Preston Child - The Babylonian Mask

In the background of their discussion the nurse gasped. The Sam Cleave, right here in front of her.

“Aye,” Sam started, but before he could utter another word they lifted their guns in a straight aim at him. “But I did not kidnap her! Jesus! Put your guns away, you idiots!”

“That is not the correct way to speak to an officer of the law, son,” the other officer reminded Sam.

“I’m sorry,” Sam said quickly. “Alright? I’m sorry, but you have to hear me out. Nina is my friend and she is currently undergoing medical care in Mannheim at the Theresien hospital. They need her folder or file, whatever, and she sent me to see her attending doctor to get that information. That is all! That is all I am here for, understand?”

“Identification,” the security guard demanded. “Slowly.”

Sam refrained from poking fun at the officer’s FBI-movie moves, just in case they were trigger-happy. Carefully he opened the flap of his coat and retrieved his passport.

“There you go. Sam Cleave. See?” Nurse Marx came out from behind the officer, apologetically putting out her hand to Sam.

“I am so sorry for the misunderstanding,” she told Sam, and repeated the same to the officers. “You see, the other patient that went missing with Dr. Gould was also called Sam. Obviously I immediately thought it was that Sam wanting to see the doctor. And when he said Dr. Gould could die…”

“Yes, yes, we get the picture, Nurse Marx,” the security man sighed, holstering his gun. The other two were equally frustrated, but they had no choice but to follow suit.

“As you were,” Sam jested as he was given back his credentials. The flushing young nurse lifted her open hand in a grateful gesture to them as they walked away, feeling dreadfully sheepish.

“Mr. Cleave, it is an honor to meet you.” She smiled, shaking Sam’s hand.

“Call me Sam,” he flirted, deliberately looking intensely into her eyes. Besides, an ally could help his mission along; not only in obtaining Nina’s folder, but also in getting to the bottom of the recent incidents at the hospital and perhaps even the air base in Büchel.

“I am so sorry for screwing up like this. The other patient she disappeared with was also called Sam,” she explained.

“Aye, my darling, I caught that the other time. No need to apologize. It was an honest mistake.” They got an elevator to the Fifth Floor. A mistake that almost cost me my bloody life!

In the elevator with two radiology technicians and the gushing Nurse Marx, Sam pushed the awkwardness from his mind. They were silently staring at him. For a split second Sam contemplated spooking the German ladies with a remark on how he once saw a Swedish porn flick start much in the same fashion. The doors opened on the Second Floor and Sam caught a glimpse of a white sign on the hallway wall reading “X-ray 1 & 2” in red lettering. The two radiology technicians breathed out for the first time only after they’d stepped out of the lift. Sam could hear their giggling die down as the silver doors slid together again.

Nurse Marx wore a smirk and her eyes stayed glued to the floor, prompting the journalist to relieve her of her discomfiture. He breathed out hard, looking at the light above them. “So, Nurse Marx, is Dr. Fritz a radiology specialist?”

Her posture straightened up instantly like a loyal soldier. From Sam’s knowledge of body language he realized that the nurse harbored an undying reverence or desire for the doctor in question. “No, but he is a veteran physician who lectures at global medical conferences on several scientific subjects. Let me say — he knows a little about every disease, where other doctors specialize in just one and know nothing about the rest. He took very good care of Dr. Gould. You can be assured. In fact, he was the only one who picked up on th…”

Nurse Marx swallowed her words immediately, almost spilling the cancerous news she’d been stunned by just that morning.

“What?” he asked kindly.

“All I meant to say is that whatever is plaguing Dr. Gould, Dr. Fritz will figure it out,” she said, pressing her lips together. “Ah! Here we go!” she smiled, delighted at their well-timed arrival on the Fifth Floor.

She led Sam out to the Administrative wing of the Fifth Floor, past the archives office, and a staff tearoom. While they walked, Sam enjoyed periodical sights from the identical square windows that lined the off-white hall. Every time the wall gave way to a blinded window, the sun would reach through and warm Sam’s face, showing him an aerial view over the local surroundings. He wondered where Purdue was. He’d left Sam the car and had taken a taxi to the airport without much explanation. That was another matter for Sam to carry unresolved deep inside his psyche until he had time to deal with it.

“Dr. Fritz should be done with his interview by now,” Nurse Marx informed Sam as they neared the closed door. She briefly explained about the Air Force commander sending an emissary to speak to Dr. Fritz about the patient who had shared a room with Nina. Well, well. Sam pondered. How convenient is this? All the people I need to see, all under one roof. It’s like a compact information center for criminal investigation. Welcome to Corruption Mall!

As was the protocol, Nurse Marx knocked three times and opened the door. Lieutenant Werner was just getting up to leave and did not seem at all surprised to see the nurse, but he recognized Sam from the news van. A question brushed on Werner’s brow, but Nurse Marx stopped and lost all the color in her face.

“Marlene?” Werner asked with an inquisitive look. “What is it, baby?”

She stood motionless, in awe, while slowly a twinge of terror overwhelmed her. Her eyes read the nametag on Dr. Fritz’s white coat, but she shook her head in a daze. Werner came to her and cradled her face as she prepared to scream. Sam knew something was up, but as he knew none of these people, it was vague at best.

“Marlene!” Werner shouted to jerk her to her senses. Marlene Marx allowed her voice to return and she roared at the man in the coat. “You’re not Dr. Fritz! You are not Dr. Fritz!”

Before Werner could fully grasp what was happening, the imposter propelled forward and grabbed Werner’s gun from his shoulder holster. But Sam was quicker in his reaction and he lunged ahead to push Werner out of the way, thwarting the malformed attacker’s attempt to arm himself. Nurse Marx retreated from the office, hysterically crying for security to help.

Narrowing his eyes through the plate glass window in the double doors of the ward, one of the officers Nurse Marx had previously summoned tried to distinguish the shape running toward him and his colleague.

“Heads up, Klaus,” he scoffed to his colleague, “Polly Paranoid is back.”

“Good God, but she is really moving, huh?” the other officer noted.

“She is crying wolf again. Look, it’s not like we get a whole lot of action on this shift or anything, but being fucked with is not what I see as keeping busy, you know?” the first officer replied.

“Nurse Marx!” the second officer exclaimed. “Who can we threaten for you now?”

Marlene dove at speed, landing right in his arms, clawing at him.

“Dr. Fritz’s office! Go! Go, for God’s sake!” she screamed as people started to stare.

When Nurse Marx started tugging at the man’s sleeve, pulling him along with her towards the office of Dr. Fritz, the officers realized that this time it was not a hunch. Again, they raced towards the distant hallway just out of their sight as the nurse cried for them to catch what she kept calling the monster. Confused as they were, they followed the sound of the altercation ahead and soon discovered why the frantic, young nurse referred to the imposter as a monster.