There was no way he was getting tied up and tickled by someone he just met. If anything, this Chrystine person was suspicious as well. Who knows? she might even be in on the kidnappings.
“I’ll need to think more about your offer,” Jamie remarked.
If Chrystine was unhappy about this decision, she didn’t show it. “The indecisive investigator must retire and ruminate on his choices” She delivered the lines to no one in particular.
“I’ll be in contact with you soon” Jamie said as he stood and packed up his things to leave.
The girl stood up and walked slowly to the door and reached for it. Her hand lingered on the lock just enough time for Jamie to tense up, before it lowered to the door knob. Opening the door, she ushered Jamie out with a hand flourish.
“Don’t delay, this deal might not be around for long” She said with a sing-song grin before shutting the door behind him.
He sighed. As unfruitful as that was, he had still caught a particularly useful piece of information: that a faculty member was involved. What department and who was still a mystery, but he would relay the info to Mouse and hopefully Chris would be able to put the pieces together from her side.
The last person on the list was last for a reason. Emily Harris, one of the earlier victims, was currently staying in a psychiatric ward. Apparently, the increase in tickle-nappings triggered something in her and she voluntarily admitted herself to the Smiling Meadows Institution. It had been surprisingly easy to arrange a meeting though. Both Emily and her therapist were accommodating and almost enthusiastic to meet with him.
The institution was a short drive away and he had scheduled the meeting for off peak hours to avoid traffic. Jamie checked in with the receptionist and took a seat. The institution resembled a typical medical center, an open lobby with dull colored seating and reception desk stood near the main entrance, a few others were seated in the lobby, probably visitors. He sent Mouse a quick text updating her on his progress and then idly scrolled his social media till the receptionist called him up.
“They’re ready for you. Go through the doors and it’s the first consult room on your left.”
Following the directions, Jamie opened the door to see two women already seated at a table. He recognized Emily from her photo though she was a bit thinner and paler in person, and a woman, whom he presumed was her therapist.
“Hello” He greeted them, the woman smiled warmly and stood up while the other simply nodded.
"I'm Dr. Charlotte Rivers," the standing woman said, shaking Jamie's hand. She was tall, in fact, with her heels on, she had a few inches on Jamie. “This is Emily” she continued motioning to the seated girl. Emily offered a slight smile to Jamie at her name.
"I'm Jamie, nice to meet you two. I won’t waste time with pleasantries because you probably already know why I’m here" He sat down and pulled out his notebook.
“Before we get started, there is one thing I want to warn you, Jamie,” the doctor said, “I’m afraid Emily doesn’t have any recollection of the events that took place.”
“Wait, I don’t understand,” Jamie said feeling his voice rise, “I thought that was the whole point-”
“Yes, that’s where you come in” Dr. Rivers interjected, “It seems the memories are repressed, but we have a theory on how we can resurface her memory.”
“I’m listening.”
“You mentioned over the phone that you’ve been interviewing other victims, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“And they were able to provide details on their experiences, right?”
Jamie nodded.
“So, what we propose is to recreate the experience for her in a monitored environment and for that, we need to know what the others went through.”
“Hold on” Jamie’s eyebrows furrowed and he raised his hand as he spoke, “You’re thinking of putting her through this all over again?”
“It was my idea.” It was the first time Jamie heard Emily speak. He turned his head; her gaze was strong and unwavering.
“I… don’t want anyone else to go through what I… what all the victims have gone through so I’m willing to do it if it has the possibility to help” She continued.
“Of course, we’ll monitor her and if it’s too much, Emily can always stop the process as well” Dr. Rivers chimed in. “It is risky though, so there are other less invasive measures like hypnotherapy we have been doing, but there hasn’t been any progress yet with those. We wanted to talk to you first to see if the re-creation is even a possibility.”
Jamie thought to himself, go for broke for the risky procedure, but risk further harm to Emily. This was the last name on his list after all. The safer technique may not yield any information, but at least it wouldn’t put Emily in harm’s way. Maybe involving Emily any further is a bad idea and he should go after other leads outside of the psych ward.
How does Jamie decide?
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