Off the Record

by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

  “Ah, you have a showing that day?” Kate asked.

  “In the morning, yes.”

  “Oh, no problem. I guess I forgot to mention that the drive lasts all day. Would the afternoon be more convenient for you?”

  An impatient huff reached Kate’s ears. “To tell you the truth, I don’t have time for the drama.”

  “Drama?”

  “This hoopla between Renee Lambert and Joe Tucker. I don’t want any part of it. If I donate blood, it’ll be to benefit my fellow man, not to support anyone’s private vendetta.”

  “I understand what you’re saying.” Kate pushed a lock of hair away from her face. “But donating will help someone, so come for that reason.”

  “I’ll think about it.” Another phone shrilled in the background. “That’s my business line. Gotta go!”

  Kate hung up and left the kitchen. In the living room, Paul sat watching the History Channel on television. She settled onto the sofa beside him, and he looped his arm around her shoulders.

  “How’s it going?”

  “Weird.”

  His thumb punched the remote, and the TV went mute. “How so?”

  She told him about Gail’s comments. “And she’s not the only one with a skittish reaction. Poor Ashley Williams, that young receptionist at the veterinary office, is afraid she’ll be asked to take sides, so she doesn’t think she’ll come.”

  Paul groaned. “People are actually being scared away from the event rather than being drawn in.”

  “Some are. But then there’s Jennifer McCarthy who’ll be there with bells on, but mostly because she’s covering the drive for the newspaper. She hopes there’ll be all kinds of interesting social fireworks. And I’ve also run into some who are rabidly pro-Joe and anti-Renee or vice versa. They wouldn’t miss the event just for the opportunity to spout their preference. Do you know what Martha Sinclair said to me?”

  “Do I want to?”

  Kate chuckled. “She said the way Joe and Renee carry on with each other, you’d think they were married.”

  “Ouch! And this is the woman who’s always trying to play matchmaker?”

  “She’s also in Renee’s bridge club, so guess which side she’s really on.”

  “That’s a no-brainer.”

  “Aha! You’d be wrong, then.” Kate planted a kiss on her husband’s cheek. “She hopes Joe gets the best of Renee. It seems she doesn’t like the winning streak her opponent is on at cards.”

  Paul laughed. “Oh how strange are the motivations of our hearts. How about we team up on Renee and Joe tomorrow? They’re in church like clockwork. I’ll go after Joe if you’ll take on Renee. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get a miracle, and they’ll actually listen to us.”

  THE NEXT DAY AFTER CHURCH, Kate spotted Renee hotfooting it across the parking lot toward her pink Oldsmobile. Dodging a few parishioners, Kate caught up to her as the woman was opening her car door.

  “Renee, I’m about two-thirds of the way through my call list.” She rested a hand on the car door and smiled.

  “That’s excellent!” The older woman puffed from her speedwalk toward her car. “I’m sure you’re getting an overwhelming response.”

  “In a certain sense.” Kate searched carefully for her next words. “I’m a little concerned that some people are intimidated by the rivalry between you and Joe, and that could negatively affect attendance.”

  Renee stared at Kate as if she’d just spoken Greek. Then her lips split into a toothy grin. “Thanks, Kate, for letting me know that people are taking notice of our little contest. It’s hard sometimes for a person in the thick of the action to judge what’s going on with the masses.”

  Kate gave an internal groan and prayed that something she said would actually get through to Renee. “But don’t you think the drive may have lost its true focus? It’s about giving to help those in a medical crisis.”

  “Of course, it’s all about helping others. We’re absolutely on the same page.” Renee patted Kate’s hand.

  “But maybe cooperation would be the more productive approach.”

  “Don’t be silly.” The older woman tittered. “People will be talking about this year’s blood drive for months and years to come. It’ll be the most interesting ever.” Renee leaned closer to Kate. “Watch this next issue of the newspaper for special offers of monetary benefit to the community. People listen to their pocketbooks. Joe will have a hard time beating that with whatever his silly secret weapon might be. Hah!” She climbed into her car. “I need to go now. Mother was too tired to come to church this morning, but she made me promise I’d pick her up in time to get to the Country Diner before the mad rush. Toodles.” Renee waggled her fingers, then slammed her door.

