A bit of a Jenry moment. The case heats up.

vvvvvvvv

Only moments after Jo and Henry drove away from the hospital, Chad Boseman pulled up in a cab and hurriedly exited it. He checked the time on his phone as he rushed into the building and down the corridor to Werner's office.

"Come in," Werner said when he heard a few rapid knocks. He looked up to see Chad enter, the worry in his hazel eyes evident. "Mr. Boseman. Have a seat, please," he said with a smile that failed to reach his eyes.

vvvv

Jo's car sped away from the hospital. "Martinez," she said, answering her cell phone. It was Hanson, telling her that a possible witness had walked into the precinct. "Okay, be there in a few." She ended the call and smiled at Henry, who had gathered the gist of the conversation. "Hopefully, this Debbie Chang can help shed more light on this case," she said.

"My thoughts, exactly," he concurred.

They rode in silence for several minutes before she asked, "How many times, Henry?"

A bit surprised, he looked at her then looked straight ahead, his features flattening out. Realizing that he shouldn't be surprised after what he'd told her about his experiences in asylums, he mentally geared himself up to reply. "Five," was all he said.

Jo swallowed, not sure if she should continue. But her curiosity had gotten the better of her. "Was each time because - "

" - of my condition?" he said, finishing her question. "You might say. The first time was when my first wife, Nora, had me committed because she didn't believe my claim of immortality," he explained. "Each time after that was actually to imprison me; punish me. People usually feared me when my condition was revealed. Was even once accused of being a sorcerer," he said with a mirthless laugh. His chest slowly expanded and he quickly released the breath. "Are you sure you want me to tell you this, Jo?"

She reached over and placed her hand on his, squeezing it. "I want you to know that you can tell me anything, Henry," she said. They'd arrived at the precinct but she turned off the car and turned in her seat to face him. "You have me to confide in now," she added, softly smiling.

He looked down at her hand still atop his, the contact warm and delightful as her thumb gently rubbed across his fingers. If only he could enjoy this moment with her, more moments like this; take it a little further, he thought. There always seemed to be an interruption of one kind or the other that prevented them from -

"Hey! Ya wanna move it?" a young uni barked at them, pointing to the fire hydrant in front of the car. He blanched when Jo flashed her badge at him. "Oh, oh, sorry, uh, Detective," he floundered as he backed away a bit. "Didn't recognize ya. Looked like you guys were, uh, you know." He released a nervous laugh then schooled his features when met by Jo's stony stare.

Once inside the precinct, they quickly made their way into the bullpen. There they saw a young Asian woman seated next to Hanson's desk and slowly stirring a cup of coffee as she nervously surveyed the room. When Hanson saw them, he motioned for them to come closer.

"This is Ms. Chang, the possible witness I told you about," Hanson said. He looked down at her and said, "This is my partner, Det. Jo Martinez and this is our crime consultant, Dr. Henry Morgan of the OCME." He then suggested they go into the small conference room on the other side of the room.

"Okay, Ms. Chang," Hanson began as they all seated themselves around the conference table. "First of all, thank you for coming in on your own."

"Well, I heard what happened from another co-worker," she said. "I figured it was my duty to tell you what I know about … about Ruth and her boyfriend."

"Chad Boseman," Jo stated.

Debbie shook her head. "No. A doctor, uh, Dr. Werner. He'd been to the restaurant a few times. About six months ago, he came in just before closing asking for Ruth. It wasn't often she hung around that late; that's why I remember it. Plus, he looks like a movie star," she drooled. Getting back on track, she continued.

"They spent about 20 minutes together in her office. Only she or Chad sign the replenishment orders so I knocked on the office door. When I heard what sounded like muffled screams coming from within, I knocked louder on the door, calling out to Ruth if she was all right. She eventually opened the door but only partially. She looked … flushed and sweaty, mussed up." Debbie sighed, averting her eyes, obviously embarrassed at the memory. "She grabbed the paperwork from me and scrawled her signature then thrust it back at me. It soon hit me that she and the movie star guy had been," she paused with a huff.

"You sure of that?" Hanson asked, getting her drift.

"Look, I know what gettin' it on sounds like," she replied in a raised voice.

He rolled his eyes over to Jo and Henry, then back to Debbie and raised a hand to indicate for her to continue.

"Then, she tells me she's been meaning to promote me to Head Cashier. But I was not to say anything to anyone about him or what had happened."

"A bribe," Jo stated.

"Yeah," Debbie responded. "But, hey, I needed the money so I … kept my mouth shut."

"So, why are you saying anything about it now?" Hanson asked.

"Feel like I'm helping her hide behind a lie," she confessed.

At those words, Henry's brow furrowed as he lowered his head and pursed his lips. Jo tensed as she took in a deep breath and slowly released it, neither trusting themselves to look at the other. Her words hit Hanson, too, reminding him of the Lieutenant and Jo guarding the secret that Henry was apparently hiding. A secret also withheld from him. He shook off the feeling of being left out and concentrated once again on Debbie.

"She and Chad have not been getting along for more than a year," Debbie continued. "Word is she's tried to hurt him a few times before she tried to shoot him. If you ask me, she's trying to kill him."

"Why do you think that?" Hanson asked. "What would she have to gain?"

"Life insurance money," Debbie replied. "A million-dollar umbrella policy cashed in would more than pay the restaurant's bills and buy a romantic getaway with Dr. Stud Muffin," she sarcastically added. "I mean Chad's not bad looking himself and he's a nice guy." She looked over at Henry. "You kinda remind me of him," she noted, chuckling. Her attention returned to the conversation.

"But the heart wants what the heart wants, as they say," she continued. "And like I said, Chad's a good guy but she hasn't been good for him in a long time."

vvvv

Reece joined her two detectives and their ME as they watched Debbie leave the bullpen. They filled her in on what Debbie had told them. She suggested they contact Dr. Werner again so his patient could be re-interviewed.

"Don't divulge anything to him about what you just learned from Ms. Chang," Reece told them. "We don't want to give anything away. And if he still refuses, I'll go over his head," she said matter-of-factly. Going over another professional's head was not something she took lightly. In this instance, though, Werner had to be treated the same way a suspected dirty cop would be. They had to get at the truth somehow without showing their hand.

A few moments later, while Henry sat in the chair next to her desk, Jo called Werner's office to request the re-interview but was told that Ruth had been released. "Do you think that's wise?" she asked, alarmed. She fought against huffing her frustration into the mouthpiece of her desk phone. "Thank you," she said and hung up. Both she and Henry stood up.

"Did I hear right?" Hanson asked, leaving his desk and rushing over to hers. "He released that crazy bird?"

"Perhaps we should find out where Mr. Boseman is," Henry suggested.

Jo already had her phone up to her ear. "One step ahead of you," she told him.

vvvv

Earlier in Werner's office …

Chad rapped a knuckle on Werner's office door. When he heard a voice bid him to come in, he opened the door and saw a man, who was a frequent visitor to their restaurant, seated behind the desk. He was both surprised and relieved to see the somewhat familiar face of the person designated as his troubled girlfriend's therapist.

"Mr. Boseman. Have a seat, please," Dr. Werner said, motioning toward the thickly-upholstered armchair. He left his desk and sat down on the couch that faced Chad where he sat in the armchair. "I'm sorry you came all the way over here for nothing."

Chad frowned, confused. "What do you mean 'nothing'?"

"You and my patient, Ms. Carlton, are not married," Werner began to explain. "Therefore, I can divulge nothing to you regarding either her diagnosis or prognosis."

"I know, I know, the rules," he impatiently stated while patting a hand at him. He spread his hands helplessly and asked, "Could you just tell me when she'll be released and I can take her home, then?"

"All I can tell you is that when she is released, it will be totally up to her if she chooses to leave with you or not," he replied matter-of-factly. His desk phone rang and he excused himself and answered it. He put a hand over the mouthpiece and apologized to Chad, saying that the call was urgent.

A disappointed and frustrated Chad read it as his cue to leave and he did. Once outside the building, he checked his phone again but saw the low battery icon just before it beeped and closed down. He ran a hand through his dark brown curls and cursed himself for not having charged it in time. Just another thing that was working against him, he ruefully told himself. For the first time in a long time, he didn't feel like going to the restaurant. The bleed on the books on top of everything else had finally taken away his need to bury his troubles in the workings of the restaurant. But he refused to give his business to any of his competitors. Home. He'd go home and try to drown his troubles there in the bottom of whatever bottle of wine he reached for first.

Back in Werner's office, he conversed with the person on the other end of the line. "Just be patient," he said. "I didn't tell him a thing. Wait for him to come home and as soon as he opens the door and steps into the room - ," He grinned and nodded his head. "He won't know what hit him. And you and I, baby, will be home free. Just make sure the gun is loaded this time."

vvvv

Back to now …

Hanson reached voicemail on Chad's cell phone. He left an urgent message for him to call back. "Neither of them is at the restaurant," he told them. "According to the assistant manager, he went to the hospital hoping to bring his girlfriend home today."

"Sounds like a setup," Henry warned. "The young man could be walking right into a trap."

"You don't think he picked her up from the hospital and took her home, then," Jo stated more than asked.

"No," Henry warned. "She may already be there … waiting for him."

"And since her sanity has already been called into question …," a horrified Jo said, her voice trailing off.

"She could really finish him off this time, plead diminished capacity, and probably do no more than 18 months in a mental hospital," Hanson said, shaking his head.

"We should let Lieu know so she can put a tail on Werner," Jo said. Hanson nodded and placed the call. Jo concentrated on the traffic in front of her as she sped toward the apartment Chad shared with Ruth.