Finding 52 (6 page)

“And you really didn’t believe anything you said to that man, did you officer?” The captain wondered out loud.

“I don’t think so.”

“The part about the commies?”

“That sort of slipped out is all. It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t, officer. See that it doesn’t.”

A few days later Captain Eberhart pronounced Calvin fit for street duty. Calvin, on the other hand, was convinced Herr Eberhart really was ex-Gestapo. He soon began telling the others that the Captain probably fired up the gas ovens himself.

For Donovan Sardo’s part, he did as asked. Donovan called back every thirty days. He and Calvin discussed many things on many different levels. Some days Calvin was the teacher and some days Donovan lent great insight. They eventually discussed other topics, things like the number of World War II ex-Gestapo concentration camp elite types and the possibility of them integrating into the American way of life. This went on for a few years and Donovan finally got better and quit calling.

The Grim Reaper

1950

F
or Richard Ames life was good. He was seated on the third base line at Yankee Stadium for game three of what would surely be a four-game series in the 1950 World Series. His beloved New York Yankees had won the first two games in Philadelphia’s Shibe Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Eddie Lopat or “Steady Eddie” was pitching today and Richard fondly thought of Eddie as “the Junk Man,” and many other faithful Yankee fans did as well. If “the Junk Man” prevailed, the Yankees would surely clinch another championship in four games. Whitey Ford was scheduled to start the next day.

The attendance today was more than both games combined in Philadelphia, and Richard loved the large crowds. He lit his first cigar after the Star Spangled Banner. Lucy Monroe, who sang that song at every New York Yankees opening day game and every Yankees World Series home game since 1945, never failed to please the fans.

Richard was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He came from money and was born into great wealth. He was only twenty-six years old and his life was ahead of him. He claimed to be a direct descendant of John Ames, a banker and political leader who was elected to succeed his friend Andrew Jackson as a member of the Superior Court of Tennessee in 1804, where he served as a judge until 1810. In 1819 John Ames founded Memphis on land he owned with Jackson.

It was once rumored that the Memphis Ames’s had dealings with Nathan Bedford Forrest during and even after the civil war. Some believed “Devil Forrest” had hidden fortunes during the civil war. Possibly near Memphis. It was widely agreed that General Forrest was a true hero of the southern cause, in spite of his nefarious ways. With slavery eliminated, the former slave trader suffered a major financial setback. He later became president of the Marion and Memphis Railroad. He wasn’t as successful in railroad promoting as in war, and under his direction, the company went insolvent. General Nathan Bedford Forrest was an early member of the Ku Klux Klan. Some believed he was the Grand Wizard of the KKK. In truth, the Memphis Ames’s were already rich beyond belief and didn’t rely on the likes of General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Richard was far more concerned with the New York Yankees than Memphis legend. It was the bottom of the third inning and the Yankees were ahead 1-0. By the time the Yankees won game three, Richard would be a father. His wife Meredith was in a New York hospital and the baby wasn’t expected for at least another week. She’d had a difficult pregnancy and the doctors were being cautious. They could afford the best of care and Richard wasn’t one to take chances. Meredith was the love of his life. Their child would inherit millions and have the best of everything, including an Ivy League education, just like Richard.

Shortly after the Yankees beat the Phillies 3-2, Meredith went into labor. Richard left Yankee Stadium at the end of the game and took his time going to New York Jennings hospital to visit his wife.

Richard was seated near the maternity ward. It was ten o’clock in the evening, and by then he was told, to his great delight, that he would be a father before the night was over. He was elated and believed this was the happiest day of his life. As he sat in the waiting room he decided to smoke another Cuban cigar and he reflected on his good fortune. Because Richard was born into millions, his child would want for nothing and have the best of everything. If it was a boy, he would certainly work in the Ames family banking business. He’d have the finest education at a prestigious college as Richard and the Ames’s before him had. The son would travel and experience all of the things family wealth could provide.

