"All right, Jordan," Woody said, his arms wide in display. "We're here. Now what?"
"We need to find someone who knows Howard Rempel," Jordan answered, peaking through the doorways leading down the hall. "Someone who can corroborate his story."
"Why don't we just ask Dr. Kitchmen?" Woody taunted.
Jordan was about to make a smart retort when the director appeared from nowhere, startling them both. "Can I help you with some thing, Dr. Cavanaugh?"
Jordan looked sheepishly at the man. "Actually, when we ran into Mr. Rempel yesterday," she began.
"Ah," Dr. Kitchmen interrupted. "Howard Rempel is no longer with us."
"He died?" Woody exclaimed.
"No, no," Kitchmen laughed. "Nothing that tragic." He began directing the two towards the front door. "His family decided that they wanted him closer to them. They decided to take him in."
"Mr. Rempel has a family?" Jordan inquired with doubt.
"Yes, Dr. Cavanaugh," Dr. Kitchmen looked at his guests with slight uneasiness. "Some of our clients do actually have families. They are the ones who choose to leave their loved ones in places like this." He pointed to the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some paperwork that needs to be done."
Woody jumped into action, taking the attention of the director. "Now if someone really wanted to 'leave' a loved one, as you say, in your facility, how could that be done?" Woody led Dr. Kitchmen off to the side, giving Jordan a chance to look around.
She slowly made her way down the dorm hallway, passing rooms with stoic people, the white walls not exactly stimulating. Most patients looked almost comatose and Jordan got the shivers imagining how stark and depressing lives could be in a nursing home.
"Excuse me?" a small voice said from behind her. Jordan turned to see a petite white-haired woman standing in a doorway. "Did I hear you mention Howard?"
"Uh, yeah," Jordan replied, stepping towards the woman. "Do you happen to know him?"
"Oh, of course. Everyone knows Howie," the woman commented, letting Jordan into her room. "It's such a shame – the fact they took him."
"His family?" Jordan asked a little surprised.
"Family? Heck, no," the woman exclaimed. "Howard's only son hasn't been around here for nearly two years. He just pays the bills. Less guilt that way."
"So then where?" Jordan looked at the woman with renewed hope.
"The fridge," the woman whispered cautiously.
"Fridge?"
"Well, at least that's what the nurses call it," the woman's voice turned angry. "They're always threatening us that bad behaviour will lead to the fridge." She shrugged. "Howie must have done something awful because I heard them take him last night." She stepped into the doorway and indicated down the hall. "I don't sleep very well. They give us those pills but I won't take them. They make me nauseous. So, I end up hearing a lot of things."
"Do you know where this 'Fridge' is?" Jordan asked, digging deeper.
The woman took Jordan's arm and led her further into the hall. She carefully looked around, ensuring that no one would share in their secret. "Go down to the end, to those double doors. Then turn to your left," she said in a deep whisper. "That's as far as I have ever been. They won't allow us through there."
Jordan nodded a thank you and hurried down the hallway. She quickly passed by many empty rooms before slowly opening the double doors and searching the next corridor. With the coast clear, she made a left and cautiously looked for what could be considered 'the Fridge'.
The hallway was different from the rest of the building. The lights were dim and the floor was dirty from heavy traffic. At the end, Jordan found a set of heavy steel doors. Trying the handle, she discovered it unlocked and quickly opened it. A blast of cold air hit her face and she found herself in an old meat locker.
The room was blindingly bright and noticing that there was no inside handle, Jordan wedged the door open with heavy boxes that were stacked high. Finally getting a look around, the large locker was a makeshift crypt, a few bodies laid out on gurneys, ready for the funerals in the adjacent building. As she entered, a noise from a far corner caught her attention. Carefully pushing away an obstructing gurney, Jordan revealed a semi-conscious and nearly frozen Howard Rempel.
"Mr. Rempel!" Jordan exclaimed, pushing away the remaining obstacles and kneeling in front of the man. "Mr. Rempel? Are you all right?"
As she reached to check his pulse, a voice from behind startled her. "Hey! You can't be in here!" an orderly yelled.
"Call an ambulance!" Jordan ordered, trying to revive the elderly man. The confused orderly stood in the doorway, a little shocked by the scene. "Now!" she urged.
