Lost in Blue - Chapter 5

 

𝖁𝖎𝖊𝖗: Man with a Mission 

The third of May came around the corner and unfortunately, not much progress had been made during the last two weeks. Due to the difficult circumstances – who would have thought that tracing the murderer of an eighty-nine year old homicide was nearly impossible – collecting evidence was more than troublesome.

This being the reason why the head of Sankt Goarshausen’s police department had ordered Henning into his office.

Silently skimming over the information compiled into the file in his hands, Wolfgang knitted his brow.

“Don’t you think it’s strange, Dorn? We found a well-preserved corpse of a little boy, who supposedly died in the year 1928, bruised and battered, almost ninety years later in a coffin salvaged from the Rhine. Next to it, a beauty, who surprisingly emerged unscathed. To top it off, she doesn’t remember anything – except a certain name and the fact that she somehow knows this boy, despite that being impossible – I highly doubt she was born in the early 20^th century.”

Now that Eckert summarized it so briefly, the young policeman couldn’t help himself but agree with the notion how ridiculous it all sounded, once spoken aloud.

“Indeed, it sounds like a bad premise for a mystery book, written by a novice writer,” Henning commented, nodding.

“Which is why I have a special task for you, Dorn,” Eckert announced, a playful smile dancing around the corners of his mouth, “One only you can handle.”

Dorn already dreaded what his superior was about to suggest. He had a hunch in which direction the conversation would steer and he definitely wasn’t fond of it.

“Please, elaborate.”

Lately, funny glances were shot at him in passing, a few chuckles here and there, and of course the quiet mumbling whenever he entered a room marked the beginning of the renowned office gossip that could torture one’s every day work.

Really, only a fool wouldn’t notice what had been going on behind the scenes.

“So, judging by your report, I think I’m good to assume that our Fräulein has taken quite the liking to you,” Wolfgang snickered, like a schoolgirl talking about her crush.

Now matter how diplomatic and adept the policeman had expressed himself in his written report, the word of what had happened at the morgue got out - Henning blamed Schneider for it - and of course, it served as the perfect template to start rumors in the office.

Some, Melanie probably among them, romanticized the event in their head as the tragic tale of an amnesiac damsel in distress finding herself in the comfortable arms of a man of justice, who would help her out of her misery by unraveling the strange mystery of her origin, all while dismissing the fact that such a situation was unrealistic, inappropriate and rightly frowned upon.

In reality, the honest truth was that Dorn didn’t entertain the idea of having a romantic relationship with a victim of a possible murder case in the slightest, no matter what some rumors accused him off. He treated the whole incident as the mental breakdown of an innocent survivor, who could not shoulder the pain of losing a loved one upon seeing their corpse.

“Ja, I guess this is what some people might think,” he admitted truthfully, “I just caught the witness before she was about to collapse to the ground. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Eckert laughed heartily at the young man’s seriousness,

“I am aware of that, Dorn. You are not the type of man to court and seduce the fair sex during work. Do not worry about your reputation getting damaged.”

The young investigator suppressed exhaling, as he preferred for his superior not to know his instant relief about this certain matter. Even though he did nothing wrong – quite the contrary, he had behaved professionally – the tension and stress of the lack of knowledge as to what would happen next had built up in his body. Only now did his muscles loose up.

Continuing on a more serious note, the middle-aged man leaned forward across the table.

“However, the most interesting part is that she somehow seems to rely on you. In your report you mentioned that she called you ‘Ruven’ several times. We should take advantage of this – of course, it serves to help our investigation.”

“Wie meinen?” Confused, Henning arched his eyebrows.

“I assign you with the task to keep an eye on her. You seem to trigger a few memories in her, so it is only beneficial for us if you happen to help her remember.”

All those years of training at the police academy, spending hours stuck to the desk in front of books, learning techniques and working his butt off, in order to be paid to spend time with the surviving victim, who happened to be extraordinarily beautiful. A dream for most men, but a nightmare for Dorn, as it required for him to be socially engaged.

“ … I won’t have a chance to decline, right?”

Eckert grinned, shaking his head.

“Absolutely not, Dorn.”

Straightening his shoulders, Dorn dared to criticize his superior in the most diplomatic and neutral way his abilities allowed him to phrase.

“I’m afraid I do not wholly understand the effectiveness of our modus operandi here, Herr Eckert. May I ask the whole purpose of this operation? I don’t want to be rude - ”

“No, no, you are right. No need to justify yourself. For the boy, we are definitely no longer able to put his killer to justice anymore – the probability of our perpetrator being dead is very high. However, we can trace back his origin and maybe inform distant relatives about what happened to their ancestor. We could put this case to rest. As for the lady,” he cleared his throat, closing the folder.

“Well, finding out her identity is vital. She wasn’t injured, but my guess is someone attempted to murder her. We – or rather you - should find out what happened, why she was in the coffin in the first place and who put her there after salvaging the case from the Rhine, prior to Kühn. After all, it is unlikely she crawled into the burial case herself.”

“So it boils down to hoping that she regains her memory,” Dorn concluded.

“Ja, and as luck would have it, I received a call from Arzt earlier. Our sleeping beauty is ready to go outside after last time. It’s the perfect moment for you to pay her a visit and drop a little apology in our department’s name.”

He smugly pulled out a get-well-soon gift basket from underneath the table, filled with tissues, different sorts of tea, a cup as well as care products.

Dorn couldn’t believe it as it dawned on him that Eckert had already planned out everything carefully beforehand. Certainly, no maledictions left his lips, but Henning felt deeply grateful that his boss did not possess the ability to read minds.

𝕹 𝕴 𝖃𝕰 𝕿 𝕺 𝕽 𝕰 𝕿𝕰𝖄

No matter how his superior justified this scheme – it felt incredibly wrong. After last time, Henning was afraid that continuing to pester the woman might cause for another mental breakdown. And yet, here he was, doing his supervisor’s bidding, because he knew that it was the most logical thing to do after ascertainments had hit stalemate.

Equipped with the basket in hand, Dorn got into the elevator and pressed the button labeled two. Earlier, the Loreley clinic’s receptionist had been kind enough to tell him that Fräulein stayed in room 205. Lift ascending in a swift motion one barely noticed, the integrated loudspeaker’s mechanic voice let him know that he had reached the second floor – Etage zwei – after a few moments of waiting. Beeping, the metal door opened and he got off.

He passed a few nurses along the way, too focused on their errands to take notice of him. Doctors eagerly led them along as they disappeared into a hallway beyond an electric door that read “off limits for unauthorized personnel”.

In a matter of seconds, after one quick turn to the right, he reached his destination, knocking on door 205. From within, the tender female voice granted him the permission to enter – which he did.

Surrounded by walls and bed sheets colored terribly incandescent, living up to the stereotype associated with hospitals, Fräulein sat, blinking. Her pale skin barely set itself apart from all the white. Only her golden and azure features formed a contrast to the lonely room she was once again stuck in.

“Hallo, Fräulein,” Dorn greeted her and closed the door behind him. He came forward, “I came here to apologize for the last time on the behest of the entire police department.”

Disappointed at himself for lying, he handed her the gift the woman curiously examined. For a moment, it seemed like she was not quite sure what to do with it.

“Let me introduce myself again. My name is -”

“Henning Dorn. I know,” she interrupted him softly. A hint of sadness accompanied her self-pitying chuckle. “At least I can remember that.”

Surprised at her capability to joke at her own amnesia, Dorn didn’t fail to notice that it was just an attempt to hide the amount of pain the woman behind her azure orbs. He could imagine how hard it must have been to truly have no clue to one’s identity – no family, no home, no own name. Hopelessness was an understatement to describe her condition.

“Danke,” she added as a sign of gratitude as she placed the get-well-soon present on the small cupboard next to the hospital bed, “Are you here to ask me if I’ve recalled something? I’m afraid to tell you I didn’t.”

Instantly, he shook his head. He took the opportunity to sit down on a chair besides the bed.

