Chapter 4

The lab tech breezed in, let a piece of paper float to the surface of Harper's desk, where it landed on top of a coffee cup, twenty-five other pieces of paper, and a staple remover, and stood back and folded his arms.

"Nineteen ninety-eight Buick Regal," he said, with a triumphant note in his voice. "Originally Olympic white, but now a metallic blue color called Champagne Pearl, which, by the way, is a Plymouth color, not a General Motors color. It was repainted after roughly February of 2000." He leaned forward. "And, I might add, it has Goodyear Regatta tires on it."

Jim looked at the report, which he knew would be meaningless to almost anybody but the tech, and then back up at the man who had brought it.

"Tell me how you know," he said.

"It's all right there," said the man smugly, pointing a finger at the report.

"I forgot my reading glasses today," said Jim dryly. "Humor me."

The tech snorted.

"The paint transfer told us the colors. Pieces of the headlight told us it was a Regal, and the year. The Chrysler paint was available to body shops in September of ninety-nine, but whoever painted this car probably used stolen paint. There was a shipment of that paint stolen in January of 2000. It could have been repainted any time after that. When the perp slid to a stop, he left a perfect footprint of the Goodyear tires."

"And how the hell do you know it was painted with stolen paint?" asked Jim, actually interested now.

"Because there were thick chips of bondo at the scene," said the tech. "The paint on those matched the transfer on the van that was hit. A body shop that used that much bondo was fly-by-night, or back alley, and wouldn't have paid full price for that kind of paint. They'd use some cheap acrylic that they could get anywhere. For them to use actual Chrysler paint, it almost HAD to be stolen. I checked the records and found that there was a truckload of the stuff hijacked in early January of 2000. Ergo, the Buick was painted after that."

The tech folded his arms again, looking like the cat that ate the canary.

"He wasn't a perp, by the way," said Jim.

The tech blinked. "Huh?"

"The guy driving the Regal wasn't a perp. You called him a perp. He foiled the kidnapping attempt."

"Yeah, but he left the scene of the accident," said the tech, sounding injured. He'd expected to get a pat on the back, but the fucking flatfoot was just arguing semantics.

"If somebody saved your wife from being kidnapped and maybe raped or killed, and then left the scene, would you want me to bust him for that?" asked Harper.

"I'm really busy," said the tech, looking disgruntled. "You're looking for a banged up Regal that looks a light gunmetal gray, OK?"

"Got it," said Harper. "Thanks."

The tech didn't quite storm out, but, for perhaps the three hundredth time since he'd started working in the police lab, he thought about trying to find other work.

Harper picked up the report and glanced at it. It really WAS pretty good work. Especially the tires. Most people couldn't get good tire impressions from a scene, even if they had something to work with.

And while a car that had been in this kind of accident could be fixed up and repainted, so that nobody could tell it had been in an accident ... people never thought to change the tires.

He picked up the phone to put out an APB.

Mitch didn't ask to see the patient. He just went to the room. He looked at the guy, who was sitting up now. Some of the bandages had been removed from his head, too, and now both eyes were visible. The guy was just sitting there, staring straight ahead. The TV was on, but he didn't seem to be watching it.

Jess had given him a call, to let him know the guy was awake. She said he couldn't remember much. That was very convenient for somebody who'd been in a gun battle. He pushed the door open.

"Howdy," he said, putting a goofy smile on his face. He liked the Columbo approach, because it actually worked. Criminals always thought they were smarter than the law. That's why they went into crime. They were almost always wrong about that, but he didn't want this man to think he was on the ball. Not yet. The fact that the department let them wear jeans with their uniform shirts added to the image of small-town dumb cop sometimes as well.

"Got yourself sort of banged up, didn't you?" he said amiably. "How you feeling?"

"I'm OK," said the man.

"I just need to finish my report," said Mitch. "Just need to ask a few questions."

"OK," said the man.

"What's your name, for one thing?"

"I don't remember."

Mitch was trying to watch the artery that ran up the throat on both sides of the neck. While liars could train their eyes not to give them away, they couldn't control their pulse. He was distracted by an accent he couldn't quite place, but which sounded familiar.

