Play@YSDC

Despite his misgivings, Howard has picked up the phone again. He relaxes a little when he hears the operators voice.

"Miss, where is the nearest hospital in this vicinity?" he asks.

After she checked where Howard was exactly, the operator replied, ”The nearest hospital is in Terrebonne, although if someone is seriously ill, they may have been taken to Baton Rouge.”

“Would you like me to put you through, sir?”

"Yes please" says Howard. "To Terrbonne".

The call to Terrebonne Hospital was answered by a tired-sounding nurse, who, after a five-minute delay, confirmed that no-one answering the description of William or Oscar had been admitted that afternoon.

A second call, this time to Our Lady of the Lake Sanitarium in Baton Rouge was met with better results. The nurse confirmed that the two men had been admitted in the afternoon, although William had been subsequently discharged and had left in the company of Sheriff Digne a couple of hours or so previously.

“Good, they managed to get help. Hopefully that sheriff won’t keep William for too long.” Thomas says.

“Should we call the state police, then?” he asks.

Howard calls the operator again, to ask for Sheriff Digne's office.

"William might be there" he says.

The call to the Sheriff’s office at Baton Rouge PD only elicited the information that Sheriff Digne left for the hospital a few hours ago and then said he was heading home for the evening.

The person on the end of the phone declined to give any further information, other than to say the Sheriff was due to return in the morning.

Howard relays this information to the others.

"Let's call the state police. Let them clear up this mess. Who knows where William is now."

He asks the operator again to put him through.

The operator put the call through to the Law Enforcement Division of the Highway Commission, who in turn referred it to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Whether there was no-one there or if the detectives at the Bureau were busy, Howard had no way to tell, but the phone just rang, and rang, and rang... ...

As he listened to the distant ringing noise, lights from the direction of the road arced across the front of the house, as if a car had turned off and onto the drive. Not long after, the crunch of car tyres on gravel could be heard as the headlamps filled the hallway with a blinding light...

William steps out of the passenger seat of the car and looks around.

Howard hurries out of the house to see who the newcomer is. He is greatly relieved to see William.

"Thank god you're back!" he exclaims. "What happened to Oscar?"

”Your boy’s in hospital. He’ll pull through,” said the Sheriff as got out of the car.

He looked Howard up and down; his eyes lingered on the gun the he carried. ”William here filled me in on the way down. Now why don’t you show me what you’ve found?” he said.

Howard casts a wary glance at William.

"What did William tell you about what we found, sir? It's very dangerous."

”He told me you’re down here looking for a friend who’s in the company of some fugitives from justice,” said the Sheriff, brusquely.

”William said one of them had his throat cut but he managed to skewer his leg before he died. Now why don’t you tell me who you are and what else I need to know?”

"Yes, that's about right..." Thomas said. "There's another dead man too, and we think that their killer has escaped."

"I'm Thomas Riddel, I'm a police officer, but not from around here."

The Sheriff raised an eyebrow at the news. ”Two bodies, eh? Are you here on official business, Officer Riddel?” he asked.

"I guess you found the other body after we left for the hospital," says William. "Oscar just has a concussion from the blow to the head. He'll be fine, he just needs some time to recover."

"What do you know about this property and the owners, Sheriff?" asks Howard.

”Not a deal,” replied Sheriff Digne. ”In fact, it seems to me that you know a lot more about this than I do. All I know is that there’s a house with two dead people and a load of civilians and a police officer out of his jurisdiction, all armed to the teeth...”

”We’ve been tasked with tracking down a missing person, Sheriff. The last time we caught up to him and his friends, they weren’t happy to see us, so we’ve taken precautions.” Thomas says.