Early Retirement (An Arturo Nash Novel)

Ch. 4

The smell of rubbing alcohol and soap filled the room. The walls were covered with posters of all of the major systems of the body. The cabinets were filled not with dishes or cleaning supplies but with bone saws and other medical instruments. The most important person in the room lay naked on a cold examination table.

"So what can you tell us Doc?" Detective Arturo Nash asked from his seat a comfortable distance away.

"Well for one thing the x-ray showed that her ankle had a moderate sprain that looked to be recent." Dr. Shouder said.

"So what you're saying is that she sprained her ankle sometime during her encounter with the assailant?" Nash asked

"Yes probably while attempting to run away. Another abnormality I noticed was bruising on her face. It looks to me like she might have been slapped across the face at least twice." Shouder said removing a pair of latex gloves.

"So he tried to beat something out of her and when she wouldn't talk he killed her." Officer Steve Blanco said to his partner.

The policemen said their thanks and left the coroner's office knowing very little helpful information.

"So if this guy was really after info and Galdenbaum didn't give it to him you think he went and attacked Margie Watson to get it?" Blanco asked opening the passenger side door of Nash's Buick.

"It's entirely possible. What we need to do is thoroughly search Bridget Galdenbaum's classroom." Nash said cranking the car.

A few minutes later the men were off to Galdenbaum's classroom. They decided how they were going to conduct the search and jammed to classic rock all at the same time.

Fifteen minutes later the green Buick pulled into the school parking lot and the two men got out. They walked through the front door into the front office, flashed their badges and made their way toward Bridget Galdenbaum's classroom.

The once full room now sat empty. All of Galdenbaum's personal belongings had been picked up. Only a filing cabinet remained. It was obvious by the dust on everything that the janitorial staff saw no point in cleaning the room anymore. The only thing that made the room look like it had only recently been vacated was the math problem left on the chalkboard. Nash and Blanco put on rubber gloves and approached Galdenbaum's desk. Blanco took her main desk while Nash took the computer desk. They began opening drawers and removing items left behind. Blanco sighed. He hated going through drawers or cabinets or anything like that. A stapler, some pencils, a hole puncher, and a copy of an upcoming test that would never be given. The next item Blanco pulled out was the back of an old book of math worksheets. The only significant thing on it was an address: 1273 Forebranch Rd.

Blanco ripped off the half with the address, stuck it in his pocket and threw the rest on the pile of useless junk. He opened the next drawer and found it barren. He opened the third drawer and found some sticky tack, a box of thumbtacks, a box of staples, and a pad of sticky notes. He stood up and looked at the sticky notes. His mind immediately flashed back to Margie Watson's house and a smile made its way across his face.

"Hey Arty, I think that Bridget Galdenbaum wrote that note that we found at the second victim's house." Blanco announced

"What makes you think that?" Nash asked straightening up and holding his back.

"Look at the sticky notes. They're all messed up. It looks like maybe the last note was torn in a hurry and dislodged some extras." Blanco said.

"Well if that's the case then this "wall" is what got both women killed," Nash said.