"No idea at all?" asked Mitch.

"They said you found my billfold," said the man.

"Sure did," said Mitch smiling. Now he recognized it. It was either British or Australian. He wasn't sure which.

"Wasn't my name in that?"

"Sure was," said Mitch, still smiling.

"Then I don't understand," said the man. "If you know my name, why are you asking me what it is? And why won't anybody around here TELL me my name? Am I famous or something?"

"No," said Mitch immediately. "Well, I say no, because I never heard of you before. But we're kind of remote up here in the far reaches."

"Far reaches of where?" asked the man. "Where am I, anyway? Why won't anybody tell me anything?"

Mitch stepped closer. He was going to watch the pupils this time. The pulse wasn't telling him anything.

"Tell me about the accident," he said.

He got a reaction there. The pupils dilated briefly and the patient was silent for about a second and a half too long.

"I don't remember an accident," said the man.

Mitch stepped back. He turned around, got the chair, and moved it closer to the bed. It would put him below the suspect - he was now a suspect - but maybe that would make the man relax and slip up. He sat down.

"The doc pulled glass out of your face," he said softly.

"Look," said the man. "I woke up here. My car is wherever they found me, as far as I know. I don't even know if I HAVE a car, to be honest. But you're the police. Surely you went to the scene of the accident."

"Oh, I've been to the scene," admitted Mitch. "But I need to hear your side of it."

"What did the other guy say?" asked the man.

Mitch settled back in the chair. This guy was giving all kinds of conflicting signals. First he lied ... or appeared to lie ... and then he told Mitch where to find his car ... sort of. His comment about not knowing if he had a car looked completely genuine, from the body language and voice. Then he tried to get information as to what evidence there was against him. Half of what he did suggested guilty knowledge, but the other half made it look like he really DID have amnesia.

"What am I being charged with?" asked the man suddenly.

"Nothing," said Mitch. "Not right now, anyway."

That brought what was obviously confusion to the man's face. Mitch could see that clearly, even with the remaining bandages. He reached into his pocket and took out the driver's license. He looked at the picture on it. Now that the bandages were mostly off, the man was plainly recognizable. On impulse he handed the license to the suspect.

The man took it and stared at it.

"Is this me?" he asked. There was a hollowness in his voice that Mitch was sure would be impossible to fake.

"Seems to be," he said.

"Kristoff..." The man stared. "Kristoff," he said again. He looked at Mitch. "What kind of name is Kristoff?"

Mitch faced Doctor Massouf, who was looking at a chart.

"I need to know if he really has amnesia, or if he's just faking it."

The doctor looked up. "And vye vould he be faking eet?"

"You said he got shot," said Mitch. "Maybe he's hiding something."

"Eef I vas shooted, I tink I vould be screaming my head oof abut eet, yes?" The doctor frowned. "Not all peeples who are shooted are being bad peeples."

"I think he's hiding something," insisted Mitch.

"Haff you asked heem who shooted heem?"

"Well no ... not yet," admitted Mitch.

"Eef I ver you I vould be asking heem this, I tink," said the doctor. "I am not being a psychiatrist, you know, but he is acting very much like a peeples who has much frustration about having no memories."

It was the longest comment Mitch had ever heard the doctor make, and the closest thing he'd ever heard from the doctor in understandable English, as well.

"How long you going to keep him?" asked Mitch.

"I can be deescharging heem in anozer two or tree days I am teenking," said Doctor Massouf.

"Don't let him go until I say so," said Mitch.

"I can't be keeping heem here for no reason," objected the doctor.

"Just do some more tests or something," said Mitch.

He left. He had more to do before reporting to the chief.

Lou Anne's feet hurt, but that was nothing new. She was wiping down the counter when Jessica came in, stomping snow off her feet and brushing it from her coat.

"There is no God, because God would not have made nights like this," she muttered.

"It's not night anymore, technically," pointed out Lou Anne.

"Well, whatever it is, I don't think it was invented by any divine being," said Jessica. "Your boyfriend made it through the night."

"He's not my boyfriend!" squealed Lou Anne.

"He regained consciousness, too," said Jessica, settling down onto a stool at the counter. "I need coffee."

