Chapter 10

Interesting 'Moral Dilemmas'

The facts were these: in a very particular police in the city of New York, 3,371 miles from the original York (hats off to America's so-called 'mad naming skillz') a 'skinny dipping' Medical Examiner was being processed for 'public indecency'. A number of 'quotation marks' were used for 'emphasis' during the report causing the 'grammar-obsessed' 'Lieutenant' to, and I quote 'flip her shit'.

Though to be fair, in the shit-flipping Olympics, she wasn't upturning excrement quite so vigorously as one Detective Jo Martinez way, way over on the other side of town, whose quite touching concern for Doctor Morgan instilled 'feels' deep within the hearts of 'fangirls', whatever those things are. Her questions could have filled the Domesday Book, they were so extensive and of the sort far too personal and bizarre to be spoken out loud, too difficult to put into words. Would that she could, and they might perhaps go along lines such as these:

How did Henry get from point A (that being, here, fully-clothed) to point B (naked in a river)?

Who fired the gun earlier?

Why?

Where the hell is that Emerson Cod? Lieutenant Reese will be pissed.

In fact, what the hell is even going on?

Abe is Ned's father? Really? This is actually happening?

And:

This all starts with an alleged murder. And a body that supposedly, what, vanished? Henry was late for work, and he seemed agitated. Something happened. There was a gunshot. Henry vanished again. Only to reappear impossibly far away. How does this all link together?

Who is Henry Morgan, really?

So as Detective Martinez hauled the 'skinny lying pie-boy' and a girl named Chuck into the police station, she was thinking all the while about how every stone they overturned, new questions crawled out from the woodwork. She was somewhat reluctant about taking them in because, well, they were getting somewhere before Henry upped and left, on his...call it a misadventure, call it streaking, whatever you please. Without Henry, though, the atmosphere was even more tense and awkward between Abraham and the Piemaker. They would get no answers without him.

Hence the decidedly awkward sort-of-but-not-really-arrest.

"Detective, when I asked for Emerson Cod, I expected Emerson Cod," Lieutenant Reece's voice was icy and the thermostat dropped at least five actual degrees, probably due to the less-than-stellar heating in the precinct but still, the effect was chilling, in the most literal sense of the word. "I have been trying to pin something to that obnoxious, money-grabbing, menace to the police force since day one." There was undoubtedly a story there, some case gone wrong that Emerson was behind, but Jo knew the Lieutenant was in no mood to be pressed. "Also, you need to deal with your shit. By that, I mean Henry. Hanson," Jo's partner looked up somewhat reluctantly from the donut he was midway through, sprinkles making a slow, suicidal descent to the floor. "You interrogate the suspects. Find out exactly what we're going to charge them with because I for one have absolutely no idea what's going on. Lying to the police is a start point, work from there,

"Martinez," the Lieutenant softened slightly "I'm worried about what's happening with Henry just as much as you are. I've cut him as much slack as I'm capable of. Sooner or later we'll have ourselves a major situation - more major than it already is - and like it or not, we'll be hiring a new M.E. You know as well as I what Henry's capable of, the cases you've solved together speak for themselves. I don't care what you do, fix things, or a new M.E. won't be all we're looking for - in fact, you might even be looking for a new job. Neither of us want that, do they, Detective?"

Jo sighed and shook her head, hoping with all her heart her boss was bluffing, but also hoping that Henry would snap out of this weird shit. Sometimes he frightened her, when he got careless with his life and when he disregarded his own issues in favour of an absurd British outlook, putting on a brave face and pretending there was no problem. Why couldn't he just tell her? Didn't they trust one another by now? To the point that she'd told him things about Sean she'd never told anyone before, not even Isaac, she'd genuinely put her faith in his brilliance when everyone else, especially Hanson, had told her he was crazy. And maybe he was, that was the worst part of it. There was no rational explanation, or at least, nothing jumped out at her. No, actually she had it - the worst part was that when she went through that door and saw Henry sitting there, he would apologise politely, a gentleman as ever, but otherwise behave as though nothing had happened. As though there was an explanation she could swallow without hearing the words 'mental institute'. He was the most sensible and rational person she knew, except when he wasn't.

What else was there for it but to jump in at the deep end, and hope it wasn't populated by man-eating sharks? Come on Henry she thought please give me SOMETHING. Don't let this be it.

Tell me the truth. For once.

Opening the door, she saw Henry look up, an attempt at his usual charming smile (which he would deny existing but ugh did he have to do that it was mildly disarming and she was trying to be pissed at him) on his face. He was dressed in a generic baggy sweatshirt and matching sweatpants "Detective. Might I inquire as to how Abraham is?"

Jo shrugged "Coping. Which is better than I can say for you. What the hell, Henry? How is that even possible? You turned up miles away. There wasn't enough time for you to get a taxi and anyway, that wouldn't make any sense! And what happened to your clothes?"

Henry stopped for a moment, as if it were a question he'd never considered. "Now that's a thought. I wonder…"

"Henry, this planet please. Tell me what's going on." The look of helplessness on his face cut her deep. "There has got to be a logical explanation for this. Just give me something that'll convince everyone you're not crazy. What the hell is going on? You have met Ned before, haven't you? But he didn't know Abe was his father so…"

"Do continue," Henry murmured "It seems as though like you have an interesting theory in the works."

"It would help if you elected to contribute. You know I care about you, Henry-" she stopped herself from saying anything. Isaac. She was with Isaac. God, she'd almost forgotten. Dammit. Everything was perfect with the wealthy philanthropist, except for that nagging doubt in her mind. That feeling of uncertainty, that she couldn't reciprocate his feelings with the same intensity - that she kept thinking about Henry instead. She'd even called off their Paris trip because it looked like something had happened to Henry. Isaac had been understanding as ever - and that was what hurt the most. She couldn't love him in the same way. Never mind he kept buying her things. "Look, it's not just your job on the line. Lieutenant Reece threatened to fire me as well."

"Would she actually go through with it?"

Again Jo shrugged "I don't know, but I really don't want to put her to the test. You know what a hardass she can be. Right now she's pretty much furious that we let Emerson Cod get away. She'd probably transfer me to traffic or something like that. But she's willing to draw a line under this - your last chance, by the way - because we make such a good team."

"She actually said that? It looks like your Lieutenant is warming to me after all." an amused smile pricked the corners of Henry's mouth, and Jo couldn't help but return it. "Wonders will never cease."

At this Jo laughed "I think she has a lot of respect for you. You've earned it."

"I'm sensing a 'but' here, Detective," Henry raised a simultaneously sarcastic and suspicious (sarcastically suspicious? Suspiciously sarcastic?) eyebrow "Might I hazard a guess? If I continue with my aquatic exploits that respect will cease. I understand. And I am so sorry. There are...things about me I can't tell you."

"You lied about your training. You neglected to mention going to Oxford." Jo remembered the incident well. It had been inexplicable, Henry's reasoning behind the omission fuzzy, though it hadn't exactly surprised her: Henry was the cleverest man she knew.

"Exactly," Henry nodded "Or something along those lines. It was a long time ago. A long time ago." Something about the way he said that caught Jo's attention, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "I've had an unusual life, moved around a lot by necessity not of my own volition. Though yes, I would have liked to travel anyway…" he trailed off. "Don't look at me like that, it isn't what you think. No, really, it's not. Look, Detective, you tell your Lieutenant that I'm terribly sorry and it won't happen again."

"That's what you said last time. Henry, please," Jo pleaded. "Please. What's going on?"

"It's a-"

"Long story, yes, I got that much, but what the fuck is actually happening here? Why don't you trust me?"

Henry looked at the floor and sighed deeply. "I've been let down by people I thought I trusted before. I know you think you can handle this, but I promise you it's nothing anyone understands. Except myself and Abraham. It's a personal issue, deeply so. I'd tell you now except it would only confirm your suspicions. That I'm utterly off my rocker."

"No, Henry, I don't-" began Jo, then broke off. "So presuming then, that you have some sort of condition, an illness, couldn't you get it treated?"

"There is no treatment. Well, there might be, but it is yet to be- to be tested," the M.E. swallowed nervously. "It will have to be but honestly, Jo - I am afraid."

"Is it physical or mental?" asked Jo: her friend and colleague answered in the former "Is it terminal?" her voice took on a serious tone, remembering the surprise loss of Sean, how terrible she had felt when she had thought she'd lost Henry: how in that moment she had realised she loved him and not Isaac, but wasn't sure how to even think about the topic. Henry was hurt, emotionally, from a previous entanglement. She wouldn't want to ruin their truly incredible winning streak, that partnership that was stronger than anything else. So it was somewhat surprising when Henry laughed loudly - the word guffawed sprang to mind - an uncharacteristic action, as if the scenario were inherently absurd in some way. "I assume not. Will it get worse? Have you seen a doctor about it?"

"I am a doctor and trust me, I know as much about my condition as anyone. There is an expert out there but he's a rather disagreeable person and besides, he makes himself very difficult to locate. And I wouldn't trust him with my life. There is some...conflict, between us."

Jo nodded slowly. "So...you won't tell me what your condition is called because I'll think you're crazy? If I go to Lieutenant Reece and tell her that, she'll laugh me out of the precinct."

"I know," said Henry quietly "If instead you go to Lieutenant Reece and tell her the problem is resolved and it's a personal matter which is no longer an issue."

"That's a lie, isn't it Henry?" Jo tried not to sound concerned. She failed. Well done.

"Well yes, but like you said, the truth is humiliating to say the least. If you trust me to deal with my condition, I will in due course entrust you with the nature of it. Do we have a deal? And please, don't go looking it up on those computers," he sounded almost like a grumpy, disdainful old man afraid of technology and it made Jo grin unashamedly "I assure you, there will be nothing to be found. Especially if you only know one symptom."

"Oh, but I know two." Henry looked baffled, and Jo decided to elaborate "Apparently teleportation is one of them. How did you get across town so quickly?"

And now Henry raised both eyebrows in mock incredulity "Teleportation? Really Detective, where do you get these ideas from? Are we done here?"

Jo smiled. "Yeah, I guess."

All was right again. Henry was the very image of logic and reason, his behaviour, while unusual, was perfectly sane in nature. Nothing betrayed anything out-of-the-ordinary. If he hadn't referred to this mysterious condition, she would have thought he was normal. He certainly looked normal, normal Henry. His manner was normal. She'd encountered the mentally ill before: Henry certainly didn't act like them. As with all things involving Henry, she just had to accept it and go with the flow.

That didn't mean, however, she wasn't still terrified of his potential insanity, redundancy or mortality.

The latter of which, naturally, being entirely impossible.

As Detective Jo Martinez gave Doctor Morgan a ride home, her partner Detective Hanson was getting nowhere with the confused Piemaker who kept getting flustered throughout the interrogation and couldn't seem to stick to a story. This excited Hanson greatly, because it seemed guilty. It would be nice for something to finally go their way for once.

At least, until it was pointed out by the suspect's girlfriend - one Charlotte Charles known informally as Chuck - that dear Ned was prone to such reactions when confronted with people he wasn't yet comfortable around and the list of people he was comfortable around numbered less than ten. Detective Hanson was not on this list. Of course, it could be a lie to cover for her boyfriend but that seemed unlikely given quite how much her boyfriend babbled. No criminal enterprise in their right mind would hire someone quite so inept.

And so, since they could get nothing coherent out of him, and the girlfriend was agreed by general consensus to be too nice, they were released. No crime had been committed. None the police could detect, anyway.

Which raises an interesting question - if the evidence is wholly destroyed, has a crime even been committed? If a person kills another human being, say if that being's name is Doctor Henry Morgan and the body disappears, thus leaving no evidence, and the victim of said crime swims away completely naked some minutes later, entirely sound in body and mind, was a crime ever committed?

To put it more simply - if you kill a man and he returns unscathed, did you or did you not commit murder, and how should you, should the case ever come to court, hypothetically, be charged. I invite any law students to respond as best they can.

It's not nearly so simple as it seems.

But then again, when is it?