Chapter Two

Detective (Second Grade) Luke Sutton, Midtown North Precinct, looked up from his desk as his partner perched on the side. Luke raised an eyebrow and Detective (Third Grade) Matthew Graves slid off the desk with a sheepish grin and sat himself down on a spare chair.

Luke turned to look at Matthew.

“What’s up Graves?” he asked, feeling slight relief that his attention had been taken away from filling out expenses forms.

“We’ve got another one.” Graves said, his white blond hair flopping forward into his cherubic face, making him look like a errant schoolboy.

“Shit, that makes it three. Where was she found?” Luke asked, sitting back in his chair.

“Battery Park, near the Clinton Memorial.”

“Shit, that’s way out of left field. Are we sure she’s his?”

“M.O.’s the same. Same hacked off ponytail, slashes across the cheekbones, and those strange slashes across the abdomen. Has anyone discovered exactly what they are yet?” Graves asked.

“Oh yeah, Linda called. She says they’re runes.”

“Runes? What the fuck are they?”

“Some ancient language from Norway or Denmark or some such Scandinavian country. She’s trying to get them translated.” Luke replied, tiredness now replaced by anger.

It had been three weeks since the first victim had been found and they were no nearer to finding out the perp. Luke had been working in the homicide team for over a year and had seen his fair share of vicious attacks but this one had really gotten to him. It was the total lack of regard for the women as people and the fact that all the attacks had taken place pre mortem, meaning everyone of the victims had felt the knife carving into them before the perp slit their throats.



“Jon!”

Jon looked up from the magazine he hadn’t been reading to see Obie walking towards him. After the woman had been admitted, Jon had found a payphone and had called the only person he could think of who would come running and be able to help him. Obie was his right hand man and could be counted on to do pretty much anything that was asked of him, including getting to the hospital within twenty minutes of being asked.

“Hey Obie, thanks for coming man, I couldn’t think of anyone else to call.”

“What happened JB? Are you ok? “ Obie asked, concern evident on his face.

“I’m fine Obie, I just…oh god..” he growled as the enormity of what he’d done hit him, “I hit someone with my car as I was backing out of the studios earlier.”

“Oh jeez, You sure you’re ok? You weren‘t drinking..?”

Jon shook his head, feeling a slight headache behind his eyes.

“I’m fine, but she’s..I don’t know how she is, or who she is for that matter, but…we have the same eyes Obie, of all the people I’ve ever met I’ve never met anyone who has the same eyes as me before. Don’t you find that weird?” Jon said, a broad smile on his face.

Obie was worried. It wasn’t like Jon to not be in control and hitting someone with your car definitely counted as losing control, and what the hell was he talking about eyes for? Obie looked closer at the man he called ‘boss’, although that was only when he wanted to annoy him, and saw the sheer exhaustion that he’d managed to hide for so long.

“I think you ought to go home to rest.” Obie said, careful to make it a request and not a statement as that was a sure fire way to get Jon’s anger flowing.

“I can’t Obie, I need to make sure she’s ok,” Jon looked around, a sheepish guilty look on his face, “There’s one more thing Obie.”

“What?” Obie asked, feeling that whatever it was it wasn’t going to be good.

“I kinda gave them the impression that she’s my girlfriend.” he admitted

“What?!?” Obie said, totally at a loss why Jon would have done that.

“They wouldn’t give me any information on her as I wasn’t next of kin, so I hinted that I was.”

“Hinted? How?” Obie asked, suspiciously.

“I, er…” Jon broke off eye contact, his cheeks flushing slightly.

Obie raised an eyebrow, giving Jon his version of Jon’s stern look.

“Well, when the doc asked was I next of kin I kinda didn’t say no.

“And you came up with this all by yourself? Jesus Christ Jon! Do you know how much trouble you are going to get yourself into if this comes to light? Do they know you hit her?” Obie asked, sitting down, praying his mind would be able to take in this newer version of his boss.

“Er…” Jon began, his mouth twisting wryly.

“I’ll take that as a no then, shall I?”, Obie said, sarcastically, wondering how in the name of all things good he was going to get Jon out of this mess, and also vowing never to let his boss out in public by himself again. Ever.

“Do you want me to go and get this mess straightened out?” He asked, sighing.

Obie ran his hands across his face in utter disbelief at how incredibly stupid Jon was acting. Obie had known that the divorce had taken a lot out of Jon but he hadn’t realised just how much it had affected him.

“What about telling the doc the truth? Want me to do that for you as well?” Obie asked.

“No. I‘ll do it myself, let me just..” Jon broke off as the Doctor he’d spoken to earlier came into the waiting area.

“Doc.” Jon said, getting up from the uncomfortable seat.

“Mr Bongiovi.”

“How is she?” Jon asked, worry and concern rumpling his features. He would wait until he knew she was fine and then tell them what he’d done. He guessed he really ought to retract his earlier statement to the Policeman he’d had to speak to.

“Physically she’ll be fine. She has a fractured leg and a broken rib, which, given enough bedrest, will heal naturally.” The doctor paused causing Jon’s heart rate to accelerate.

“But?” Jon prompted, making a move towards the physician.

“She’s lost her memory.”

“What? What does that mean?” Jon asked, now on the verge of complete hysteria as the days events combined with his overall stress level and threatened to tip him over the edge.

“She has amnesia, but without further tests I couldn’t tell you whether it’s organic or functional.”

“Huh? Sorry you totally lost me there..organic or functional? What the fuck does that mean.”

Obie could see Jon was getting agitated. Jon always seemed to be getting agitated these days and Obie stepped up in order to force Jon to take a back seat, to give him time to calm down. After all it wasn’t even as if he knew this woman.

“What’s the difference between the two?” Obie asked, forcing the doctors attention away from his on the edge of a nervous breakdown boss and onto him.

Jon stepped back and took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down before the doc admitted him as well.

“Well, organic amnesia is caused by either drugs or some form of damage to the brain, such as can be caused in car accidents and is usually permanent, where as functional amnesia is usually some form of repressed memory or a disassociation with a particular trauma and, given time and with help, the memory can be restored. As she was involved in a car accident, until the slight swelling she has on the brain has gone down and we can talk to her, we just won’t know what kind of amnesia it is. As she knows her name and is aware of where she is it’s more likely to be a functional amnesia as, well as the name says she can be fully functional and just have a hole in her memory, but if it isn’t, it’s likely she’ll be brained damaged to some extent.”

Jon sank down onto a chair and put his head in his hands. He was empty inside, not sure what he should be feeling. He’d hit someone with his car; a beautiful someone from what he could remember and because of that she could be brain damaged for life. All of a sudden the events of the past six months and especially that day, caught up with him and, turning away from Obie and the Doc, he retched over the threadbare carpet.