taking the cast off. When the time comes he will take care of it for you. Now you get some rest before those nurses come back in, and do not worry about Old Blue, I'll make sure he is taken care of."
Jasper walked back to the elevator, and went looking for Harry. He found him out in the hallway. "Hey Harry, do you want to take a walk?"
"Sure thing Jasper."
"I thought I would check on the mystery man. Helen is certain that it is Thomas Twilliger. She said he was nice to her, like Matt was."
"Is Matt her dog?"
"I don't know. I thought she was talking about her husband or something. I don't know who Matt is. I didn't ask because I didn't want to upset her anymore than she was."
After that they walked quietly to the next wing past 7 rooms down the hall to some large double doors. A large silver button was on the wall next to the doors. Jasper hit the button to open the doors, and checked with the nurse's station. She said the mystery man was in room 12. Harry followed Jasper into the room. There laid a man who looked about forty. He was clean shaven and had brown hair.
With a gasp Jasper said, "Harry, you've cracked the case."
Harry looked down at the man lying in bed and asked, "Case? What case?"
"The Thomas Twilliger case, you and Helen."
"No way, this guy doesn't have any gray hair. And where's the beard and mustache? All this guy has is maybe a five o'clock shadow, and he doesn't look 55, he looks more like 45 or younger. I've seen Thomas Twilliger before. It was about two years ago. They came to church a few times, but it was always the day I was on duty. Are you sure about this? The last time I saw him, he was grey headed."
"Harry, you have heard of hair dye before, and I'm sure you know what a razor is. I saw a picture of this man with brown hair, no beard, no mustache. I'm telling you, this is him. Helen Brolin said to look for the dark haired man."
"Wow!" exclaimed Harry.
"Now, I want you to go to the nurse's station, and have them page the Chief of Staff. I'm sure he met Tom when they had that fundraiser for the children's wing. Tell them not to pass it on, if he wakes up. We want everyone to think he is still unconscious. I'm going to call the Twilliger's and have Carl bring Mrs. Twilliger over."
After the Chief of Staff came in, he said "Yes" he had met him, and "Yes, this could be him. It had been a few months ago, and he had gray hair with a beard back then." Jasper thanked him and made his call to the Twilliger's house.
George answered the phone. "Twilliger's residence, George speaking."
"Hi George, this is Sheriff Quagmire. Is Mrs. Twilliger there?"
"No, she and Dad are at the church praying for Mr. Twilliger's safe return. I am here just in case he calls, or comes home. Do you want me to give them a message?"
"Yes, George, it looks like their prayers have been answered. I want you to tell them that I have found Mr. Twilliger. He is here at the Big City Hospital. Tell them to come to the 3rd floor nurse's station. One of my men, Harry Wolf, will be here to greet them. Can you do that for me?"
"Sure thing, Sheriff, is he going to be all right? Dad has been trying to call as many hospitals as he could. No one seemed to have anyone fitting his description. I know he called the Big City hospital. It seemed to make Mrs. Twilliger feel a little better each time Mr. Twilliger wasn't in one of the hospitals. When did he show up at the hospital?"
"He came in yesterday. But he doesn't fit the description they gave us. He’s been shaved and his hair has been dyed. That is why we couldn't find him. As far as if he is going to be okay, I hope so, but I don't know much, just that they need to get up here."
"Thanks for the great news. Mrs. Twilliger hasn't slept much and neither has Dad since he has been gone. The break-in didn't help much. I'll go over to the church and give them the message."
He then turned to Harry and said, "I need to run over to Mark's office to pick up some paper work and then I'll be back. Can you wait for Mrs. Twilliger? Page me when she gets here, and I'll come back over. Also, can you call the station and let our guys know we found him? Keep the Looney family out searching. Let Jim know I will meet him back at the station. And I am sorry to be putting you to work during your special time."
"Oh, that's okay Jasper. You're not asking for much, besides, Missy's here, and everything, as you can see, is okay. Becky's dad can keep her company and I will still be in the hospital if they need anything. I'm glad I can be of help. What do you want done with the Big City guys?" said Harry.
"Tell them to look like they are still looking. Let them know that he has been found. In a couple of hours we can announce that we found him, and everyone can go home. I'll have Mark call Rego back. We can say there was a problem with the helicopter. Oh, and will you call Doc Lewis and let him know we found Mr. Twilliger. Ask him if he would do us a favor and tell Helen. He’ll know how to handle her."
The Big City Police Department was kind of quiet today. Crime seemed to be low on a Wednesday. Mark had an office on the main floor just as you came in the front door. The only other floor was the basement. It had the jail cells, and the property lock-up at one end, and the other end had the file room.
The credenza behind his desk was stacked full of files on one end, the other had a fax machine on it. Along with his desk and chair, there were two file cabinets, a table, and two guest chairs. On the wall were pictures of his Candy Brandy Wine color 1964 Chevy Malibu with some of the trophies it had won. Mark had put a lot of hours into that car, and was very proud of it.
