Plain Wrong

by Samantha Price

  “What is it, Ettie?”

  “Judith, the woman who shared my room."

  "You're upset because she died, and you were close to her. I understand.”

  "Jah, but it's not that, Bailey." Ettie blew her nose on the tissue that Bailey handed her from the box on the nightstand. "She received an injection during the night. I can't think what it might have been or why it was given at that time in the morning. I mean, she was due to go home; she had recovered completely and was sleeping soundly. And then in the morning, she was dead.”

  Bailey stroked a stray lock of hair away from Ettie's face. "I know all of that, Ettie. That’s why I stayed with you last night.”

  Ettie looked at her nephew pleadingly and blinked rapidly. “Bailey, am I the only person who thinks that Judith was murdered? The hospital must be covering it up.”

  Bailey stared at her without saying a word.

  "You think I'm crazy don't you? Some doddering silly old woman scared of her own shadow."

  "Ettie, if you think that's what happened, so do I."

  The relief in her heart released the tension around her chest, and Ettie gasped, letting go of a sigh. "You do? Ach, you don't know how good it is to hear that. Why did I ever doubt you?"

  “You can’t get upset like this. Why don’t you come back home with me? Silvie and I can take care of you.”

  Ettie shook her head. “I must stay. Gott might have put me here for a reason. I didn’t know whether to tell you about this or not since you left the FBI. You thought you’d left all those things behind you; I’m sure.”

  “Don’t be concerned about me. If you don’t want to come home to my haus, we could have a nurse come visit you at your home.”

  “Nee, I’ve stumbled across this and Gott must want me to do something about it.”

  “Who else have you told?” Bailey asked.

  "Crowley looked at me like I imagined everything. Is it because I’m old, I wonder? When you get old, people treat you differently; almost as if you’re a child. I notice some of the nurses speak to me as if I’m five-years-old. Others speak loudly as if I’m deaf when my hearing is perfect. I’m sure others assume that I’ve simply lost my mind. When you're young, you never quite believe you're going to get old and wrinkly.” Ettie stared at the ceiling. “Sometimes I feel I’ve been put out to pasture like an old cow.”

  Ettie lifted up her hand and studied it. “I remember looking at my grossmammi’s old hand and thinking how awful it looked.” She twisted and turned her hand. “Now, look at mine, wrinkled and spotted. The same as the one I thought looked horrible, and now it’s mine.” Ettie put her arm down beside her.

  “I guess people don’t grasp that they’ll be old someday too.”

  Ettie managed a little laugh. “Bailey you’re not yet fifty, and you’re talking as if you’re as old as me.”

  Bailey smiled and then said, “I’m much older than I feel, I’m sure. Anyway, I’d prefer to keep out of the things you mentioned. Crowley can handle it; he knows what he’s doing.”

  “Jah, Bailey, I never meant you to get involved at all; I just felt the need to tell you. In the end, Crowley agreed to help, but he seemed most reluctant.”

  After Bailey asked more questions, Ettie felt free to tell him all that young nurse Melanie McBride told her.

  “Silvie was going to stay the night with you after she finishes work, but I’d feel better if I stayed the night. She’s upset that she hasn’t been to see you.”

  “I feel safer with you here, Bailey. Tell Silvie that I appreciate her letting you stay here with me. I’ll see her soon.”

  “I’ll sleep here the next night too.”

  “Would you?”

  Bailey stood up and patted Ettie’s hand. “Jah, of course, I will. I’ll come back after dinner.”

  Ettie sighed in relief.

  * * *

  After Bailey left the next morning, Ettie was pleased to see the light of day. No one had given her an injection in the middle of the night. She looked over at the still empty bed and missed her friend.

  “Morning, Ettie.”

  It was young nurse McBride.

  “Nurse,” Ettie whispered.

  The nurse frowned and came closer. “Yes?”

  “I have a detective friend looking into the things you told me about.”

  The nurse drew back, opened her mouth and looked over her shoulder at the doorway.

  Ettie continued, “I thought I should let you know because you’ve been so nice to me. If they find out who did it, people, who have kept quiet, will go down as accomplices.”

  The nurse frowned and put her head to one side. “Go down?”

  Ettie nodded. “Withholding information is considered a very serious crime in this country.”

  “Well, I don’t know anything.”

  “You mentioned people died who you thought shouldn’t have.”

  The nurse looked behind her, to the door again. “That was nothing really.”

  “Nothing? It didn’t sound like it was nothing when you told me all those things just yesterday.” Ettie noticed the nurse’s hands trembling. “I wouldn’t want you to get into any trouble with the law.”

  The nurse licked her lips, stared at Ettie for a moment and said, “I get off at 3 p.m. I’ll come back and talk to you then.”

  Even though Ettie had visitors through the day, she could not get her mind off the nurse who was coming back at three that afternoon.

  * * *

  At ten minutes past three, the nurse, Melanie McBride, came back into Ettie’s room.

  “I don’t want to get into any trouble. I told you all the deaths happen on the eight to three shift. The people who died were all over fifty.”

