Sheriff Connor knocked on Mrs. Harken’s front door. Dr. Davis and Miss Lancombe stood on either side of the sheriff.
Mrs. Harken looked through the window by the door, then opened the door.
“Sheriff Connor, do you have some news for me?
“Yes, ma’am. Mrs. Harken, this is Dr. Davis, the medical examiner.”
“Hello, Dr. Davis.”
Mrs. Harken put her hand out to shake the doctor’s hand, but the doctor didn’t realize it.
“Hello, Mrs. Harken.”
“She’s offering to shake hands,” said the sheriff.
“Oh.” Dr. Davis reached out his hand, and Mrs. Harken shook it.
“I’m sorry,” said Dr. Davis. “My vision is a little impaired.”
Mrs. Harken let go of Dr. Davis’s hand.
“I don't see how you see anything at all with those dark glasses on,” said Mrs. Harken. “You should probably get a clearer pair.”
“Dr. Davis is blind,” explained the sheriff.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“No offense is taken, Mrs. Harken. I see my blindness as a gift from the Lord; a gift which has allowed me to sharpen my other senses.”
“That's very -- optimistic of you,” she said.
“Life is what we make it, Mrs. Harken.”
“I suppose so.”
“And this is Miss Lancombe,” said the sheriff.
“Oh, I know Susie. We go to the same church. How are you, Susie?”
“I'm fine, Mrs. Harken. I'm so sorry for your troubles.”
“Thank you, Susie. It's been quite a shock. Please, won't you all come in?”
Mrs. Harken stepped aside to let them enter.
In the living room, before anyone had seated himself, Mrs. Harken said, “Would you like something to drink? Or eat? I've got some cookies that I baked yesterday.”
“No thank you,” said Dr. Davis. “We found the name of the person whose head was sent to you. His name was Albert Fricklebacher. Does that name sound familiar to you?”
“Oh, gracious me --” said Mrs. Harken. She closed her eyes and fell backwards onto the sofa. She lay there without moving.
“What just happened?” asked Dr. Davis.
“I think she fainted,” said Miss Lancombe.
Dr. Davis listened carefully. He held up a hand to stop the others from speaking.
“She’s faking,” said Dr. Davis. “She’s still awake.”
“How can you tell?” asked the sheriff.
“By her breathing, and her heartbeat.”
“You can hear her heartbeat?” asked Miss Lancombe.
“Yes. I’m pretty sure. It could be mine, I suppose, but I can definitely hear her breathing, and she’s definitely awake.”
“All right,” said Sheriff Connor. “I'll grab her ankles. Miss Lancombe, you tickle her feet.”
“Okay,” said Miss Lancombe.
Mrs. Harken “woke up”. She slowly sat up.
“Oh! I – I think I passed out for a moment,” she said. “Oh. The stress has been horrific. If you ever get a stranger’s head sent to you in a box, then you’ll know what I mean. Have any of you ever gotten a head in the mail?”
“No, ma’am,” said Sheriff Connor.
Miss Lancombe and Dr. Davis shook their heads.
“I didn't think so. If you ever do – and I hope you never do – then you'll know what I’m going through.”
“Mrs. Harken, do you know Albert Fricklebacher?” asked Dr. Davis. He turned to Sheriff Connor. “Sheriff, do you have his license?”
“I've got it,” said the sheriff.
“Excellent. Would you please show it to Mrs. Harken? Perhaps she didn't recognize his face when she saw his head.”
Mrs. Harken gave Dr. Davis a quick glance of disapproval, but then got her face under control. From his front pocket, Sheriff Connor pulled the plastic bag containing Mr. Fricklebacher’s wallet. The sheriff wasn’t wearing latex gloves at the moment, so he didn’t want to reach into the bag. He pushed on the outside of the bag, inching the wallet to the end of the plastic bag. He tried to open it while keeping his hands on the outside of the bag, but it wasn’t easy for his big hands.
Miss Lancombe had thought to bring some extra gloves. She put on a pair and took the wallet from the sheriff. She held the wallet open for Mrs. Harken to see Mr. Fricklebacher’s drivers license.
“No, I don't recall this face, or that name.”
Miss Lancombe closed the wallet. Sheriff Connor held the plastic bag open while Miss Lancombe dropped the wallet into the bag. The sheriff zipped the bag closed, then he put the bag back into his left front pocket.
“I'm sorry,” said Mrs. Harken. “Would you like to sit down? Please, sit down.”