Mark McMillan was in his office at his desk when Jasper walked in. "Hello Jasper, I would like you to meet Helen Brolin. This was her about 50 years ago." Mark was rifling through an old photo album his mother had given him.
"This looks like it was taken at the Twilliger's place.
"I do believe she knows something, I don't know how, but she does. I checked out her theory on the dark haired man, and it paid off. I am happy to tell you, and this is just between us for now, that we have found Thomas N. Twilliger. He was delivered to the Big City hospital yesterday. He didn't know who he was, and he went to sleep and hasn't woken up yet. Mrs. Twilliger is on her way, as we speak, to the hospital."
Mark added, "We have another surprise with our match. It seems the same guy broke into Mr. Twilliger's car, and his house. I found a print on one of the pictures. He is a suspect in 3 major robberies, and last month a painting at that famous art gallery in Paris lost a Van Gogh. All fingers were pointing to Earl Scooter, international art thief. It seems as though, when he got out of prison, he picked up where he left off. And when he was in prison you'll never guess who his roommate was. George Carter! He even stayed at the same halfway house that George had. Here is a fax of his picture coming right now," Mark said as his fax machine went off.
"Carl said that George's old room mate went by 'Old Scoot. ' Make me a copy, and I'll take it over to Mrs. Twilliger and see if she has seen him before. Would you fax a copy to my office? I think, maybe, one of my men has seen him. Oh, and tell Rego that he has engine problems, and needs to return to the heliport."
Jasper's beeper was going off. It was from Harry. He picked up the phone and called the hospital. The hospital put Harry on the phone. Jasper figured that Harry had his cell phone turned off in the hospital.
"Jasper, you were right, Mrs. Twilliger is here, and it is Mr. Twilliger. At the sound of her voice, he just woke up. You'd better hurry and get over here. He's awake, and he's talking."
"Well, Mark, it looks as though Mrs. Twilliger has confirmed that we found Mr. Twilliger at the Big City Hospital. He's a man who has been in a coma, and just woke up at the sound of his wife's voice."
"That's wonderful. Hey, here goes the fax again. It's more information on that Van Gogh. Looks like it's hidden behind a pastel… some nature scene."
"Thanks, I'm out of here," Jasper said as he dashed out of Mark's office.
Jasper walked in the hospital room to find Thomas Twilliger talking to his wife. Her face was just radiating. He could tell she was thrilled to have Thomas back in her life. They looked like they made a very happy couple. Thomas looked like a different man compared to what he looked like when he was in a coma.
"Oh, Sheriff Quagmire, it is so good to see you! I am so happy that you could make it. Doesn't he look so much better? The doctors say he is doing so well and that he was very lucky. Some people stay in a coma for years, the doctor said. Can you believe that!? They think having me here is what brought him out of his coma. I would have talked non-stop to him, but as you can see, I won't have to. I tried to call Luke, but haven't gotten to talk to him yet. Oh, I don't know how to thank you. You have made me very happy. Oh, listen to me running off like this. I haven't even let you get a word in edge wise."
"That's okay, I am just glad to see you both doing so well. Would it be okay if I ask you some questions, Mr. Twilliger?"
"Why sure, I think I can handle that."
"First, what do you remember about the day you went missing?"
"Well, mostly bits and pieces. Doc says in time it will probably all come back. I remember going on my walk downtown to get Rollo a big dog chew. I was going to be gone, and I thought that would keep him occupied. Just before I went into the store, I ran into someone I didn't think I
would ever see again."
"Oh, who was that?"
"Well, I don't know his name, but he bid against me on a picture at the Round Tree Art auction in New York last week. It just didn't seem to make any sense. The picture wasn't really of any value, but to me. You see it was of a hummingbird. Years ago I had bought a set of three, and then I recently found out there was a fourth one."
"Oh, Thomas, you found it,” a surprised Mrs. Twilliger said.
Thomas just smiled and nodded. "It was going on auction last week, and I ended up paying $10,000.00 for something only worth about $3,000.00, thanks to that fellow. He offered me twice what I had paid for it. I was so shocked I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean the whole collection together might have been worth that much. I told him no, it was a gift to my wife, and I couldn't sell it. I could tell he wasn't happy, and had thought I would have taken the offer, but he did leave. I mean he came all the way to Quagmire to buy a picture that is only worth $3,000.00. Something just was not right."
"Does he look like this picture?"
"Why yes, do you know who he is?"
"We think he is Earl Scooter, international art thief. Where is the picture now?"
"It's at Harrison's framing shop," said Mr. Twilliger
"Oh dear, Mrs. Harrison has been trying to get a hold of you. She wanted to know what to do about the other picture. I told her I didn't know about any pictures," said Mrs. Twilliger.
"Well, dear, it was to be a surprise. I was going to have it framed to match the other three, but I don't know what other picture she is talking about. She must have me mixed with someone else," replied Mr. Twilliger.