"He did?" Lou Anne already had the coffee poured and set it in front of her friend. "What did he say?"

"If he's not your boyfriend, why are you so interested?" Jessica sipped the coffee and made motions indicating it was too hot.

"I found him in the middle of nowhere, almost dead!" yipped Lou Anne. "I ruined my coat saving him. I'm allowed to be interested!"

Jessica leaned forward and lowered her voice.

"He's got a nice dick," she whispered.

Lou Anne's eyes widened and she looked shocked. Then she thought about the image of Jess peeking under a sheet and burst into a fit of giggles.

"You're AWFUL!" she giggled. "There is something seriously wrong with a woman who checks out a guy's privates when he's almost dead."

"I wasn't checking him out," said Jessica, her voice injured. "I was giving him a sponge bath. It's part of my job."

"Probably the part that's responsible for you deciding to be a nurse at all," snorted Lou Anne, grinning. "What did he say when he woke up?"

"He has amnesia," said Jessica.

"Really?"

"Doctor Massouf thinks he was shot."

"GET OUT!" squealed Lou Anne.

"Yep," said the nurse. "Head wound. He was lucky it was only a glancing blow. Personally, I think that's why he has amnesia. He can't remember his name. Naturally, Mitch is all interested in him, like he's some kind of criminal or something."

"Well..." Lou Anne shuddered. "If he got shot, doesn't that suggest he travels in the wrong crowd?"

Jess waved a hand in the air negligently. "People get shot all the time these days," she said. "It could have been a drive by shooting, for all we know."

"In the middle of bumfuck Connecticut?" Lou Anne sounded dubious.

"He was all cut up by broken glass," said Jessica, lowering her voice. "Doc Massouf thinks he was in a car when he got shot."

"Well then, there goes your drive by shooting theory," said Lou Anne. "If somebody shot him in a car, they dumped him in the middle of the road, because there was no car anywhere near where I found him."

"I still can't believe you picked him up and got him in your car," said Jess, looking admiringly at her friend. "He's a big one ... in more ways than one." She giggled.

"You are SO bad!" laughed Lou Anne. "I bet you played with it too ... didn't you ... huh? Didn't you?!" She poked her friend as she insisted the nurse had molested her unconscious patient.

"I had to get it clean," said Jess loftily. "I had to get ALL of him clean." She leaned back. "Besides. You would have liked it. I know you would. It's been YEARS since you've seen one."

Lou Anne stood up. "And it will be fine if it's more years until I see another one," she said. "The last one I saw got me pregnant and then took off with its owner. I don't need any more of that!"

"Girl, you're crazy," said Jessica. "Here you are in the prime of your life, a knockout beauty, and you're avoiding one of the most fun things you can get your hands on."

"Like YOU know," snorted Lou Anne. "You're the only virgin I ever met, INCLUDING in high school." She grinned.

"Shhhhh!" said Jess, leaning forward. "Not so loud! That's a secret! People will think I'm odd if they find out."

"You ARE odd," laughed Lou Anne. "You're the most gorgeous woman I know. If I ever went gay, it would be your fault. When are you going to quit being so picky and find you a man?"

"There ARE no men!" snorted Jess. "Not in bumfuck Connecticut." She stopped. "Well, come to think of it, there IS an interesting man here NOW. Maybe I'll get to know your road kill a little better. He seems like a nice enough guy."

"He's probably a mobster or something!" squealed Lou Anne.

"Nah," sighed Jess. "He says he's an author."

"An author ... you didn't tell me that before. I thought you said he had amnesia."

"He does, but he remembered that he's an author." Jess sipped her coffee.

"What kind of author?"

"Beats me," said the nurse. "I'll remember to ask him." She looked up at Lou Anne slyly. "Unless you want to ask him yourself. He'd probably be very appreciative of the woman who saved his life."

"Dreamer," laughed Lou Anne. "Sometimes your imagination cracks me up."

"Gotta run," said Jess, standing up. "I need my beauty sleep, so I can go in and sweep John Doe off his feet tomorrow, and endear myself to him, so that when he remembers he's a millionaire, he'll be my sugar daddy."

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For Want of a Memory

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