Chapter 7: Monster

It has been three days since the operation of Mr. Hebert. Mr. Hebert's condition was improving but still, he hadn't recovered fully. The FBI finally got permission to interrogate Mr. Hebert after a lot of persistence. Inspector Rowland and his subordinate entered Mr. Hebert's room in the hospital. Dr. Sharma was also present in the room. Inspector Rolland sat on the chair beside the bed and started interrogation while his subordinate and Dr. Sharma watched. 

"Hello, Mr. Hebert. I'm inspector Rowland from the FBI. I know you’re able to speak now.”

But Mr. Hebert didn't give any reaction. He just bowed his head down and didn’t reply. But Inspector Rowland continued with his interrogation.

“Four middle-aged couples murdered in the past two years and three of the murders, you were seen nearby. Why is that, Oliver Hebert?”

Still no response. Inspector Rowland then folded his hands and said, “Hmph, very well. I already know that you’re an excellent lock-picker. Your job is only to open the doors. You’re completely incapable of slicing off a head in one clean stroke.”

He then paused and said, “Therefore, there must have been multiple people working together. The way I see it, there would have been 3. At the very least, in order to break the difficult locks, sneak up on the couples without drawing resistance and slaughter them. We've already got a lineup of men that could have been knife-wielders. It's only a matter of time until we squeeze out your partner. Whether you speak or not.”

He then smiled and said, “But that isn’t what I really want to ask. I want to know why these four cases happened all over the US and it was only childless middle-aged couples who were killed. You can’t tell me it was a simple robbery. The valuables that were taken were of such little worth, especially when split up between partners, that it wouldn’t be worth the effort.”

But still, there was no response from Mr. Hebert. Dr. Sharma was keenly observing the interrogation. Inspector Rowland then said, “Well? How about a little administration of justice transaction? If you give us a testimony, we'll drop charges.”

He then paused and said, “Who hired you to do these jobs?”

Suddenly Mr. Hebert's demeanor changed entirely. Fear was visible in his eyes. He then started screaming and shaking in fear. 

Dr. Sharma immediately went and tried to comfort Mr. Hebert. Dr. Sharma then said, "It's alright Mr. Herbert! It's okay!"

He then turned towards Inspector Rowland and said, “The questioning is over now!”

But Inspector looked unaffected by Mr. Hebert's screaming and said, “No. I need to narrow the scope a little.”

Dr. Sharma then stood up and ordered, "Please leave! This is an order from the doctor in charge.”

Inspector Rowland then smirked and said, "Very well. I'll leave it off here, for today. But I'd like him to be watched very carefully, so he doesn't disappear or dies of poisoning. Many troubles seem to pop around you all the time, Dr. Sharma.”

Dr. Sharma then understood what Inspector Rowland was trying to say. He then angrily said, “What are you trying to say?!”

Inspector Rowland then started walking away with his subordinate and said, “It was a joke. Pardon me.”

He then left the room while Dr. Sharma stood there furious because of Inspector Rowland.

***

A cop was standing outside Mr. Hebert's room. His duty was to guard Mr. Hebert in case someone attacked. The cop there thought to himself, “Why am I always given this type of work? My wife is seven months pregnant and I want to spend some time with her. But this work won’t allow me to even spend some quality time with her. Even my salary is quite low."

He then saw Dr. Sharma coming out of the room with Mr. Hebert in his wheelchair. He then remembered what Inspector Rowland told him.

"Keep an eye on Dr. Sharma."

He then tried to stop Dr. Sharma and asked, “Hey! Where are you going?!”

Dr. Sharma then turned back to him and replied, “On a walk.”

The cop then said, “I can’t have you doing these things whenever you please.”

But Dr. Sharma then said with a calm tone, "It’s necessary to cheer up the patient. I’m only going out to the park beside the hospital. If you’re worried, why don’t you come to me?”

The cop then thought for a few seconds and finally decided to allow Dr. Sharma to take Mr. Hebert on a walk.