If the child were a girl, things would be different for her. She would be just as wonderful, Richard decided. She’d be as smart and as lovely as her mother. Meredith Winchester Ames was as graceful and charming as any man could desire. She was born in Alabama in 1927 and by the time she was twenty she was Miss Alabama. They met in college and married as soon as Richard graduated. For Richard and Meredith, their lives were already storybook, or so it seemed.

Richard waited in gleeful anticipation. The world was his and tonight would be a night he would never forget. In the delivery room things were going as well as anyone could hope for and the nurses and doctor were at Meredith’s side.

Dr. Drake was suddenly nauseous, both nurses began to feel sick as well; even Meredith felt strange. She sensed something was very wrong. By year’s end, both nurses and Dr. Drake would be dead. Victims by what was about to take place.

Harley Winchester Ames was born minutes before midnight. By all immediate appearances he was a healthy baby boy. When he entered the world two things immediately occurred. Harley screamed and the screams were ear piercing. The second thing was the random and very unusual thoughts that went through Nurse Evelyn Spiker’s head. Aside from a splitting headache that came out of nowhere, she immediately thought how wonderful it would be to drive off the steep mountain edge that she went by on Highway 221 when she visited her parents.

Meredith didn’t feel well and asked for something to help ease her pain. When the nurse returned she was holding Harley and she presented him to Meredith. She was far more interested in a pain pill than she was with her infant son; she held Harley for a bit but asked that they take him back to the nursery. She was ill at ease with her own child and had no idea why.

News item from
New York Daily Gazette
, October 7, 1950:

Thousands of Dead Birds & Small Animals Reported

Several reliable sources reported this morning a number of dead birds, squirrels, rats, cats, and stray dogs. Some individuals called police and fire departments with their concerns. The dead birds and animals were all located within a half mile of New York Jennings Hospital. Most of the dead animals were found within 100 feet of the hospital grounds. The smaller ones looked as if they had simply burst. Officials had no explanation but did mention that the calls came in shortly after midnight. City Health Officials couldn’t be reached for comment.

It was Halloween and Dr. Drake was preparing for the annual Halloween party. He and his wife were famous for hosting the best parties that entertained children and parents alike. He even had prizes for best costumes and pumpkin carving. But Dr. Drake wasn’t feeling his best; in fact, he’d had some very unusual urges the last few weeks, thoughts of self-mutilation were not uncommon. His wife had noticed a difference in his behavior but thought he was probably just working too hard. The guests began to arrive and everyone was in a festive mood. The costumes were, as always, quite elaborate.

The doctor chose to dress as the Grim Reaper this year. His black-cloaked, scythe-wielding costume was as impressive as his character. He not only personified death but he would soon have a Halloween demonstration. A demonstration everyone would remember, especially the children.

The pumpkin carving was about to begin. Children would team up with their parents and see who’d carve the best pumpkin. Dr. Drake had a special treat this year. He commissioned a carpenter to build him a guillotine. The device was originally intended for carrying out executions by decapitation; it consisted of a tall, upright frame in which a weighted and angled blade was raised to the top and suspended. The condemned person would be secured at the bottom of the frame with his or her neck held directly below the blade. The blade would then be released and fall swiftly and sever the head. The guillotine was set next to the large galvanized tub where children were bobbing for apples. Everyone was excited to be able to use the guillotine to cut the top of the pumpkins off so they could begin the carving. All of this was done under supervision so no one would get hurt.

After the pumpkin carving was completed the children went trick or treating and the adults stayed behind to pass out candy and drink as a bonfire warmed everyone. The doctor had a special trick up his sleeve once the children returned.

An hour or so later the children joined their parents near the bonfire. They were as happy as could be as they went through their Halloween bags of candy. Dr. Drake’s costume really did make him look like the Grim Reaper, so much so, one little boy began to cry and ran away from him. The doctor held the boy’s hand and calmed him down and told him it was only a game and the Grim Reaper costume would soon make him laugh.

