by Diane Roads
CHAPTER 10
Harrison's frame shop was on 4th street, sandwiched between the Post Office and the Art Gallery. He was lucky Mrs. Harrison didn't take an early lunch today. She was a plump little lady that always had a smile on her face. Jasper found her straightening a picture of “The River Crossing.”
"Well, hi Sheriff, how are you this morning?"
"Just fine Mrs. Harrison. Say, you know the picture Mr. Twilliger dropped off to be framed? I'd like to see it, if I may." asked Jasper.
"Let me see where Toby put it, you know, he is graduating this year. He is such a hardworking, nice boy. He's going to college this fall. He asked me about it the other day. Said there were two pictures, not one. He asked if Mr. Twilliger wanted both of them framed. He said the other picture was weird looking, not at all like the other one; in fact, if it was up to him, he would just pitch it. He said the people who had it must have had the same idea because they covered it up behind this picture with the hummingbird, not that he was into hummingbirds either.Here it is… let's see what we have behind it. Oh my, is this what I think it is? It looks like a copy of a Van Gogh. I've framed some fine art before, but never a Van Gogh. It's got to be a copy," answered the shocked Mrs. Harrison.
"Would you call Carol at the art gallery, so we can have her look at it?"
The art gallery was next door to the frame shop. Stepping out the back door of the frame shop, it was only a few feet to the back door of the art gallery. The shop door was worn from all the traffic between the shop and the gallery. In less than a minute Mrs. Harrison came back with Carol.
"Okay Carol, what do we have here?"
After several minutes of looking at it she replied, "Well, I can't be sure without some tests. The Big City Gallery has seen some Van Goghs before, they could tell you more, but from what I can see, it looks like the real thing, and it also looks like the picture we were told to look out for. But how in the world did it end up in Quagmire?"
"Mr. Twilliger said he bought it at a New York auction last week. He didn't know what you were talking about when you called about a second picture. Apparently, he had no idea about the painting. This must have been how they got it smuggled into the country. I want to borrow this. Can you put it back in the frame the way it came? I want to see if I can catch a thief, whoever it is. And please, I know how much you want to talk about it, but don’t tell anyone what we have. If Tommy asks, tell him it was nothing, just a junk picture for spacing. When this is over I’ll see to it you both get mentioned. The shop will be the talk of the country. I'll send Mark McMillan back for it."
"No problem, Sheriff. Anything else I can do for you?" asked Mrs. Harrison.
"Yes, before you frame it, I want Mark to dust it for fingerprints. When he is done, would you please wipe the back and front off. I want to make sure the only prints on this picture will belong to the thief. I don't want to lose him on a technicality. Mark will show you what I mean. Thanks for your help."
As Jasper went out of the back room, he could hear the two girls giggling. Comments were being made, he could hear, "is it real?," "It looks like a Van Gogh," "I can't believe what is in my hands. Here take a picture of me holding it. No one will ever believe me. I framed a Van Gogh." He then went over to the newspaper office and found Pam King at her desk working on some copy for tomorrow's newspaper.
"Hi Pam, I hope you can do me a favor. I need a special edition put out." Jasper then filled her in with all of the details.
"Jasper, I can get this out for you. How far do you want the newspaper to go? It might take it a while to get it all over town at this hour."
"I just need it to go to the B & B, and Sally's Café."
"That small of an amount should only take a half an hour or so. I already have this page done. I could just change out the lead story, and it would be ready to go to press. The sooner you are out of here, the sooner I will have it."
"Thanks Pam, I owe you one."
Pam, being the newspaper person she was, was thrilled at the thought of scooping a story that would guarantee her getting an exclusive. People all over the world will have heard of the little River Point newspaper by tomorrow.
Jasper made another quick stop; he wanted to check with Millie. If he was right, he was going to need Millie's help to pull off what he was planning to do.
"Hi Millie, I need you to do something for me."
"Anything, Sheriff, what can I do for you?"
"First, is Earl Skinner still here?"
"Yes, he came in a little before 5:00 am. This time he had a new coat on, and was carrying a fishing pole. This was the first time I had seen the fishing pole, and I knew the coat was new because I told him the tag was still on it. He said he lost his coat, and had to buy a new one; he's been in his room ever since. That "do not disturb" sign is back on the door. Do you want me to let you know when it comes off again?"
"That won’t be necessary; instead, this is what I want you to do. Pam is going to be bringing over a special edition newspaper. This is a very special edition and the only place you are going to see it is here, and at Sally's Cafe. I want you to take one and place it under Mr. Skinner's door. Leave it halfway out, and let me know when he picks it up."
"Okay, and this time I'll have little Joey sit down the hall and watch for me."
"Okay, but make sure the man doesn't know that the paper is just for him. Oh, and I have some good news, we found Mr. Twilliger. He is at the Big City Hospital. He is awake, and it seems as though he is going to be okay, but I don’t want you to tell anyone he is awake. Let them all think he is still in a coma. Carl and Mrs. Twilliger are going to be staying up at the hospital tonight. Rollo is still at the vet. That might be some good small talk, if you happen to talk to Mr. Skinner. Tell him we're a small town, and the Twilliger news rates a special edition."
"I am so glad you have found Mr. Twilliger, and he won't find out from me that this special edition is just for him. Is he a bad person, I mean, do I have to worry about sending little Joey up there to watch for him?"
"No, I don't think he would hurt any of you. It will be alright, just give me a call when he gets the newspaper. I'll be heading over to Sally’s Café, then back to the station."
Jasper enjoyed his next stop. It gave him a chance to see Sally over at the cafe. As he walked in he heard, "…Rietta, It sounds like your roses are doing great. That is something I really miss out here. I haven't seen any flowers around here. At this point I would welcome a dandelion. It was nice of you to send the picture. We are getting ready to move out. We were all told if we had any letters to write, to get them done now. It will be a while before we get a chance again. Sorry it took so long to write, I really am not much of a writer. Most of the guys here have someone to write to. When mail call came the other day, Farley and Nat got the letters mixed up. Farley's mom wrote him about her pie winning the contest. Nat accidentally got the letter. He didn't think anything about it. He had a new girlfriend that was writing. It started out with Dear Slug. He just thought she had a new nickname for him. Farley got Nat's letter and it started out with Dear Sugar, I sure miss your kisses and ended with Love and kisses your Honey. When Nat got to the end and it said Love Mom he knew he had the wrong letter. They both got a good laugh out of it. PVT. Victor Unger."
He figured the Letters Club was reading another letter out loud, and then he saw Sally in her pretty blue dress with her starched white apron with the blue ruffles. She was just clearing up an empty plate of chicken and dumplings from in front of Avery Mead. Avery was a cop from the Big City, who, after 20 years service, retired, and settled down in Quagmire. He had been retired for the last 3 years, and still missed the action.
"Hi Avery, Sally. Sally, would you ask one of the girls if she would fix me ten roast beef sandwiches to go? Then come back here, I want to talk to you about something."
"Sure, Sugar, I'll be right back."
About that time Mavis walked in. "Sally, are those pies ready?"
"Yes, give me a minute an
d I will have them boxed up for you. They are still warm, just out of the oven."
Mavis looked at Jasper and said, "Why Sheriff, it is good to hear that they found Mr. Twilliger. I sure do hope he comes out of his coma soon."
"Thank you for your concern. And would you thank everyone who went out on the search? We really did appreciate the help today. We have a special edition newspaper dedicated to the finding of Mr. Twilliger. You will have to pick up a copy before you leave. It should be here any minute now."
"Oh, I will. Mr. Twilliger must be very well respected to get a special edition. I do believe this is the first time I have ever heard of anyone making a special edition like this. It is so… so quaint, if I may say so. That's a nice touch. If we can be of anymore help, just let us know.
Sally, thank you for baking the pies. Us old folks just want to sit by the fire tonight and eat stew, and your pie. The kids will be in later to eat, and check out the night life. They’re not much for eating camp stew."
"The night life can be seen at the end of the block, at the hamburger stand. We let them hang out during the week until 11:00, on the weekends it is until 12:00. We have someone drive by every so often, usually somebody's parent. As long as we have been checking on them, we haven't had any of the problems like the Big City. Send them on down, I'll fix them up, and send them to the right place."
Mavis thanked her again, and then waited for her pies.
Jasper said, "Avery, are you doing anything tonight?"
"Well, the summer reruns are on, and Robin is up north visiting her mother, so I guess not. Why, do you want to take in a ball game?"
"No, I have more exciting things than a ball game going on tonight, and I could use some extra help. You would have to go home and get your gun out of retirement for the night."
"Sounds exciting. I can do that. You’ve piqued my interest. What’s going on?"
"Well, meet me at the station in an hour, and I'll fill you in on what's going on, and bring your old blue pickup. I don't want you to stand out too much tonight, and a red corvette just might do that. Oh, here comes Pam now. Wait ‘til you get a load of her special edition." Pam handed Mavis a copy as she was waiting."
"Be sure and take a copy, you'll find something interesting about Thomas Twilliger in there."
"Alright, I'll meet you at the station in an hour."
Sally had come back and was asking Jasper... “Honey, what's with the special edition? Quagmire has never had one of these before. Do you know anything about it?"
"This is a very special edition just for here and Millie's B & B. Read the article about Thomas Twilliger."
As Sally started to read, Avery Mead decided to stick around and listen in.
"Special Edition reads as follows... Thomas N. Twilliger was found safe and alive at the Big City Hospital after being declared missing since Monday. The import/export tycoon was found this morning at the Big City Hospital after being struck on the head. A passing truck driver dropped him off at the hospital Monday. The driver stated that his passenger did not know who he was. The driver thought he said his name was Tim, Jim, Joe, or something short like that. The driver did not stay around, so it is unknown where he picked him up. Mr. Twilliger did not seem to remember what had happened, or who he was. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Mr. Twilliger went to sleep and fell into a coma.
Mrs. Twilliger is at his bedside at this time and will remain there until he is ready to come home. Their 35th wedding anniversary is next week, and she prays he will wake up by then. She said he has been such a good husband to her, he had already bought her a gift. When she went looking through the house to find any clue as to where he might be, she found a Bruskey, which was the last picture she was missing from her collection of that series.
The Twilliger's caretaker will stay by her side at the hospital. The family dog has been at the veterinarian for the last two days. Connie, the veterinarian, states, she believes he has been pining for Mr. Twilliger, but she will continue to keep Rollo (the Twilliger’s dog) in her care. When Mr. Twilliger comes out of his coma, and is returned home, she believes Rollo will return to normal. At this time, the family is requesting no flowers be sent to the hospital."
Other pieces of news included; the new hours for the city dump, the opening of a new swimming pool, and an article about the garden show they had last weekend. There was one about the price war on hamburger at the major grocery stores. It was mostly just normal stuff that you would find in the regular newspaper. There was a short article about the Parker Untrue & Lulu Looney family reunion. “The P.U. Looney reunion is being held at the campsite… and be sure to make all the P.U. Looney family feel welcome.”
"This is incredible. The poor man. And Henrietta must be going out of her mind not knowing if he is going to wake up or what. Oh, this is terrible. Henrietta is all alone. Luke and Ruth are on a mission trip."
"Sally, Sally just calm down. I need your help, and part of it requires that you be calm and keep a secret. Can you do that for me, Honey?"
"Yes, I'll be okay. What do you need, Sugar?"
"Now, just listen, and let me finish. The article that you read is all-true, except for one thing, when Thomas heard his wife's voice, he woke up. Yes, Thomas Twilliger is still at the hospital, but doing very well. I asked Mrs. Twilliger to stay at the hospital and to keep Carl Carter with her tonight. The special edition is for the thief, whoever he is. I have some people in mind, but for now I would just as soon keep it to myself."
"I want you to give out copies of the paper to everyone who comes in. Make it sound like it's a really big deal that Thomas Twilliger has been found. Be sure to tell everyone that he is still in a coma last anyone heard, and that Mrs. Twilliger and her caretaker will be staying up at the hospital. Do you think you can do that for me, Honey?"
"Sure thing, Sugar, and be careful."
"And, Sally, what can you tell me about Carl Carter?"
"Well, not a whole lot. He has been coming in here for as long as I can remember. Everyone seems to like him well enough, always orders the Blue Plate Special, has always been real quiet-like, not very talkative until recently."
"What has made him so talkative lately?"
"Oh, his son has come to live with him. He hasn't shut up since his son showed up. You can tell he is real happy to have his son live with him. He's not as shy as he used to be. His son seems nice, but I've only seen him three or four times. You might ask Vernon about him, they seem to like to talk,” Sally said gesturing to the dishwasher.
"Okay, thanks Sally, and would you do one more thing for me? Call the church, and put an unspoken on the prayer chain for me. You might add Helen Brolin to that prayer chain also. She broke her wrist, and is in the Big City hospital. She’s the one that found Thomas Twilliger. I will tell you that story later." With that Jasper said "good-bye" and headed over to where Vernon was sitting.
Jasper overheard someone say, "Why, look at Vernon, he's wearing green. Why do you think he is?" Then another answered back with. "I don't know. Do you think he knows who he is? Maybe he woke up with amnesia. Do you think?"
Vernon is the dishwasher for Sally's Cafe. He lives in the apartment above Sally's Cafe. Whenever he gets nervous he has a hard time talking, any other time he comes across as a very smart man. He was very well read and held two Doctorate degrees. Why he worked at Sally's as a dishwasher nobody knew. He was also a member of the hundred pieces club. A true member can only own one hundred things, and Vernon was a true member. He had one red shirt, and one blue shirt. The red one he wore on odd days, and the blue one he wore on even days. He didn't have a day for green. How long had he been living this way was anybody’s guess.