“Absolutely not. I’m just here to assure myself of your well-being. Last time, well, didn’t go exactly as planned …”

He was at a loss for words. Was there even a diplomatic way to express what had transpired the last time they had seen each other?

“I’m not angry at you in any way, Herr Dorn,” she shook her head serenely as if she had read his mind, “It is not your fault. The way I reacted had nothing to do with your actions. I appreciate to have been given the opportunity to recall something, even though in the end, I caused trouble.”

Guiltily, she averted her gaze as she nervously played with one of her long curls. Before Dorn could diminish her own accusations, the door flung open with a bang. Fräulein flinched.

“What are you doing here?”

No one other than Eduard Arzt had decided to barge into the room. Four-eyes there apparently heard the news of Dorn’s visit from the receptionist and decided to immediately interrupt.

No matter how hard Arzt tried to conceal the unspoken accusation lingering on his tongue, the obvious grudge the doctor carried in his question didn’t go unnoticed by Dorn.

“Just an apology for causing trouble the last time,” the policeman pointed at the basket and feigned a smile. “Signed by Wolfgang Eckert himself. I am just delivering.”

Scoffing, Arzt shot Dorn a wary glance.

“I hope you are not abusing this opportunity to ‘apologize’ to secretly pull off an interrogation, Herr Polizist.”

Not even a minute into the conversation, he already showed his scorn for Dorn.

“No, no, Herr Arzt, I can assure you he did not,” Fräulein intervened in Henning’s defense. “He didn’t ask me a single question, apart from my well-being.”

“Is that so?”

Still not fully convinced, the physician arched an eyebrow and shifted his attention to Dorn. His glare was piercing and intense, but Henning refused to look away. If he broke eye contact, it would be a clear sign that Fräulein lied in his stead, for whatever reason, which was not the case.

Words could not carry the message across that he had no ill intentions, but actions or rather his eyes could, so he hoped.

With an angry snort, Arzt turned away.

“Make sure not to bother the patient for too long.”

Eduard opened the door and left. Fräulein gave Dorn an awkward, but charming smile. He didn’t comment on the medic’s behavior, but instead continued following Eckert’s instructions.

“There is actually another offer the police department would like to make. To show our regret for your pain,” he began.

Confused, Fräulein tilted her head to the side. “I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Dorn looked around the dull, whitewashed room and shook his head. “This offer has no drawbacks. We would like to offer you the opportunity to provide you with anything you’d like as long as you stay at the clinic. Clothes, food, any necessity to make your stay more comfortable. As long as it’s not too flamboyant.”

The small, square television hung up on the wall might be a temporary diversion to cure her boredom, but solitude would settle in eventually. How convenient it would be for him to show up from time to time to be a solution to that problem. No one stuck in a hospital room would refuse some company, especially when there was no sight of relatives or friends to show up.

For a moment, she began to ponder, as if she carefully went through the options of what was an acceptable request and what not. Then, her eyes began to sparkle, the azure in them became suddenly vigorous, like crashing ocean waves.

“Is it possible to get a few books?”

An odd request, but easily doable. Although he had not pinned her as a bookworm, he nodded. “Sure. Any preferences concerning genre?”

“I’d like anything history-related, but I’ll take anything you’ll give me.”

“Noted. Is that all?”

Fräulein nodded. He blinked a few times. She was astonishingly easy to please. Somehow he had expected there to be more negotiating or at least a list of things she could need, since it was an offer she could easily exploit. Eckert had advised him to grant her any wish as long as it’s possible. They needed the reason to keep visiting the clinic without Arzt complaining.

Dorn rose from the chair.

“Very well. The next time we see each other, I’ll make sure to bring you some books.”

“Danke,” she purred, clearly happy. “Until then.”

“Until then.”

As Dorn stepped out of the room and closed the wooden door behind him, he sighed. It took no convincing, no great arguing, acting techniques or high social skills to execute Eckert’s plan. It was almost too easy for his liking that it made him wonder where the catch was.

Nevertheless, the news would certainly give his superior delight, because phase one, the easiest part of initiating contact had been successfully completed.

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