“We need them here. ” Superintendent Hammer got on the radio. “What’s your present location?”
“Eleven-point-three miles east of the Richmond airport.”
Hammer asked the Coast Guard if they could transport the prisoners to state police headquarters for questioning at the very moment Dr. Faux was saying into his headset that it would be most helpful if the pilots would drop him and Fonny Boy in Reedville, not realizing that the radio was turned to crew only and no one in the cockpit could hear him.
“I don’t need to return to Tangier at this time, ” Dr. Faux said into his microphone as the helicopter thundered across what a pilot would call severe-clear skies. “And I want to make sure that you understand that
Fonny Boy was simply being kind enough to play his harmonica for me while he showed me around the bay when the bateau experienced engine problems. As for the crab pot, we have no idea where that came from. ”
“That true?” asked the engineer, who was in back with them and could hear the dentist’s transmission but not what was being said in the cockpit.
“Nah!” Fonny Boy made the mistake of talking backward as the helicopter choppered west, toward state police headquarters.
“Oh, it’s not true?” the engineer said harshly. “I thought as much. So you were crabbing!”
“I’ll call my wife and she’ll come get us, ” Dr. Faux nervously rattled on. “And I sure am sorry for all the trouble, but you certainly saved our lives. If you ever need any free dental work, please call me. Here’s my card. ”
He held out a business card, which was caught by air rushing past the helicopter’s open door. The card sailed out into the bright afternoon and was shredded by the tail rotor.
“Oh, dear. That was my last one. And this doesn’t look like Reedville, “Dr. Faux said in alarm as the Jayhawk made its approach to a helipad in what looked like Richmond.
You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, “Andy said to Fonny Boy and the dentist after they were handcuffed and led into an interrogation room.
“It’s all a mistake, ” Dr. Faux said, deciding he would deny being kidnapped and anything else that might stir up a bigger mess. “I had simply extended my stay on the island, and Fonny Boy was taking me home when his bateau ran out of gas. ”
Fonny Boy’s attention wandered down to the rusting piece of iron in his pocket. No matter what, he had to get back to the crab pot and follow the rope down to the sunken ship, which by now he was convinced was filled with treasure. He wasn’t entirely sure why the buoy had remained only two feet from the bateau’s stern as they drifted with the current, but assumed he had gotten disoriented and the bateau had not moved at all. He couldn’t face the possibility that he had lost the location of his destiny, and all that awaited him in life was returning to Tangier Island or maybe finding himself behind bars.
“Have they taken anybody else hostage on the island?” Hammer asked the dentist as Windy took notes.
“I know nothing about any hostages, ” Dr. Faux said. “And it’s outrageous that you are detaining me here in handcuffs like a common criminal. I’m a dentist who helps the poor!”
“Yes, you help them all right, ” Andy aggressively said, playing bad cop. “By ruining their teeth with unnecessary, lousy, and nonexistent dental work–such as substituting cheap materials for expensive crowns and fillings, and billing for bogus behavior management of pediatric patients, who end up with more steel crowns than they have baby teeth. Last year alone, thirty-two patients of yours endured some one hundred and ninety-two tooth removals, and in at least a hundred instances you billed for bringing in anesthetists when in fact, you were sedating the patients yourself.
“I could go on, ” Andy sternly said as he stared hard at
Dr. Faux, who was feeling faint. “Just so you know, I’ve mounted a joint investigation that includes the Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the attorney general’s office, plus the FBI and IRS. There’s been an outstanding warrant out against you for two days because the sheriff couldn’t find you to serve you, and guess why that is?”