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Bewitching Tour Exclusive: Meeting Tater
They reached the stairs when they heard an overhead announcement, “Would Colonel Hammond please come to reception? Colonel Hammond to reception, please.”
They did an about-face and walked back to Sister Edith’s desk. Standing in the reception area was Ollie, fairly covered with snow. He stood on the mat, clearly not wanting to drip on the marble floor.
Seeing the distressed look on Ollie’s face, Dash stepped quickly over to him.
“Ollie, is there a problem? I take it that the snow plowing isn’t going well.”
“Sir, I found a car, door open. No one inside but it had been running for a while. The exhaust melted the snow all round it. Several empty bottles were inside. I figure the driver got drunk and then left the car. I pulled this out of the glove compartment, but I can’t find the driver.” He handed Dash a slip of paper. It was the proof of insurance that the state requires each driver to keep in the car. “If that slip is true, then you might have a problem. That guy is a real low-life, trouble with a capital T.”
Billy stepped over to read the slip along with Dash. The name of the insured was Tatum Boone, address in Bardstown.
“Well, this confirms the identity of the man in the snowbank,” Billy said.
“Man in the snowbank? What’s happened here?” Ollie asked.
Dash reached for the man’s coat and gloves. “Wipe your feet, and let’s talk.”
The men adjourned to the restroom down the hall since Ollie did not want to drip all over the wooden floor. Each man picked a spot on the wall to lean against. Dash told an abbreviated version of what happened since they arrived. No mention made of Sister Miriam Patrice’s calling in reinforcements for the strange happenings. Ollie was left to assume the problems were the handiwork of this Tater fellow, though the reasons to scare the Hammond group were left unanswered.
Ollie frowned. “I thought I saw a good-sized man around the backside of the building. Figured he was helping the sisters during the storm. Thought he replaced the Borland brothers. They’ve been out sick for a bit now.”
“The man you saw is one of my team, definitely here to help the sisters. You can see why I was so abrasive with you. I figured you might be the guy playing nasty pranks on us. Would you know this Tatum Boone if you saw him?” Dash asked.
“Know him? Yes, sir, I would. I put him in the hospital a year or so ago. Bit slow on the uptake, but has an eye for the ladies. He stalked my Mona, harassed her no end. I had to put a stop to it when he broke into her apartment. Where is he? I’ll have a look.”
Billy asked, “Did you do jail time for the assault?”
“Nah, the sheriff didn’t even charge me. Everyone knows Tater deserved to be beaten a good one. Thought for a minute I was going to get a medal,” Ollie said as he started down the hall.
“Small town justice,” Billy commented.
They walked to the makeshift hospital ward.
Irma and Ilene were standing guard as requested. Dash whispered the introductions.
Ollie walked over to Tater who was sound asleep. He turned to Dash and nodded. “That’s Tater for sure. What happened to him?”
Dash answered, “We suspect he was outside last night during the storm. Since you found his car and the empty bottles, we can assume he spent the night there. Once the gas ran out, he made his way to the building but couldn’t get in. Billy spotted him and we dragged him in through a window, which reminds me—I’ll have to repair that before it gets dark.”
“He had no ID on him, but Sister Edith thought he might be Tater but wasn’t sure. You’ve confirmed it,” Billy added.
“If you need to take him to the hospital, if you feel obligated, I guess I can plow a way to the highway. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t bother. Good riddance, as they say.”
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