“No thank you,” said Dr. Davis. “Perhaps your husband knew him. Is he be home?”
“He should be home in a week or so. As I told the sheriff earlier, my husband drives a truck, and he's gone for days at a time. His latest haul is to San Diego, and he left a few days ago. After San Diego he’s going to Seattle, and then San Antonio before finally coming home.”
“Thank you for your time, Mrs. Harken,” said Dr. Davis. “I'm sure this day has been difficult for you.”
“It certainly has.”
“If you think of anything else later, perhaps you can do us the favor of calling the sheriff to let him know?”
“I'll certainly do that.”
“Sheriff Connor, I think we should talk to the neighbors now,” suggested Dr. Davis, “and see if they have any information that might be helpful.”
“Well, whatever you do,” said Mrs. Harken, “don’t believe a word Mrs. Miller says. That old ba – I mean, that sweet widow is pretty old now, and her mind has been slipping.”
“I just talked to her yesterday at the supermarket,” said Miss Lancombe. “She seemed fine then.”
“She seems lucid sometimes,” Mrs. Harken said, “but she mixes her dreams with reality and it's hard to know what's real.”
“We'll be sure to take that under consideration, Mrs. Harken,” said the sheriff. “Thank you for your time.”
Dr. Davis turned to go, and Sheriff Connor followed. Miss Lancombe waved to Mrs. Harken, and Mrs. Harken waved back. Miss Lancombe turned to go as well. Dr. Davis took a step past the front door, and Sheriff Connor tapped him on the shoulder. The sheriff opened the door, and he let Dr. Davis and Miss Lancombe go out first. The sheriff stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind himself.
“Now we go to Mrs. Miller's house,” said Dr. Davis. “Mrs. Harken is lying about knowing Albert Fricklebacher. I could hear it in her voice.”
“What about what Mrs. Harken said about Mrs. Miller?” asked Miss Lancombe.
“That was another lie. You said yourself that Mrs. Miller seemed normal to you.”
“She did. And I've never heard anything bad about her before.”
“To Mrs. Miller's, then,” said Sheriff Connor.
Dr. Drew interviewed Scott Adams recently, and Scott Adams mentioned the absurdity that Republicans went to overthrow the government on Jan 6, but they neglected to bring their guns. On the first or second anniversary of the event, that alleged oversight made the narrative appear absurd to me, so I made a "video" that was supposed to be audio from January 6, captured on a video camera from which the lens cap had not been removed. I'm posting it again just because.
While I was waiting on hold to talk with a human at the IRS, I decided to put some food out for the dogs. I set the full bag of dog food on a chair, and walked away to get the bowls. When I turned around I saw the bag slowly tipping over, spilling much of its contents onto the floor. Fortunately I had help cleaning it up.
The main task for today is to begin revising McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader. It may take a couple of weeks, possibly more. I still have to work at Publix, and next week I start a new job in the memory care unit of a rehab/nursing home facility, and I'll also be working at Publix at least one night.
After that I'll take a look at the double-slit experiment, and see if there is an interpretation that is consistent with my theory of wave physics.
Also, I came across the attached meme, which I had created two or three years (or so) ago. I thought I'd include it because I still like it.
I recently proposed a theory of matter and energy called Wave Physics. In this theory, the only things in the universe are energy and the universal membrane, which is the medium through which all energy is transfered and stored.
Tonight I realized that according to this theory, everyone and everything in the universe are connected to each other at all times. Things that would be impossible according to the standard model of particle physics, are very possible in the universe of wave physics. Psychic transmissions and the power of prayer are physically possible and make sense if the universe works in any way like the theory I proposed.
If you've ever heard the phone ring and felt sure who it was before answering it, and were proven correct, this makes sense in wave physics, but not with particle physics. If you've ever looked intently at someone, and had that person quickly turn and look directly at you (I have), that phenomenon makes sense if all of us are parts of the same vast, ...
I was only scheduled to work three days this week, so I decided to work on a theory I'd been playing around with for fun over the last few years. I'd never been a big fan of the standard model of particle physics, so a few years ago, just for fun, I thought about exploring some alternate ideas, with zero training and zero experiments.
This week I wrapped up a few loose ends, and posted it to a community I created called Wave Physics. Originally I had called it Alternative Physics, but I changed my mind, so the link still has alternativephysics in it, but the community name is Wave Physics. I'd love for people to pay $5.00 a month to tell me how wrong I am.
https://alternativephysics.locals.com/
I also posted it on my personal website:
