Because of the sensitive subject, as well as the urgency, they were able to secure a warrant for Elisa's medical information before they had even left the station. Elisa had many acquaintances within the many branches of law enforcement, and they were all working together to try to get her home.
Judge Garcia had many dealings with Elisa over the years, finding her very informed, helpful and determined to do the right thing. When Elisa's name had crossed his desk that morning, he had not only signed the order, he had sent his office assistant running the few blocks from the office building over to the precinct to personally hand it over to Maria.
Once it had been in her hand, Maria had phoned the hospital where Elisa had been treated. She had spoken to a Penny Moore, a social worker who also worked in the medical records department. Not only was Miss Moore willing to meet with the NYPD officers, she offered to get as many of the original staff together who had treated her.
In the car, on the way across the river, Matt had gotten on the phone, requesting that the officers who had been working the "Jane Doe" shooting case meet them there as well. The officers were not on duty that day, but the New Jersey PD offered to call them at their homes. One officer could not be reached, but the other offered to meet them at the hospital.
Maria and Matt arrived at the Hoboken University Medical Center, and headed into the meeting. They were escorted to one of the teaching hospital's lecture halls, and both NYPD officers were humbled to see just how many people had gathered there to help.
"Ms Chavez?" An older woman asked, getting to her feet and greeting them.
"Yes," Maria responded, shaking the woman's hand. "You are Ms Moore?"
The woman smiled. "That's me. Thank you for coming so quickly."
Matt shook her hand next. "Thank you for doing all of this to help us. You have gone above and beyond, and I can not tell you how appreciative I am."
Ms Moore shook her head, blushing a little in the face of the attention and praise. "Well, now," She said, waving his praise away as if it was something that she heard all the time. "It was not so much, really. I was just happy that we found someone to identify her. I hate when people go unidentified because there's no one looking for them. If I could be of help to aid one person find her family," She shrugged. "It's nothing that anyone else would have done."
"Ms. Moore," Maria said, "We will have to debate that one later."
"Yes, of course," Penny Moore said, motioning them forward. "This is a teaching hospital, so unfortunately some of the nursing students have left us to find employment elsewhere. I went through your detective's files, and these are the nurses that are left." She waved her hand to encompass the small group of uncomfortable looking nursing students. Some were in street clothes, but most were in scrubs.
"Her neurologist, Dr. Burkhardt, is here," Ms Moore pointed to the tall blonde man, then moved on to a small Asian woman. "And the surgeon who performed the surgery on her shoulder is Dr. Hahn.
"Officer Lawson is one of the two officers who have been working with us in her case," Again, Ms Moore pointed out another individual in the room. "And then there's me," She said, turning to face them. "I am the one who processed her paperwork. I believe that's all of us, so where would you like to start?"
"I can start," Dr. Hahn offered, standing. "I am sorry officers, but I am needed to speak at a conference in an hour, so it would be easier on me if I went ahead and told you what I can."
Maria nodded. "Thank you for your willingness to help."
Dr. Hahn stood, and walked to the podium at the front of the room. She opened up the file folder that she had brought with her and began reading her notes in the chart.
"Patient was brought in via ambulance at 0600 in the morning. She was unconscious and unresponsive. Physical exam showed that the patient had a large laceration on her scalp, requiring stitches, and a gsw to the left shoulder." Hahn began.
After almost two hours of listening to medical jargon and asking questions, Matt and Maria felt as if they had more than enough information to go on.
There was just one more thing that they needed to know before they left, however.
Everyone else had been dismissed back to their duties, and so the last person for the two detectives to speak to was Ms. Moore, herself.
