The Day of Legion (11 page)

“When I walked in this morning, there was a Detective Ravenbrook at reception. Could you get him to call someone from his unit to come in as well, please? Someone has been in my office files. He may be able to get them here quicker than if we report it. God knows this will take me most of the day.”

When she got off the phone, Patricia had another thought and crossed back to the cabinet. She searched the ‘H’ section and found Jason Hansen’s file missing. She didn’t know what prompted her to specifically check his file, but it got her worried.

Just then her phone rang. It was the security officer she had just spoken to.

He spoke before she could even say hello. “I just spoke to that detective you mentioned and he said he’s a little busy right now with the missing boy. I guess he...”

Patricia cut him off. “What missing boy?”

“Oh you didn’t hear?” he asked. “That boy who the intruder was after is missing. A nurse just noticed this morning. Most of the security guards are searching the grounds to give the police a hand. I guess that’s why the detective was here when you saw him this morning.”

Patricia was incensed. “I’m his doctor! Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

The guard sounded embarrassed. “I’m sorry; I thought I’d informed everyone. I must have skipped your name when they gave me the list to call. I’m really sorry.”

Patricia shook her head, exasperated. She was about to say something when he continued.

“I can give you some information now if you’d like.”

“What do you know?” she asked.

“Well, I can tell you the uniformed officer who was on the door got a call from his squad and was told a serious assault had just taken place in Emergency. He was ordered there and was to hold the fort until a unit could be dispatched. Apparently it was a busy night for them last night.”

“What else?” Patricia asked.

“It was about 11.30pm. The officer didn’t return to guard duty because his replacement arrived while he was still at the E.R. The new guy didn’t look into the room; he just assumed the boy was still in there. The cop I spoke to said there was no sign of struggle. They’re waiting for the tech guy to come in and look at the camera footage.”

“Is that it?” she asked.

“Ahh, yeah. If I hear anything else, you’ll be the first one I call.”

“That would be different,” she said before hanging up. She went down to reception and found Detective Ravenbrook talking to another officer.

“Can I talk to you?” she asked.

He excused himself from the other officer and followed her to a seating area. They sat. She spoke quietly. “I’ve just been informed by one of our inept security guards that Jason Hansen is missing.”

Ravenbrook nodded. “As far as we can tell he went missing between 23:30 hours last night, when the officer on guard went to a serious assault in the E.R. and 23:45 when his replacement arrived.”

“Do you think he’s okay?” she asked, but continued before he could respond. “I mean, do you think the disappearance is related to the man who tried to kill him?”

Ravenbrook shrugged. “We don’t know. We have no idea who he is. We took his fingerprints from his corpse, but he’s not in the system, he had no identification on him whatsoever, no one has reported a missing person, and we’ve had no response from the public. This could be related, or it may be a coincidence.”

“You don’t believe that do you?” she asked. “I mean a man whom no one has ever heard of sneaks into the hospital dressed as a doctor, attempts to kill a child, and then the same child goes missing within hours.”

Ravenbrook shook his head. “I think it’s related, but I’m hoping it’s not.”

“One more thing,” Patricia said. “My office was broken in to last night and Jason’s file was stolen. I don’t know if any others are taken, but his certainly was.”

David’s cell phone rang. He excused himself and answered it. He didn’t say a word; he just listened to the caller, then closed his phone.

“I have to go,” he told her. “I’ll call you later if I hear anything.”

“What’s being done about Jason?” she asked. “How many officers are on the case?”

David pointed to the officer he had just been speaking to. “Ask him, he’s the lead detective. He’ll tell you everything he can. Now, I have to go.”

Patricia walked over to the other detective. “Excuse me, I was just talking to that detective over there and...” but Ravenbrook was gone and she found herself pointing at no one.

“I’m Patricia Leland. I’m Jason Hansen’s psychiatrist. Can you tell me what’s being done to find him?

Chapter Thirteen

Patricia worked most of the day checking her patient files. After cross-referencing the list versus the files, she found the only file taken was Jason’s, but she had already known that. She had no idea why; she just knew that would be the result.

She tended to listen to her gut feelings. She had a sense about things, and often would remember dreaming or seeing in her mind events happening weeks, sometimes months earlier. Not like lottery numbers or major events, just things to do with herself and those around her. She remembered how, about a year ago, she had an extremely bad feeling about a flight she was scheduled to take for a speaking engagement. When she walked into the airport terminal and looked at the departures board she felt uneasy. When she saw her flight number, the hairs on the back of her neck literally stood on end. She cancelled her ticket, and that night on the evening news, she sat in stunned silence while the anchor man said that plane crashed in farmland not long after takeoff, and no survivors were found.

Often she would be talking to people and have a strong sense of
déjà vu
, but she always set it aside as something people often felt.

Her great Aunt Beatrice once told her she might be psychic and should develop her skills. Of course, everyone knew Aunt Beatrice was crazy; she had even told everyone that she was the creator of crop circles. Even a fourteen-year-old Patricia couldn’t believe that much.

The detective Patricia spoke to that morning after talking with Ravenbrook had promised to call her to update her on Jason’s missing-persons case, but it was already six p.m. and he hadn’t made contact. She decided to ring him.

She couldn’t believe how fast the day had gone. She realized she hadn’t eaten since breakfast and thought about cooking herself a nice steak that night. She had a recipe for a beautiful steak and brown rice dish with salsa. While she waited for the detective to answer, she made a list of ingredients she would need to pick up for this on the way home.

Just as she was about to disconnect, the phone was picked up.

“Yes, Detective McDonald speaking.”

“Hello detective, this is Doctor Leland speaking, we met at the hospital this morning. I’m Jason Hanson’s doctor. I was just wondering if you had any news yet.”

“No, unfortunately we don’t. We checked for the camera footage, and discovered it hasn’t worked on that wing for six weeks. It was scheduled for repair, but I guess you docs needed more stethoscopes.”

She ignored the remark. “Have you made any headway whatsoever?”

“No. Naturally we’re getting more concerned as the hours tick by. We’ve had no ransom demands from an abductor, no sightings of a lost boy, no anonymous calls. Combined with the fact someone tried to kill him recently, killing his mother and also his father’s murder, it is extremely worrying.”

“Where to from here?” she asked.

“Well, it’s not up to me, but I think we’re going to the media now, get his picture and story out there and keep trying to contact any relatives. Sometimes a relative just takes them and doesn’t think to tell anyone, but we‘re confident that’s not the story here. I have to go now, Doctor Leland. I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you, but as you can imagine we’re pretty busy here trying to solve this.”

“No problem,” she replied. “I’ll touch base with you tomorrow if you don’t mind, though.”

“Not at all. If we get anything, I’ll let you know.”

When she hung up, Patricia decided to call Detective Ravenbrook. She thought he may have made some headway in regards to the link between the incidents. She found his business card in her handbag and called his office number. The phone beeped. No such number. She tried again, thinking she had dialed it wrong, but got the same result.

She dialed his cell phone next. It rang, but he didn’t answer. She expected an answering message, but when it rang over a minute, she hung up. She decided to ring Detective McDonald back to see if he could help get hold of him. She didn’t want to be an annoyance to them, but she wanted to be kept in the loop.

The phone was picked up straight away. “Hello, Detective Johnson speaking.”

“Hello, is Detective McDonald there please.”

“No I’m sorry, he’s just left. Can I help you?”

“Yes, I’m trying to contact Detective Ravenbrook. Do you know how I can get a hold of him?”

“I’m sorry,” he replied. “There’s no Detective Ravenbrook at this station.”

“Oh, can you tell me where he’s based?” she asked

She heard him tapping on his keyboard. “There’s no one by the name of Ravenbrook in the police. Are you sure that’s his name?”

“Yes,” she replied. “There must be some mistake with your computer. He’s working on all of the cases involving Jason Hansen and his family. He was asked to conduct a shadow investigation to overview the cases to try and establish a link. Someone in your office must know his contact details.”

The detective cleared his throat. “Firstly, I’m on the Jason Hansen missing-persons case, so I’m in the know on this and the other cases. No one, and I mean
no one
has been assigned to conduct an overview of the combined cases. Secondly, what you describe is not a shadow investigation. A shadow investigation is where someone is the victim of a serious crime, normally murder, and while that investigation is launched, we have our suspicions about a family member or close friend’s involvement. That investigation shadows the initial investigation, hence the name.”

“Umm, can you confirm that no detective has been assigned to overview all of the incidents involving the Hansen family?” she asked. She knew that was exactly what he said; she just needed a moment to get her thoughts together.

“That’s right,” he replied.

“There is no Detective Ravenbrook at your station or even in the police?”

“That’s right,” the detective replied. “Is there something you want to tell me?

Patricia thought for a moment. “No, I think I’ve misunderstood, thank you for your time.”

She hung up the phone. “Misunderstood my ass!” she said aloud. “What’s this guy up to?”

She sat at her desk going over her interactions with Ravenbrook, everything he’d said and done. Was he involved in the murders and Jason’s disappearance? He did show a police badge and a business card; she had to assume “fake”. Now she understood why he told her to call his cell phone and not the office, but that didn’t explain his interactions with the other police officers. He was with that other officer when she met him that morning.

She was angry. Her gut told her that he wasn’t involved and he wouldn’t hurt a fly, but the circumstances said otherwise. Was he an investigative reporter? She didn’t know, but she would certainly confront him the next time she saw him. Her money was on him being a writer, looking for a story.

She sat at her desk a while, attempting to piece everything together. When it became too much, she headed home. Her mind was unfocused. She stopped at the supermarket on the way and brought a piece of steak and a few other ingredients for her recipe.

By the time she got home, she was desperate for a shower, so she dumped her groceries in the kitchen and headed for the bathroom. She stopped and looked at herself in front of the mirror. She felt old and thought she looked it.

At thirty-three years of age, she had managed to stay in good shape. She ran a couple of times a week; went to the gym as often as she could. She usually ate healthy meals. She was never satisfied with her body. As she stood looking at her body in the mirror, she shook her head.

She made a resolution to start having a facial and a manicure at least once a month. “Don’t want to look forty-five when I’m thirty-five,” she said to herself.

The steam from the shower began to fog the mirror, so she grabbed a towel from the hall cupboard, went back in to the bathroom and got in. She thought one of the great things about living alone was being able to walk around naked at home.

The water felt soothing and went a little way to relaxing her tired muscles. She soaped up and let the water cascade over her, rinsing the suds off. She felt like she could stay in there for hours.

The phone rang. Normally she would have ignored it while in the shower, but given the recent happenings she turned the water off, wrapped a towel around her body and went to answer it.

“Hello?” There was no answer. “Hello?” she said again. Still no answer.

She hung up. “Great, I was enjoying that shower.”

She didn’t bother getting back in. Fifteen minutes later she was in her favorite pair of ‘knockabout’ jeans and T-shirt, sitting in the living room, sipping a glass of red wine and reading a magazine. She had put the rice on and was waiting for it to cook before adding the rest of the ingredients.