Chapter 19

This time Jason didn't make a sound. Tears and sweat dripped down his face.

The receptionist came into the room.

"Yes?" said Dr. Payne.

Jason was glad for the break.

"Kendall's mother is on the phone," said the receptionist. "She refuses to pay her bill."

"What?!" exclaimed Dr. Payne. "How dare-"
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"She says you pulled the wrong tooth."

"Give me the phone!" shouted Dr. Payne.

The receptionist handed it to her.

"This is Dr. Payne. What do you mean you're not paying your bill? . . . Well, then, just bring Kendall back in here, and I'll pull that one too. I'll pull them all! But you still have to pay me. Your lawyer! I don't care what your lawyer said. You can tell your lawyer to rub a monkey's tummy!... You heard me! Rub a monkey's tummy with your head!"

She slammed down the phone. Jason looked at the diploma hanging on the wall. Before his dentist got married, her name was Jane Smith.

His big mouth opened wider.
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"I found Jane Smith," Jason told Stephen the next morning when he got to school.

"You better tell Deedee," said Stephen.

They hurried across the playground.

A whistle blew. "No running!" ordered Mr. Louis, the Professional Playground Supervisor. "Now I want both of you to go back to the edge of the blacktop, and walk this time."

The boys went back the way they came, then came back the way they went
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Deedee was sitting on a bench. She had been benched by Mr. Louis for excessive noisemaking.

"I found Jane Smith," Jason whispered as he

walked past her. . . .

. . . Deedee and Jason entered the classroom together. Mrs. Drazil was seated behind her desk. As they passed in front of her, Deedee stopped and said, "Did you have a nice time at the dentist yesterday, Jason?"

"Yes, Deedee," said Jason. "It was very

nice."

"I wonder if we have the same dentist," said Deedee. "What is your dentist's name?"

"Her name is Dr. Payne," said Jason. "But that hasn't always been her name."

"It hasn't?" asked Deedee.

"Oh, no," said Jason. "Before she was married, her name was Jane Smith."

"Jane Smith?" asked Deedee. "Is that spelled J-A-N-E S-M-I-T-H?"

"Yes, that's how you spell Jane Smith," said Jason. "But like I said, that's not her name anymore. Her name is Dr. Payne. She works at the dentist office at 124 Garden Street."

They took their seats. . . .

. . . Late that afternoon Dr. Payne finished work and walked out of her office. It had been a good day. She had drilled twenty-five teeth.

She made sixty dollars for every tooth she drilled. Twenty-five times sixty dollars is $1,500. Not bad for a day's work.

Of course, not all the teeth really had cavities, but how would any of her patients find out?

She got into her fancy silver-and-black sports car and drove away. She sang along with the radio.

She didn't even notice the old beat-up green station wagon in her rearview mirror.

She lived in a mansion next to the lake. There was a stone wall around the house. She pressed a button in her car, and an iron gate opened. The gate closed behind her as she headed up the long and winding driveway.

A moment later the old green station wagon stopped and parked next to the gate. A woman got out, walked around to the back, and opened the tailgate. She pulled out a ladder. She set the ladder up against the wall.

Under her arm she carried an old blue notebook. . . .

. . . Dr. Payne's butler handed her a drink. The cook was making dinner.

Dr. Payne's dog, cat, and husband were waiting
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for her in the den. Her dog's name was Brussels, and her cat's name was Sprouts. She petted them both.

Her husband's name was Sham. She petted him too.

"Hi, darling, how was your day?" he asked.

"I made fifteen hundred dollars," said Jane.

They hugged and kissed. They loved each other, but they loved money even more.

Then they had dinner by candlelight as they watched the sun set over the lake. After dinner they sat out on the deck, under the stars.

Sprouts lay purring on Jane's lap. Brussels sat faithfully by her side.

Life was perfect.

"I love you, darling," she said, petting Sprouts.

"And I love you," said Sham.

"I was talking to the cat," said Jane.

The butler stepped out onto the deck. "Excuse me, madam," he said, "but there's an elderly woman out in the yard."

Jane's long fingernails dug into her cat's neck.

"I wonder how she got past the gate," said Sham.

"I don't know, sir," said the butler. "She's probably hungry. Perhaps I can give her some leftover-"

"No!" shouted Jane. "Get rid of her!"

"Let me have a look," said Sham. He followed the butler back into the house.

He returned a moment later. "Darling, you'll never guess who's here. One of your former teachers! Isn't that just the sweetest-"

Jane screamed. She jumped to her feet. Sprouts flew off her lap and into the hot tub.

"What's wrong?" asked Sham.

"You idiot!" shouted Jane. "I told you to get rid of her!" She kicked her dog out of the way, then climbed over the railing and jumped off the deck to the ground, fifteen feet below.

Mrs. Drazil came out onto the deck. "You can't get away from me, young lady!" she hollered.

Jane hurt her ankle pretty badly when she hit the ground. It was either sprained or broken. She lay on the ground in agony as she looked up at her former teacher.

"You have homework to do," said Mrs. Drazil, looking down at her.

Jane's face twisted with pain. "Rub a monkey's tummy!" she shouted, then struggled to her feet.

She had a suitcase stashed in the boathouse, just in case this ever happened. She hobbled to it, grabbed it, then limped down to the lake, dragging her suitcase behind her.