  Gritting her teeth, Kate watched the pink car speed away.

  “Any luck?” Paul’s voice came from beside her.

  She shook her head. “A brick wall has a better pair of ears.”

  Paul let out a rueful chuckle. “My wall was made out of iron. You know, the ramrod-straight military type of iron. Joe is about to bust his buttons about some bigwig he has lined up to attend the drive. He wouldn’t tell me who. Just said to watch for ‘the bomb’ in the newspaper.”

  Kate smacked her palms together. “Then I guess we grab our paper the second it lands on our doorstep and hope it doesn’t explode in our hands.”

  KATE AND PAUL had just settled into bed for the night when the phone rang. Kate gasped and sat up. Phone calls this late in the evening were generally not good news. Paul answered since the phone was nearest his side of the bed, a logical arrangement when pastoral calls could come any time of the day or night.

  Kate relaxed at the warmth of her husband’s tone as he said, “Uh-huh,” “Oh, really,” and “She did that? Wow!” Evidently the caller was someone they knew, and it wasn’t about a crisis.

  “I’ll let you give Kate the story too,” Paul said. “She’ll be very interested.” He held the handset toward her. “It’s Nehemiah.”

  At this hour? She propped herself upright with her pillow against the headboard. “Hello there. How’s the sleuthing going at your end?”

  “About as exciting as knitting.” His robust chuckle filled her ear. “I’m sorry to call so late, but I keep thinking about something that happened today, and I figured you’d want to know. Honestly, I can’t see how it has anything to do with your concerns about Mrs. Kraemer’s medication error, but it was sad and upsetting.”

  “Sad?” Kate sat forward. “What is it?”

  “Pearl Haggerty, one of our regular volunteers, was fired today....Well, I probably shouldn’t say fired because she doesn’t get paid. But she was asked not to come back.”

  “I’ve seen Pearl at different times when we’ve visited you.” A mental picture of the woman smiling and chatting with the residents as she served coffee passed through Kate’s mind. “She seemed very nice. Did she do something wrong to be let go?”

  “A cardinal sin in Nurse Pritchard’s book.” Nehemiah sounded grave. “She went behind the nurses’ station unsupervised.”

  “So the nurse caught her there and threw her out?”

  “Basically. But I heard Pearl had a reasonable explanation, and Nurse Pritchard wasn’t hearing any of it.”

  Kate hugged her knees with one arm and glanced toward her husband, who had settled on the edge of the bed. “What do you think about the incident?” she asked Nehemiah.

  “Pearl’s just a widow woman who loves to have something to do with her time. It’s a shame she’s gone. We lost one of our best and most caring volunteers, who I doubt was doing anything detrimental to the facility or the residents.”

  Kate chuckled. “You and Paul are cut from the same cloth of clear and eloquent summation.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Nehemiah said, and Paul smiled. She smiled back.

  “Thanks for letting me know about this,” she told Nehemiah. “I’m going to give it some thought. Maybe Nurse Pritchard is extra touchy about a
nything out of order since that incident with Mrs. Kraemer.” She frowned. That could be one explanation for the behavior. “Lots of confidential information is kept behind that counter,” she went on, “and I’m glad someone is guarding it. On the other hand, good volunteers don’t grow on trees.”

  “You said it. We’ll miss Pearl around here.”

  “Your character reference means a lot, but we can’t dismiss the possibility that a volunteer is the culprit we’re looking for in erasing that Vicodin order from the chart.” She paused. “That’s assuming Carla’s story is true, and it actually was erased. Do you know where Pearl lives? I may want to contact her.”

  “Sorry. I’m no good to you there. My conversations with her never got around to her home address.”

  “Never mind. I’ll find her.”

  Nehemiah laughed. “I have no doubt you will. Well, I’ll let you folks get some rest now.” A yawn carried over the phone. “I think I’m ready for a little shut-eye myself.”

