Read Online Hideaway Hospital Murders by Robert Burton Robinson - Free Book Online

let him into his mother’s bedroom. She knew his reason for
being home at midday. There could be no other reason.
    Mallie Mae was sitting at a table, staring
out the window. She had eaten very little of her lunch.
    “ Mother?”
    Mallie Mae looked up at him in confusion.
Then recognition.
    “ Oh, hello,
Lilman.”
    Why couldn’t she learn to call him Elmo?
Everybody else did. “Looks like you weren’t very hungry.”
    “ This fruit is too…” She
struggled to find the right word. “It’s not ready,” she finally
said.
    “ Well, I talked to the
doctor in Dallas. You know—the one who ran all the tests on you
yesterday.”
    “ I know. I’m not stupid,
Son.”
    “ Okay. I’m sorry. The
results came back positive for Alzheimer’s disease.”
    “ What?”
    “ He says you have
Alzheimer’s disease.”
    “ Hogwash. There’s nothing
wrong with me.”
    “ Yes, there is, Mother. And
you need to accept it.”
    “ That doctor doesn’t know
what he’s talking about.”
    “ Okay. Then what’s this?”
said Elmo.
    “ What do you mean? It’s my
lunch.”
    “ But what kind of food is
this right here?”
    “ Mashed potatoes and
gravy.”
    “ And what about
this?”
    “ It’s…that chewy stuff…you
know, they make it from those things in the grass.”
    “ Cows?”
    “ Yeah.”
    “ Mother, you’re ill. But
don’t worry. I’ve postponed the wedding and I’m taking a leave of
absence from my practice. I want to do my own research. I’ll find
the best treatment options for you.”
    Elmo turned and walked across the room and
out the door. Macy followed him.
    Macy said, “But Elmo—you don’t want to ruin
your practice. What about all your patients?”
    “ My new partner, Dr.
Edwards, will take care of things while I’m out,” said Elmo as he
walked to the stairs.
    Macy went back into the room and shut the
door. Mallie Mae was standing, grinning at her. “See—I told you it
would work. He’s postponed the wedding.”
    “ But what about his
practice? He could destroy it if he stays away too
long.”
    “ Nah. We won’t let that
happen.”
    “ I still don’t understand
how you fooled that doctor. He ran so many tests on
you.”
    “ The blood test and urine
test and even the brain scan only ruled out other causes of my
symptoms. Apparently, I passed all of those, but I failed the
memory tests, the problem solving, and the math and language tests.
On purpose, of course.”
    “ So, there’s no way for a
doctor to tell if you’re faking? Then anybody could do
that.”
    “ True. But why would they? Why
would you fake having Alzheimer’s?”
    Macy said, “I guess you wouldn’t. Unless you
wanted to stop your son from marrying the wrong woman.”
    They both laughed.
    “ But I feel bad about doing
this to Elmo. Putting him through the misery and worry,” said
Macy.
    “ It won’t kill him. Besides
I had no choice. It was the only way I could stop him from ruining
his life.”
    **********
    Carnie needed some advice. The plan was
going down the toilet. She paced the floor of her bedroom as she
flipped her phone open and clicked the speed dial number.
    “ The old woman has
Alzheimer’s and the wedding has been postponed,” said
Carnie.
    “ It could be postponed
indefinitely.”
    “ That’s what I’m worried
about. But what can I do?”
    “ Have you considered taking
her out?”
    “ Sure. But I’m too close to
this one. I’d be the prime suspect.”
    “ I don’t know about that. I
think you could pull it off. But it shouldn’t be your first option.
Any idea how long she’s expected to live?”
    “ Several years, I think.
Probably at least five.”
    “ We sure don’t want to
wait that long. Just keeping thinking, Carnie. I have great confidence
in you. You’ll come up with something.”
    “ Okay. Thanks,
Grandma.”
    Maybe she could poison Mallie Mae. Make it
look like Hadley did it. But what would his motive be? Or what
about Macy? She had easy access to the old hag’s food.