  Ettie raised an eyebrow. “How many do you know of?”

  “I guess twenty.”

  “Twenty?” Ettie drew the sheet up closer to her neck. “And what are the names of these people who died in this way?”

  “My friend Janet told our superior about nurse Hadley; then she was transferred to another hospital. They told her if they opened an investigation that would leave the hospital open to millions of dollars of law suites.”

  “The hospital knows of Nurse Hadley and what’s been happening?”

  The nurse nodded. “They do; her name’s been mentioned to them, but they might not believe it. I can’t say anything more; I need my job. Besides, I don’t even know whether my suspicions are valid. It might be sheer coincidence.”

  “Can you get me names of the people who died?”

  Melanie looked away.

  “Time is getting away from us, Melanie.”

  “I thought you’d ask me for them. I’ll give them to you. But, I need my name kept out of it. I don’t want to get into any trouble - with anyone.”

  Ettie nodded.

  Nurse McBride pulled a list of names from her pocket. “Here, I could only find these. I can look another day, but they’ll wonder why I’m on the computer if I stayed on any longer today.”

  Ettie ran her eyes over the list. Judith’s name and her son’s number were on the top of the list. Reading down the list, next to every name was the name and phone number of the next of kin. “Thank you, Melanie. Well done.”

  Melanie left Ettie’s room just as Maureen came through the door. “Morning, Ettie. I’ve got cakes.”

  The last thing Ettie needed right now was cake. “Maureen, get this list to Crowley at once Tell him that a nurse has given me names of people she considers died suspicious deaths.”

  “Ach, jah, of course.” Maureen popped the cakes down and took the list from Ettie. “The station isn’t far away. I’ll take the list to him and come back to see you. Did you find out the nurse’s name; the one you suspect?”

  “Deidre Hadley. I’ve already given her name to Crowley.”

  Maureen nodded and hurried out the door.

  Chapter 8.

  Therefore, I urge you, brothers,

  in view of God’s mercy,


  to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,

  holy and pleasing to God—

  this is your spiritual act of worship.

  Romans 12:1

  Sitting in his office, Crowley pondered over the situation involving Ettie and the unexplained deaths. He had felt guilty not being able to offer more in the way of assistance. Now that a nurse had come forward and named names, he felt comfortable doing more digging around. He examined the list of names that Maureen had just given him.

  After considering the names, telephone numbers and addresses, Crowley found himself staring at his phone for several moments before he picked up the receiver. He decided to call Judith’s family first.

  The phone rang enough times to have Crowley prepared to hang up before it was finally answered.

  “Hello.” A male with a strained voice answered.

  “Hello, my name is Detective Crowley. I’m looking for Milton Morcombe, son of Judith Morcombe.”

  There was a distinct pause before the male on the other end of the line replied, “Speaking.”

  “Sorry to disturb you, but I’ve been following up on some administration work for the hospital where Mrs. Morcombe was admitted. We have some details missing regarding how she was referred.”

  “You said you are a detective? What’s this about?”

  “Your answers might assist us on a confidential matter we’re investigating.”

  “There’s not a problem, is there?”

  “No, not at all,” Crowley said. “Just routine questions.”

  “All right then. Well, we originally took my mother to the emergency department. She wasn’t feeling too well; we were concerned about her blood pressure. It had been causing her some problems these past few months. After we arrived and spoke to a doctor, he referred her onto the hospital ward. We were assured it was nothing dangerous.” He cleared his throat. “Is that the type of information you were looking for?”

  “I appreciate how difficult this time must be for you, Mr. Morcombe. Thank you for your help.”

  “No problem, no problem at all, Detective. I hope I gave you information that was helpful.”

  “Yes, but one more thing, Mr. Morcombe, I can see by the hospital records that we’ve had to subpoena, over another matter that you did not ask for an autopsy; can I ask why?”

  “I was going to, but the nurse I talked to at the hospital said it wasn’t warranted due to her age.”

  “And how old was your mother?”

  “Just turned sixty.”

  Crowley raised his eyebrows, he was not far off sixty himself. “And she was in good health other than her blood pressure?”

  “What’s this about? What’s your name again, Detective?”

  Detective Crowley rubbed his forehead, hoping that helping the widows would not get him into trouble. “Detective Crowley.”

  “And what exactly are you investigating?”

  “I’m not at liberty to discuss it, I’m sorry. Well, thank you for your time, Mr. Morcombe.”

  “Not at all.”

  After the call was done, Crowley heaved a sigh of relief. Until he remembered he still had six other phone numbers to call.

  * * *

  When Maureen arrived back at the hospital, she knew she had to do something to help. Ettie had told her the name of the nurse she suspected, so how could she find out more about her?

  She approached a nurse who was sitting behind a desk in Ettie’s ward. Maureen knew this nurse was not nurse Hadley or nurse McBride. “Is Nurse Hadley here?” Maureen knew that nurse Hadley would not be there as it was too early for her shift.

  The nurse looked up from her computer. “Ah, I don’t think so. I’ll just have a look to see when she’s on next.” She pressed a few buttons on the console. “She’s on the late shift; she’ll be here at 8 p.m.”

