Skeleton Key (3 page)

Both Clay and Tanner had severe trauma as a result of difficult childbirths. In both cases, they were severely strangled by their own umbilical cords at delivery and had to be resuscitated. In both cases, according to Dr. Frauss’s tests, the closed parts of their medulla oblongatas were
completely
open, far more open than any other patient that he had ever tested. Both Clay and Tanner miraculously, and coincidentally, had super brain powers that seemed to be getting more powerful and more focused. They were Zander’s “super patients,” and they were also Zander’s closest friends.

“
What I was
hoping
, Clay, is that as you get smarter, you might also get wiser. Maybe you’ll stop secluding yourself and listen to a voice of reason. Listen, Jessie passed away almost a year ago. Have you gone on a date since then?”

“
Zander, you know I respect you and consider you to be my closest friend, but it’s really not your business how long I mourn my wife’s death. Especially when it was
my
fault.”

“
Though I don’t agree it was your fault, I’ll try to respect your wishes. But it’s my goal to help you to move on and lead a more productive life. You’ll probably be just as stubborn as you are about helping me with my research, but I don’t tend to give up easily.”

“
So are those your research papers on the floor, Dr. Frauss?” Tanner interjected in hopes of changing the subject. His dad shot him the thought, “
Thanks
.” Tanner just nodded in reply.

“
No, actually they aren’t. They’re some papers my wife has shared with me along with some research that I’ve done. Because of patient confidentiality, I can’t share all the information about the patient, but my wife, Lydia, has a case in which she thinks maybe you, Clay, or you
and
Tanner could help. And there’s a
very
interesting back story.”

“
What’s up, Doc?” Clay enjoyed using those words.

“
Well, there is a nice lady who works for the Durand Depot. Since you still haven’t sold your house and you’re still living in Flint, that’s not too far away. Her husband disappeared after a train accident about seven years ago, never to be heard from again. Her son is a high school athlete—basketball and baseball. He was withdrawn
before
his father’s disappearance, but he’s worsened over the years. Lydia was thinking that maybe you could befriend the family and help the young man. He’s a senior this year.”

Clay became interested in what his friend was thinking because he sensed that Zander wasn’t telling the whole story. His biggest clue was that the doctor was looking at Tanner, who couldn’t read his mind, instead of Clay. “
Tell him to look at me and tell whatever it is that he’s not saying, Tanner
,” Clay directed his son when they made eye contact.

Tanner got the message and relayed it to Zander, who turned uncomfortably and looked Clay in the eyes. “There’s something that I’m not saying.” Clay and Tanner laughed, and Zander sensed immediately that they were messing with his mind. “Okay, guys, so much for the fun and games. Jeesh! I’ll tell you what’s on my mind. The whole train accident is a mystery. I was actually wondering if you would be able to figure out what happened. Lydia is most interested in helping the boy, but my sense of mystery and my intuition is telling me that if you find out what happened out there, you may be able to help the boy at the same time. Besides, it’ll give you something to do.”

“
So what do you want me to do? You want me to show up in Durand unannounced and simply start reading people’s minds until I solve a mystery? What is it with you, Zander?”

“
It’s an adventure. A way to help someone. A way to possibly use your God-given gifts to benefit someone else. And maybe you’ll learn something about yourself along the way. Use some of those new brain cells and see if you can figure out what happened,” Zander smiled.

“
And how do you know that I won’t end up hurting someone else or getting someone else killed?” Clay asked.

“
None of us knows what life has in store for us. But we continue to walk by faith. And maybe we build relationships along the way and learn to trust in someone else too. Lydia says the mother leads caving expeditions. What do think about caving with her to get to know her? You’re always game for a little physical activity, and Lydia says she’s quite a looker too. If I set it up, would you be willing to go?”

***

A dwarf-sized man was standing along the side of the road with his thumb extended in hopes of hitching a ride. A car whizzed by, causing the man to leap off the road’s shoulder. Passengers in the car roared with laughter. While screaming endless obscenities at the driver, Jasper angrily stepped back to the side of the road. Someone had stolen or hidden his bicycle while he was in the downtown drugstore, and now another bad day was turning worse as he tried to make his way home. The car turned around on the road and headed back at breakneck speed, stereo blasting so loud that the passengers’ ears might have been bleeding. The teenaged driver was speeding down the road in the wrong lane in a direct line toward the little man.

Once again, Jasper leaped out of the way to avoid being struck by the car. The knit hat that was covering Jasper’s ears fell off in his headlong avoidance of death and disappeared in the weeds along the side of the road. Jasper’s face reddened in anger to a shade akin to the red curls that were newly exposed on his head. The miserably dispositioned little man was about as unpopular in the town of Durand as a man could be. He felt around in the weeds for his hat while the car slowed in preparation for its third run at the helpless man. He found the hat at the same time that his hand discovered a large piece of timber, which was actually a two-and-a-half foot piece of sawed-off railroad tie. Jasper grabbed the wood rectangle and pulled, finding that he was able to move it and eventually lift it. He pulled it out to the side of the road, fully intending to hurl it into the car’s windshield if the driver intended to make another pass—which actually
was
his intention.

Once at the side of the road again, Jasper noticed a crater-sized pothole in the pavement—a specialty of most Michigan roads. He also noticed that the car was turning in preparation for a third thrilling run at the hitchhiker. Jasper lay the 7 x 9-inch white-pined tie at the far side of the pothole, then stood in front of the hole to wait. As the car sped toward him, he saw police flashers light up in the distance and a siren sounded. The driver saw the police lights in his side mirror and looked into his rear-view mirror, taking his eyes temporarily off the road as he rapidly approached Jasper. The conniving dwarf jumped out of the way for the third time as the right-front tire plunged into the hole and emerged with a stunning jar, slamming first into the concrete edge and then into the railroad tie. The right-front wheel snapped off at the axle and the car skidded along the road on its frame, spinning in a nearly three-hundred-sixty-degree turn. The railroad tie flipped back into the weeds alongside the road while the tire bounced a couple of times and then made a lonesome roll down the road.

