Page 36 of All He Takes
"I don't know," Nicky said. "But I do know that you have to have a heart in this job. And I can't do this to him anymore. He's so... vulnerable..."
"Are you serious?" Ken asked. "We have pictures of his victims! How is he vulnerable?"
"We don't know he took them," Nicky retorted, but she could feel Ken was getting heated. Clearly, his instincts were pushing him in a different direction. "I'm not saying we stop looking at him," Nicky said, "but we should just call in some extra help."
"That could take more time than we have," Ken said. "I say we keep questioning him until he gives us something useful."
"And what if he never does? What if he's innocent?" Nicky asked. "Ken, I know you're not a warm and fuzzy guy, but you can't just bully this poor man into confessing to something he didn't do."
"Don't go soft on me now, Lyons," Ken said. "We have a job to do. And we're going to do it. Don't get fooled by his whole 'confused old man' act. I'm not saying we need to bite his head off--maybe he is having some sort of mental break. But we need to keep on him."
For the first time in a while, Nicky felt the abrasive edge of Ken's words scrape at her. She was the one in charge of this task force--not him. Even if things had gotten romantic between them, she couldn't forget that.
"This is my task force," Nicky said, holding his gaze, "and if I say we need to bring someone else in to talk to him, then that's the route we're going to take."
Ken's eyes narrowed. "So that's how it is?" he said.
Nicky sighed. There was no way she was backing down. "Yeah, Ken. That's how it is."
"Fine," Ken said. "Find us a good psych then. I need to take five."
With that, Ken left, his shoes clacking against the floor as he made his way down the hall.
The whole situation seemed ridiculous to her. But there was no point in arguing. She needed to prove to herself that she wasn't softening up. That she was still tough. But that she also wasn't heartless.
***
"Agent Lyons, I'm Dr. Vale." A brunette woman with kind eyes held her hand out to Nicky, and Nicky shook it. They were in the lobby of the police station, and it was late now, but a few officers were still milling about.
"Thank you for coming in to help us so late," Nicky said. "Normally, the FBI has people for this, but we couldn't find anyone to come in on such short notice, and so quickly."
Dr. Helga Vale was a psychiatrist at the hospital here in Pine Grove, and Nicky had looked her up to see she was highly accredited. To Nicky's luck, she was able to make it in.
"Of course, I'm happy to help," Dr. Vale said, and the two of them made their way down the hall, toward the interrogation room.
"So, we have a schizophrenic male, seventy-one," Nicky explained. "We have circumstantial evidence that might link him to a series of murders, but with the mental state he seems to be in, we're not sure the best way to interrogate him. His real name is Richard Fanson from Brooklyn, New York, but he insists he's Charles Dumond from Pine Grove and has lived here his whole life."
"So, he's claiming retrograde amnesia?" Dr. Vale asked.
"Yes," Nicky said. "But he's also claiming to be innocent of these murders."
"I see," Dr. Vale said. "Well, that is certainly unusual. But I've dealt with many patients with his condition before. I might be able to talk to him. First, I want to make sure we're clear on your expectations. My understanding is that you want him to confess to murder."
"Yes," Nicky said. "But we're also here to help him. We're not trying to take advantage of his mental state. If he's innocent, or if he's suffering from a mental illness, we need to get him the help he needs."
"I understand," Dr. Vale said. "In that case, I should talk to him alone first and see what I can learn."
They reached the interrogation room door, where an officer was standing by. Nicky nodded at him.
"This officer here will be watching the whole time," Nicky said. "Mr. Dumond is restrained, so he can't harm you."
"Thank you, Agent Lyons." With that, Dr. Vale went into the room with the officer.
Nicky sighed, just as she realized Ken was standing at the end of the hall. Things felt tense between them now--like they were suddenly not on the same team.
"Hey," she said, walking up to him. "Have you eaten anything?"
"I'm fine," Ken said, but he was avoiding eye contact.
