I don't know what I was doing when the ending of this chapter came to me, but as Anaya says, bizarre.

Chapter 50.

After the Kleins left the clinic, Cameron closed for the rest of the weekend. She drove back to their new home where she found House playing the piano. Sitting on the bench beside him, she shook her head to indicate he shouldn't stop. She listened to the honky-tonk sounding tune and smiled.

When the song came to an end, House pulled his fingers from the keys and turned to her. "Well?"

"You were right about Klein. Bet the team went into the hospital today to determine what you were talking about." She laughed. "They're smart enough to figure it out, you know."

"Maybe. So, what do we do today?"

Cameron got a far away look. "Why don't we take a ride in the country? Once your practice is officially opened and the election is over, we probably won't have as much time to do that."

"We'll take the Alfa Romeo, give her a good bit of exercise."

"Yes. We haven't taken her out for a while."

"Let's see where she takes us."

"Let's."

They drove to Edna's house and switched cars. Driving the Alfa out of the garage, House wondered why he didn't use it more often. Cameron got in, and they were off.

The main road through town went north-south. If they went east or west they'd soon come to water, so they headed north but turned off onto country roads before they reached Baltimore. The sun fought with a chill wind that buffeted the little car, but House managed to keep it on the road. Driving through a section lined with trees three or more deep, the car began to cough.

"Think this car has what our patients do?" Cameron quipped.

"Something's wrong. Whatever it is, I'm pulling over before I can't." He drove off the road where he saw a wide shoulder and stopped the car.

"What do you think it is?"

House winced. "I know a little about cars from trying to keep my old one on the road." He got out and opened the hood. "Unlike modern cars, nothing's electronically controlled. That's a help." He fiddled with the hoses. "Everything's tight."

"Here, let me try." Cameron stood at his shoulder, watching what he did. She checked the radiator cap and a few fittings. "Yeah. Tight as a drum." She took out her phone. "No signal."

"I don't have one either."

"How far back was that last town?" She looked at her sneakered feet. "Can't even get GPS to tell us where we are. Maybe if we walk to a populated area."

"You expect me to walk three or four miles."

"What's our alternative?"

"We wait for someone else to come by."

"You're going to hitch a ride." Her gaze shot skyward. "Will wonders never cease."


Magnani scratched his ear. "No matter which way we look at what we've got on our patient, I don't see a pattern."

Jacobs glanced at her watch. "It's ten. Let's go see what the patient says today."

They trooped to the elevator and then to the third floor where their patient was complaining to a nurse, "It's cold in here. I need another blanket. Turn up the heat."

"Are any parts of you colder than the others?" Simpson asked.

"My feet." He pointed. "They're icicles, especially the toes."

"That would indicate a circulation problem," Magnani told his teammates. "Right?"

Jacobs nodded. "What else is uncomfortable?" she approached the bed.

"Haven't slept well. This pillow leaves a lot to be desired. And the lights. Can you dim the lights?" He shaded his eyes with a hand. "It's way too bright in here."

She examined his eyes, noticed his slow reaction to her penlight. He blinked and his pupils became pinpoints. Next she checked his throat and ears for the gazillionth time. No indication of fluid build-up. "We'll be back before we leave for the day. I'll turn your light off altogether. Try to sleep."

Magnani and Simpson looked at her quizzically as the team left the patient's room.

She pointed to their office. "Let's add the newest symptoms to our files and the whiteboard, revisit the patient and leave. It's too nice a Saturday to be working."

"Yeah, we can catch some lunch at the diner and then do something outside," Simpson said.

"Like what?" Magnani's eyes narrowed.

"I don't know. I thought you two would have an idea."

"Not me," Magnani and Jacobs chorused.


Anita and Hadley slept in that morning.

"At some point I'll have to get up and get dressed," Anita said. "I have an appointment to meet Pamela Bradshaw at eleven at the town hall."

"Want me to come with?" Hadley asked.

"If you don't have other plans.

They had a quick meal of bagels with cream cheese, dressed and were out of the apartment in less than an hour, reaching the city hall at ten fifty-five.

Pamela arrived a minute later. She smiled when she saw Hadley with Anita. "Cleaning crews are here on Saturday, so the doors should be open."

Sure enough, when they pulled one of the large doors of the front entrance, it moved open smoothly. The marble floor inside was polished to a bright shine but wasn't slippery.

"This is where the ballots are kept until they're counted." Pamela opened a nearby door with a key. Though visible, the door didn't stand out as important. "Or should I say, were kept."

Inside, a file cabinet stood open, and the table in the center of the room was bare except for two pieces of paper.

"We left things exactly as they were when we discovered the theft. Those two ballots were on the floor, left behind by the thief."

Anita took out her fingerprinting kit and set to work on the file drawer first and then the two ballots left behind. "The prints on the drawer are all smudged. Probably those of the clerk, but rubbed by the gloves of the thief, but we can't rule anyone out yet." She studied the ballots. "Not much usable on here. Paper doesn't hold prints as well as the TV and movie people indicate."

Her next examination concerned the window. Before she examined the sill and frame, she asked, "Can I assume anyone who's entered this room since the break-in came through the door?"

"Yes," Pamela said. "I'm afraid we didn't wear gloves or anything."

