Chapter 6: Orville Hebert

 April 10, 1995

New Jersey, USA

“Sir, the two bodies had their throats cut with a knife.”

 “And they are?”

“The Reynolds couple who lived on Flax Drive. Other people in the area have reported not seeing them for the past half a month or so. The murder took place in the couple's home. We found their remains stuffed in a closet. Murders of middle-aged couples…Four such cases in all of USA in the last two years and all done in the same way. All wealthy middle-aged couples, so we presume it's robbery. We can’t let any more of these happen.”

“Wait, it’s too early to declare these robberies.”

“Why do you think it’s not a robbery, Inspector Rowland?”

“If I check the data, for some reason all the couples have been childless. Am I correct, Inspector Dillard?”

“Yes Inspector Rowland, as you say, this couple had no children either.”

Inspector Rowland then smiled and asked, “You wouldn’t think there would be any excess similarities if it was only robbery would you?”

Inspector Dillard replied, “No.”

He then paused and asked, “But couldn’t that just be a mere coincidence? All of the couples lived better than the middle class, and had plenty of wealth to spare."

Inspector Rowland didn’t answer his question and asked, “Have there been any valuables taken from the houses?”

Inspector Dillard then replied, “Yes inspector.”

Inspector Rowland then said, “If this were the work of a single person, the small amount that was taken might make more sense. However…”

Inspector Dillard then asked, “If it wasn’t a single person?”

Inspector Rowland then said, "Two of the houses had extremely strong locks and security systems. The criminal slipped right through them. And each of the couples was murdered without the slightest trace of resistance. People in the surrounding area heard no sounds whatsoever. A single crook would have to be extremely skilled to pull off all of these."

Inspector Dillard nodded his head and said, “Yes.”

Inspector Rowland then pulled out a photograph from his pocket and gave it to Inspector Dillard and then asked, “Are you familiar with this man?”

Inspector Dillard carefully observed the photograph, and then shook his head and replied, “No.”

Inspector Rowland then said, “Orville Hebert, age 32. Arrested twice for suspected theft. But he never commits a direct robbery. His job is to open the locks. A so-called locksmith. He was witnessed near the scene of the murders of the three of the previous couples."

Inspector Dillard then curiously asked, “So he’s a part of this?!”

Inspector Rowland then replied, "I don't know, at any rate, the local police work here is done. Leave the rest up to us in the FBI."

Inspector Dillard then said with a sense of hesitance in his voice, “Err…very well.”

 Inspector Rowland then started moving but Inspector Dillard then asked, “May I ask you a question, Inspector Rowland? How are you so successful in solving the cases?”

Inspector Rowland then smiled and said, "Your name is Shawn Dillard. You ate lunch with me in 1991 during the Serene Treasure hotel murder case. I believe you did some very good work at the 1989 Oliver tours steamboat hostage, crisis, correct? Have you stopped smoking?”

Inspector Dillard was shocked by the amazing memory powers of Inspector Rowland. To remember something so unimportant from years ago, Inspector Rowland is truly praiseworthy. 

“What an amazing memory!”

***

It was the garden beside the Randall Memorial Hospital. A nurse was trying to fly a kite while a child in a wheelchair was curiously watching her. The nurse tried her best to fly the kite, but all her efforts were in vain.

The nurse then smiled and said, “I guess, it’s not going to work, I’ve never flown a kite before.”  

The child looked disappointed, as he wished to see the kite fly in the air but the nurse couldn’t. The child then said with his head down, “It looked like it was just about to fly.”

Dr. Sharma and Dr. Durham were walking and having a conversation with each other in the garden. 

Dr. Durham then smirked and said, “So? How was the girl last night?”

Dr. Sharma smiled and said, “Good. She is a very nice woman."

Dr. Durham then said, “That's all? She's the director of the New York Doctor's Association daughter. You can't tell me you just had dinner and said, "Thanks, goodbye." Did you?"

Dr. Sharma then said, “Not exactly. I got a call during the meal. There was an emergency patient with a stroke, so I had to get back to the hospital.”

Dr. Durham exclaimed, “What!”

He then paused and said, “Look, you need to take a break from this “Work is God” ideology you’ve got going. Just because of the simple fact that you’re Dr. Sharma, head of the surgical department in the Randall Memorial Hospital, means the women are lining up for miles around, and then some! If you keep your eyes stuck only on your work, you're going to let the best ones getaway, and then you'll regret it. America is the land of opportunities. Opportunities to have different women, from Caucasian to Hispanic to Asian to Indian, etc. And you spend all your time just working, Dr. Sharma. And…”

Dr. Durham then noticed that Dr. Sharma wasn't even paying any attention to him and was looking toward the nurse and the child.

Dr. Durham then asked, “Hey, are you listening to me?”

But Dr. Sharma didn’t reply to him and started walking towards the nurse and the child.

