by Abby Deuel
Chapter Thirty-Four
The brainstorming was interrupted by a knock at the front door.
“Hi, I’m sorry to bother you. My Basset here seems to have a problem,” said a man with a wool plaid shirt and torn carpenter jeans.
“Oh, come on in,” said Mandy, opening the door. She led him into the exam room. Before she could even ask him what was going on, the Basset hound threw up foam. “I see he is throwing up. How long has that been going on?”
“Since yesterday. He doesn’t normally do this. And he’s so mopey. Something is really wrong.”
Mandy proceeded to kneel down on the ground in front of him. She checked his gums which were a brick red, instead of pink. He seemed a little dehydrated, judging by the tackiness of his gums. If he had been throwing up for twenty-four hours, that would make sense because he would have lost a lot of fluids. She smelled his breath which had a rancid undertone. Already, she had a theory but she had more animal to examine. She listened to his heart. It was normal in rhythm although slightly elevated. His lungs sounds were unremarkable. She listened to his abdomen with her stethoscope. He had increased noise in his intestines, like a gas bubble moving. She felt his abdomen with her hands, carefully placing one hand on one side and one hand on the other. She applied pressure using both hands to capture organs in her hands. This technique allowed her to feel the consistency of his intestines, spleen, bladder, and colon through her fingers. Next, she took his temperature. It was elevated and there was no stool on the thermometer.
“When was the last time he ate?” asked Mandy.
“Yesterday afternoon. He wouldn’t eat breakfast.”
“And have you seen him poop?”
“We live out in the country so I don’t reckon I have seen him. That’s not unusual though.”
“I see. Have you fed him anything different recently?”
“Nope.”
A loud bang came from the back, startling them both.
“Excuse me. I just need to check on that. It’s just me here today,” said Mandy. Gillian had to take Hamish to a doctor’s appointment. Mandy headed to where she thought the noise had come from, the kitchenette. She found Lyle inhaling the sugar cookies that Trixie’s mom had dropped off. “Lyle,” Mandy said with a stern voice. Lyle backed away from the cookies, finishing her last bite. “I knew you were being awfully quiet with a client coming to the door. I should have known. You are a perfect dog but you cannot resist a cookie. Such a sweet tooth. You get a pass since I am the one who put the cookies on the counter where you could reach them. Just try not to get a bellyache.” Lyle sat, listening to every word Mandy said. The look in her face said that she would do it all over again even if she gets a bellyache. “I can’t handle two dogs with upset bellies in on day. Cookies are not safe around you.” Mandy returned back to the front.
“Sorry about that. Lyle, my collie, helped herself to an entire plate of sugar cookies. Your Basset won’t be the only one not feeling too well today. So, Mr. - um, what is your name, sir?” asked Mandy.
“Mr. Hoffman. Call me Nolan. And this is Chester.”
“Ok, Nolan, it seems Chester has eaten something that he shouldn’t have. I can feel something about the size of a gumball in his intestines that shouldn’t be there. I think we should take an x-ray.”
“Money is no object for Chester. Anything you need to do, ma’am. He’s my daughter’s dog and I will do anything for her.”
“Fair enough. I will need your help as Gillian is off today,” said Mandy.
“I’m all yours.”
Mandy led Chester and Nolan to the x-ray room. She set up the specs and the film. They suited up in the lead aprons and thyroid protectors. They held Chester on his side and engaged the x-ray beam over his abdomen. Mandy stepped out to develop the x-ray and came back to put it on the viewer.
“See this little lump here. That is what I can feel. It’s not a rock or bone because it is not showing up white. It’s something a little less dense. Either way, it needs to come out. He is throwing up because nothing can get past it. He is blocked.”
“Little stinker. I bet it’s a calf bud. We were debudding calves a few days ago and he was with us. He probably stole one.”
“That could be it.”
“When will you do the surgery?”
“The sooner, the better. Are you squeamish? Think you could give me a hand?”
“Sure thing. I have helped with cow c-sections. I should be ok, as long as you tell me what to do.”
“Alright. Here we go. First we will need to give him a shot to make him a little sleepy. We can get everything else ready before we put him under,” said Mandy.
From the lockbox, Mandy pulled the drugs up into syringes that she would need and then locked the box. She gave Chester a shot of pain medication as a pre-medication. Then, she got busy setting up the surgery. She would need the large surgery pack and drape and two sets of gloves. Since Chester was a large dog, she changed the anesthetic breathing circuit to a bigger tube and bag. Nolan just sat with Chester, watching Mandy as he petted his Basset who was starting to get very groggy.
“I think we are ready to go,” said Mandy. “Are you sure you can be my assistant?”
“I’m ready. Just tell me what to do.”
They lifted Chester up to the table and Mandy administered the induction drugs via his front leg vein. Chester immediately went flaccid on the table. Mandy directed the light to his mouth and inserted the endotracheal tube. She hooked him up to the oxygen and turned on the gas. She put the pulse oximeter on his tongue and the steady beat of his pulse was the only sound. Lyle was sitting at the door to the surgery, waiting to see if she could help in any way. Mandy turned Chester over on his back and tied his legs down. She shaved a large area of his belly and vacuumed the fur off. She scrubbed the area to sterilize it
“Ok, Nolan, I am going to show you how to scrub your hands and put gloves on. I won’t need you to do that until I am in the abdomen. You will be helping with the anesthesia until I can get the blockage exposed,” said Mandy.