  “Oh dear, I wanted to thank her for being so good to my friend Judith.”

  “Yes, I’m sorry to hear about that.” The nurse smiled and looked suitably sympathetic.

  “Nurse Hadley was good to her; she’s such a caring nurse.” Maureen leaned on the counter top. “You know, there’s not many people around these days who truly care.”

  The nurse nodded.

  “Do you know much about nurse Hadley?”

  “I know her from working with her.”

  “What’s she really like?” Maureen placed her elbows on the counter.

  “She’s…”

  “Does she have children?” Maureen interrupted, helping the young nurse as she struggled to find words.

  “No, she just got married.”

  “Wonderful, she married a doctor, did she?” Maureen giggled hoping the nurse would think she was enjoying a gossip.

  The nurse laughed with her. “No, she didn’t. She married a man who owns a funeral parlor.”

  Maureen drew back a little in shock. “A funeral parlor?”

  The nurse covered her mouth to stifle another laugh. She looked around about her and then said in a low voice, “We joke that she has a place to send her mistakes.”

  “I’m sure she wouldn’t have many mistakes though. Not a good nurse like her.”

  “There are some who say that her husband only married her so he could get more dead bodies. You know, improve his business.” The nurse laughed louder.

  “Oh, I see,” Maureen said before an older nurse approached the two of them.

  The older nurse appeared stern. Had the old nurse heard her conversation with the young nurse? Maureen knew that was the end of the information she would get with the stony-faced nurse around. “Well, I might be around to see nurse Hadley and thank her myself.”

  The young nurse nodded.

  Maureen walked away and hid around the corner from the nurses’ station.

  She heard the older nurse say, “Were you talking about Hadley just now?”

  The younger nurse replied, “That Amish lady was saying what a good nurse she was.”

  “That’s a joke. There have been more deaths since she’s been on this ward.”

  The young nurse said, “Maybe she is drumming up business for her new husband.”

  “Humph, either that or they’re doing illegal trade in body organs.”

  “Yeah, would be perfect with her brother being a doctor in the emergency department.” The young nurse giggled. “There would be plenty of spare parts.”

  Maureen moved away so she would not be seen.

  * * *

  “Detective Crowley, what have you found out?”

  The detective walked further into the room and sat down in the chair beside Ettie’s bed.”

  “You don’t look very happy.” After Ettie had spoken, she realized that the detective always had the same expression on his face, but something told her that he was about to tell her something important.

  “I phoned several next of kin of those people on the list. It appears there are common threads with the deaths.”

  “The people whose names I gave you from the young nurse?”

  “Yes. They were all admitted to the emergency department in the first instance.”

  Ettie heaved a sigh of relief. She had been admitted from her doctor directly into the ward. “I feel a little safer.”

  “Is it possible for me to speak to the nurse you were speaking with?”

  Ettie shook her head. “Understandably she’s nervous, and she values her job. One of her friends said something, but they transferred her.”

  “We need someone to issue a formal complaint,” Crowley said.

  Maureen entered the room and stood at the end of Ettie’s bed. “I’ve just found something out, but you two continue with your conversation; I’ll wait.”

  Ettie said to detective Crowley, “Are you sure that no one has ever filed a complaint about one of these deaths? The nurse said there were around twenty that she knows of.”

  “Not one has been filed.”

  “What about the nurse whose name I gave you - Deirdre Hadley?”

&nbs
p; “I’ll be checking into her background when I get back to the station. The thing I don’t understand is why would someone kill people? Would it be a crazed serial killer working in the hospital? It does seem far-fetched, but stranger things have happened.”

  Maureen saw her chance. “I found out something interesting about her.”

  “About Deirdre Hadley?” Ettie asked.

  Maureen nodded.

  “What is it?” Crowley asked.

  Maureen moved around the same side of the bed as detective Crowley. Lowering her voice, she said, “She recently married a man who owns a funeral parlor, and her brother works as a doctor in this hospital’s emergency department.”

  Ettie smiled and turned to Crowley. “Sounds as if that gives you a little more to go on, Detective.”

  Crowley nodded. “Yes, it does. A few more common threads, and more people to follow up on. Good work in finding that out, Maureen.”

  Maureen smiled revealing the slight gap between her two front teeth.

  “Ah, now you’re interested, aren’t you? I’m not just a silly old lady.” Ettie turned to Maureen. “Detective Crowley just told me that all the people who nurse McBride thought died suspiciously all came to the hospital through the emergency department before they were admitted to the ward.”

  “I never said, and I have never thought you were a silly old lady, Ettie. I did say I’d never known your instincts to be wrong.” The detective’s thin lips turned upwards at the corners. “Having said all that, do you think you’d be better off away from this place under the circumstances?”

  “No,” Ettie said firmly. “If I left now and more people fell victim to whatever is happening in this hospital, I could never live with myself knowing there might have been something I could have done to help.”

  “Are you sure?” Crowley asked. “There’s danger involved. Even if you’re safe from whoever is targeting these patients, you could still find yourself in a difficult situation.”