(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextHenry: "There are some things I need to share with you before Adam arrives."
Jo: "What ... sort of things?"
Henry: "Suspicions I've had about him regarding his possible involvement in the murder of Julian Glausser ... and ... possibly Xander Thomas."
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Even though Detectives Whitehall and Cochrane had collared Adam redhanded in Reuben Barnes' laboratory at the Center for Scientific Discovery, they'd bowed to Lt. Reece's request that they pass him off to the State Police to transport him back to her 11th precinct in New York City. As they'd watched the transport car disappear down the roadway with a strangely quiet and very smug-looking perp (Adam) cuffed in the back seat, something just didn't sit right.
"He's our collar, we should take him in." Cochrane complains.
"Apparently, there are a few Big M cold cases they're interested in him for." She tiredly sighs as she and Cochrane strap their seatbelts on and she starts up their car. "Murder trumps mayhem and Reece went over our heads."
It had also been stressed to them to read him his rights, which he had waived and they'd dutifully documented.
Whitehall drives onto the highway back to their own precinct and privately considers something. "I think it's time to call in a favor." She smiles and glances at Cochrane. "Because you know how incredibly nosey I am."
Cochrane's face breaks out into a knowing grin and he dials a number on his cell phone.
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The troopers hand Adam off to four unis at the 11th precinct, who, in turn, escort him with two in front and two in back of him, to a basement bunker. Originally purposed as a fallout shelter in the 1950's and 1960's, it had rarely been used and after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, was abandoned. After 9/11, it had been renovated and repurposed for use as a sort of Situation Room and as a more secure setting to interrogate some more violent criminals and terror suspects. It also now used for interviewing and briefing those placed in the Witness Protection Program.
Reece opts to hold off on involving the HSA (Homeland Security Agency) for now. But she realizes that the situation with Adam is fluid. Anything can happen. Henry had looked as though she'd betrayed him when she'd informed him of her intention to involve the alphabet police. Instead, she'd arranged to have Adam interrogated in the bunker. That would provide both a higher level of security and privacy, not just for Adam, but for Henry, as well. In case Adam did find some way to escape by death, at least the number of witnesses would be minimal, and all would be sworn to secrecy as a matter of national security.
The Gang of Six (as Lucas now privately calls Reece, Jo, Mike, Henry, Abe, and himself), minus Abe, meets up in the bunker. He's reluctant to share the name he's come up with for fear of ridicule, but - he likes it. In his mind, they are some super bad crime solvers and protectors of their immortal friend, Dr. Morgan.
Reece lays down some ground rules and then surprises them (but not much) as she updates them on her own investigative findings, which mirror theirs almost to a T. They then brace themselves for Adam's arrival. This is virgin territory for all of them, but it's agreed that Jo and Mike, armed with the two DNA reports that link him to the Glausser murder, will question Adam. Reece reminds them that even though he may be responsible for other crimes, if they can at least nail him with the Glausser murder, that's a good beginning. They all agree when there's a buzz from the outer door. Reece counters the buzz and the door opens. The surveillance video system captures the four unis that surround Adam as they pause midway in the short passageway. When a small overhead light turns from red, to yellow, then green, they proceed to the door leading to the bunker and a second buzz is countered by Reece and the door opens.
Henry looks over the shoulders of the two unis in front of Adam. The small parade seems to him to move in slow motion as Adam's cold, almost lifeless eyes lock with his. It's as though both the air and sound in the room have been sucked out. The armed escorts seat Adam in, and shackle his hand, waist, and ankle chains to, a specially designed chair on one side of the long, wooden conference table. They nod at Reece and exit the bunker. Two stand guard directly outside the bunker door and the other two, outside the outer door at the end of the passageway. The scraping sound of the chains snaps Henry back to a normal awareness of his surroundings. He continues to eye Adam intently, untrusting of the barest flinch the man should make.
Although the others are aware of the chilling stare down between their M.E., and their suspect, they focus on the strange and difficult task at hand: interrogating a psychopathic immortal stalker and killer, who may have the blood of hundreds, if not more, on his hands.
Adam slowly shifts his eyes from Henry to each of the other four as if memorizing them. His gaze lingers longest on Jo, who returns it with her own steely-eyed glare. She draws upon her training as a cop, remembering that intimidation is a tactic much employed by suspects and some of her male colleagues. She holds her own against him even though he totally creeps her out from her head down to her toes. But she's always been up for a good game of chicken against the guys; even won many a time. It appears she can add another notch to her belt this time.
He squints ever so slightly at her, then lifts his eyes to a spot on the wall above and to his left of the detectives seated across from him.
Henry at first feels his ire rise along with his heart rate as the scoundrel stares down the object of his affections, then feels overwhelming pride at her refusal to be intimidated by the man's soul-piercing stare. A corner of Henry's mouth threatens to form that familiar, lopsided grin and his heart rate slowly normalizes.
Reece drives an icy stare into Adam, as well. She looks over her detectives, and, satisfied that their resolve is intact, calmly states, "Let's get started." Formalities out of the way, the recording equipment engages, and Hanson starts the questioning.
"Where were you on February 4, 2015, between 1 pm and 5 pm?" Adam blinks a couple of times but doesn't reply. Mike shifts forward in his seat as he glances at Jo. He repeats the question. Still no reply from Adam. More agitated now, Mike tries again. "Look, Farber or Adam or whatever you call yourself, you waived your rights, so cut the mime act and answer the question!"
Adam shifts his eyes to Mike and tilts his head a bit. "Michael Randall Hanson, Jr. Married. Wife, Karen, two sons -"
"Cut the crap!" Mike orders him.
Adam doesn't blink in the face of Mike's anger. He adds another layer of self-satisfaction to the smug look on his face. He raises his eyebrows just a whisper as he views the scowling detective through half-closed eyes. "Hmmm, it would seem that the rigors of the job are getting to you, Detective. Or is it - all the adoption red tape?"
Mike's eyes widen round as saucers, then his face crumbles into a scowl more menacing than before as he jumps up, kicking his chair out from under him. He reaches across the table and growls at Adam. "You kuh-RAY-zee son of a - !" Both Lucas and Henry pounce on Mike and drag him back off the table. The two of them can just barely contain the weightier man, now angered beyond reason at the sound of his loved ones' names dropping so casually off the lips of this psycho. He spews as much venom as he can dredge up at Adam with promises of retaliation. "Believe, me, you nut job, I'll figure sumpin' out!"
Lucas and Henry talk over each other as they try to calm him down. Henry's words ("This is what he does best, Mike. He knows how to get under your skin. It's called divide and conquer.") finally register with him. He ceases his tirade and looks apologetically at them. The two men release him and look to Reece for guidance. She raises a hand at them but studies Mike the whole time. He smooths his thick, black hair down, pauses and glares at Adam for a couple of seconds, then rights his chair and reseats himself. Lucas and Henry also take their seats again at the end of the table near Reece, who's at the head.
Jo is aware of the three men struggling behind her but keeps her eyes on Adam. The look of amusement that snakes over his extremely pale face both disturbs and angers her. After Mike seats himself beside her once again, she takes her turn at the questioning.
"We know you're not answering because you don't want to tell us that you were busy torturing and killing Julian Glausser. Am I right?" She doesn't wait for his reply, but pushes an upside down photo of Glausser's brutalized and bloodied corpse across the table to him. "This your handiwork?"
His smug look of amusement flattens out into one of pure annoyance as he eyes her up and down. "How nice to see you again, Det. Martinez. Quite the professional, you are, and steadfast in your determination to pin the murder of this most unfortunate individual on me, but ... I can assure you that I had nothing to do with it." He glances down at the photo again, then back up at Jo. "I've never seen this man in my life."
"And you've, uh, had a pret-tee long life, haven't you, Adam? What name were you actually born with?" She poises her pen over her note pad. "I mean, for the record, because we know it's not Adam and I seriously doubt that it's Lewis Farber. So. What is it, hmmm?" She deliberately mimics his "Hmmm" earlier as a dig at him. Two can play that game of getting under someone's skin. She'd grown up trading caps with her brothers and his friends.
The smugness returns to Adam's face. "You choose your women well, Henry. First, dear Abigail who sacrificed her life to protect you. Now, this one who's licensed to carry a weapon. I'd wager she wouldn't hesitate to shoot me in order to protect you, as well. Saucy little firepot, isn't she?" He turns his head slightly to the right to smirk at Henry, then slides his eyes back to Jo.
Henry chokes back a violent outburst and shoots daggers with his eyes at Adam. Reece places a calming hand on his shoulder. He struggles to control his breathing, lowers his head and studies Jo's reaction. How he wishes she weren't involved in this. But it was part of her job to be here. He wasn't there to help his Abigail when she took her own life to escape this madman and to prevent him from finding him. But the urge to defend Jo's honor is in direct conflict with how he knows she wants him to behave: stay back and let her do her job.
"Okay, these are the facts, smart guy." Mike explains, matter-of-factly. "We retrieved a piece of your skin that was stuck in Glausser's ring from when he belted ya one. I woulda paid to see that. The DNA obtained from that tiny piece of skin matches your DNA." He opens the report from their lab and the one from Adam's hospital records. He turns them both upside down and plops them in front of him. "Perfect match, bright eyes."
"On top of that, you don't seem to have an alibi." Jo adds. "Open and shut case." She leans forward a bit and clasps her hands in front of her on the table. "Do yourself a favor and tell us what happened." She looks at her watch then back at Adam. "My, uh, firepot needs stoking, so I haven't got all day." She tilts her head to the side and looks him squarely in the eye.
Lucas is breathless with excitement at the events unfolding in front of him. 'Ouch, score a big one for our side.'
"You can't pin his murder on me." Adam rasps, his face pale and hard. His words rush together in an angry rant. "Tell them, Henry. There is absolutely no way to make these charges stick against me without making my condition and your condition public. No one will believe you and you'll all be made to look like fools. Much like that foolish duo, Barnes and Larson." He settles back in the uncomfortable chair, some calm restored, his face still pale and hard.
"You want a confession? I'll give you one." He snaps his head to Henry. "Yes, I murdered him. I murdered Julian Glausser. He was safe as long as he worked with Karl Haas and me to reunite Jewish families with their long lost treasures and family heirlooms the Nazis had stolen from them during World War II. Once he crossed the line to profit from them, however, he sealed his fate. He'd been warned by me what would happen if I ever got wind of him profiting from our clandestine operation. Once. I don't enjoy repeating myself, nor is it in my nature to beg. He should have suppressed his greedy tendencies and heeded my warning."
He settles down somewhat as if the confession had lifted a burden off of him. "And I can guarantee that you all will regret that you ever even thought to take on the likes of me! Tell them, Henry. Executing me will only result in my coming back to life without a mark on my body. There is no law that speaks to executing immortals. Once it's done, it's done. And I'll walk the streets again, a free man. And life imprisonment? Means absolutely nothing to the likes of you and me. There is no provision in the law for imprisoning someone for eternity. Besides, I'll just kill myself to escape. I could have killed myself after I was captured. But I wanted to make the trip here. To teach you another lesson, Henry, child, that you are. By the way, do they know that you once escaped prison by hanging yourself?" The look of utter shock and dismay on his would-be/could-be protegee's face pleases him and a slight smile tugs at his straight, thin lips.
Henry dips deeply into the reservoir of his carefully-crafted, centuries old facade and resists the urge to jump to his feet and twist Adam's very head off. He seethes with anger, his fists opening and closing again and again as he fights to rebuild the wall around his emotions. The wall that just crumbled from the wrecking ball in the form of Adam's words. He'd purposely omitted that horrendous fact from his long story he'd shared with them - even with Jo. The others stare incredulously at him. Jo and Mike quickly shift their concentration back to Adam but inwardly reel at this newest revelation regarding their friend's long and obviously complicated life. He'd often said that, hadn't he? It's complicated.
Jo snaps her fingers in front of Adam. "Here." (snap, snap) "Over here, Mr. Scary Big Mouth. We're not through with you."
Adam looks at her again, his small, dark eyes narrow, the small muscles in his jaw pull his lower lip back, forcing his mouth into a thin line, the veins on the sides of his neck strain and protrude. "Henry." His voice is quiet but now cuts through their sensibilities with the skill and precision of a maniacal but competent surgeon. "Inform these - people - that defeat lies only in their vocabulary. Many have tried to defeat me. ALL have failed. I continue to live, to exist. Always. For-EV-er!" He speaks vehemently to Henry, but maintains eye contact with Jo and Mike.
"Oh, I wouldn't be too quick to rely on that if I were you. Laws are being proposed and written as we speak." Jo out and out lies. It works, though. Adam's dark, merciless eyes meet hers. "There are levels of government cloaked in secrecy that operate outside the normal laws. Those people do what they want, when they want, to whomever they want. To whomever poses a threat to our nation's national security. They make the Men in Black look like boy scouts." She licks her lower lip and tilts her head to the side as she studies Adam. "How 'bout we just hand you over to them, huh?"
"Sounds like a plan." Mike happily agrees. "We just hand you, our evidence, and your confession over to them and let them deal with your wacko butt." He gathers up the photos and reports and arranges them into a neat pile. "I get to go home to my steak dinner."
'The weird dude confessed." Lucas marvels to himself. 'Hey. Not a bad title for my next short film. Of course, all ... names would have to be changed. Some events and places ... and ... dang! Can't use any of this. But man, oh, man, if only I could, it would be bigger than that indie where people searched for a witch in the woods. And found her.' Lucas laments his missed opportunity for wealth and fame. 'But we ... well, they ... no! We got our man.'
"Let's wrap this up, then." Reece directs, who's stood the entire time with arms folded, taking in everyone and everything. The two detectives and two M.E.'s, all rise from their chairs.
Adam has been aware that ever since his arrival in the bunker, all eyes, for the most part, have remained trained on him. No doubt, he scoffs to himself, in a coordinated effort not to allow him any opportunity to escape by causing his own death. He notices Henry's calmer demeanor out of the corner of his eye and decides to continue with his prepared "lesson" for the junior immortal.
"There is something else that I feel compelled to share with you. But ... since this concerns mostly your learned Medical Examiner ... " he looks at Reece with raised eyebrows and waits for her reaction. She heaves a sigh of annoyance but pauses the recording equipment and glares at Adam. "Ah! Another strong, beautiful, intelligent woman with a gun, ready to protect our precious Henry." he mocks.
"Say what you wish to say and be done with it, Adam." Henry grittily demands. "Although, in truth, there is nothing you have to say that I wish to hear."
"From the beginning, I only wished to share with you things that could help you on your long journey. Things that I had to learn all alone. For instance, roughly 250 years after my first death, an illness of sorts came upon me that forced me to take to my bed for the better part of a week. I was beset by nightmares and fevered sweats."
"Sounds like any number of illnesses for which, at that time, neither an effective treatment nor a cure had yet been found." Henry responds disinterestedly. "Why do you feel compelled to share this mundane information with me?"
"Because, Henry, child, that you are, it is not mundane. It is pertinent to you and me. I was beset by an illness that caused me to relive and feel the pain of every single one of my deaths again, from my first death up to that point." His eyes flutter a bit as he recalls the agony and torment of that time. "On the morning of the fifth day, I awoke. Fit as a fiddle, but ... with the full memory of what I had just undergone." His voice trembles ever so slightly as he continues.
"Roughly 600 years after that, the strange illness beset me again and I relived each of my second series of deaths. After another 425 years, my third set of deaths. It was only 400 more years before I succumbed again and relived my fourth set of deaths." He turns his head slightly towards Henry but keeps his eyes cast downward. "Do you know when I was forced to relive the pain of my fifth set of deaths, Henry?" his voice a gravelly rasp.
Henry furrows his brow and eyes him intensely, but does not reply.
"It was three weeks ago while I was flat on my back in my hospital bed. A hospital bed that you put me in after you pulled that empty hypodermic needle out of your medical bag of tricks. You, Henry, made it possible for me to have suffered through it this time while unable to either speak or move! Your time is coming, Henry. I wanted only to help you, to warn you. To share with you some of the things that I've gone through. But instead," he chuckles humorlessly, "you chose to ignore me. Is it any wonder as to why I turned against you?" He turns away from Henry and lowers his eyes to his shackled hands. "You seem to be very good at having me restrained, don't you, Henry, child that you are?"
"It didn't have to be this way, Adam. It never had to be this way. You set the tone for our future interaction when you interfered in our lives years ago and led my wife to believe that the only way to keep our son and me safe from you, was to take her own life. You killed Abigail, just as surely as if you'd wielded the knife yourself. And then you kept interfering in our lives revelling in the fact that for us to have sought help, even from the police, would have exposed my condition. I'm sorry for you, that you are the way you are, so pathetic, twisted and alone. But you have no one to blame for your circumstances but yourself."
"And for the record, Adam? You forced my hand when I injected you with the air bubble that caused you to suffer the locked-in syndrome. I did not enjoy having to do that. But I have enjoyed every single day and night that you were confined and could no longer meddle in our lives. In light of your confession, it appears that my enjoyment will continue for a very long time."
"You'll suffer, Henry, like I did. It's the price we must pay for this insufferable gift."
"Well, thank you, Adam, for that walk down memory lane, but if there's anything new to be learned about my condition, I shall find out for myself. I don't need you to hold my hand during my walk through time. And, perhaps you're right. Maybe I am just a child with my 200 years compared to your 2000. Or maybe you're just suffering from early onset immortal dementia."
Adam fumes and bristles at that. The others bite their tongues to hold their laughter in.
'Quadruple-double, Doc!' Lucas silently celebrates.
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While Adam is in booking, the Gang of Six (minus Abe) walk into the bullpen and find two well-dressed men in suits pacing near Reece's office door. As they get nearer to them, they flash their ID's and identify themselves.
"Agent Barton Danes, Homeland Security. This is my partner, Agent Avery Brumfeld." While Reece returns the professional courtesy, Henry looks on in astonishment. For Agents Danes and Brumfeld are clean shaven spitting images of the homeless duo that'd helped him after his most recent reemergence and a few times before. He wonders if he should make up an excuse so he can bolt from them when Reece's voice brings him back to their conversation.
"And what brings you to the 11th? As far as I know, no one from this office contacted HSA." She steps closer and stands almost shoulder-to-shoulder to Henry. "For any reason." she asserts.
Henry smiles inwardly at her indirect way of assuring him of her promise of support. Their promise of support.
"Well, we got an anoymous tip that someone who's been on our radar for quite some time was in your custody." He pulls out an 8x10 glossy of Adam and shows it to her. "Goes lately by the name of Lewis Farber, but it's a cinch that's an alias. Perp's used lots of names. He's a POI for several crimes and we've been ordered to take over the case." He places the photo back into a manila folder and closes it. "Sorry to pull rank on you, Lieutenant, but it's that kind of case."
'Phil?' Henry finds it hard to believe. 'All those times they'd seen me reemerge in the East River, naked. Is it possible that they ... know about my condition? Had they ever seen Adam reemerge?'
Reece shakes her head. "No, problem, Agent Danes. You're just doing your jobs. And, since it's that kind of case, he's all yours." She and the agents exchange hand shakes.
Danes turns his attention to Henry. "And nice to meet you, too, uh ... " He extends his hand and smiles slightly.
Henry hestitates then shakes his hand. "Dr. Morgan, Henry Morgan."
Danes straightens up, the curious smile still on his lips. "You know, you remind me of someone we've nicknamed Flipper Boy." He glances over at his partner, who merely grins.
"Flipper Boy?" Mike chuckles. "Why Flipper Boy?"
"Oh, no reason." He smiles again at Henry and dips his head slightly. "Just an inside joke."
Henry finally relaxes, smiles, and nods a silent thank you.
The agents take their leave of Reece and the others and head off to take custody of Adam/Farber/whatever his real name is.
"Hey!" Mike walks quickly over to his desk and spreads his arms out over it. "Look, Ma, no paperwork! I'm outta here." He waves to the group as he strides towards the elevator. "See ya tomorrow, folks. Steak and potatoes, Here. I. Come."
"Yeah, me, too. Tomorrow, everybody." Lucas waves, walks backwards a bit, then turns and sprints towards the elevator.
"Good night, you two." Reece says quietly to Jo and Henry and she enters her office and closes the door. Jo and Henry suddenly find themselves alone in the bullpen except for a couple of other exiting detectives.
"So." Jo says, looking down at her feet.
"So." Henry echoes her.
Then she realizes something. "Abe was scheduled to come down tomorrow and give his statement."
They walk slowly to her desk and Henry waits while she retrieves her purse from one of the drawers. Then they walk together out of the bullpen.
"Ummm, I don't think it really matters right now, do you? The HSA Agents will contact him if they need him to do so. But somehow I don't think they will." He punches the elevator's down button.
After they enter the elevator, Jo smiles mischievously up at Henry. She steps behind him and traces a finger down his spine, which causes his breath to hitch and sends the most delicious spurts of pleasure up his spine. "Hmmm, no dorsal fin." she says in a mock-serious way. She then leans forward and props her chin up on his shoulder.
He laughs and it feels good to laugh. It feels good to be with her. The elevator doors open and they exit into the basement. As they walk into the morgue so he can exchange his lab coat for his jacket and scarf, Jo takes his arm and playfully whispers, "Do I call you Flipper Boy from now on?"
Notes: Somewhere along the way, Adam found out about Mike and Karen Hanson trying to adopt baby Gretchen, either from the local news or from hospital chatter. Let's also assume that he has minions stashed here and there who feed him information in return for him not offing them. Maybe. A story for another time. The anonymous tipster was none other than Det. Marcia Whitehall, not happy with being left out of the loop on their recent collar, alerted a couple of pals at HSA currently working undercover as homeless guys living under the bridge near the banks of the East River.