Sagehen Mesa - Season 2 - Episode 7 Sam's Love Life, New House, and Recent Work Adventures

 Howdy! 

I've been asked to give you a run-down on some of my major life changes. Last time I spoke, I was seeing Rita Massey, Rae Gooch's deputy, and I was getting a might serious with her. 

However, fate had other plans for us. Rita's folks had a health crisis, and Rita decided to call things off between us, so she could go home and take care of them. I'll miss her, but it's been a few months, and I've met someone new. 

I was on a stakeout at the festival (and I was might proud of the spot I chose that kept me from being spotted. I learned a thing or two since that failed stakeout at the Art Barn when the pastor spotted me.) 

As I was sayin', I was on a stakeout at the festival when two beautiful women came strolling by. 

The blonde was Anton's wife, I knew, but the lady in the slinky red dress and clunky boots set my heart aflutter. I think she spotted me despite my terrific hiding place. 

I watched as both ladies got innocent kisses from the kissing booth. Nuttin' wrong with that, I guess. It was for charity after all. 

I wasn't seein' anything out of the ordinary, and I saw no sign of Cliff, so I decided to pack it in and ask Anton's wife Tess to tell my about this lady in red. 

 

"Oh, that's Bobbi Faulkner! She's a friend of mine. We bonded over our ill-fated romantic relationships with Cliff. She called if off recently with Cliff because they weren't getting along at all. Go figure! I think the fact that he whooped up on a little old lady was the last straw for her. She finally found him long enough to tell him she was through with him. 

So, yeah, she's single in case that was what you were wondering about," she said with a wink. 

Was it that obvious? I need to work on my poker face, I guess. 

Tess introduced us, and we took to each other like bees to honey. My house in Appaloosa Plains sold, and the construction on my new house here is now completed. I live right next door to my buddy Reuben. 

I moved all my furniture in and invited my lady over. 

She checked the place out and gave her approval. She even brought me some flowers to spiff up the place. 

I told her I had a gift for her as well. 

I got down on one knee like my daddy told me to do, and asked her to be my wife. 

We made plans to get married real soon. We plan to get married on the property, converting the barn into a weddin' party room for the occasion. I'm hoping we can get started on a family right away, as this big ol' house needs fillin'. 

In the mean time, I've still got work to do. I've been staking out the hospital lookin' for Dr. Baum, who's been nearly as elusive as the scoundrel Cliff. 

I've been out to his house a few times and talked to his wife, but she says he's at work most nights, and she never knows when he's comin' home. 

The man's a surgeon, so I can't just walk into the operatin' room and demand to talk to him. So here I am wishin' there was better cover, gettin spotted by a racoon and wonderin' why ol' Chuck Culpepper thinks it's appropriate to bring his whole passel of dogs to the library. 

How can one guy have so many dogs? You'd think there's be some kind of ordinance against it. 

I spotted Josie Toledo headin' into the hospital. I hope she's not ailin'. You never can tell with the older folks. Health problems arise lickety-split sometimes. Finally, I found the man himself. 

I told him I needed to meet with him regarding an important case. He said he could pencil me in the next morning, if I could meet him at his house. 

I complimented his home and he explained he bought it for his lovely wife so she could live near her mother and have a horse. 

Then I got down to the brass tacks.

"Doctor Baum, rumors are circulatin' that you might have been providing the star athlete, Brock Thurston with high doses of buzzberry, which helped contribute to his success, giving him a unfair edge over the competition. Is this true?"

The doc became agitated, admitting that Thurston was once a patient of his, but denied any wrong-doing. 

"It's true that Mr. Thurston was one of my patients, but that was quite some time ago. He was nursing an injury, and I prescribed some pain pills, but not buzzberry! That's a highly potent substance, and would disqualify him from his career if he took it," he said nervously. "Perhaps he got the buzzberry from his wife. Wasn't she head of that illegal farm?"

"Well, that might be true," I acknowledged, "However, the police obtained a warrant to access the hospital records, and it appears that around the time, Mr. Thurston was your patient, some buzzberry went missing from the hospital. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you? It seems there was no prescription for it, but it went missing from inventory." 

 

At this point, Dr. Baum became indignant and told me that he was through being interrogated, and if the police needed to question him regarding the allegations, they should show up themselves and take him in for questioning properly, not send some hack PI to do their job for them.

I told him I had sent the report on the evidence I gleaned from the hospital database, and the police would be paying him a visit. 

 

Later, that evening, a large envelope was delivered to the Baum's home addressed to Mrs. Baum. It was divorce papers along with a note:

Dear Lucille, 

You are the love of my life, and I know these divorce papers may come as quite a shock, but I've done some things in the past that are now coming around to haunt me. I don't want you embroiled in a scandal, so I'm trying to distance m self from you and Hannah to protect your reputations. 

I'm leaving and don't plan on coming back, so I felt I should set you free to pursue your own happiness. Tell Hannah I love her, and I'm sorry I wasn't a more attentive father to her. I regret not being as attentive as I should have been to you as well. 

You will see by the divorce papers that I'm leaving you everything except for some money I need to make a fresh start in another part of the world. Take care, my love. I'm truly sorry about this. 

Winston 

 

Well, dang it all! I really hated having to break the news to Rae that I showed my hand too soon. I think she wants to kill me.

I doubt she'll trust me with any police business any time soon. I'm going to have to go my own way and find my own cases. 

As luck would have it, a chest from my recently deceased uncle showed up today, and boy howdy, did he leave me quite a treasure trove of valuables! It should tide me and Bobbi over for quite some time. 

See ya'll at the weddin'!