***

It was the park beside the hospital. Children were playing with each other while their mothers were gossiping. Everyone in the park was having fun. Dr. Sharma and Mr. Hebert were currently relaxing in the park. The cop was also present there to guard Mr. Hebert against any threats and also to keep an eye on Dr. Sharma. 

Dr. Sharma smiled after seeing the children playing with each other. He then said, "It's such a warm day.”

He then turned towards Mr. Hebert and asked, “You can talk now, right?”

Mr. Hebert gave no response to Dr. Sharma. Dr. Sharma then looked toward the sky and said, “It's days like this that make me glad to be alive.”

He then said, “You just snap if you don’t take the time to do this every now and then. Especially when you deal with life and death on a daily basis. That's why doctors relax by only thinking about their career, or money, or their research.”

He then paused and said, “I used to be that way too. I wanted to get a nice position and do my research. Doing surgery was only a means to acquire that dream.”

He then smiled and said, “But I was changed, because of an operation on one certain little boy. He and his little sister were twins. His name was Marcel. He was shot in the head, and because I saved him, I was able to reaffirm my duty as a doctor. I don’t know where the siblings are at present. But I hope both of them are happy and doing well in their lives.”

He then paused and said, “Everyone’s life has equal rights. And a doctor's job is to save those lives. People can change for the better. It’s not too late now.”

Mr. Hebert then asked, "Doctor, how old are you?”

Doctor Sharma then looked toward Mr. Hebert and replied, “I’m 37 years old. Why did you ask my age, Mr. Hebert?”

Mr. Hebert then said, "Doctor, we are not far apart in age, but you’re like my dad. You saved my life. It makes me feel like you’re my dad.”

Dr. Sharma then smiled after hearing that and said, “Well, I’ve just gained quite a large son.”

Mr. Hebert then said, "I always wanted this clock, when I was a kid. You know the one where it strikes the right time and the little wooden people come marching out. I wanted that one so much, that I stuck my head up against the window of the clock shop every day. That store was the first one I ever broke into."

Dr. Sharma was keenly listening to Mr. Hebert's story. Mr. Hebert then said, “I got caught right away, so I didn’t get the clock. Everyone in the society hated me after that.”

He then paused and said, “But ever since then, picking locks was my job. And all because I wanted a clock.”

He then started crying. Tears fell from his eyes and regret was visible in his eyes. He then said, “It was all I wanted, but I still...”

Dr. Sharam then smiled and said, “You’ll tell them everything. You’ll tell the police everything, and then you will start over. It’s not too late Mr. Hebert.”

But then he saw fear in Mr. Hebert's eyes. Mr. Hebert was shaking in fear and was trying to cover up his mouth with his hand. 

Mr. Hebert then said with a sense of fear in his voice, “They were killed. All my partners were killed.”

Dr. Sharma immediately stood up and asked, “By who?” 

But Mr. Hebert gave no reply and tried to cover his mouth harder. It was like he didn't want to tell the name because of fear.

Dr. Sharma then asked, "By that "monster" you were talking about?"

But Mr. Hebert gave no response and was shaking in fear. 

***

It has been 14 days since the operation on Mr. Hebert. Mr. Hebert has improved a lot and could now walk without his wheelchair. Though he still refused to say anything to the FBI. At the moment Dr. Sharma and Dr. Durham were currently roaming in the market. 

Dr. Durham then smirked and said, "You have got to hit it off this time. I set it up perfectly and everything. She’s the daughter of a state legislator, she’s got the brains and the body, if you know what I mean.”

Dr. Sharma started laughing after hearing that and said, “I won’t until I meet her.”

But then he said, “But, I think you are right. It’s time for me to settle down. Even my parents from India are furious, that I haven’t married till now.”

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Dr. Durham then nodded his head and said, “Isn’t that right? Yup, exactly right. It’s unthinkable for a guy in your position to not have a wife.”

But then he saw Dr. Sharma was not even looking towards him and was seeing a clock from outside the shop. Dr. Sharma then went even near to observe a clock.

