Man Missing by Mignon G. Eberhart, 1954

 

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The Nurse Sarah Keate series:

1. The Patient in Room 18

2. The Mystery of Hunting's End

3. While the Patient Slept 

4. From This Dark Stairway

5. Murder by an Aristocrat (a.p.a. Murder of My Patient)

6. Wolf in Mans Clothing

7. Man Missing

About the author: Mignon Good (1899-1996) was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1929 her first crime novel was published featuring 'Sarah Keate', a nurse and 'Lance O'Leary', a police detective. This couple appeared in another four novels. Over the next forty years she wrote a novel nearly every year. In 1971 she won the Grand Master award from the Mystery Writers of America. (from Goodreads)

Major characters:

Lieutenant Parly, hospital patient

Marine Sgt. Bill "Buffalo" Brown, hospital patient

Ensign Smith, hospital patient

Ensign Sally Wilson, a nurse

Capt. Harry Somers, base Commanding Officer (CO).

Kitty Somers, his wife

--- Jenson, a corpsman

Cmdr. Jim Warring, Executive Officer (XO)

Colonel Sinclair, CO of Marines

Marie Sinclair, his wife

Wanaha Bonanza "Bonny" Winters, Parly's date

Jack Lewis, electrician

Nurse Sarah Keate

Locale: Naval base in the desert, unnamed location but sounds like Nevada

Synopsis: Nurse Sarah Keate is serving as a temporary civilian nurse at the Naval Ammunition Depot near (fictional) Wanaha City. One night after visiting hours, she glimpses a man leaving her wing, only seeing his shoulder boards with three stripes (Commander rank). She finds one of her patients, Lt. Parly, is dead, his throat cut. In the next room, patient Marine Sergeant Bill "Buffalo" Brown seems to know something but is not telling.

Sarah is living on base as a guest of Captain Harry Somers and his wife Kitty Somers. As an officer, he has the privilege of living in housing on "The Row". The Row is a village unto itself, separate from the enlisted men's area by a guarded wall. The search is on for the "Missing Man" who was seen leaving the hospital. As The Row is closed and guarded, he must be inside. 

Sarah finds a connection between Parly and one of her nurses, Ensign Sally Wilson. She finds Sally is a widow - her late husband, Johnny Wilson, reportedly died in a plane crash. His body was never identified, and $30K being transported was missing. Years have passed, and now Sally has a boyfriend, Commander Jim Warring.

Sarah suspects that Johnny Wilson is alive, and someone else's body was in the crashed plane. Suspicion alternates between Johnny and Sally as being the murderer, when a second murder occurs.

Review: This entire story takes place on a military base, and we come to know the routine and the rigid segregation between officers and enlistees. The story held my attention, even though I am unfamiliar with military practice. The suspense builds throughout. The common closed-environment of a mystery story (snowbound train, island, etc.) is here portrayed by "The Row", a closed and walled area inside a closed and walled naval base, which was a clever place to contain the characters.

I had to look up a list of ranks to understand the hierarchy:

Here are the ranks in the story, in descending order:

• Captain
• Commander
• Lieutenant Commander
• Lieutenant
• Ensign

Some abbreviations to know:

• B.O.Q. Bachelor Officer's Quarters
• C.O. Commanding Officer
• N.A.D. Naval Ammunition Depot
• O.D. Officer of the Day
• X.O. Executive Officer