Chapter 29 - Jack

Originally published October 23, 2015.

The owners of the resort on Lake Chetek know Jack Beeman well.  He is a long-time client who rents the same cabin a couple weeks each month.  Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall - Jack made the long drive from Roseville to this corner of the world.

The Petersens knew Jakc loved it ever since spending a week each summer as a child.  His grandparents rented a cabin two weeks each summer while on vacation from Caterpillar.  That was back when the whole plant would shut down.  Every worker got out of town, for the Beeman's that meant driving to Chetek, Wisconsin.

John Petersen mulled all this over while looking at Jack's pickup truck outside his cabin.
 

It didn't make sense.  A gorgeous morning like this normally meant Jack was out futzing around the dock by six and on the water no later than 7:30.  Instead, there was no sign of movement and the boat was still tied up.

"No signs of life," John thought. "Wait! Oh no."  He asked his wife to call 9-1-1 as he grabbed the master keys and headed toward the cabin.

He knocked loudly three times and yelled Jack's name.  No answer.  There was a light shining in a back room, but it appeared to be the only one.  John turned the key and opened the door.

"Jack?  This is John - just checking to see if everything's OK.  Are you here, Jack?"

Petersen walked in the living room by the kitchen.  He noticed some of Jack's things on the kitchen counter and an empty grocery bag on the table.  Jack's fishing pole stood in the corner near the door.

The bathroom was empty, so he headed toward the bedroom where the light was.

"Jack!"  Petersen moved quickly toward the hot tub.  "Jack!  Are you OK?"

Petersen stood behind Beeman put a hand under each arm then pulled his head above water. 

Beeman was unresponsive.  'Where is our policeman?' John wondered.  He checked Jack's airway, his breathing, and his circulation. No response.

It took a lot of effort, but Petersen pulled Jack out and on to the rug.  

He yelled for his wife to call 9-1-1 again and began C-P-R.

Jane Petersen opened the cabin door, "John, what do you suppose..."  She stopped when she saw her husband bent over their favorite customer.  "The police and E-M-T are on their way."  She knelt near her husband and prayed.

The loud silence was broken by sirens as two vehicles braked to a halt outside the cabin.  A police officer ran inside followed by two emergency medical technicians.

"Thanks, Mr. Petersen.  That's good work.  I'll take over now on three. 1, 2, 3..."  Ty Evans knelt on the other side of Beeman to continue live-saving efforts.  His partner, Sally House made radio contact with the hospital and started to take his vital signs.

Exhausted, John slumped against the wall near his wife who continued to pray.

A couple minutes later, the officer and two EMTs placed Jack on a stretcher and wheeled him to the ambulance.  After he was inside, the vehicle sped out of the resort.

John and Jane walked out of the cabin, "Rick, what happens now?"

Officer Berg replied, "Well, it doesn't look good, but the hospital will be ready for him when he gets there.  I'll let you know when I learn something.  In the meantime lock the cabin.  No one should go in or out.  Since we don't know what happened, we need to treat this like a crime scene.  Thanks for your help and quick action.  Any chance our guest has is because of you folks."

In the Emergency Room, two doctors and four nurses surrounded Beeman.  The attending physician looked at the clock on the wall.  "Well, I'm afraid we've done all anyone can do.  Time of death is 8:15 a.m."  The nurses covered Mr. Beeman. 

The doctor added, "Mr. Beeman has no family in the area.  And while I'm pretty sure we're looking at some kind of heart trouble as the cause of death... we're going to wait for the County Coroner to make the call.  You know what to do until then.  Thanks, everybody."

One of the nurses walked across the waiting room and told Officer Berg what happened.

"That's a shame.  The guy came up for a quick weekend of fishing and that's all she wrote.  I'll head back to the resort to see if we can find out who to contact.  Please give us a call at the station when the coroner gets here.  Thanks."

Berg headed back to the patrol car, a new Chevrolet Equinox, and headed back to the lake.

There were more people moving around now, he noticed as he parked near the resort's lodge.  Berg found John and Jane at a corner table drinking coffee.  The two turned his direction as he walked in the door.

"I'm sorry.  He didn't make it.  Do you have any contact information for Mr. Beeman?  Any family or close friend?  I need to get in touch with somebody.

"And, I'm going to need to ask you guys a few questions as well."

John returned with a recipe box where he kept 3 x 5 cards containing the pertinent information for all his regular customers and handed the Beeman card to Berg.  As Petersen sat down it began to hit him that his friend, he wondered if they really were friends and decided they were, was gone.

"Thanks, John.  It looks like it was recently changed."

"Yes, sir."  John was more formal now.  He'd known Rick forever, but this was police business and neither wanted to joke around.  "When he was here last month he said things changed back in Roseville and he wanted this Mr. Moss to be the emergency contact."

Berg headed back to his car to make the call.

Pete Moss was walking into his house after church when he felt his cellphone vibrating before it rang.  He thought is was unusual; as he picked it up, he noticed an unfamiliar area code.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Moss?  Mr. Pete Moss?"

"Speaking.  Who's calling please?'

"Mr. Moss, this is Officer Rick Berg of the Chetek Police Department.  I have bad news.  Mr. Beeman was found unconscious and unresponsive in his cabin this morning.  He didn't make it.

"It doesn't appear there was any foul play, but we are checking out a few things before we can say for sure.  Are you able to take responsibility for Mr. Beeman?"

Pete thought a moment.  'Me responsible for Jack?  It's been the other way around for more years than I'd like to remember.'  "Yes, officer.  I guess so.  What do I need to do?"

"Well, I'd suggest getting up here today.  You may want to contact a funeral home down there and they can work with our people to take care of the body.  If you have my number on your caller I.D. you can call me on your way up if you have questions.  Please come to the police station.  I'll let you know if anything changes."

"OK.  Thanks, Officer."  Moss hung up the phone and sat down.  What now?  I should ask someone to come along I guess, but who?  After a few minutes he came up with a name and dialed the number out of the Roseville phonebook.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Els?"

"You got him.  Who's this?"

"Els, this is Pete Moss.  I’m sorry to say this over the phone, but something happened to Jack up in Chetek and he's dead.  I just got called by the police up there and I need to go up.  I’m hoping you can go with me.  As far as I know, you are Jack's closest friend."

Both Pete and Els quickly realized from now on when they talked about Jack it would be in the past tense.

Silence on the phone line was finally interrupted by a clearing cough. 

"Oh my.  I’m sorry to hear that, Pete.  Yes, sure.  I'd be honored to go with you.  If you're driving, I'll be ready to go in ten minutes."

"Thank you Mr. Brandt.  I'll see you soon."

Pete headed to his bedroom to throw a few things in a bag and headed to the car.  On his way, he dialed Emjay Marberg.

"Hello."

"Hi, Emjay?  This is Pete.  Sorry to bother you, but I need you to cover for me tomorrow morning for the news.  At this point, plan on all day.  I'll keep you posted."

"What? Uh, sure Pete.  Can you tell me why?"

"I will Emjay, but I can't yet.  As soon as I can I'll call you back.  Thanks.  I gotta go."

He clicked 'End' and punched in the number for the Roseville Funeral Home.

A couple minutes later he stopped at Brandt's house.  Els threw a bag in the back and got in for the long trip up north.

The story continues in chapter 30 which will appear at 3 pm today.