  They said good-bye, then she gave the handset back to Paul, who put it into the cradle.

  “What do you think about the incident with the volunteer?” he asked.

  Kate laid her head on her pillow and closed her eyes. “Honestly? I’m going to check out Pearl Haggerty, but I’m more suspicious of Nurse Pritchard. I wonder if the charge nurse was really concerned about resident confidentiality or more worried about something incriminating the volunteer might spot behind that counter.”

  Kate tried to relax into sleep, but her mind kept going over her conversation with Nehemiah. Pearl Haggerty had been on duty the day of Mrs. Kraemer’s emergency at Orchard Hill. The woman was around a lot, in fact. If the volunteer had somehow found out a password for the computer system or was a whiz at computer hacking, she could have accessed Mrs. Kraemer’s chart. Kate tried to picture the smiling sixty-something woman with warm blue eyes hunched over a computer, frantically punching keys. The vision refused to gel. Besides, what motive did she have?

  On the other hand, Carolyn Pritchard had full and easy access to the records system. Plus, she’d worked for decades in the Chattanooga system and was nearing retirement. If she decided to protect her years of service by erasing a mistake, she could do it quickly and quietly. And maybe Margo Meyers helped her colleague with the cover-up?

  The words she’d heard them exchange that day behind the Orchard Hill nurses’ desk could have had an innocent explanation. Nurse Pritchard whispered something about fixing the file, and Margo Meyers assured her it was done. But if a piece of a chart was actually missing, as Carla Trexler claimed, those statements sounded awfully suspicious.

  Chapter Seventeen

  On Monday morning, Kate started in with Directory Assistance to locate Pearl Haggerty in or around Chattanooga. The operator found a listing for P. Haggerty in Signal Mountain, a suburb of the city.

  P. Haggerty? Kate shook her head. The initial was a sign that the number probably belonged to a lone female. She placed the call, but no one answered.

  Putting the call to Pearl back on her mental to-do list, she set herself to finish her blood-drive contacts. The event was this Saturday, a mere five days away. After she crossed the last name off her list, she punched in Renee’s number. The call went to voice mail, and she reported completion of her “Telephone Encourager” assignment. She hung up and then put the list away, but the sense of accomplishment that usually went along with finishing a project simply wouldn’t come. Instead, heaviness hung in the pit of her stomach.

  Why couldn’t she figure out the common factor that would make sense of all the medical mayhem going on? Lives were being disrupted in an agonizing way.

  As usual when she was troubled, Kate went into the kitchen and began to bake, praying all the while. An hour later, she pulled a pan of chocolaty peanut-butter bars from the oven and set them on a rack to cool. She’d found a measure of peace in her prayer time—no sudden inspiration, but renewed determination to keep asking questions until something shook loose. She could start by checking to see if Margo Meyers had returned to work. The receptionist had said sometime next week. Well, this was next week.

  Humming, Kate reached for the phone just as it rang.

  “Oh!” Her hand sprang back reflexively, then she laughed.

  “Hanlon residence.”

  “Kate? This is Peggy Brower.”

  Kate smiled, surprised. “Why, hello, Peggy. What can I do for you today?”

  “You’ve already done it.” The other woman laughed. “Renee just informed me that you’re the first one to complete your call list for the drive in Copper Mill. I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

  “It was my pleasure.” Kate took a seat at the table. “Do you usually call personally to thank the tiny cogs in your large machine? I mean, I’m amazed that you’d have the time.”

  “People like you are keys to a successful event. I’d be foolish not to appreciate that. I consider telephoning the volunteers an important part of the process.”

  “That’s a terrific philosophy.” Kate gave an appreciative laugh. “And I’d guess the courtesy leads to lots of repeat volunteers for subsequent drives.”

  “You’d guess right.”

  They both chuckled.

  “I don’t think I could do what you do,” Kate said. “I’d go crazy being away from my family so much.”

  “One of the reasons I agreed to take this job a couple of years ago was lack of family,” Peggy answered in a matter-of-fact tone. “My parents live in a retirement village, but they’re all I have besides a grown niece. My sister died in an accident years ago. A quicker blood transfusion might have saved her, so you could say I’m highly motivated to do my job well.”

