Justin Thyme Ch. 12

Rosemary looked at him with great big eyes, almost wishing she had gone to school after all!

I saw the Eloy exit coming up and told Michael to pull off there for a quick stop at the "Flying Hook," as I've heard truckers call it. All of that coffee was really starting to hit.

After a very quick stop, and with my own new coffee mug in hand, we got back on the road north. I took a quick sip of my coffee and knew right away Grandpa was going to like it! That stuff was so strong you could drink it with a fork!

Grandpa waited again until we were back on the highway and rolling before he dropped another bombshell. "Michael, I know you said you didn't want any of the gold you guys picked up when you found the hidden room, but you are going to be a part of whatever I negotiate with the Southern Pacific today, whether you want to or not. By the way, I am in favor of building out the servant's quarters into apartments, but that is not my decision to make. I will make my thoughts known, though. Now, if those chests contain what I believe they contain, and what the CEO obviously believes they contain, seeing he is flying down here during his vacation up in Jackson's Hole, Wyoming, I expect there to be a very substantial reward. Now my fee for negotiating this is going to be a bit higher than my normal fee for representing my family. You guys have to buy my breakfast, and my coffee on the return trip. Thanks for turning me on to the Flying J, Justin. That is good coffee!"

"According to all I could find out about Sam Johnson's disappearance, he had $50,000 in gold coins as part of the merger of the Southern Pacific with the Union Pacific, for dispersal to shareholders, of which he was a major stakeholder. The value of that gold at present day value is in excess of three and a half million. That is melt value, and doesn't take into account any numismatic value of any of the individual coins. I'm sure there are some that are quite valuable. The S.P. had a reward offer of $5,000 for information locating Sam Johnson, which obviously includes the gold. If you increase the valuation of the reward offer by 70 times as the gold has increased in value that would come out to about $350,000. Now, I don't expect to be able to negotiate quite that much for you, but there is argument under Arizona law that you could be due as much as half of the find. I don't personally believe that is right for you to do, but if they don't want to reward you fairly we can always threaten to take it to court."

Michael spoke up first. Rosemary and I were totally flabbergasted. "I really don't care anything about a reward, Ben. I thank you, but to me returning what is rightfully theirs is the right thing to do."

"You are right of course, Michael, and I appreciate it. However, they are the ones who offered the reward, and I think it only fair and right you should receive your share of it. What you want to do with the money is entirely your choice. Give it away, or put it aside for retirement, or whatever. That money could go a long way toward buying a house for you and Susie; that is if you have the kind of ideas a smart young man like you should have toward her. Not trying to get in your business, and I apologize if I'm sticking my nose in too far." I smiled at Grandpa's comment, but quickly quashed it as Rosemary looked at me questioningly. It wouldn't do to give his plans away. Michael just nodded thoughtfully.

We discussed the matter between us for the rest of the trip to Bill's, but quit talking when we pulled into the parking lot. "Not another word about any of this until after it is all said and done," Grandpa ordered. "We don't need to stir anything up until we are ready to deal with it. Understood?"

We all understood.

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Mary Winters stopped in the cafeteria for a cup of coffee at a quarter to nine. She needed the break. One of her patients, a child of nine had just died as the result of an auto accident two days before. She had hoped desperately the little girl would pull through, but it was not to happen. The little girl's mother had been killed instantly in the crash, and her father was in critical condition on the next floor up, but was expected to live. She had been in the room along with the Grandparents when Katie had breathed her last. Losing a patient was always hard, but it was part of her profession. Losing children though always hurt much worse.

She looked up as a shadow fell across her table and saw Dr. Meechum standing on the other side of her table. "May I join you?" Mary nodded wordlessly and waved at the chair opposite. "Rough morning?"

Silently Mary nodded her head, and then sighed. "I don't know why I ever thought I wanted to be a nurse. We just lost Katie. I thought she was going to make it."

"Little blond girl? About 9, was in a car accident?"

"Um hmm. That's the one."

"That's tough. I worked on her when she came into ER. I thought she had a chance."

"How do you deal with it? Especially as an ER doctor? I really don't know how you can work back there."

Tom let out a bitter laugh of sorts. "I guess eight years as a Devil Doc hardened me pretty much. You learn to compartmentalize it after a while. It never goes away, but you just suppress it enough to keep going."

"That's the second time I've heard you call yourself a Devil Doc. What's that mean?"

"Oh, sorry. I thought you would know. It's a nickname the Marines give us Navy Corpsmen. Marines don't have their own medical staff. It's provided by the Navy. We aren't really Marines, but we lived with them and worked with them all the time. We wore Marine Utilities, but we don't wear the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor insignia on the collar points because we are not Marines. Also, the service tape says US Navy."

"I knew they called you 'Doc', but why Devil Doc?"

"That's a takeoff of Devil Dog, the nickname given them by the Germans in WWI, 'Teufel hunden' in German. They started calling the Marines that at Belleau Wood because of the way they fought, never knowing they were beaten, so they never were. The name Devil Dog stuck, and some of them call us Devil Doc's if we do the job in combat with them. I take it as a real compliment, as being as close to being an actual Marine as I can be."

"How do you deal with it? With losing people, I mean?"