Dr. Drake walked over to the guillotine and got on his knees. He stuck his masked head below the blade and reached for the crank. As he began to turn it and the blade went upward, his other hand still held the scythe. Dr. Drake began to think of the baby he delivered earlier that month. Harry? Was that his name? As the blade continued its ascent, people started running toward him, screaming in terror. He continued to crank and the blade was soon released. Just before it severed his head his last fleeting thought was, “Harley.”

Theresa Brentway was working with Evelyn Spiker the night Harley was born. She assisted the doctor. The very next day she began vomiting and did so for a week; at times she noticed blood. Her head hurt continually. She was feeling a little better until thoughts of suicide surfaced. She knew she was in trouble but had no idea what to do about it.

It was Thanksgiving and she was grateful to be with her family. Her husband thought of the turkey and dressing and her children were appreciative for time away from school. Theresa cooked the turkey and set the table, her husband was listening to a football game on the radio and dinner wouldn’t be ready for at least an hour. The Detroit Lions were hosting the New York Yanks at Briggs Stadium. Lions quarterback Bobby Layne had just scored a touchdown on a one-yard keeper and about the time Doak Walker kicked the extra point, Theresa walked out the kitchen door.

She used her time wisely and went to the garage and got the hose that she’d purchased from the hardware store earlier that week. She hooked the hose to the muffler and placed the other end of it through the rear window, when she started the car she thought of her family and her friends at work. She thought of poor Dr. Drake and her last passing thought was that damned baby. How she wished he would have been stillborn. She hated that baby.

******

Evelyn was as unhappy as anyone could be and her thoughts about life and death had changed; she was good to go. The nightly dreams about car accidents were an omen and she died in every one. Evelyn lived alone and her parents lived in upstate New York. She visited them every weekend unless she was working. They were elderly and she spent as much time with them as possible. This Christmas they would go to Mass and then spend the day together, just the three of them. She found herself going through the motions of Christmas and the usual preparations, but she no longer cared. As a devout catholic she suspected it was wrong to question her faith. Evelyn knew the sin of suicide was a sure-fire ticket straight to hell. She didn’t care, because that was exactly what she wanted most.

On the way to her parents’ house it was no surprise to her that she accelerated on Highway 221 when the sign by the curve warned everyone to slow down to twenty-five miles an hour. Evelyn was going sixty when her Chevy left the road and catapulted over the guard rail to a fiery crash a hundred feet below. When the car was airborne, Evelyn thought of nothing, she couldn’t help looking in the rearview mirror. She was actually smiling.

The REAL People and the First Deal

1954

R
ichard and Meredith were intimidated by Harley. He wasn’t at all like other four year olds. Harley required little sleep and was reading at the same level as a high school student. There were no standardized IQ tests for children under the age of ten, which was just as well; they would have been shocked. Harley’s IQ was 173; thirteen points higher than Albert Einstein’s.

Meredith told her friends, “Harley remembers events and things you wouldn’t even notice; he has a really good memory for places and details.” What Meredith never told her friends or Richard was how Harley frightened her. She actually trembled sometimes when he looked at her.

It never occurred to Harley that he was mad as a hatter; he was clever enough to keep things to himself. Like his father’s favorite deck of playing cards. They had two baseball players on the back of each playing card as well as two large circles with baseballs inside each circle. A single baseball was between two baseball bats. Harley spent hours looking at the cards; he was sure they were very important. Time would tell.

By year’s end it occurred to Harley that the number of cards in that special deck he pilfered from his father were all he needed. He was cagey and ingenious when it came to self-preservation. Harley had an epiphany of sorts. He was certain there were only fifty-two other people in the entire world that were like him...REAL people! All of the others were nothing more than props in a stage play. They mattered little to him as none of the others could harm him; if he wanted to survive it was imperative that the other fifty-two REAL people had to go.

His immediate concern was his parents. He had to be careful, at least for a few more years. He was getting older and learning. He was very adaptable. It had already occurred to him that his parents were REAL people...two of the only fifty-two REAL people that existed. He knew they could mess him up, so he placed them on his short list. Harley was as patient as he was clever. Their turn would come soon enough. He beamed from ear to ear.

