Chapter 21 #2
After storing his Trek in the empty office suite he’d used the previous day, Jack searched for Melanie.
He found her in the procedure room making coffee in an old-fashioned percolator.
When he called attention to the aged appliance, she explained that it had belonged to her grandmother, and despite its age, in her estimation, it still produced the absolute best tasting brew.
“I wanted to thank you for inviting me to your barbecue last night,” Melanie continued. “I had a marvelous time, and the steaks were out of this world. And on top of that, I appreciated seeing the Hiram House and grounds. It’s imposing to say the least. I’d not seen it since its renovation.”
“It was a pleasure to have you,” Jack responded. “The real thanks go to Jada for bringing the steaks and Bob who insisted on being the chef.
“Now, let me ask you: How did you do yesterday afternoon gathering the material we discussed?”
“Not great,” Melanie admitted. “I heard Bob telling you last night that we had another mild emergency here in the office late yesterday afternoon of a patient worried he was having a heart attack. Luckily it turned out to be a false alarm, but by the time the episode was over, I had to get home. But I did get to print out the electronic records of all fourteen dementia cases as well as the town assessor’s map that I told you about.
The map includes the entire town and surrounding area.
I can help you locate where each of the dementia patients live before Bob arrives from his hospital rounds and the morning appointments begin.
“As for the patients’ unique eating habits, I glanced at Bob’s history on several of the printouts and didn’t see any such references.
Nor did I recognize anyone as being deer hunters.
I’m afraid for such specific information, we’ll have to contact each family and ask directly, although the one thing I can assure you, everyone in town gets all their food from a combination of Huber Convenience Store here in Essex Falls and the Nicolson Supermarket in Indian River. ”
“Fair enough,” Jack said agreeably. He wasn’t averse to making the effort to call families. It would give him something to do. He was feeling mildly stymied being in such a foreign environment and not his usual familiar stomping ground, New York City.
While Melanie finished up with the coffee making, Jack went out to the waiting room and carried one of the many mismatched chairs over to her desk, where a stack of patient records was front and center.
No sooner had he taken a seat than Melanie appeared with two mugs of coffee and handed one to him.
“I know you didn’t ask for this but I want you to try it,” she said with a broad confident smile.
“I’m sure you’ll say it’s the best coffee you’ve ever had. ”
Jack laughed as he took the cup. He liked her style.
“Here’s what I suggest,” Melanie said as she sat down and moved the mound of patient records over in front of Jack.
“You read out the name and address, and I’ll circle the location on the map with a red marking pencil.
This will be the most efficient way since I know the area like the back of my hand. ”
As Melanie predicted the process proceeded apace, and after just a few minutes, Jack read out the final name, “Gloria Hosbrook,” and the address: “Seventeen Chestnut Street.”
“Okay!” Melanie said, making the final circle around Seventeen Chestnut Street, which was perpendicular to Acorn Street where the Jamesons lived. She then picked up the map and put it down in front of Jack. “Take a look at this. It’s curious, and not what I expected.”
“That is curious,” Jack said, staring down at the map.
It was oriented as usual with north facing upward, and it extended from the empty Bennet factory building at the far right-hand side along with a slice of the reservoir all the way out to a bit beyond the Bennet Estate on the far left.
The vast majority of the map represented the thinly populated, wooded suburbs.
The actual town itself including Main Street and all the smaller streets on the north side occupied a relatively small area.
The outline of each individual house was only large enough to contain its street number.
Curiously, all the red pencil circles were clustered around homes within the relatively small area of tract housing.
“All fourteen cases are in town, not one in the countryside,” Melanie said. “Does that surprise you?”
“To an extent,” Jack said, “but it’s also true that the vast majority of Essex Falls residents live in town, which is probably the explanation.
What surprises me more is learning about the Irvines, both the husband and wife suffering onset of the same sudden dementia within a week of each other.
Becoming ill almost at the same time certainly says it’s not a genetic problem but rather an acquired one, meaning they both had been exposed to the same prion source around the same time. ”
“Yikes, that’s scary,” Melanie said with a shiver.
“It sure is,” Jack responded. “I worry that we’re witnessing the beginning of a problem similar to that disastrous mad cow disease episode in England, and I’m feeling more and more desperate to find out what could possibly be the source.
I’ve got to get on the phone and maybe even make some house calls to see if I can find some common thread involving some kind of incriminating food.
There has to be an explanation. When I spoke to the neuropathologist at the OCME, she told me that pork or deer could be a source. ”
“I’m happy to help with the calling until Bob gets here,” Melanie said. “I know just about everybody on a first-name basis, which should make it a lot easier and quicker.”
“Without doubt,” Jack said. “Let’s do it. It’s still early enough to catch most people at home.”