Tom looked down at his hands and saw a slight tremor in them. "You don't. Sometimes in the night it all comes back to you. Some guys turn to alcohol or drugs, but I try to channel it all back into my work telling myself I'm making up for the ones I lost by the ones I save." Tom looked up at Mary and then quickly back down at his hands. "Some are harder to lose than others. Winters, your husband, was the hardest because he took it for me. That should have been me on the ground over there." A tear welled up in his eye before he angrily dashed it away with the back of his hand.

"Tom, you can't take it that way. I know Brad would not be sorry for what he did. He would do it over again if it came to that. It's just the way he was."

"I know. The Chaplain tried to tell me. I even went and saw a shrink when I got out, while I was in Med School. They kept telling me I had to let it out, that I couldn't hold it all in, but that's what I've done. Talking with you and your daughter really helped a lot, and I was really happy to see you in here this morning. I didn't mean to dump on you. You have your own troubles to deal with right now."

"Really I think it helped. I feel better now. I know I can't save them all, but it hurts to lose the little ones. I have it a lot easier than you guys did, though, so I can't complain."

"There is no 'easier' about it when you are dealing with life and death, Mary. You just don't have to deal with all of the terror that goes along with it is all. I've got to get back to the floor. Thanks for listening."

"No, thank you. I needed that this morning."

"Maybe we both did." Tom reached across the table and squeezed her hand briefly before standing and walking away, and Mary rose and made her way back to her floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The meeting with the Sheriff went smoothly, and as expected. He was surprised and pleased that we had not disturbed either of the skeletons, nor checked pockets or the desk. He had a photographer along, as well as the Coroner who had to proclaim them dead. I know, it sounds silly, but it is procedure. The Sheriff did note with praise the accuracy of Sam Johnson's shot. "I don't know that I could have done as well, even if I had not been shot first! He took at the least a lung shot, and it probably also got an artery based on his position sitting here. He didn't even have the strength left to stand up."

A check of their pockets identified the other skeleton as that of Henry Murray, as Grandpa had presupposed, but his pocket contained nothing else of interest. Samuel Johnson's pockets on the other hand had a key ring, which we anticipated, but he also was wearing a money belt containing twenty-five twenty-dollar gold pieces.

The Sheriff left us with each of the men's gunbelts and their pistols, Murray's a Colt .45, and Johnson's a Smith and Wesson 'Russian' .44, and once the photographer was finished with his photographs Michael and I assisted in removing the skeletons from the basement out to a waiting ambulance for removal to the morgue. Why they thought they needed to bring an ambulance I have no clue, but I guess that was also procedure.

As the driver closed the ambulance doors I stopped the Sheriff before he could get into his car. "I know it is a little late to have a funeral service as such for Mr. Johnson, but I think it would only be proper for us to tend to his burial and a gravestone. I think we can provide the same for Henry Murray, but we would like to do so with as little fanfare as possible. Would that be possible?"

"I think that would be a very nice thing for you to do. I'll have someone from my office be in touch with you in the next day or so and we can arrange things."

With that he got into his car and prepared to leave. No mention of Union Pacific's interest in the case was made, much to our pleasure. The least it was known of the better all-around as far as we were concerned. Michael and I made our way back into the carriage house and carefully locked the outer door behind us. I also closed the secret door before going back down the ladder.

Grandpa and Rosemary were looking through the desk when we returned to the lower office. Grandpa looked up at us and held up what looked like a ledger. "Samuel Johnson was quite a diarist. I think this will provide some interesting reading and a better understanding of some of the things that went on during that time period in Arizona. The last couple of entries are in particular of interest, especially in regards to the house. Take a look."

I laid the book down on the desk so that Michael could also look at it as I read:

March 29: The arrival of General Sheridan and his party from the government to look into the railroad expansion plans in regards to how it will affect the military could not have come at a more inauspicious time. Two chests from Union Pacific as part of the merger with the Southern Pacific arrived today. Glad we get to keep operating S.P. separately. Murray seems to have gotten a sniff of what is going on. Caught him snooping around looking for a latch for the door from the carriage house. Should have just let him look since there isn't one on the outside out there. Not sure what to do about him. Seems untrustworthy lately. Mustn't be rash, but careful.

March 30: Meeting with Sheridan, et.al. went smoothly and well. Very tired after long day squiring them around. Hope Murray gets here with the ore samples soon. All indicators are the new discovery is going to be rich. Must remember not to let Murray know of location at least until he shows he's trustworthy. Meet with Tohono O'odham chief, Carlos Rios, tomorrow about access on their lands. They have been good to work with in the past. Must arrange a suitable gift. Swenson over at the S Bar has some good Morgan horse stock. Perhaps a stallion and a

"Interesting," I said. "It looks like he got interrupted and put the diary away without finishing."

Grandpa nodded. "The dates match. I'm thinking Murray arrived then, and we have already seen what transpired."

I carefully closed the diary, cognizant of its age and brittle condition, and handed it back to Grandpa, who put it into the drawer. "We don't have much time before the U.P. guys get here if we want to grab some lunch. What do you say we check out the other room quickly and go grab a bite?"

Rosemary, who was holding the key ring agreed, obviously excited at the possibilities. The four of us trooped down the corridor and Rosemary tried the keys until she found the one that fit the padlock. Surprisingly for its age and how long it had remained untouched it opened easily. Michael removed the iron bar for her, and the long unopened door swung open quietly and smoothly under her hand.