Here is the next part. I hope you will all enjoy it!
Detective Sonia Allen of the Rosstown PD looks at the FBI-Agent who is sitting across from her desk on the most uncomfortable chair she could find in the building.
Sonia is a nice person. People tend to feel comfortable in her presence. They feel that she understands. That would be okay if she had taken over her mother's business, the local beauty parlour. But she fell in love with police work.
Sonia is completely dedicated to her job. The only problem is that she knows everyone in this town and she likes her people. And they like her. Because of that, one of her drawers is overflowing with parking tickets the mayor thinks he does not need to pay, parking tickets that Nick Carter, who all but owns the biggest business in town, the fertilizer plant, knows he does not have to pay. That is why Bob Crawford, the veterinarian got away with killing a tramp that allegedly molested his daughter five years ago. Sonia herself buried the evidence after Robert called her in a panic, his voice choked with tears. He did not mean it to happen, of course.
That one haunts Sonia. It will haunt her for the rest of her life. She does not want to be that kind of cop. She does believe in justice, only sometimes people's notions of justice are so diverse.
That is why she needs the chair in her office to be uncomfortable. She wants to cause people discomfort. It gives her the strength not to be nice to them. Sometimes it even works.
The FBI-Agent is wearing a black suit and tie. His hair is close-cropped and silver-streaked. There are deep lines of worry and pain in his face and Sonia wonders what happened to him. She remembers her father looking like that when her mother died of cancer only fifty years of age. But this guy looks worse.
He is shifting uncomfortably on the chair and Sonia feels an instant sympathy toward him. She also gets the feeling that he has been hurt enough.
"Sorry," she says, "just a moment."
She leaves the office and returns a short time later offering him a seat that is much more comfortable.
Jack tries to hide his surprise. He has been used to a little bit of everything with the police over the years. Very few are happy to see him. There has been annoyance, attempts to obstruct or to hide, sometimes outright hostility but also every so often grudging respect.
He is not, though, used to outright helpfulness, even before he states his business.
Sonia Allen makes sure he is comfortable and offers him a cup of coffee that he gratefully accepts.
"What can I do for you?" she asks.
Jack hands her a photo.
"Do you know this woman?"
Sonia looks down at a picture of Eleanor Carter looking unexpectedly healthy, staring into the camera with an assuredness she does not have these days.
"Yes," she says, putting down the picture, feeling uneasy. "That is Eleanor Carter."
The FBI-Agent shakes his head.
"No," he says in a voice that is trembling with emotion, "That is an FBI-Agent named Samantha Spade. She worked Missing Persons in New York and vanished four years ago."
"Oh my God."
The words escape Sonia's mouth in a rush. She remembers how happy they all were to have Eleanor back. She remembers Nick, face beaming, telling her that everything finally will be all right, laying all her old suspicions to rest. Things have seemed good for the past years. It was disappointing that Eleanor's memory did not improve, but apart from that Sonia has not allowed herself to mistrust the claim that this woman is Eleanor Carter. Lately, though, she has had a bad feeling. For the past year Eleanor has hardly left the house, there is still no marriage and as far as Sonia can tell, still no memories.
The Agent is looking at her. His eyes are bloodshot and she thinks she can detect tears, but his gaze is steady.
"You better tell me what's going on," he says.
So Sonia tells him. She knows she has made a horrible mistake. She has not been suspicious enough.
OOO
„I understand that she looked a lot like the Eleanor that you remembered, but didn't it cross your mind to get a DNA test?" Jack asks Sonia Allen.
Sonia nods. She should probably feel uncomfortable under the scrutiny of his dark eyes, but she does not. Here is finally someone who wants the truth. This man is a truth-seeker. He will not cover up, he will not budge, he will not pretend, he will not be bought. She respects that a lot. Of course Sonia does not know about Graham Spaulding. She does not know about Rick Knowles and what it takes to get a man like Jack Malone to bend the rules. Hopefully she never will.
"I did," she says, "and I even looked into the possibilities. I didn't tell anyone, though. Eleanor was adopted. It was a closed adoption. But I managed to get the names of her biological parents."
Sometimes, Sonia thinks, being nice and unthreatening has its benefits. People usually tell her what she wants to know.
"They were unfortunately both deceased."
"And you never followed it up?"
Sonia stares at him for a long time, feeling guilty. She knows she is somehow responsible for his pain – and for Eleanor's pain. No, make that Samantha Spade's pain.
"Look," she finally says, her tone defensive, "I fucked up. Okay?"
"No."
Jack's voice is low.
"It is not okay."
Sonia holds up her hands in surrender.
"I will help you. I will! What else do you want to know?"
"What about her memory?"
"As far as I know there has been nothing much. But the specialist said there were cases where the memory was never recovered. So it was not unprecedented."
"What do you mean by 'nothing much'?"
"She told me she remembered my face."
"So she remembered you?"
"Well, my face, she said. But I have to tell you, if she really is Samantha Spade she could have seen me at your New York office about five or six years ago. Nick asked me to check out a lead on Eleanor. She was apparently seen working in a bookstore in New York. So I went and I coordinated with your office. She could have seen me."
"I need to see her," Jack says quietly.
Sonia sighs.
"We have to handle that one with care. Tilda and Bert will probably break to pieces no matter what we do, but I'm concerned about Nick. I don't trust him. He might get violent."
"Does he have a gun in the house?"
"He sure does!"
Sonia is quiet for a moment, debating whether to tell him. She can see how invested he is in that Samantha Spade.
"I think there is a possibility that Nick is beating her," she finally says, "I have no proof of that, but…"
She stops. His face has changed. His eyes are black and furious.
"Since when?"
She can barely hear his voice and she is suddenly glad they are not on different sides. He would be a frightening opponent.
"A couple of months, maybe a year?" she offers.
His eyelids flutter and then close.
"I need to see her," he repeats.
"Okay," Sonia says, opening a drawer and holstering her gun.
TBC