"Oh, I am sure you're right. I don't know, I was so upset with you being gone that I could have misunderstood her. I'll call her tomorrow and see what she was talking about."
Jasper asked, "Did you tell him it was getting reframed?"
"No, I was too shocked to tell him anything."
"What else do you remember about that day?"
"Well I remember starting to walk home. I had bought some foam in hair color at the store when I was there. When I got home I thought it would be a real hoot to shave my beard and color my hair. She had just said to me the other day she would like to see me again without all that hair. Just one more time. I wanted to surprise her. The guy at the store said it would take 10 years off my life. Boy he wasn't kidding! But I think the whole ordeal just added twenty to it."
"Then I remember going out to take Rollo his treat. I remember being in a hole and trying to get out. There might have been someone there but I don’t remember for sure. That was it until later when a trucker was dropping me off at the hospital here. I don't even know his name or where he picked me up. I just remember orange letters on the truck. That's all I remember until I woke up here. Is that of any help?"
"I don't know. I will have to check some things out. One thing that I don't understand is the phone number that the nurse said you gave them. She said it didn't answer as your home phone."
Mrs. Twilliger cut in with, "She asked me the same thing. I asked her to show me the number and it is ours. She said she had tried it three times because Thomas kept insisting it was his number. She told me it was a disconnected number. No wonder they couldn't find him."
"I had forgotten all about that. That was about the only thing I could remember when they brought me in. Doc said I had selective memory and that that is not uncommon with head injuries."
"That clears up two things. Now my next thing to clear up, where is Earl Scooter? I have some thoughts on how to catch him red handed. One last thing, are you planning on staying at the hospital tonight Mrs. Twilliger?"
"Why yes, now that I have my little TNT back, I mean, my Thomas, back, I'm never going to leave his side again."
"Would you do me a favor and have Carl stay with you here at the hospital tonight? And can I borrow your key to your house? I'll give them back to you tomorrow and please keep it between us that I have your keys and that Thomas is awake. Ask him not to tell even George that he is awake. I want to make sure nobody knows."
"Okay," a surprised looking Mrs. Twilliger answered as she handed over her keys. Sheriff, in all of the excitement I forgot to ask, how did you find my Thomas?"
"Well, I called the hospital and asked if they had any ‘John Doe’s around, and they said they had one, but the description they gave didn't fit Thomas, so I didn't give it a lot of thought. I told her I would come in soon and check the man out, and that we would put it out on the wire and see if he fit the description of anyone that was missing.
Then last night I got a call from Helen Brolin, who told me to look for the dark haired man. Well, I thought she had a screw loose, but then I found out from Mark McMillan that he knew her, and that she used to get these predictions, but they never panned out, he said. Now, she was right about the weather, but since you were not weather related, I didn't give it any urgency. To make a long story short, she ended up breaking her wrist, and landed in the hospital. She got lost wandering around the halls, and the nurses found her on your floor. All she would say is 'it's him'. They couldn't get her to settle down, not until I told her that I would check out this mystery man.
Harry checked you out while he was here. He knew you looked familiar, but he didn't know who you were, so I came up to see you, and if Mrs. Twilliger hadn't shown me that picture of you 10 years ago without the beard and mustache, I might not have even guessed who you were."
"This may sound strange, but I remember dreaming about Helen when I was sleeping. What do you think of that?" mused Thomas.
"Well, I must be sure and thank her for all she has done. If you talk to her, let her know that I am so happy to have my Thomas back."
"I will, and I had better go."
"Wait, you said you wanted to clear two things up. What is the second thing?" questioned Tom.
"Remember when you said that someone helped you out of the hole. Well, I met that person. His name is Anthony Pavarotti. He's a transient on his way to see his daughter in Salt Lake City. He said he stumbled onto you. You were halfway out of the hole. He started digging you out, and you came to. He then helped you out of the pit you were in. You lost your coat in the process and started walking to the highway. He asked you if you wanted your coat back and you told him to just keep it. He had never seen anything as nice as that coat, so he argued with you, but you wouldn’t take your coat back. He really is a nice guy, and has had a lot of bad breaks. I have Pastor Michaels seeing about helping him get to Salt Lake City. I would like to see him get a good break for a change."
"Sheriff, let us know if we can be of help," said Mrs. Twilliger.
"Why don't you call Pastor Michaels? He is taking care of Anthony. I’m sure he would appreciate any help you can give him."
"We will," they both said at the same time.
Jasper left thinking that the Twilliger's were lucky to have each other. A love like that doesn't come along everyday. He started to think about the someone special in his life. Maybe he was doing just a little wishful thinking. Who knows? But it was time to get back to the matter at hand. It got him to thinking, why was everyone talking about artwork this week? Maybe he had better start thinking more about artwork. In fact he was going to check something out, and if he was right, he would need these keys. The first thing he was going to do was talk to Mrs. Harrison.
