Why had he told her? He knew why—because he had gotten drunk and stupid. “What about it?”
“I looked it up in the newspaper archives online and got all the details. But don’t worry. I won’t tell anybody.”
“Good. Thank you.”
“And you won’t tell anybody my secret, right?”
It took him a couple of seconds to remember what she had proposed about forcing people to take part in a clinical trial. “Right. I won’t tell.”
“And you’ll help me, right?”
“Now wait a minute. I told you I didn’t want any part of that.”
“But you’ve changed your mind because you want to be sure I keep your secret.”
Jake wondered how he had fallen into this trap. “Uh, yeah. Right.”
“Good. I’ll drop by your house tonight at around 8:00. See you then, Honey.”
“Bye.”
Why hadn’t he gone with his gut feelings when he met her on Sunday night? He knew she was trouble. But her luscious body promised heaven, and her lurid eyes flickered with hellfire. A sexy bad girl was always hard for him to resist. So, he had gambled and lost. Again.
If he was lucky, maybe he could do this job without landing himself in jail…or the morgue.
**********
It was Friday morning, and Elmo Mobley realized he had not spoken to his mother since Tuesday. He’d been working practically around the clock researching Alzheimer’s, hoping to find some brand new miracle treatment for her. But the hopelessness of the disease was beginning to sink in. He could not save his mother. No matter what he did, she would deteriorate into a pitiful state as she died a slow death. The most he could hope to do was prolong her current quality of life for a little while.
And although he could never make up for all their years of estrangement, he wanted to start spending as much time with her as possible. He loved Carsie, and had been excited about starting a new life with her, but it would be selfish of him to get married right now, he thought.
He decided to go up and have a heart-to-heart with Mallie Mae. She would be surprised to see him, since he rarely went upstairs. When he reached her room, the door was closed. He was about the knock, but then he heard Macy’s voice.
“Elmo’s still working in his study day and night,” said Macy.
“I guess he loves me after all,” said Mallie Mae.
“Guess so.”
Elmo felt guilty about eavesdropping. He raised his hand to knock, but then hesitated when he heard Macy speaking again.
“But how long do we have to go on with this?” said Macy.
“As long as it takes.”
“I don’t know if I can keep it up, Mallie Mae.”
“Sure you can—if you really care about him.”
Elmo knocked.
The conversation stopped.
After a few seconds, the door began to open and Macy said, “Well, I thought you were going to let her starve. Oh, Elmo. I thought you were Hadley, bringing breakfast. Sorry.”
“Who is that man?” said Mallie Mae. She looked frightened.
“It’s Elmo,” said Macy.
“Who?”
“Elmo. Your son,” said Macy.
“Oh,” said Mallie Mae. But she didn’t seem to understand.
Elmo motioned for Macy to follow him out into the hallway.
“Tomorrow we’re going to have a fun day together,” said Elmo.
“Really? Doing what?” said Macy.
“I’m taking y’all to the Dallas Zoo.”
“The zoo?” Macy looked confused.
“Yeah. Have you ever been?”
“No.”
“You’re kidding. I can’t believe you’ve never been there. The TV commercial says it’s 95 acres of fun,” said Elmo. “And it is. So, have her ready to go by 7:00 AM.”
“But do you really think she should be going out in public in her condition?”
“Sure. She’ll be fine. It’ll be good for her,” said Elmo.
“Well, okay then.”
“Great. So, I’ve got to go make dinner reservations for tomorrow night.”
“Where?”
“It’s a surprise. But you’re gonna love it,” he said, as he walked away and went down the stairs.
As soon as he was out of sight, Macy walked back into the bedroom, closed the door, and rushed to Mallie Mae’s bed.
“What’s gotten in to him?” said Macy.
“What did he say?”
“He’s taking us to the Dallas Zoo tomorrow.”
“What?”
“And then to some fancy restaurant for dinner. We’re going to be with him all day. He’s going to figure it out. He’ll see that you’re just faking. I should tell him you’re not feeling well enough to make the trip.”
“No. This is good. If I can convince him that I really am in bad shape, maybe he’ll go ahead and dump his fiancée. He’s feeling so guilty about being mean to me for all those years that he’ll want to spend every waking minute with me until the day I die.”
“But you don’t want to have to keep faking Alzheimer’s forever. And what’s going to happen when you finally tell him the truth?”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, Dear.”
That’s going to be an awfully tall bridge, thought Macy.
**********
“Hello?”
“Johnny, this is Elmo. I’m surprised I caught you in your office.”
“Hey, Elmo. Yeah, I was just about to see my first patient. How’s it going with your mother?”
“That’s what I called you about. I’ve got a hypothetical for you.”
“Shoot.”
“Suppose somebody was trying to fake having Alzheimer’s disease and they came to you for a diagnosis. Could they fool you?” said Elmo.
“Well, yeah, in theory. The only way to know for sure whether someone has Alzheimer’s is to look for plaques and tangles in the brain tissue. And you can only do that after the patient dies, in autopsy.