"They probably came in through here," she pointed to scuff marks on the windowsill. But they had to know where the ballots were kept."

"It's not a secret." Pamela shrugged. "There didn't seem to be a reason to keep it secret."

"So would you say several people knew absentee ballots were stored here?" Hadley asked.

"Yes. I still can't believe they're gone."

Anita smirked. "Well, at least you have two of them." She pointed to the two on the table.

"Fat lot of good those'll do. I think the only thing we can do is ask those who voted absentee to vote again."

"Do you have a list?"

"Only of the ballots sent out to residents who, for whatever reason, elected to vote absentee rather than brave the polls on election day. That doesn't mean they voted." She tried to read the two ballots without touching them.

"You can pick them up," Anita said.

"Thanks." Pamela smiled as she read the two. "I do hope you'll vote."

"I've only lived in Shelby a short time and haven't registered yet, although I know who I want to win."

"I actually voted absentee." Hadley chuckled. "Guess I'll have to vote again."

Pamela nodded. "I can't say who I hope win. With my son-in-law running, I should probably excuse myself from being on the election board, but no one has objected so far. Unfortunately, it's too late to register with the election next Tuesday."

"I understand. Next year."Anita looked around one more time. "We're through here."

Pamela left the votes and followed Anita and Hadley out, locking the office. "The proverbial locking the barn door."

Anita laughed. "Thank you for your time. We'll see if I got any usable prints and can find the culprit. I'll make sure to let you know."

Ever suspicious, Anita used the opportunity to collect Pamela's prints. They shook hands and parted. She liked the older woman, but considered she could use the prints for elimination.

She'd done all she could at the town hall. Time to meet the others for lunch and find out what everyone was up to.

Wilson and Jessica sat in the booth, but no one else. "Have you seen House and Cameron?" Wilson asked.

"No. we was at the town hall to meet Pamela Bradford and check on the missing ballots." She shrugged.

"Any luck?" Jess asked.

Anita shook her head. "Has Steve been here, either last night or today?" She still had to find out what he and Curt were onto.

"Haven't seen him for a while. Is he still in town?"

"Yes, and staying at the motel." But was he? Anita would have to check on that too. "Too many mysteries."

"We can usually depend on House to solve them." Jess sighed.

"I heard about his latest challenge." Anita smiled.

The team arrived, and the others stared at them. Hadley asked what everyone else was wondering, "What other symptoms does the patient have?"

Jacobs counted them off, "Dry mouth and throat, sensitivity to light, reaction to cold. The more symptoms we add, the more complicated it gets. Two or three go together, but not all of them. And where do House and Cameron's patients fit into this picture? Or even Anaya's?"

"James and I have wondered about that. I'll watch how House treats Dr. Carter." Jessica looked from one to another. "Does anyone know who Allison's patient is?"

No one did.

"You never can tell with House," Wilson said.

The others waited for more.

"The similarity he saw could be something like they were all named Richard or, come to think of it, that they all were male."

Jacobs shook her head. "Our patient is named John."

"And Dr. Carter's first name is Jack."

"See, that's what I mean. Now if we could find out the name of Cameron's patient and Chatterji's."


Chatterji thought about what the team had told her before she visited her patient once more.

"Do you know what's wrong with me?" he asked. "When can I go home?"

"What's your favorite thing to do at home?" she asked as she took his vitals.

"Play basketball. We have a hoop on our garage."

"Really? I like to play that too." She smiled.

"But your a girl."

"Girls can jump and shoot, you know. Some are as good as boys." She narrowed her eyes. "Tell you what, when you're home from the hospital, why don't we have a game?"

"Just us two?"

"Maybe you can bring in a friend or two and so will I."

The boy seemed to think about that while she was examining his teeth and fingernails, eyes and ears, toes and ankles. The swelling of the last of those was a concern.

"OK, it's a deal." The boy held out a hand and Anaya shook it.

She smiled at him. "I'll try to get you home quickly then." She was glad she'd come in on Saturday, not that she had much else to do. She hadn't made many friends since she came to Snow Hill. In fact, the members of the team were probably the only ones, and they were in Shelby. She sighed as she walked to the parking garage and her car.

Her phone rang just before she got in. It was Bart. "Hello," she said.

"Oh, hi. Hope I'm not catching you at a bad time."

"No, I was just leaving the hospital, not looking forward to an afternoon doing laundry."

"Can I ask you what your patient's first name is?"

She laughed. "You can ask. I may even answer." She laughed again. "He's called Jake."

"Not John?"

She pictured the file. "On his intake form his mother wrote J. J."

"So maybe John Jacob?"

"Why are you asking?"

He explained Wilson's crazy explanation of what House noticed.

"So it's not what's wrong with them? That's bizarre." She made an unbelieving face he couldn't see.

"That's House." It was his turn to laugh. "Or it may be that all the patients are male."

"Didn't you mention a teenage girl in the mix?"

"She was the odd man out, or should I say person."

"Bizarre," she repeated. "But I don't believe it."

"We don't know what else to think. Mapping what we know about our patient and yours with Dr. Carter's symptoms and what Cameron told us about her patient, we get nothing."

"Except the name John, and their maleness."

"Yeah."

"Bizarre," she said for the third time.