Dr. Durham then asked, “Hey, wait where you are going?”

But Dr. Sharma didn't reply to Dr. Durham and kept on observing the clock. He then remembered Mr. Hebert's words, “The kind of where it strikes the right time and the little wooden people come marching out.”

He then exclaimed, “This is the clock Mr. Hebert wanted!”

He then went inside the shop while Dr. Durham tried calling him back.

“Hey! What are you doing? It’s already time for your date.”

But Dr. Sharma had already entered the shop and said, "Excuse me. About that clock in your window, how much does it cost?”

***

Mr. Hebert was currently laying down on his bed. For the past few days, he has been thinking about what Dr. Sharma said.

"People can change for the better. It's not too late, now."

He then got up from the bed and knocked on his door.

“Mr. Officer, are you in there?"

But there was no response. He then opened the door and said, "I'll tell you everything. Just as long you bring Dr. Sharma with you."

But to his surprise, he saw no one in the hall. It wasn’t too surprising for the hall to be empty, at this time, as it was night. But the cop is assigned to guard him for 24 hours. So, it was surprising for the hall to be empty. 

"Did the officer go to the washroom or something?"

 “Officer?”

But then his eyes went to the floor and then he was horrified by what he saw.

***

Dr. Sharma was entering the hospital with the gift he bought for Mr. Hebert. Mr. Hebert will surely be happy after receiving the gift. 

He then asked the woman at the counter, “Is it okay if I go to one of the rooms at this hour?”

The woman smiled and replied, “Go right ahead, Dr. Sharma. What is that?"

Dr. Sharma then smiled and said, “I found something good.”

But as he reached the hallways, he saw the cop was down on the floor. He immediately ran and went near the officer.

He then tried to wake up the officer and said, “Hey, what’s going on? Get up!”

But there was no response. He then saw a candy wrapper near the officer and understood what happened. The officer was dead.

“He’s dead...A candy wrapper.”

He then tried to call out Mr. Hebert.

“Mr. Hebert!”

But there was no response. He dashed his way up to the door and opened it to find Mr. Hebert's room empty. He then dropped the gift and came out of the room. He then tried to call Mr. Hebert. 

“Mr. Hebert!”

But there was no response. He then started searching and then finally he saw Mr. Hebert running from the window. He then tried to call Mr. Hebert, but Mr. Hebert kept running.

“Mr. Hebert!"

Dr. Sharma then started chasing Mr. Hebert. He then thought to himself, “It’s the same as back then. Poisoning through candy. My patients disappear. The same thing that happened nine years ago."

“Mr. Hebert!”

But Mr. Hebert kept running and refused to stop. He was heading towards a construction building. Dr. Sharma continued chasing him and refused to give up. Dr. Sharma then entered the construction building and started calling out Mr. Hebert.

“Mr. Hebert!”

Still, there was no response.

"It's me, Dr. Sharma."

Mr. Hebert then said with a sense of fear in his voice, “Don’t come here, doctor!”

But Dr. Sharma was persistent and said, "It's okay. Let’s go back to the hospital, Mr. Hebert."

But Mr. Hebert tried to warn Dr. Sharma and said, “No, doctor. You can’t come here! You can’t look at him!”

Dr. Sharma was confused and asked, “Him?”

Mr. Hebert replied, “He is the one who killed my partners! He will kill you too!”

Dr. Sharma after hearing that became cautious and then he finally found Mr. Hebert. Mr. Hebert was currently sitting on the ground and there was a man behind him. The man's face wasn't visible in the dark. The man appeared to be tall. 

Dr. Sharma then tried to say with a threatening voice, “Who is there?!”

Mr. Hebert then said, “No, doctor! Don’t come any closer!”

But the man behind Mr. Hebert then spoke, “It’s been quite a while, doctor. It’s me.”

Dr. Sharma didn't understand what the man said, “Huh?”

The man then said, “You saved my life nine years ago. I wonder if you’ve forgotten all about those little twins.”

Dr. Sharma then immediately understood who the man was.

“Marcel...”

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