Ty Callison for Kennebec7(#12) [Healing Potions]
Jill called me on my cell to tell me about this tall, exotic east Indian woman that had some new information for us about Miranda’s state of mind a day before she died falling off the cliff in Krabi.
Oh, you’re gonna like this one, Ty.
Do tell? I was grinning because of the way she sounded over the phone.
You’ll see, tonight. I invited Lakshmi to have dinner with us.
And you’re gonna keep everything mysterious until then?
I’ve said enough. You’ll see for yourself.
Be still, my heart. (Jill giggled.) What’re you doing now?
I’m heading for the cliffs with an SID technician from Bangkok. He brought test dummies we’re gonna throw off the cliff. Miranda’s size and weight, you know? We’ll do measurements down on the rocks.
Sounds like fun, Jill. Don’t fall.
That evening Jill and I were settled in at the Otohime Japanese restaurant, sipping our sake, while this Lakshmi was fashionably late, so I thought, and we chatted about the SID research at the cliffs.
We dropped her off, just like she might have slipped and fell, Jill said. Landed far short of the ocean.
Different time. Tides would be different.
We factored that in. We know where the tides were when she went down.
Did you hit her in the head with a baseball bat?
I did a couple times, being a female perp. Sort of fun. I thought of a few people I’d like to whack with a baseball bat. Then the tech guy whacked the dummy. Different trajectory. Different landing zone.
You being the stronger of the two.
Jill laughed.
And then she was there~ this tall gal with the long black hair with a silver streak running down her back. Wearing an amazing orange color shirt, which Jill later told me was ‘georgette’ style, and tight black leggings. What with her soft brown skin and beaming smile, Lakshmi was an eyeful. Had those high cheekbones I admire. Be still, my heart, I silently reminded my pump.
I managed to get to my feet, which is tricky when you’re drinking sake and your legs are sort of lost under those Japanese tables.
I did my little nod and took her hand. Miz Mookerjee, I said.
Detective Callison, she smiled, looking me in the eye, just an inch or so shorter than me.
Jill had informed me that Lakshmi came from the Punjab region of India, up north, where the best-looking women come from.
Ty, I said. Better than Detective Callison.
Oh, you’re Thai, she said with a wicked grin. I thought you were American.
Well, he’s half Indian, Jill commented, getting herself into the comedy routine. Blame it on the sake, but we all had a chuckle.
Lakshmi apologized for being late. Said she was with a cancer patient.
Oh, you’re a doctor.
Not really. Didn’t Jill tell you?
No, Jill said, not much. I thought it would be better coming from you, Lakshmi.
Some people call me ‘doctor,’ but I’m not. I’m a healer. I have a place back in the hills. I don’t encourage attention.
I glanced at Jill. She had, at least, warned me that this Lakshmi was unconventional. As compared, Jill said, to you, meaning me, who are controversial.
You were helping Miranda Weiss with her cancer problem? I inquired.
Yes. The allopathic doctors had concluded that Miranda’s condition was terminal. That she had about a year at best.
But Miranda didn’t buy into that, Jill commented.
Miranda Weiss was an extremely strong-willed woman, said Lakshmi. She had things to do, and she simply did not believe she was going to be a victim.
How did she happen to find you?
God whispered in her ear.
I’ve known that to happen, I told her, nodding.
Yes, that’s what I’ve heard about you. You have quite a presence on Google, Ty.
I smiled. Well, that’s pretty impossible to avoid these days. I’ll have to see if you’ve managed to avoid digital scrutiny.
Oh, there are many women in the world with my name, some with a slightly different spelling, but none on Google who cure cancer using ancient Tibetan techniques.
Jill raised one eyebrow to me. I put my chopsticks around a piece of sushi and dipped it in some sauce.
How ancient? I asked.
Twelfth century.
Uh huh, I nodded. And how was Miranda taking this remedy?
She was improving.
Umm, Lakshmi, was she improving, or did she think she was improving, because that’s what she wanted to believe?
We had blood tests done at a hospital in Phuket. Miranda was improving. It was a slow process, but she was trending upward.
What did her doctor say? asked Jill.
Dubious, but, you know how they are, Jill. Let’s see if the trend continues.
Did they know you were treating her? I asked.
Of course not. My patients are all sworn to secrecy, Ty. Or else the government would track me down with dogs and ship me out of the country.
Lakshmi had a flair for the dramatic which I appreciated. This was getting, as we say, interestinger and interestinger, and we were just beginning. I have to admit, I could have talked to this gal all night.
So, Philip, Miranda’s husband—did he know anything about this – uh, healing procedure?
No. Miranda absolutely did not want him to know what she was doing. He was gone on business when we started. She would just drive her jeep up to where I live and work, and we’d get it done. Twice a week.
Jill jumped in again. What’s involved in this procedure, Lakshmi?
There are ten basic types of Tibetan medicinal compounds—powders, pills, pastes, ashes, medicinal beers, etcetera, and the most controversial, which they call rin chen ril bu—precious medicine.
Jill and I sat there, motionless, fascinated. I felt that chill going up the back of my arms. We listened. The world stood still.
Lakshmi continued calmly. These substances use the healing properties of minerals and metals which must first be subjected to lengthy and complicated processes of detoxification. There is a parallel here with the Indian alchemical traditions. Their knowledge was used in the making of mercury-based medical compounds.
Mercury? Jill asked, which everyone considers a deadly poison?
There are different kinds of mercury, Jill, said Lakshmi. The kind I work with can heal people.
[To be continued]
Ty Callison
Krabi, Thailand
June 22, 2010