  Kate’s heart swelled with sympathy. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  “Don’t give it another thought. The accident happened a long time ago. Now, tell me, do you have any questions or concerns about the blood drive?”

  Kate hesitated. Should she speak? She let out a breath. Maybe she’d better. Ultimately, the success of the blood drive was Peggy’s responsibility, and she’d want to know about anything that might affect the outcome. “I wonder if Renee or Joe has mentioned to you their rather...ah...unique approach to building support here in Copper Mill.”

  “Oh yes! I’m glad you brought that up.” Peggy’s voice radiated excitement. “I’ve rarely had such enthusiastic organizers to work with. They’ve both gone the extra mile.”

  “That’s putting it mildly.” Kate laughed. “There’s a lot of buzz going on around town about the blood drive, but not everyone is comfortable with it.”

  “Giving blood? Lots of people have hang-ups about that. We’re used to folks being nervous, especially the first time.”

  “That’s not really what I meant.” She spoke with gentle caution. “I’m talking about the approach to bringing people in.”

  “The phone calling?” Peggy sounded confused.

  “Oh no, that was a good idea.” As long as the “encouragers” had sense enough to toss the canned script and keep it real in their approach to people. Kate left that thought unvoiced. “It’s the Renee and Joe factor. They’re each unique characters in their own right.”

  “I’ve figured out that much.” Amusement coated Peggy’s tone.

  “Well,” Kate continued, “the two of them have cooked up an all-out contest to see which of them can recruit—Joe’s focus—or entice—Renee’s approach—the most donors to the event. The pot’s actually starting to bubble pretty good around here.”

  “Ahh. I see. Is the turmoil negatively affecting the drive, do you think?” Concern laced Peggy’s voice.

  Kate sighed. “I wish I could say otherwise.”

  “Hmm. Well, I guess enthusiasm can go too far. I’ll give some thought about ways to, er, redirect their efforts.”

  Kate laughed. “They’re good organizers, both of them. When they set their minds to something, they get it done.”

  “That, Kate, is a
n understatement.”

  AFTER LUNCH, Kate called the Orchard Hill administration office. Margo Meyers was still out, but Kate left her name and number with the receptionist for the Health Information Management director to call her when she came back to work. Kate didn’t hold out much hope that a random friend of a resident would be high on the woman’s priority list after a long absence from the office, but she could always hope.

  Then she decided to take some of the bars she’d baked that morning over to Lawton Briddle. With his wife not home much, he could probably use some fresh goodies. A few minutes later, she stood in his office at Town Hall, holding the bars out to him. His face lit up. The mayor stood from behind his desk and all but snatched the plate from her hands.

  “How is your mother-in-law doing?” she asked.

  “Still not good.” Lawton sighed. “The shingles are improving but not gone, and the heart arrhythmia persists. They’re talking pacemaker surgery soon if medication can’t do the job.” He picked an edge of the wrapping off the plate and pinched off a corner of one bar. “Faithful as clockwork, Lucy Mae drives to the hospital every morning and home at night so she can sleep in her own bed. She’s particular that way.” He popped the morsel into his mouth.

  “Lucy Mae must be exhausted.”

  Lawton sighed. “The situation’s not all bad. Lucy Mae and her mother are talking and bonding in ways they never have before. My wife actually seems happy when she comes home from the hospital.” He let out a brief laugh. “She hates that her mother is ill, of course, but she’s thankful for this time to really get to know her.”

  Kate smiled. “It’s great to see how the Lord can work good things in the midst of bad.”

  A little while later, Kate knocked on her husband’s office door at the church and received an invitation to enter. As she stepped inside, he looked away from his computer screen, and his face filled with a grin. Kate’s heart did a little two-step. Would she ever stop being thrilled with that look of boyish delight when she walked into view? She’d better not.

  Her husband swiveled his chair in her direction and motioned toward a seat. “To what do I owe the unexpected pleasure?”