“So, I run blood tests and brain scans to rule out other causes of the symptoms, and I talk to the patient about general health, past medical problems, and the ability to perform everyday activities. Then I give memory tests, and check language and counting skills. So, a person could lie about how he’s feeling, and he could deliberately blow the language and memory tests, and other tests, I suppose. But why would anybody want to?”
“Okay, thanks, Johnny. Bye.”
“Whoa, don’t leave me hanging. What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to tie you up any longer. I know you’ve got patients waiting on you.”
“They’re used to it. Now, what’s this about?”
“I think Mallie Mae’s faking.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I overheard her talking to Macy this morning.”
“Macy’s the one who brought your mother to my office, right?”
“That’s right. I heard mother saying that she and Macy would have to keep doing something as long as it takes. And when Macy expressed doubt that she could keep it up, my mother assured her that she could, if she really cared about me.”
“That’s interesting. Just how much does Macy care about you?” said Johnny.
“That’s not the point. I think Mallie Mae is faking so I’ll feel guilty and call off my wedding.”
“Oh.”
“I’ve already postponed it because of her. You know how she loves to interfere with my life. Remember how she drove me crazy when we were in medical school?”
“Yes, I do. So, maybe she is faking. But how are you going to prove it?”
“It’s hard to trip her up while she’s lying in bed. So, I’m taking her and Macy to the Dallas Zoo tomorrow.”
“Get her out of her comfort zone.”
“Right.”
“Well, Buddy, I hope it works.”
“Me too.”
20 - IGNORANCE IS BLISS
Greg and Cynthia had remaine
d at the murder scene for nearly an hour, watching the police, giving statements and talking to neighbors. So, Greg had arrived at the church later than usual, and stayed later, and now he was in a hurry to eat lunch at Jane’s Diner before his first lesson at 1:00.
But as he rushed down the sidewalk to Jane’s, he still made the effort to look for new bumper stickers. It was an addiction. He could not pass by a car without checking its bumper. It was always fun to find one he’d never seen before—like the one on the car in front of Coreyville Copy Shop.
If ignorance is bliss, then you must be ecstatic.
Not very nice, he thought, but it was a new one for his collection. He filed it with hundreds of others in his mental database. Not the best use of a brain, but they say most people only use 10% anyway.
“So, I hear you’ve had quite a morning,” said Jane as Greg walked through the door. She was standing behind the counter at the soda fountain, filling glasses with various soft drinks.
“You could say that.” Greg wasn’t the least bit surprised that Jane had already heard about it. By now, he thought, everybody in town knows. He walked over to the counter. “She was one of my piano students.”
“Yeah, I know. But why were you and Cynthia at her house at 6:30 in the morning?”
“We were jogging.”
“Oh, yeah. Your new health kick. But why did you stop at Nancie Jo’s house? What tipped you off?”
“Nothing, really. I was concerned about her because she missed her lesson last night. And she didn’t call to cancel, so I called her. But I got no answer. Now I wish I’d gone to her house last night. Maybe I could have done something.”
“Yeah. You could have got yourself killed.”
“That’s true. But I still feel bad about not checking on her sooner.”
“Well, from what I hear, she was already dead by noon. So, there was nothing you could have done. Do the police have any leads?”
“You tell me,” said Greg.
“Hey, I don’t know everything that goes on in this town,” she said with a sly grin.
“Well, I talked to the neighbor across the street, but he wasn’t any help. I told the police what he said, but they didn’t bother to interview him.”
“Oh, I know who you’re talking about. No wonder the police didn’t care what he had to say. He’s crazy.”
“He did seem kinda off.”
“Not kinda off. Way off.”
“Anyway, he said a nurse came to visit Nancie Jo on Thursday and that she was driving a white car, and something about the word ‘ecstasy.’”
“See? The guy’s wacko,” said Jane as she walked away with the tray of soft drinks.
Greg mulled it over. A nurse…white car…ecstasy… How awful it must be living in a fog, never making any sense. Ignorance is bliss, they say. Maybe not. Where had he just read that slogan? Oh, yeah—the bumper sticker on the white car in front of the copy shop.
If ignorance is bliss, then you must be ecstatic.
Ecstatic. ECSTASY. The bumper sticker on the white car in front of the copy shop! He ran out the door to look at the car.
But it was gone.
**********
It was nearly 8:00 PM, and Carnie was driving to Jake’s house when her cell phone began to ring.
“I miss you. And I want to get married,” said Carsie.
“I know. I miss you too. But don’t worry. The wedding will be back on track before you know it.”
“Really? Is Mallie Mae doing better?”
“Not that I can tell. But I think he’s about ready to marry you in spite of her condition.”
“Why? I talked to him yesterday, and he didn’t sound any different.”
“Uh…I don’t think you can tell over the phone.”
“I should come back.”
“No. I mean, you need to give him a little more time. He’s missing you more every day. Eventually, he won’t be able to stand it. Then he’ll beg you to come back and marry him.”
“Wow. I hope you’re right, Carnie.”
“Just be patient, Sis. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Bye-bye.”
Carnie parked in the driveway and walked up to Jake’s front door.
When she knocked, Jake swung the door open immediately. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw her. But it was almost too much—like looking directly at the sun. He wasn’t sure whether she was wearing a dress or a long, stretchy shirt. But she was definitely not wearing a bra.
“You’re on time,” said Jake.
“Of course.”
“How are you doing tonight?”
“I’m fantastic.”
Yes, you are, thought Jake.
“Because everything’s working out perfectly,” said Carnie. “Sit down and I’ll tell you about it.”
They sat on the couch.
“For our clinical trial I had planned to gather four volunteers. The tricky part was that they had to have Alzheimer’s disease. So, I got some records from the local pharmacy and picked out a few patients. But most people with moderate to severe cases don’t live alone and they certainly don’t go out by themselves.
“So, that meant taking them from their homes and having to deal with a caretaker, which could get messy. But then I realized I could just round up four older women who don’t have the disease, and make them pretend they do. The whole clinical trial thing is a farce anyway.”
“Then why are you doing it?”
“Okay. If you tell anybody any of this, I’ll have to kill you. And we wouldn’t want that.”
Jake had no doubt that Carnie was capable of murder.
“My sister, Carsie, is engaged to Dr. Elmo Mobley. They were supposed to get married tonight, but he postponed the wedding after he found out his mother has Alzheimer’s.”
“Okay. But what does the clinical trial have to do with it?”
“Because, if I can get Elmo to believe that we’ll try all of his different treatment ideas to find the best one for his mother, then he will have done all he can to help her. And then he would feel free to marry my sister.”
“I don’t know, Carnie. That’s sounds kinda crazy.” He really thought it sounded absolutely insane. What Carnie was planning was unethical and probably illegal. A respected doctor like Elmo Mobley wouldn’t go along with it—even if he thought it would save his mother. But Jake needed to be careful what he said. He couldn’t afford to make Carnie angry.
“No, you’re wrong. It’s going to work. And anyway, if it doesn’t, I have a sure-fire backup plan.”
“What’s the backup plan?”
“You know what? I’m getting bored,” said Carnie, standing up. She turned her back to Jake and bent over.
He didn’t know what to expect.
She grabbed the bottom of her dress and pulled it up and over her head as she spun back around. She was completely naked. “Let’s do it.”
And they did. Many times and many ways, throughout the night.
After a couple of hours, Jake began to wonder if there was such a thing as murder by sex. He knew he had sold his soul to the devil. But for the time being, he just didn’t care.
**********
Macy Golong didn’t have a love life—at least, not in the real world. She loved vicariously, through her romance novel heroines and her dream-life alter ego. If it were not for her job, she might well have been swept away by her intense fantasies, never to be seen again in the physical realm.
A few years back she had purchased Total Dreamcall, written by some doctor in Australia according to the internet site. In it, he described a technique for recalling dreams in great detail. He claimed that dreams could be replayed, as though they were movies. She had learned to focus on remembering her dreams immediately upon waking—to think of nothing else until she had total recall, or as the doctor put it, Total Dreamcall.
The so-called doctor might have been a quack. But regardless, she had become an expert at recalling her dreams. They wer
e quite vivid, and included talking and sometimes even background music. So real were her dreams and her recollection of them, that they were beginning to overshadow her waking life.
How do we know what we really did, and what really happened to us yesterday, for example? We know because we remember it. But what would happen if our memory of dreams was the same as our memory of real events. How could we tell the difference? We could ask somebody else who was there. But what if there was no one to ask?
Suppose you remembered breaking into your neighbor’s house last night and slitting his throat. And then going home, taking a shower and going to bed. If your neighbor is alive the next day, you know it was a dream. But, what if he’s dead? And what if his throat has been cut? Are you certain you only dreamed killing him?
This is how real Macy’s dreams had become.
The church had been decorated beautifully. And it looked as though every resident of Coreyville was in attendance. The pipe organ was proclaiming the glorious entrance of the bride.
Macy beamed as she walked down the aisle. She noticed Carsie in the crowd, on the groom’s side. What was she doing there? Macy had won Elmo. Carsie had lost, and should not have been at the wedding. But nothing would spoil her special day.
She stood with Elmo proudly before God and man. She glanced at her handsome groom. Her dearest dream had finally come true.
But she started to feel a laser-like burning at the back of her head. She whipped around and located the source. It was …HERSELF. The person staring at her was HER. But how could that be?
She blinked and she was looking at Carsie. But they had swapped places. Carsie was now in the wedding dress, standing with Elmo. Macy was in the congregation, looking at her.
No!
She woke up. It took a full five seconds for her to realize it had been a dream.
Sometimes her dreams were no better than real life.
21 - HADLEY
Hadley was a proud man, and rightly so. He had joined the army as a teenager and served for five years, including two years in the Korean War. Segregation in the armed forces was ended during that war. He had served admirably, and left the army as a decorated Sergeant.
Following his military service, he returned to a segregated society that gave little respect to African Americans. He took a job working for Elmo’s grandfather, Milstead Mobley, as a manservant. The salary was more than adequate, but he had planned to look for something better. He dreamed of owning an automobile dealership some day.
Greg Tenorly Suspense Series Boxed Set Page 28