The nurse then saw Dr. Sharma approaching them and then she said, “Oh, Dr. Sharma, Good morning.”

Dr. Sharma then excitingly said, “Good morning. A kite, huh?”

He then asked the child, who was sitting in his wheelchair, “This looks fun Aaron, isn't it?”

The child then said, "My grandpa gave it to me. He said we'll fly it when I get out of the hospital."

Dr. Sharma then took the kite from the nurse and said, “You suppose the center is a little off? Or is the wind just bad?”

The nurse then asked, “Dr. Sharma do you know how to fly a kite?”

Dr. Sharma then smiled and said, “I do. I use to fly it a lot as a kid in India. In India, we have a festival name “Makar Sankranti”, where my friends and I would fly kites every year.”

He then gave the kite to Aaron and said, “Now, hold it up high, Aaron?”

The child then held the kite up with his hands and asked, “Like this?”

Dr. Sharma then nodded his head and said, “Yeah.”

He then held the spool and started running, “Here we go!”

The kite then started flying up in the air. Both the child and the nurse were filled with excitement after seeing the kite fly up in the sky.

Aaron then said, “Whoa. The kite, it’s flying!”

Dr. Sharma then gave the spool to Aaron and then said, “All right. That’s it. Let out some more string.”

Aaron did as Dr. Sharma instructed him to and then he said, “You’re awesome Dr. Sharma! “

Dr. Sharma then smiled and said, “Get better soon, and you’ll do this all by yourself, Aaron.”

“Yeah.”

***

It was the operation theatre. Doctor Sharma was surrounded by many resident trainees who were carefully observing the operation being performed by Dr. Sharma.

Dr. Sharma then announced, “Today’s operation is a parasellar meningioma extirpation. We’ll use a right terionar approach.”

A senior doctor then said, “Now watch carefully, Dr. Sharma is performing this operation.”

Dr. Sharma then said, “I’ll open the Sylvain fissure, absorb and remove an adequate amount of spinal fluid, then move towards the optic chiasm.”

The resident trainees were amazed by the skill of Dr. Sharma. 

A resident trainee then said, “What an amazing operation!  The brain isn’t retracting at all!”

A senior doctor then said, “Look, how easily you can see the tumor’s attachment to the endocranium. He truly is a prodigy of a doctor. You resident trainees must also learn to always treat the brain with great kindness.”

A resident trainee then commented, "He is amazing! Dr. Sharma is better than they say."

***

It was night time. A middle-aged man was driving back to his home in a hurry. It was his daughter's birthday and he had promised to spend some time with her. The man then looked at his wristwatch and said, "Shit! I have to reach home fast otherwise Melanie is going to be very angry. I don't want to make her angry on her birthday."

But suddenly he saw a man jump in front of his car. The man then applied the car's brakes as soon as possible, but it was too late. The car had already hit the man in front of him. Soon some people started to gather around the accident.

A man then said, “What happened?!” 

A woman then exclaimed, “It’s a traffic accident!”

She then said, “Someone’s down. He’s bleeding. Someone call an ambulance.”

The man then got out of his car and tried to explain the situation to the people surrounding him.

 “I…It was not my fault! He just jumped out in front of the car.”

A man then angrily said, "Don't lie, you bastard. We all know you were driving the car at a high speed and hit the guy."

“Believe me. It’s not my fault! He just jumped right out of nowhere. Like something was chasing him.”

***

Healthstone Hospital

New York City, United States

Inspector Rowland asked the doctor, “What is the patient’s condition?”

The doctor then shook his head and said, “I’m sorry. There’s nothing we can do at the moment.”

Inspector Rowland then said, “You must do something, doctor.”

“But, Inspector Rowland…”

The doctor was interrupted by Inspector Rowland who then gave the doctor a photograph of Orville Hebert and asked, “This man is the patient. Right?”

The doctor then observed the photograph and said, “Yes.”

Inspector Rowland then said, “He is an extremely important reference in a case. With this man’s testimony, we may be able to pick out a thread that will unravel an entire string of serial murders at once. We cannot let him die here.”

The doctor lowered his head and said, “But he has fractured his skull, and from the C.T., we’ve found he has an acute hematoma as well. My hospital cannot save him.”

The doctor then paused and said, “But The Randall Memorial Hospital does have the man they call the greatest surgeon ever, so if there was some way he could come here, perhaps…”

Inspector Rowland then raised his eyebrow and asked, “Greatest surgeon ever? You mean Dr. Sharma?”

***

A car then arrived and stopped in front of the Healthstone Hospital. Dr. Sharma then got off the car and was welcomed by two other doctors from the Healthstone Hospital. 

A doctor then said, “Please excuse us for bringing you all the way here. We ask for your gracious assistance.”

Dr. Sharma then started walking into the hospital and asked, “What’s the patient’s condition?”