In 1954 the average cost of a new house was $10,250 and Richard could have written a check for a thousand such homes. Business was picking up. The Dow Jones recovered back to the pre-Wall Street Crash high of 381 points. For all of their millions, Richard and Meredith would soon realize how little money mattered.

Richard and Meredith eventually agreed Harley was very different. Meredith thought about the possibility of Harley seeing a doctor. Surely there must be professional help for him. Even Audrey Leck had said things to her about Harley. A few months before Harley was even born, Audrey was hired as a nanny. As Harley’s caregiver, she’d seen things even Richard and Meredith wouldn’t believe. Many of those things petrified her and kept her up at night.

Earlier that year Harley was playing in the living room. The Ames had a little puppy named Brewster. Harley was teasing Brewster and the puppy nipped at him. Harley went into his father’s office and brought back a letter opener from his father’s desk. He coaxed the puppy with a dog treat and Brewster forgot all about the teasing, but Harley hadn’t forgotten about the nipping. After Brewster ate his dog treat he began to prance and jump and clearly wanted to play with young master Harley. The letter opener was immediately driven into one of Brewster’s eye sockets. Before Audrey could intervene, Harley had stabbed the little puppy several times as he screamed, “Not real. Not real like me at all. You are NOT real!”

Richard and Meredith had been travelling abroad when Brewster met his demise. When Audrey explained the puppy was dead she kept it simple, fearing she would get in trouble leaving Harley alone long enough to retrieve the letter opener. The official story was poor Brewster got away on one of their walks and was hit by a car; she also told them it would probably be a good idea to wait on another pet. According to Audrey, Harley cried himself to sleep for the next three nights.

In truth, Harley slept better than he had in months, he was well rid of something that only ate, pooped, and nipped at him that one time. He was delighted to free himself of the puppy that wasn’t even real.

Richard wouldn’t think of allowing Harley to be treated by someone that specialized in things like child psychiatry, rather, he’d be allowed to grow out of his phase. He was three years old and besides, Meredith was expecting a second child. A brother or sister would set Harley straight, or so Richard thought.

Clifford Richard Ames entered the world on a spring day in New York and the streets were filled with dirty snow. He was normal in every way. Clifford was born into privilege and he had no way of knowing the shit storm that awaited him at home.

Richard and Meredith loved Clifford in ways they couldn’t imagine, he was as wonderful as Harley was not and ordinary in every way. Poor Clifford never had a chance. Harley had his number the day he came home from the hospital, even Audrey fawned over the infant. This was a child she would love to care for, unlike his older malevolent brother. Audrey would soon be put in her place.

Clifford was in his nursery and Harley slipped in for a visit. It was a warm day in August when he realized Clifford was one of the fifty-two REAL people that existed. Standing on a stool next to the crib and watching Clifford laying on his back and looking at a giraffe mobile was all it took. Harley whispered, “You want to get rid of me like the others? The other REAL people? You think I don’t know? I know plenty! I think it’s time you take a really long nap. Sleep well, Clifford.”

Harley crawled into the crib and grabbed a pillow that lay close by. He held the pillow and looked at the baby. The infant was smiling at him when the pillow was magically placed over his head. Harley held it there for a very long time, gently against Clifford’s beautiful face. When Harley placed the pillow where he had found it, Clifford looked like a sleeping angel.

A few months after the funeral, Richard boxed up all of Clifford’s toys and clothes to give to charity. There were a few books as well; books that Richard and Meredith had read to him. Inside one of those books was a playing card. It was the Two of Clubs. That card wouldn’t mean a thing to the lucky family that received Clifford’s worldly possessions, but it meant everything to Harley. The Two of Clubs was from his father’s favorite deck of playing cards. They were the same cards that had two baseball players on the back of each playing card as well as two large circles with baseballs inside of each circle.

