Bobby Cole - The dummy line

“What’s the matter, Zach?” he asked, watching the orderlies lay the woman on a gurney.

“That’s not Elizabeth!” Zach Beasley screamed.

“What!” Ollie exclaimed.

“That’s not her!” Zach Beasley replied. “That’s not Elizabeth!”

“Where’s my baby!” Olivia Beasley screamed at Ollie. Zach put his arm around her, trying to calm her, but he couldn’t clear his head fast enough to think straight.

Ollie stood in shock. The gurney with the mystery woman was being wheeled past them. She was obviously traumatized. Who the hell is she?

Ollie’s eyes caught those of Steve Tillman, who had just watched the gurney roll by. His eyes said it all-that this horrible night was worse than anyone could have imagined. Ollie was totally confused. He needed to determine who this woman was and where she had come from. He needed to restart the Beasley investigation. He stood in the center of the automatic doors wondering what to do first.

R.C., humming a tune, walked with purpose toward the ER when he arrived. As he passed under the awing, he started to sing out loud, “His name was Rico; he wore a diamond.” At that moment, he saw Ollie’s face and immediately stopped singing. “What’s wrong, Chief?” he asked.

Ollie looked at R.C. and then down at the ground. “It’s not Elizabeth.”

“What? No way!”

“Go in there and find out who it is and what the hell’s going on. I’ll be right there. I want to talk to the Hale County boys first.”

“Yes sir!” R.C. turned and charged inside.

Ollie looked inside across the lobby to see Sheriff Marlow already in damage-control mode with the editor of the Sumter County Journal. Marlow was at a loss for words, Ollie could tell.

“Sheriff?” Ollie asked, walking up to the pair.

“Excuse me, but I need to conference with Sheriff Ollie Landrum.” Marlow was thankful to get away from the barrage of questions. This was not going as planned.

Ollie skillfully ushered Marlow and Lewis to a supply closet inside the hospital. Before Ollie went in, his eyes met Zach Beasley’s and Steve Tillman’s. “I’ll be right back and we’ll talk.”

“What’s going on, Ollie? You got missing girls all over this county!” Marlow demanded aggressively, in a transparent attempt to shift the focus of the situation.

“I don’t know, Marlow, but I’m damn confused. I want to hear his story,” he said, jerking his head toward Lewis, who began babbling about having a gut feeling and driving on up to the trailer to look around. Ollie glared at him. He knew a line of crap when he heard it. This wasn’t making sense. Years of being around R.C. and Larson had fine-tuned Ollie’s BS meter. “Marlow, who tipped the newspaper?” he asked, clearly angered.

“I had to call him about something else and mentioned why I was in the county…that’s all,” Marlow explained.

“Look, fellas, I got a mess on my hands, and I need your help. I need some serious investigative work done. I need to know who that girl is and how she figures into this chaos, and then we have to start all over. Marlow, have your guys ready to go back out,” Ollie ordered, taking charge.

Marlow sheepishly nodded.

Ollie opened the door, then hustled down the hall to find R.C. and the mysterious victim. As he passed, he asked the Beasleys to wait just a minute longer, he’d be right back. It didn’t take long to find everyone. The hospital was small, and a crowd was gathered around the door to Exam Two. Ollie opened the door and saw Dr. Sarhan listening to the woman with his stethoscope. He saw the camo duct tape lying on the floor. R.C. was trying to ask questions of the medical staff but wasn’t getting any answers.

“Let examination complete. You can ask question then,” Dr. Sarhan said in a thick Indian accent to R.C. but looking up at Ollie.

Ollie understood and motioned to R.C. to stop. Ollie bent down and grabbed the pieces of duct tape. The woman appeared to be at least thirty years old, maybe older. She was just waking up. He didn’t recognize her.

“Please allow few minutes, Sheriff,” Dr. Sarhan said.

“Come on, R.C.” Ollie let out a deep breath and motioned R.C. out into the hall.

“Did you get anything?” Ollie asked R.C.

“Doc doesn’t think she was raped. He was pissed that she was still taped up. He about bit my head off. What’s up with that…what was that deputy thinking?”

“Youth,” Ollie replied. “Anything else?”

“No sir.”

“You don’t know her, do you?” Ollie asked, rubbing his aching head while holding his hat.

“Never seen her before-and I think I would remember,” R.C. replied, alluding to her good looks. “Want a Tums?” R.C. flipped one into his mouth then held out the roll out.

“Yeah.”

“Whaddya need me to do?” R.C. asked as he handed the roll to Ollie.

Ollie saw the Beasleys charging up the hall straight to him. He knew he had stalled as long as he could.

“Call Miz Martha and bring her up to speed; then meet me right outside,” Ollie instructed. “Have her call and wake up everybody available, including the county game warden. We’re gonna need everybody.”

“Ten-four,” R.C. replied, reaching for his cell phone as he walked hurriedly toward the exit.

“Ollie, what the hell’s going on…what are you doin’ to find Elizabeth?” Zach launched into him.

“We are trying to determine where to concentrate our efforts right now. All this is very confusing. Everybody assumed that was Elizabeth.” Ollie broke eye contact and looked at the floor. “Please give me a few minutes to determine who this woman is and how she fits into all this.”

“Sheriff, you need some help. You should call in the FBI or something. This is serious. This is my daughter we’re talking about,” Zach Beasley said sternly.

“Yes sir. I have…we are…just hang on for a minute,” Ollie stuttered as he searched for the right words.

Zach didn’t wait for Ollie to finish. He walked off to look for Sheriff Marlow.

Ollie raised his head to see R.C. hanging up his phone as he walked back into the hospital. He motioned to him; then the two of them went over to Steve Tillman.

“How’s Tanner, sir?” Ollie asked, holding his hat in his hands.

“No change, but he is stable…I sure was shocked that wasn’t Elizabeth, Sheriff.”

“Yes sir. Me, too. Are you still willing to ride out to your property?”

“I’ll do anything to help out, Ollie,” and he meant it.

“R.C., Mr. Tillman owns some land on the Dummy Line. That may be where the kids were. Take Mr. Tillman and y’all go look around. Be careful. Call me if you see anything .”

“Sure thing…let’s go, Mr. Tillman.”

“I have to tell my wife. I’ll be right with you,” Tillman said, walking away.

Ollie peered back in Exam Two. They were still working on the mystery woman. Who the hell is she? Then he watched R.C. walk out through the automatic doors and the Beasleys round the corner, about to explode. “Where’s Sheriff Marlow?”

Ollie only had to take a step toward the exit to see the television truck and the camera focused on Sheriff Marlow. “Damn it,” he muttered under his breath and pointed toward the exit. Ollie turned back toward Exam Two as Dr. Sarhan waved him in.

“I think she will be fine…physically, but mentally, she has been through much trauma.”

“Has she been raped?” he asked softly.

“No, she has not. I see no signs of physical abuse.” Dr. Sarhan pulled off his exam gloves and threw them into the trash.

“You may talk to her,” he said as he walked out of the room.

Ollie was alone with the mysterious woman. Their eyes met. He pulled out his notepad, sat down on the stool next to her, and smiled kindly. “Ma’am, I’m Sheriff Ollie Landrum. I need to know who you are and what happened?”