"I was the social worker assigned to your detective Maza. Unfortunately, I don't have as much information to give you as I wish I could," she admitted. "I can tell you that she was released three weeks after she was admitted. She had facial and head wounds, some requiring stitches. She was fully unconscious from the time she arrived for almost 48 hours. Because of the concussion and amnesia, as well as the physical therapy needed to regain function of her left arm because of the damage from being shot, we kept her here as long as we could. Despite the evidence of past wounds, she didn't seem the type to be our usual troublemakers coming in shot. She was well spoken and friendly. We all kind of hoped that she had a family somewhere who would come forward and help her. Normally, for cases that involve unidentified people, we write off the expense of their medical care the same as "Indigent" cases. They stay for a while and disappear. This young lady was a little different," Ms Moore continued, grabbing a file folder of her own and presented it to the officers. "She made a real connection to one of the senior nursing students that was on her case, and the nurse was instructed to stay with her as much as possible to help her feel comfortable and a little more in control of her situation. Jane… er… Miss Maza," Penny corrected herself, trying to use the woman's real name now that it was known, "seemed to be more calm and cooperative if that particular nurse was present, and so she became that student's primary patient for her last weeks here in the training program. She helped Miss Maza find employment and a place to live so that she wouldn't end up in a homeless shelter, group home or on the streets."
Matt and Maria suddenly sat a little straighter in their chairs. They had enough information to begin searching again, but if Ms. Moore could give them an actual starting off point…
"Do you have any information on where that nurse is now?" Matt asked, impatient now that they were so close.
"Let's see," Penny mumbled, sorting through the papers. "I know I had it in here… Ah!" She exclaimed, "She moved in with Margaret Wheeler. She was a student nurse who actually graduated the day before Miss Maza was released. I unfortunately don't have her new address, but I can give you her old one here in Hoboken in case she left a forwarding address as well as the hospital where she is working now."
"Yes, please," Matt said, taking out his notepad to write the address down on. Maria beat him to it, however, and all Matt was able to do was knock everything from his pockets loose. There was a thud as his phone hit the floor and a mess of papers on the floor.
He was half listening to the continuing conversation, and he scooped up the handful of receipts, post it notes and finally picked up his phone.
Frowning, he saw that "missed call" light flashing. He made a mental note to check out who called and call them back.
"...Manhattan." He finally tuned in to hear Ms. Moore say.
"Sorry," Matt said, snapping to attention. "Manhattan?" Matt looked at Maria, incredulously. "Do you think she might still be on the island?"
"There's only one way to find out," Maria said, a look of determination crossing her face.
Ms. Moore, seeing the suddenly intense looks on the faces of the two detectives. "I know that you are wanting to find Miss Maza as soon as possible," Penny said softly. "If you would like to get back on the road, back towards Manhattan, I can call Mount Sinai for you and have them start tracking Nurse Wheeler down for you."
"That would be immensely helpful," Maria said, getting to her feet.
Matt followed suit. "Thank you again for all of the time and effort you have put into this."
"Just glad to help, Detective," Penny Moore said, smiling. "Now you get going, and find your partner."
Without another word, Captain Chavez and Matt Bluestone turned and walked quickly towards the nearest exit.
Before they were even out the door, Captain Chavez was already barking orders into her phone. She was supposed to be in her office for her official work shift in two hours, so she was making arrangements with Officer Morgan to stay late so that she would not be needed right away.
Matt took out his phone, suddenly remembering the call that he had missed. he looked at the phone's tiny screen display and realized it was from the Labyrinth. They had been calling throughout the day, and while Matt had not purposely been avoiding them, he hadn't wanted another "she's alive, go find her" pep talk from Talon.
While everything that they'd been told pointed to Elisa being alive somewhere, and in Manhattan, Matt still didn't want to tell them anything and get their hopes up.
Matt put the phone back in his pocket. He'd call when he had something more concrete.
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"God damn it," Talon shouted, slamming the phone down on the receiver.
"He's still not answering?" Maggie asked quietly.
"No," He ground out in frustration.
Maggie sighed, understanding Talon's frustration. Quietly, she suggested, "Maybe we should take Katie out, ourselves. Try to have her retrace her steps and find out where the bookstore is. It couldn't be far."
Talon growled. "It's still too early for us to be out without being seen." Again, Talon picked up the phone. If he couldn't get above ground to look, he'd find someone who could.
"Beth," Talon barked into the phone. "I need your help…"