Harley wasn’t even four and he’d already found one of the REAL people that could harm him. He’d taken his first human life and was jubilant; getting rid of Clifford was a lot more fun than dispatching Brewster. At night Harley dreamed and wondered about the other REAL people, fifty-one more of them! The best part was two of them lived under his roof, and they were next. Harley slept with a smile on his face.

Audrey stayed on with the Ames family for the remainder of 1954. She was terrified of Harley and believed he might have been involved in Clifford’s death. When she went to check on Clifford he appeared to be sleeping. When it was apparent he was dead she was devastated.

After the funeral it became evident the Ames family would never be the same. It was assumed Clifford died of “crib death,” which was so infrequent in the pre-vaccination era it wasn’t even mentioned in statistics. Crib death
started to climb in the 1950s with the spread of mass vaccinations. It wasn’t Audrey’s place to mention the possibility of an autopsy. Meredith was already half out of her mind with grief and the thought of Clifford having an autopsy was simply out of the question. This was clearly a crib death and nothing more.

If an autopsy had been performed would anyone have suspected three-year-old Harley? That would’ve been highly doubtful and Harley would’ve been in a position to do some blame shifting of his own. Hadn’t he seen Audrey tuck Clifford in his crib for a nap? Hadn’t he seen her holding Clifford’s pillow and looking down at his baby brother? In many ways the lack of an autopsy was a lifesaver for her.

******

By the end of 1955, Richard threw all of his energy into the banking business and Meredith was deeply depressed. She didn’t respond to normal therapy and medication. Eventually Richard insisted on electroshock therapy or shock treatments. H
undreds of thousands of patients of all ages received electroshock treatments for every type of “disorder,” including depression, mania, schizophrenia, and even homosexuality and truancy. Richard was assured Meredith would be as good as new.
Patients in the 1950s sometimes received more than a hundred treatments.
Anesthetics and muscle relaxants weren’t used; patients were shackled to the gurney but there were still broken bones and vertebra.

When Meredith was released from the hospital she was a vacant-eyed soul who had trouble distinguishing friends and family.

Harley was five and his mother refused to look at him. He could have cared less. One day he walked up to his mother and said, “Mommy, I think for you hope is the thing with wings that is never meant to be. When I look at you, I see the card.” Harley took the Three of Clubs out from behind his back and showed it to Meredith.

“Do you like it Mommy? Do you? Very soon it’ll be over.”

Meredith never blinked but Harley couldn’t help but notice she was drooling and there was a dark stain on the fabric of the chair that she was sitting in. The odor of urine disgusted Harley almost as much as his mother sickened him.

“A playing card for you and a playing card for daddy. He’ll get the Four of Clubs and after that I’ll move on.”

Richard had found what he thought might be a suitable replacement for Audrey. This was after she finally approached him and told him things about Harley; things Richard absolutely refused to believe. She told him about Harley’s mean streak and how he had taunted Brewster.

“Mr. Ames, Harley isn’t normal, there’s something wrong with him. I think he wants to hurt other living things, all living things. He frightens me.”

Audrey was immediately given a month’s severance pay and a stern warning if she ever repeated such nonsense again he would make her sorry.

One of Richards’s business associates knew someone that would be able to run the Ames household. Abigail Carrier had teaching experience as well as a degree in nursing. Harley liked Abigail as much as he could possibly like anyone, she played games with him and read to him and didn’t strike him as one of the REAL people that wanted to harm him. She was kind and gentle to Meredith. All things were good in the Ames residence. Abigail had arrived.

Harley attended a private school after it was decided public schools were simply not for him. It was clear to everyone that he was a very special student. He excelled at everything. Other children avoided him and he even intimidated his teachers. How could he not—he was smarter than those who were tasked with educating him. Harley knew things his teachers would never comprehend.

Private school was a little better but only because Harley understood the situation. It was time for him to dumb down and let the others think he was actually learning things; it would take the pressure off him. He figured if he could hold on for a little longer the immediate threat could be dealt with: Mrs. Three of Clubs and her husband, Mr. Four of Clubs. Harley even made friends at Orchard Hall, a highly prestigious private school in upstate New York.