As the orderly ran off, Jordan focused on Mr. Rempel. "It'll be okay, Howard," she said quietly. "We're going to get you out of here."
XXXXX
"So, Dr. Kitchmen kept these poor folks in a meat locker?" Nigel clarified with astonishment as he strolled through the morgue hall with Jordan and Woody.
"From the looks of it," Woody explained, "Kitchmen believed it was his form of punishment. Like an adult 'time out'."
"And when the director discovered that he could essentially get rid of the people without causing too much suspicion," Jordan added, "He turned punishment into a death sentence."
"The cold probably intensified any pre-existing conditions," Nigel reasoned as they reached Jordan's office. "Killing the victims faster."
"But since none of these people had any involved families, Kitchmen would still receive the rent checks," Woody included.
"What about the five we received in our morgue?" Nigel inquired.
"One of the orderlies wasn't wise to the rules at South Boston. He phoned the morgue, thinking these people had died during the night and were brought to the locker to be transferred later," Woody answered.
"And the larvae?" Nigel asked with a grin.
"We found several other bodies that were prepared for burial," Jordan said, sitting down at her desk and watching Woody squirm. "An old meat locker can only do so much. But the five who were forced in there were probably alone for days, close to starvation." She grinned. "It was probably a lot like that movie, Alive. You've seen that one, haven't you Woody?"
"One hell of a frozen dinner," Nigel added as Woody turned a few shades of green.
"That's it!" he exclaimed. "I'm outta here!"
"Awww, c'mon Woodrow," Nigel quipped as he followed the sick detective passing Lily in the doorway. "We're just making a little fun."
"Woody," Lily commented as she stepped into the office. "You don't look so good." He waved her off, marching down the hall, closely followed by a smirking Nigel.
Lily simply shrugged at Jordan. "So, I hear you guys solved the senior citizen's case."
"Yeah," Jordan said as Lily took as seat on the couch. "What those people went though during their last days, having to resort to – well, you know," she saved Lily the unnecessary description. "There is an inquiry into Kitchmen's facility. He's probably been doing this for so long, if it wasn't for Bug's insects, he'd still be in business."
"Yeah," Lily agreed, somewhat distracted, "good catch."
Jordan noticed the uneasiness. "Something wrong, Lily?"
Lily looked at Jordan, debating whether or not to speak her mind. With a long sigh, Lily asked, "Jordan? Can I ask you a hypothetical question?"
"Oh, it's one of those…"
Lily blushed. "Yeah… um… what do you… ah… think about friends becoming more than, well, friends?"
Jordan raised an eyebrow, urging Lily to elaborate.
"Well, what if you were friends with someone – close friends – and then one day realized that maybe you wanted something more?" she asked with hesitation.
Jordan nodded, searching for something to say. "Well, there is always the danger of ruining the friendship."
"Exactly!" Lily agreed with relief.
"But…" Jordan began.
"But?"
"Well, I guess the thing is that you know this person. You've accepted them for all of their faults and they've accepted you for yours." Jordan sat back in her chair, deep in contemplation. "That's why you're friends. So… it's seems natural that if you have feelings for one another, you would want to… well… see what else they have to offer. To see what you could be missing – only being friends."
Lily sat silently, a little floored by Jordan's explanation. "Hypothetically speaking, of course," Jordan finished, looking carefully at Lily, watching her work through the information.
"On a completely unrelated note," she added after a few moments, "Have you heard Bug's speech yet?"
Lily's head snapped up and a gradual smile appeared on her face. "He finished it?"
"Yeah," Jordan nodded. "He read it to me about an hour ago. He's nervous as hell."
Lily giggled. "Yeah. Not surprising."
"It's a shame though," Jordan said with suggestion in her voice. "He won't have anyone there to cheer him on."
"But that woman…" Lily offered.
Jordan interrupted, shaking her head. "Nope. She's gone. I guess the first date was the last."
Lily stood, looking at Jordan with consideration. "So, he'll be all alone?"
"Well, not if you include his parents." Jordan smiled with encouragement. "But it would be nice if there was someone there that meant something to him… someone like a friend?"
Lily nodded in understanding and appreciation. "Thanks Jordan," she said, quickly leaving the office.
"No problem!" Jordan called after her, smiling to herself. "Hypothetically speaking…"