She patiently showed him the art of scrubbing and gloving up. She only had gloves that were her size so she knew that he would have trouble with them but it was the best she could do. Nolan watched and asked questions so Mandy was confident that he could do it. Mandy placed the drape on Chester and made her incision. She worked quickly and methodically. The blockage in the intestines was easy to find. She pulled it out and examined the blood flow. Luckily, Nolan had noticed Chester was sick quickly which meant that there was no damage to blood flow. She would not need to remove any necrotic intestine.
“First, give Chester a few puffs by pressing on that bag on the anesthesia machine. Turn the dial on the machine down to one and a half. Then put a little water from the sink on his tongue where that little light is on the sensor.” Nolan followed directions perfectly. “Ok, now I need you to scrub and glove up.” Nolan did as he was told. The gloves were a tight fit for him but he managed to get them on.
“I’m ready,” said Nolan.
“Hold your hands up and don’t touch anything. Walk over here and place your hands on the drape where mine are. Now take your thumb and forefinger on each hand and pinch off the intestines on either side of the blockage. I want you to hold it tight enough that nothing can seep through but not so tight that you are cutting off the circulation. Whatever you do, do not let up until I tell you. Got it?”
“Yes ma’am.”
Mandy made an incision right over the bulge in the intestines. She removed the culprit, which was indeed a calf bud. She sutured the hole in the intestines with tiny suture and tidy little knots.
“You will need to let go now. Now, place your hands on the drape. I am going to check for leaks,” said Mandy.
She picked up the syringe she already prepared to puncture the intestines. She depressed the syringe, releasing saline into the intestines. To her delight, no saline leaked from the incision. She squished the fluid around to make absolu
tely sure. No leaking.
“Good job. You can take your gloves off now. I have a bag of fluids warming in the sink over there. Cut off the top with the scissors next to it and, without touching anything, pour it into the abdomen as I hold it open for you. We are flushing the abdominal cavity to cover our tracks and in case there had been any infection starting. Perfect. You can leave the rest in the sink. I will clean it up later. Now let’s turn his anesthesia down to one. I will suture him up and he will be awake shortly,” said Mandy.
Mandy went into a trance as she sutured the three layers she had cut. She took such pride in her suturing. Her goal was for the incision to heal as if nothing had ever happened. She had found over the years that people judge your external sutures more than they judge what you actually did so she had learned to be very precise.
“Let’s turn him off the anesthesia and just let him have oxygen.”
Nolan turned the dial to zero. Mandy removed the drape and cleaned the area on his belly. Overall, it was a straight-forward surgery and there had been no complications. She placed all of the instruments in the sink to soak. She checked Chester’s vitals manually and was pleased. She untied the stays from his legs and rolled Chester over to his side. He started to cough. She deflated the cuff in his endotracheal tube and let him breathe room air. He started to swallow so she pulled the tube. They carried him into the surgery ward and he immediately started to sit up. Mandy gave him another injection for pain as well as some antibiotics.
“The hard part is done. You were an excellent assistant. He should be able to try eating soon and, as long as he does that, we can send him home. Let’s let him rest and go back up the front to make sure I have your number.”
Nolan gave Chester a heartfelt hug and covered him with a blanket. Chester responded with a big sigh. Lyle was waiting for them at the front of the clinic behind the desk. She relaxed into her chair when she saw them both come back calmly. She knew everything had gone well. If the outcome was euthanasia, Lyle somehow always knew to become a grief counselor and comfort the owner.
“Jot down your details on this hospitalization form and I will keep you posted.” Nolan wrote down his phone number and address as instructed and handed it back to Mandy.
“I see you run a business. What is your line of work?”
“I do a little of this and a little of that. Mainly I run big machines for concrete, excavating, bulldozing, anything like that. I do some salvage. It’s the big jobs that keep my machines paid for.”
“I see. Do you know much about Buck?”
“I hired him at one stage to be a hand on bigger jobs. He was useless. Never showed up on time. He seemed to think he could come and go as he pleased. He didn’t stay long.”
“Did you notice anybody coming to see him on jobs or anything like that?”
“Are you asking because you want a hand in solving the murder?”
“Maybe.”
“I wouldn’t recommend sticking your nose in it. If you’re asking my opinion, I’d focus on women. He was always talking about a new woman. He’d used up all the ladies in this town and was starting to go further afield. Somebody must have a broken heart somewhere.”
“Thanks I will look into that.”
“No, no, thank you, Dr. Bell. You are a miracle worker. You saved little Chester.”
“You are the astute owner who noticed something was amiss.”
“Well, thank you again. I look forward to hearing from you.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Mandy woke up a little early in order to do morning rounds on her patients and still have a head-start to the day. Today was Gillian’s actual day off after finishing early the day before. Mandy thought it was important for her to have some time away from the clinic. They had been working fairly hard since Anna passed. They would have a full morning of surgeries the next day but this morning there were no appointments on the books. Mandy would take the opportunity to check into more leads.
