Mad Dog and Englishman: A Mad Dog & Englishman Mystery #1 by J. M. Hayes

Author:J. M. Hayes [Hayes, J. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781615950881
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: 2013-02-03T00:00:00+00:00

“She should be in a hospital,” Doc Jones complained as he helped the sheriff maneuver Heather Lane out of the back of his Buick on a stretcher that had seen too much use that day. At least this occupant didn’t require a body bag. In fact, physically, there didn’t appear to be anything wrong with her. Psychologically could be another matter. From the time Doc Jones got to her she’d been catatonic or unconscious. It hadn’t been long, only a few minutes after Heather English was seized, thanks to a quick call from Mrs. Kraus and the fact that he’d only been a few blocks away, still in the back of Klausen’s writing up his notes from Old Man Simms’ autopsy.

“I need her here, Doc,” the sheriff said. “She may be able to tell me something that will help. And, more important, I need her mother here. She’ll come for her daughter even if she’d prefer to avoid seeing me about now. Besides, just at the moment I can’t think of a safer place for her. We’re too undermanned to send anyone along to guard her on the way to a hospital at Great Bend or Larned, and the maniac that has my daughter will come after her if he realizes he’s grabbed the wrong Heather. We’ll have a lot of people here until we find him. It’s the best I can manage, Doc.”

“I’m not arguing with you,” Doc said. “It’s not her physical health I’m concerned with. I don’t think she was even touched. But I’m just an old country Doctor. I don’t know a Freudian slip from a Jungian petticoat. This girl may need someone with skills I don’t have.”

“What did you give her, Doc?” the sheriff asked as they maneuvered the stretcher up the steep front steps and through the doors that an unfamiliar black man had stepped forward to hold open for them.

“Just a shot of Valium to calm her some, and not a strong one at that. Certainly not strong enough to account for her doing this sleeping beauty number on me. That worries me, Sheriff.”

“Tell you what, Doc. She doesn’t come around once her mother’s here, we’ll call for an ambulance and a highway patrol escort. But I need some time with Ellen Lane. There’s got to be stuff she hasn’t told me.”

They wheeled Heather Lane into County Commission Chairman Wynn’s office, since it was the only one with a full sized sofa, and made her as comfortable as possible. Doc Jones checked her pulse and blood pressure and reassured himself that her vital signs were still normal. The sheriff started across the foyer to his own office.

“Hold on a minute,” Doc said. “There’s something you need to know about.”

The sheriff was clearly impatient to be elsewhere. Doc wondered how to put it, then decided quick and to the point was best.

“Sheriff, the Reverend had a peculiar tattoo on his tush.”

“What?” The sheriff was as taken aback by the idea as Doc Jones had been.

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