First one police car and then another braked to a stop in front of the damaged vehicle. Jasper took great pleasure in his role as eyewitness to the accident. Officers Dan Duncan and Verne Gilbert wrote up an accident report and gave tickets for speeding, reckless driving, and failure to exercise due caution to avoid colliding with a pedestrian. After Jasper told his tale to the policemen, failing, of course, to include information about the railroad tie, he accepted a ride home from Officer Gilbert and filed a police report regarding his missing bicycle.

Zander turned and gathered up the scattered files and papers. “Have a seat at this table,” he pointed. “I have some things to show you.”

Clay and Tanner did as they were directed.

“
In August of 2003, there was a train accident in Durand. I’ve found two news articles on the internet that I’d like you to see. He pulled the first article out. Clay began reading while Tanner looked over his shoulder.

Tracks Cleared After Amtrak Train Collides with Horse Trailer

August 8, 2003

Amtrak will be operating its Blue Water service to and from Durand again normally this evening. Clean up and track repairs were completed during the night after a train collided with a semi-tractor-trailer Thursday at 9:05 p.m. near the Durand Union Station. Amtrak Train 364 collided with a trailer carrying four harness-racing horses meant for delivery to Sports Creek Raceway in Swartz Creek. The semi-truck was abandoned on the tracks at the South Oak Street crossing. The train, carrying seventeen passengers, smashed into the horse trailer, destroying and setting it on fire, derailing three train cars, and causing damage to the main-line track. Eleven passengers were treated for minor injuries while the train engineer, Joseph Carrollton, was transported to Memorial Healthcare in Owosso with critical injuries. One passenger, Adrian Payne, a co-owner of the Durand Depot, has been mysteriously missing since the accident. All four of the horses were killed.

The derailment and track damage affected Friday morning Amtrak service. The main engine and two coach-cars derailed, putting the two passenger-cars on the ground and damaging the rail itself as well as the track circuitry. Track Superintendent Wilson Goodrich began supervision and direction of cleanup and repair operations within hours of the disaster. Durand area police and paramedics arrived promptly, while firefighters arrived on the scene and quickly extinguished the truck fire. Police Chief Luke Hopper identified two of the injured persons as Marshall Mortonson, co-owner of the Durand Depot, who jumped from the front of the moving train along with the engineer, and Logan Payne, son of the missing co-owner, Adrian Payne.

The truck’s driver, Lawrence Maloney (38) from Louisville, Kentucky, was driven to the site via police cruiser after the collision occurred. He claimed that his rig was stolen while he was at the Durand Shell station using the restroom after refueling his truck. There is no explanation as to why it was left on the tracks or who may have stolen and abandoned it.
Track Superintendent Goodrich was willing to neither estimate the cost of the damages and repairs nor speculate as to why the Amtrak engine was unable to avoid the collision. He was willing only to state, “An investigation will be made.”

When the two Thomas men finished the first article, Zander slid it away and replaced it with a second. “This is the follow-up article,” Zander explained. “It was printed five days later after the so-called investigation was finished. I think you’ll find it interesting.” Clay and Tanner began reading.

Amtrak Wreck Details Tracked Down

August 13, 2003

Just five days after the disastrous Amtrak train wreck at the South Oak Street crossing in Durand, the investigation has been concluded. Amtrak Train 364 collided with a semi-truck rig carrying four harness-racing horses meant for delivery to Sports Creek Raceway in Swartz Creek. Eleven passengers were treated for minor scrapes and bruises. Joseph Carrollton, the Amtrak train engineer from Chicago who had been rushed to Memorial Healthcare in Owosso, was tragically killed in the accident. Engineer Carrollton leaped from the moving train just before impact. The Shiawassee County Medical Examiner determined that the cause of death was impact from the overturned second car of the derailed Amtrak train. It was also determined that Carrollton’s blood alcohol level was .17 percent—more than twice the legal blood alcohol limit.

Durand Police Chief Luke Hopper confirmed that the truck was stolen from the parking lot of the Shell station at the I-69 exit in Durand while the driver, Lawrence Maloney (38) of Louisville, Kentucky, was using the restroom. The four racehorses were all killed in the impact of the crash and impending fire. Track Superintendent Wilson Goodrich reported, “After the train completed the ninety-degree curve between Monroe Road and Oak Street, Engineer Carrollton was unable to bring it to a stop before it collided with the horse trailer which had been abandoned across the tracks.” According to Goodrich, the train’s “black box” recorder indicated that a failed attempt was made to brake the passenger train “in time to avoid the disaster.”

One of the most bizarre aspects of the train wreck is the mysterious disappearance of Adrian Payne, co-owner of the Durand Depot. Railway records and various passengers have confirmed that Payne was on board the train, but since the accident, there has been no sign of his whereabouts. His wife of thirteen years, Erika Payne, and son, Logan, have yet to hear from Payne.

Board members of the Durand Union Station Michigan Railroad History Museum, in cooperation with Amtrak, have agreed to display the crashed train engine outside of the History Museum at 200 Railroad Street in Durand. It is to be located next to the 1968 refurbished caboose that was purchased at auction from Grand Trunk Railroad and donated to the museum. In an interesting gesture, the four horses were buried Monday along the railroad tracks about fifteen hundred feet west of the South Oak Street crossing where a tombstone will be placed as a memorial. The body of Joseph Carrollton (44) of Chicago, Illinois, has been transported to Drake and Son Funeral Home on North Western Avenue in Chicago. His wife and two children survive Carrollton.