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Chapter 24

Tex looked up in surprise when his wife and daughter entered the room, a dazed-looking Charlene Butterwick supported between them.

“You better take a look at her, honey,” said Marge. “I think something is very wrong.”

“She collapsed in the middle of the street just now,” Odelia added.

Immediately he instructed the Mayor to be laid down on his consultation table and as he shone a light into her eyes, he immediately saw that Marge was right: Charlene’s pupil response was not what it should be.

“It looks like she’s been drugged,” he said after a moment. “Charlene? Charlene, honey, did you take any pills in the last twenty-four hours? Sleeping pills maybe?”

But Charlene shook her head.“I hate sleeping pills,” she said sleepily, slurring her words a little. “They make me feel so… sssleepy.”

“I think we should take her to the hospital,” said Tex. “Do a blood test to find out what she’s taken. She’s clearly under the influence of something, that much I can tell you.”

“Do you think the same people who took Uncle Alec gave her something?” asked Odelia. “Maybe injected her with something?”

“Could be,” said Tex, as he sat Charlene upright again and did a few more tests to ascertain if the Mayor needed an ambulance or if she would be able to make it to the hospital under her own steam. “Her vital signs are good,” he murmured after checking her pulse and having a listen to her heart. “I don’t think she’s in any immediate danger. But I’d like to have her admitted just in case.”

“We’ll take her,” said Odelia. “Charlene? Can you walk?” she asked, and the Mayor nodded.

“Oh, sure,” she said. “I’m a big walker. You should see me walking. I’m great at walking.” And as she got up off the table, she immediately went down and fell flat on the floor.

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When they got out of her dad’s doctor’s office, Odelia noticed to her dismay that her cats had all skedaddled. At least this time they probably hadn’t been kidnapped and given away as a wedding present—she hoped!

They drove Charlene to the hospital, where they promised them they’d take really good care of her, and then Odelia dropped her mom off at the library so she could finally start her working day, before heading into the office herself.

Dan Goory, when she arrived, was waiting for her, looking distinctly concerned.

“You didn’t have to come in, honey,” he said when he saw her. “I would have understood. What with your uncle having gone missing and all.”

Dan was the only person outside of the family Odelia had confided in, knowing he wouldn’t blab about it.

“No, it’s fine,” she said. “I better keep working. Otherwise I just keep running through the whole sequence of events in my mind over and over again, and there’s nothing I can do anyway.”

“Is Chase making any progress?” asked her boss, caressing his long white beard, a look of concern in his lively eyes.

“There have been some developments,” she said, “but nothing concrete, I’m afraid.”

Dan nodded.“I don’t know what this town is coming to, when the chief of police himself gets kidnapped. Maybe you should arrange for some extra security for your family?”

“I’m sure that Chase will protect us,” she said, taking a seat behind her desk.

“I saw your mom and dad on TV last night,” said her editor, a smile making his beard waggle. “Did they really win the lottery?”

“Yeah, they did,” she said, also smiling a tired smile now. “Though they didn’t exactly win it fair and square,” she added, her frown returning. And she told the Gazette editor about what happened.

“So the winning ticket arrived in the mail? That’s odd.”

“Yeah, clearly someone wanted them to win.”

“But who?”

She shrugged.“A well-wisher? One of Dad’s patients, expressing their gratitude?”

“Something peculiar happened to me, too,” said Dan as he took a seat on the edge of her desk. “You know how I’ve always wanted to complete my train set, right? The one I started years ago?”

Odelia remembered he’d built an elaborate train set in his attic. He’d once shown it to her, and it was pretty amazing. It took up half the space, and consisted of an entire town built around the train set now, complete with hills, bridges, tunnels and small houses and cars and people. He’d spent the best part of a decade building it.

“Well, the key part of my collection had been missing until now: the D-4560 locomotive.”

“Only three remaining models exist,” she said, nodding. He’d told her the story many times, how he’d tried to buy it but failed, since the price of the coveted model locomotive was upwards of a hundred grand now.

“Last night I got a delivery,” said the aged newspaper chief, his face splitting into a smile, “and lo and behold, it contained the D-4560! And in pristine condition, too!”

“But… how is that possible?”

“I don’t know, but it looks like some secret admirer must have sent it to me.”

“No address on the package?”

“None. But I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth, Odelia. I’m keeping it and sending my silent thanks to whoever shipped it to me.”