A doctor then replied, “He’s currently in a stuporous state, Dr. Sharma, and one of his pupils is dilated.”

But suddenly a voice interrupted Dr. Sharma.

“Hello, Dr. Sharma.”

Dr. Sharma then towards the source of the voice and said, “I’m sorry. Who are you?”

Inspector Rowland then smiled and said, “It has been nine years since the director’s funeral.”

Dr. Sharma seemed to recollect some of his memory from that incident and then said, “Ah yes, from the FBI…”

Inspector Rowland then shook hands with Dr. Sharma and then said, “I’m Inspector Rowland. It’s been quite a while.”

He then continued, “That case is still under investigation. Do not worry.”

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Dr. Sharma then smiled and said, “Oh, thank you for your hard work.”

Inspector Rowland then said, "You see the director and three other high-rank doctors were all poisoned at the same time. I will not let this case go unsolved."

Dr. Sharma then said, “Thank you very much. I have an operation to attend to.”

Dr. Sharma then started to walk away but then the voice of Inspector Rowland interrupted him again.

Inspector Rowland then smiled and said, “No, I thank you. Please complete this operation for the FBI’s sake.”

“What?”

“We must have that patient alive at all costs. To solve the case, I’m counting on you, Dr. Sharma.”

Dr. Sharma then said with an impassive face, “I’m not performing this operation for the FBI. I’m doing it for the patient.”

Inspector Rowland then smiled and said, “Just as well.”

The doctor then said, “Now, Dr. Sharma the X-Ray room is this way.”

Dr. Sharma and the doctor started to walk away but they were interrupted again by Inspector Rowland.

Inspector Rowland smirked and said, “Ah, so you have become the surgical department head, Dr. Sharma. You seem to have gotten quite far ahead in the world.”

Dr. Sharma then turned behind, and asked in a cold tone, “Hmm, and your point?”

Inspector Rowland then said, “Well, it’s such an accomplishment for one so young. With your vigor, the director’s position won’t be far off next term, will it?”

Dr. Sharma then said, “No, I have much further to go.”

He then started walking away and said, “Excuse me, I’m in a hurry.”

But Inspector Rowland continued speaking, "It was a case with very little evidence. The investigation of the Randall Memorial Hospital murders has been quite a stormy ride. The only clue we have is the candy laced with nitric acid found in each of the bodies. That method means the crime must have been carried out by an intellectual. An intellectual crime means there was some kind of relationship between the victim and the assailant.”

Dr. Sharma then turned behind and asked, “What are you trying to say?”

Inspector Rowland then smiled and said, "No, pardon me. In my line of work, one in the middle-age thinks of such things. At any rate, do not worry. There are no criminal cases I have not solved, except for one."

Dr. Sharma then said, “I’ll be awaiting the results.”

Dr. Sharma and the doctor then started walking away into the X-ray room while Inspector Rowland stood there.

Inspector Rowland then thought to himself, “As for the person, who gained the most after the Randall Memorial Hospital murders…?”

“There is only one possible answer. You, Dr. Sharma.”

***

It was the operation theatre. Dr. Sharma and many doctors were going to start their operation on Orville Hebert. 

Dr. Sharma then announced, “We will now remove the skull and open the hematoma. If we do not hurry, the hernia will go worse.”

Dr. Sharma and the doctors then started their operation on Orville Hebert.

***

The next day, Dr. Sharma and a few doctors were walking in the hallways of the hospital.

A doctor then said, “Thank you so much for taking the trouble to come all the way here, Dr. Sharma.”

Dr. Sharma then smiled and said, “Not at all. How has the patient’s condition progressed?”

A doctor then said, “Well he’s conscious now, but his right pupil is enlarged, and he’s still numb on the left side.”

Dr. Sharma then said, “Then his recovery is well on its way. The numbness should subside immediately. He sounds like he’s in fine shape.”

They soon reached Orville Hebert's room and Dr. Sharma then stopped in his tracks and said, "Oh, and if the police or the FBI wants an interview, tell them no, for the time being."

A doctor then replied, “Yes, but that inspector Rowland from the FBI is so persistent.”

Dr. Sharma then said with a stern voice, “The patient’s recovery comes first.”

Dr. Sharma then entered Mr. Herbert's room. He then sat on the chair, besides Mr. Herbert's bed.

Mr. Herbert was awake and noticed Dr. Sharma entering. Dr. Sharma then raised his finger and said, “Mr. Hebert, can you understand me? Can you see my finger? If you can answer, please do so.”

Mr. Herbert then said something, which Dr. Sharma couldn’t properly hear. He then went near Mr. Herbert and asked, “Yes?”

Mr. Herbert then said, “He’s coming.”

His eyes widened with fear. He then said again, “The monster is coming.”

Dr. Sharma asked with confusion, “Monster?”

 

 

 

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