Patient X

Two days later,I sat in the local Dunkin Donuts with Attorney, Robert Foxworth . We were both drinking large tumblers of coffee and talking...

"So you're telling me that you went to see Dr. Watson and when you got there, he was dead?" asked Robert.

"As dead as a doorknob counselor and get this...He has an intricate filing system....Apparently the file between LW-2655043 and LW2655045 is missing..  This was the patient that he was concerned about..." I said.

"So how does this tie in with Courtland?" asked Robert Foxworth...

"He had a stack of files of which this missing one was a part of and they had taped on  them stickeys that read..."Reffered to by Dr. B. Courtland.." I said.

"Damn...so you think that this missing file belongs to the patient that Watson was calling you about?" asked  Robert Foxworth.

"Not only that...but I believe this patient was referred to him by Courtland for the same reason...He was afraid or uneasy about this person and he dumped him off.." I said.

"What about the other patients?" asked Robert.

"I checked them all out...It was close to thirty people...I located them and talked to all of them..apparently they all checked out and none of them knew each other,so they couldn't help me locate Patient X." I said.

"You go to the morgue?" asked Robert.

"Yes...Dr. Courtland was strangled with a Garrotte...It was found on the scene..They are testing it for DNA...I stopped by his house with the two Detectives that are handling the homicide...There is a file missing there too...and a micro-cassette...Dr. Courtland recorded his sessions with his patients....He ,like Watson had an intricate system of filing...One file and one matching cassette is missing...We find that or the identity of this patient and we find our killer...That's my guess." I said.


"What about his patients?" asked Robert.

"I checked them out too...Spent another day tracking them down and interviewing them...They all checked out too.." I said.

"Wow, so we got nothin." said Robert.

"No..I think we got a little something...More than we had when we started."I said.

Just then, Attorney Chance Howard, Robert's youthful protege' came in and sat down next to us...Robert passed him a tumbler of coffee and a doughnut...

"What did you find kid?" he asked.

"Not much more than Kevin has already told you..Neither one was known to have any enemies..Courtland's sole heir and executor is his daughter...our client and she doesn't need the money...She's doing great out in Cali...as an Interior Decorator...Was very close to her father...I did find out one thing though...Both Dr. Watson and Dr. Courtland played tennis every week with a Dr. Wesley Cornbluth....He reffered three patients to both of them...." said Chance..

"Yeah I know..I checked two of them out also." I said.

"Damn Kevin...No grass grows under your shoes does it?" laughed Robert Foxworth.

"That is why you pay me isn't it?" I said as Chance Howard laughed...

"One of the patients is dead...A suicide ,last year...The other patient is in jail and has been locked up for months.." I said.

''And the third patient??" asked Robert...

"Don't know...Don't have a name, an address, nothing...This guy and everything about him has just vanished into thin air.. I do have a line in to Dr. Cornbluth. I'm supposed to drive up to his country club and talk to him tomorrow. He said he might be able to shed some light on this" I said.

"Yo Kev..Let me ride up there with you." asked Chance.

''Sure." I said.

''Wow...this is looking more and more like this could be our guy." said Robert.

"Maybe...Maybe...Who knows?" I said...

We sat and drank our coffee silently after that!

II-

That night, Sean Jackson, Robert Foxworth and I and our wives, Sheila,Bonita, Sepia and Bernadette and Harry Charles all went out to Josies for drinks and dancing...Clerow and his wife, Corabeth was there and Kool Kat was there with his girlfriend ,Chelsea...In the corner, I saw Chess and his wife, Rell... I waved at all of them as we found a huge set of booths and gave our drink orders to the waitress...

Gus was tending bar as usual and the atmosphere was electric....No band tonight...Just a D.J., who was spinning some hot hits from the 70's , 80's and 90's...

"Hey Kev...Look who's over there." said Robert Foxworth to me as we were coming back after a sweaty set of dancing with our wives...

It was his client, Barbara Courtland. She was sitting with a well dressed young man. They had been dancing too and he had gone to the bar to get drinks...While he was there, another young man walked over to her table...He looked at her and smiled..She smiled and then stood up and embraced him...

"Oh My goddd.. Cecil?? Cecil Washington is that you?" she said.

"Yeah baby..who else is it going to be?? Damn girl, you still look good...Got them big ass hips and everything..lawd have mercy." he said.

"Shut up Cecil, you so crazy.." she laughed...

Just then, the well dressed gentleman who had gone to the bar returned with the drinks..He was not pleased.

"Who the hell is this? Why you ooglin my woman?" he said.

"Brian...Brian..First off, I'm not your woman..We are friends....friends..okay?? I keep trying to tell you that....This is an old friend of mine  Cecil Washington." she said.

"Yeah, well how old a friend? Was yall friends with benefits?" said the well dressed man named Brian.

"Heyyyy man..you gettin kinda personal bruh." snapped Cecil...

"Well you all up in my woman's face like you was tryin to get personal...BRUH!" said Brian.

"Hey look..apparently I've stumbled into something here...Look, Barbara..it was great seeing you again.....Maybe I'll talk to you later." said Cecil.

"No..you done talked to her all you gonna talk...Get to steppin brother." said Brian.

"Brian...Brian!  You trippin...I aint your woman...I'm only in town to bury my father and Cecil is my friend....I'll talk to him and whoever I want ..It's not your concern..." she snapped.

"Good , then talk then!" he snapped and got up, stamped his foot and stormed out!!

Robert and I looked at each other...

"Whoa...I didn't mean to step on anybody's toes.." said Cecil...

"You didn't....He's crazy...He's had a thing for me for years....I tried to give him some play but he was just too possesive..... too clingy...My dad was murdered you know." she said.

"Yeah ,I read about it in the papers." said Cecil.

"I thought I'd slip into town, take care of my business and bounce...Don't you know that fool was at the airport , waitin on me?" laughed Barbara..

"Whattttt??? Gurl you must have put it on him....I don't blame him...If you had ever gave me some of that good good..I probably would be half out my mind too." laughed Cecil..

"Youse a fool Cecil." laughed Barbara.. Cecil laughed too!

"That's just the thing...We never done nothin....He wanted to...but the most he ever got from me was a kiss and I wished I'd never even done that." she said.

Cecil laughed and shook his head...

Robert and I returned to our table and continued to laugh ,drink and talk with everybody....

"You goin to see Cornbluth tommorow right Kev?"

"Yeah...Maybe he can give me a lead on our mystery man." I said.

The night rolled on without incident!


(To Be Continued...)