Mandy had her oatmeal and coffee and Lyle had her kibble. They went inside the clinic and found Jimbo and Emma snuggled up together. After giving them their breakfast, Mandy went around the clinic, watering the plants. She was humming peacefully. Today she wouldn’t overdo it. The emergency the other night had disrupted her normal sleep pattern and she had been working double time to try to solve the murder. Then she had that surgery yesterday afternoon. She was exhausted.
She did a quick check on the patients, administering medications and checking progress. She had made arrangements the day before to meet Howie and his parents at Anna’s house. She locked the clinic up and boarded the Jeep with Lyle at her side. They just needed to meet to exchange the plan for what exactly Mandy wanted cleaned up. It wouldn’t take long to meet them and interview Howie’s parents. Then she could head back to the clinic to follow up on the theory she was forming.
They had beaten her to the house and were already starting to unload Howie’s gear. He had all of the equipment to run a professional lawn service. Since it was Fall, she didn’t need lawn mowing services, but rather leaf clearing and tidying in preparation for the coming winter.
“Hi there. I hope you haven’t been here long,” Mandy said.
“No, ma’am. We always try to be early to all of the appointments,” said Howie.
Mandy smiled and then showed Howie what her intentions were. She didn’t have any bags for leaf collection. Luckily, Howie had come prepared with everything and would take all of the debris away in his trailer. While Howie started to work, Mandy sidled up to his parents.
“He seems like such a fine young man. You must be very proud,” Mandy said.
“We are indeed. He does well for himself, despite his potential limitations,” Aaron said.
“It’s nice to see that he has a busy schedule. You guys are quite dedicated to help him load and unload for all of his appointments,” said Mandy.
“We wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Pat.
“It seems like you would protect him from harm like a mother bear,” said Mandy.
“I’m not sure what you are implying. But, yes, I would,” said Pat.
“I’m not implying anything. I’m just -”
“Nosing around Buck’s murder, aren’t you?” asked Aaron.
“I am trying to piece it together. It seems so out of character for this community, or what I know of it so far,” said Mandy.
“I can assure you that we had nothing to do with it. We keep to ourselves mostly. Not that I need to have an alibi, but I can say that we were all at home the night of Buck’s murder. The three of us can vouch for each other’s company. We were watching a nature documentary and then went to sleep,” said Aaron.
“I understand. Thanks for your cooperation. I know it’s a touchy subject. I will leave you guys to it. Here is the money that we agreed upon. Please come by the clinic and let me know if it takes longer than you anticipated and I will pay more,” said Mandy.
“Thanks. Howie will have this place ship shape for you. I know you are trying to help. My advice is to stay out of the murder investigation,” said Aaron.
“I better get back to the clinic to check on my patients. The house is unlocked if you need anything, Howie. Make yourself at home,” said Mandy. Lyle had been sitting at the base of one of the large trees. She was eying a squirrel. In her Border collie way, she was willing the squirrel and any other squirrels that wanted to join to come down from the trees. The only movement of her entire body could be seen in minute changes to her eyes. The poor squirrel was in a trance.
“Lyle, come,” Mandy said. Lyle broke her stare and bounced over to join her human. They drove back to the clinic, leaving Howie, Aaron, Pat, and the squirrels so they could get back to work.
She would take some time to sit at her desk to work on the case. She would also work toward discharging Trixie and she would have to wait until the next day when Gillian was back to do Ronnie’s surgery. Chester was sitting up in his cage and gulped down the slurry that
Mandy offered him. She would try him on hard food later in the day and if he pooped, he could go home.
Mandy checked Reggie whose litter pan indicated he had peed in the night. She picked him up and placed him in a clean cage so she could clean where he had been. He dribbled a little urine on her wrist and watch when she was moving him so she went to the sink to wash it off. She removed the watch and cleaned it carefully before leaving it to dry. With the watch off, she washed her hands, noticing her tan line around her wrist from all the sun she had gotten at the softball game. Suddenly, she had a thought. She left a message on Gerry’s phone that Reggie was doing well but that she would be making a trip out to the McMurphy Farm to do some investigating. He could come in later that day to pick Reggie up when she got back to the clinic.
She checked the messages and Dennis had again left a message that he needed to catch her before he left town.
“Ok, ok. You’ll get your stuff, whatever it is. But first, I have other things to do,” Mandy said out loud.
Mandy let Lyle out so she could hop in the Jeep and put a note up in the window that she would be closed until after lunch. She wanted to use the morning to follow a lead she had thought of. She called Dennis and left a message with Fred that she would be gone for the morning but could meet with him that evening after work. While she was on the phone with Fred, she figured she could follow up on the lead from Nolan about Buck’s trail of broken hearts.
“Fred, while I have you on the phone, I wondered if you could help me out.”
“Sure thing, sweetheart.”
“I’ve heard from a few people that Buck had some trouble with the ladies. I wondered if you had heard of anyone since I last talked to you whose heart he broke hard enough that they might want him off the face of this planet.”
