Page 139 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Soaked to the Bone

taste for life overseas and went from job to job in hospitals catering
to wealthy foreigners and the indigenous elite. He asked her why she
had been avoiding him. She hesitates, but finally breaks down and
tells him that strange things had transpired the day he had been
brought to the emergency room in a limousine.”
“‘Limousine?’ he says. ‘I walked to the restaurant from my
apartment.’ She goes on to relate other things, also portrayed visually
in the screenplay. The medical personnel in attendance included
several people she had not seen before, including the ER surgeon and
anesthesiologist. Although she had functioned often as a surgical
nurse, she was excluded from the operating room. An hour later,
while she was taking a break in the staff lounge, through the window
she saw a truck pull up to the back of the hospital and one of the
strangers carry out an insulated organ carrier to it. This was done
furtively, and the unmarked vehicle drove off quickly. As it left the
gate, a motorcycle escort pulled up and led it down the road to the
main highway to the airport. All this was enough to send her into the
hospital administrator’s office and ask for an explanation. Benton
Proffitt frowned and advised her to forget about what she had seen,
that the patient was doing well and her future employment depended
on a certain level of professional discretion and confidentiality. So
she had left it alone, believing that it was best for Orson, as well, not
to be troubled by events which probably had a quite reasonable
explanation.”
“They part, and Orson goes home, no longer at ease. He begins to
suspect he is being watched, that his phone is tapped and his mail
opened and resealed. He continues to try to contact Ellie, who is
conflicted and will not respond. He searches his own life, his
memories, his documents, for some clue to why his mundane
existence has become a source of mystery and suspicion. In the
course of that investigation he tries to find out more about his birth
parents, of whom he has no recollection at all. No local records can
be found of the boating accident. He uses the resources available at
his office to track them down in the United States. Again he draws a
blank. His foster parents had left Costa Rica soon after he had
become established as an independent adult, and now he cannot trace
them, either. His employer offers him a raise and a promotion for no
apparent reason. He accepts it, but wonders what lies behind it.”

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