Page 30 of Her Last Whisper
She nodded.
“Are you from Texas?”
She didn’t acknowledge one way or another and it was difficult to read her body language.
Katie tried a different approach. “Have you got roses in your garden?”
“Yes,” she said softly.
“Do you remember where that is?”
She shook her head, but Katie had a distinct feeling that she wasn’t being truthful. There was a spark of something in her eyes.
“What other flowers do you like?” said Katie.
She paused a moment, appearing to be thinking, and said, “Irises and peonies.”
“Yes, I agree. They are so beautiful and come in so many different colors,” said Katie. She casually walked to the window. “It’s nice your room has a big window. Nice lighting. Indoor plants would do well.”
Jane nodded and now watched Katie with tired, cautious eyes.
Katie glanced to the door to make sure the orderly was out of earshot and decided to change the direction of her questions. She said, “Do you know why I’m here? I’m working on a case of a woman who had been kidnapped and held against her will. Amazingly, she escaped.”
Jane’s hands began to fidget on her lap, averting her eyes so that Katie couldn’t see her expression.
“My case only has a few unsubstantiated clues, but the victim is extremely scared that her attacker might come back—in fact—she believes one hundred percent that hewillcome back.”
Jane remained quiet.
“I don’t want anyone to feel that way. Do you?”
Jane glanced at Katie, just for a moment, but long enough for Katie to see the truth in there—the fear.
“If you’re scared, we can protect you,” she whispered so that the orderly couldn’t hear her. “Ican protect you.”
But Jane only sank further back into herself. Her eyes fixed firmly back on the ground, her hands now still and lifeless.
It was no use; maybe Jane wasn’t the link she needed, wasn’t a victim of a kidnapping like Amanda’s. Katie stood up to leave, but to her surprise, Jane grabbed hold of her wrist, hard, for a moment, and looked her directly in the eye in a way that could only meanplease help me.
Katie didn’t react, fearful of losing the moment and bringing unwanted attention from the orderly. Very carefully, suddenly aware that there might be cameras in the room, she said, “I would like to come back for a visit. Would you like that?”
Jane nodded and said, “Yes, that would be nice.”
“Well, I’ll come back in a couple of days.”
The orderly poked his head into the room and said, “Detective, you ready yet?”
“Just a moment. It was nice meeting you, Jane. I wish I knew your real name.” Katie turned her back to the door and mouthed the wordsI will help youto Jane.
Katie left the room, Jane’s pleading eyes burning through her mind. She knew that there was more to her story, but there was nothing that she could do without a name and without a concrete link to Amanda’s death.
Weaving her way back through the layers of doors and indistinct corridors, Katie finally entered the administration area and retrieved her firearm. She looked at the time and only then realized that Jane Doe had pressed her thumb hard into its face, leaving a fingerprint behind.
Clever.
Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled out a small folded bag, slipped off her watch and deposited it inside for safekeeping until she got back to the forensic office.
Katie hurried out to the parking lot, her mind whirring over what she’d just encountered, and almost didn’t see the folded paper neatly tucked between the weather stripping of the driver’s window. She cautiously pulled out the message, instinctively only holding it by its edges. The note was written with a blue ballpoint pen with heavier blotting on some of the words in slanted cursive writing:
