Part 3 – Chapter 37

Hutch briefly phoned Dobey to give him the good news about Starsky's acquittal. He felt torn in two, Half of him wanted to shout and jump and generally break open a magnum of champagne to celebrate Starsky's final freedom, while the other half of him yearned to have his partner back with him in mind as well as body. It seemed a hollow victory that the curly haired man should be exonerated of all crimes, and yet still be suffering from the effects of his treatment at the hands of Edgar Fisher. Whatever happened, the one thing Hutch knew for sure was that he was going to make sure Fisher got the heaviest penalty available and that even if it wasn't the death penalty, he would be given life imprisonment for the deaths of the youngsters and the maltreatment of his buddy.

For his own part, Starsky sat quietly in the car on the drive up into the foothills. So much had happened to him in the past 36 hours that his mind was a complete whirl even without putting himself through the torture of trying to remember times before Juanita found him in the ocean. He thought constantly about the young Mexican woman, his body twitching when he thought about their tender love making. One of the questions he'd asked Hutch during their talk in the cell the previous night had been whether he had a girl, or even more importantly, whether he was married. He'd breathed a sigh of relief when the blond had assured him that so far, he'd been a committed bachelor, but that it wasn't for the want of trying. Again, Hutch hadn't gone into details, afraid that if he started to prompt the brunet too much, the pains in his head would return and push him over the edge. Thoughts of describing Rosie and Terri were too far in the future and for the time being, Hutch had kept it general.

Starsky also thought a great deal about the man sat next to him, driving quietly and confidently through the morning traffic. Hutch obviously meant a great deal to him. Even without his memories, Starsky knew without a shadow of a doubt that they had been close. He felt their bond even now and was thankful that he had a friend who was as rock steady as the blond. Who else would accept being gunned down without any recriminations?

And what of this mysterious man, this Edgar Fisher? What connection did he have with Starsky? At the mention of his name, the brunet felt compelled to defend Fisher against the world. Liz had told the Judge that Fisher had hypnotised him, but Starsky couldn't remember even meeting the man, let alone being close enough to be hypnotised by him. Having said that, the brunet allowed himself only a few stolen moments of introspection, guarding himself against the bone crushing pains that shot through his head when he tried to think back too hard. His head was fucked. he admitted that, and the prospect of Pine View Clinic filled him with both dread, and a certain amount of hope.

As the road started to climb out of the valley the harsh scrubby grass at the roadside gave way to open fields and the occasional tree. Further up into the foothills, it became apparent why the clinic had been given its name and pine trees started to line the hillside in serried rows, sheltering the road from the harsh sunlight and allowing dappled sunbeams to dance across the blacktop. Hutch wound down the window and took a deep breath of pine scented air.

'Get a lungful of that partner' he said heartily. 'Nothing like mountain air to invigorate and get the blood circulating.'

'You think? I was just thinkin' that I'd have preferred to be in the city. Looks too wild up here in the hills.'

'Well that's the Starsky I know' Hutch chuckled. 'You never were one for the great outdoors buddy.'

'No, didn't think so. I found a magazine in a truck I was fixing at Miguel's garage. It had a picture of the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. They seemed to mean something to me. They made me feel better than this greenery. God! Bugs, and damp and….'

'I know, not a burrito in sight' the blond finished. 'And New York would mean something to you. You were born there.'

'I was? Wow! No wonder I recognised the pictures. Fuck! This is so damned crazy. You're explaining to me my whole life an' I don't recall any of it. Are my Mom and Dad still alive? Have I got brothers and sisters? When did I leave? When did I meet you? Too many questions, and if I think too much, I get a feelin' the answers are just around the corner. Like they're hidin' and they want to come out, but then the pains in my head start an' I can't help but stop thinkin'. I hate this…. An' if I'm truthful, it scares the crap out of me. You said I knew Liz, the lawyer. She said we were an item. I didn't know this woman we're gonna see now too did I?'

Hutch grinned. 'Slow down buddy. I could spend a day answering all your questions and I'll do whatever I can to help you remember again, but you gotta take it slow.'

'Hutch, I'm…. fuck I don't even know how old I am!' Starsky threw up his hands is despair.

'35 buddy. You're 6 months older'n me and your birthday is March 11th. You were born in Brooklyn, New York and your Dad was a cop. Your Mom still lives in New York State with your younger brother Nicky.'

'And my Dad? You said he was a cop.'

'Yeah he um…. he's dead. He was killed in the line of duty. I'm sorry.'

For a moment Starsky looked at his hands. 'Don't be. I don't remember him anyhow' he said sadly. 'And this woman we're going to see?'

'Not a girlfriend. She's mine, all mine buddy boy. Hands off.'

It was Starsky's turn to smile. 'She might turn out to prefer dark haired guys. Who knows what'll happen if she has her wily way with me?' he wiggled his eyebrows in a typical Starsky fashion.

'Most of 'em turn out to prefer brunets' Hutch said with feeling. He slowed the car as they approached a broad driveway with a sign proclaiming "Pine View Clinic for the treatment of Mental Disorders". Starsky cringed at the description and took a deep breath.

'Looks like I'm officially crazy then.'

Hutch shook his head. 'Not crazy Starsk, but you do need help, and this is the place to get it.'

'I know. I'm just a little tetchy from not knowin' who I am. Ignore me huh?'

They drove up the broad sweep of drive and came to a large old colonial style villa, painted white and with large bow windows looking out onto a well manicured lawn surrounded by tall pine trees. As they got out of the car, the cooler air felt good on overheated skin and both men stretched before Hutch took two small holdalls from the trunk of the car. 'Traff packed some clothes for us' he explained as they walked up the gracious steps and into the black and white tiles hallway of the house.

A receptionist looked up and smiled at the two handsome men. 'Can I help?'

'Um, David Starsky and Ken Hutchinson. Beth Knot was expecting us' Hutch explained. The receptionist nodded and produced a sheet of paper. She held it out to Starsky. This is your voluntary surrender to the clinic. You need to sign this and then I'll see you both to your rooms.'

'Voluntary surrender huh? Makes me sound like I'm gonna be a prisoner...again' the brunet said quietly. The receptionist said nothing. She watched as the handsome man signed the form and took it from him, filing it neatly into a pink coloured folder. Getting up from her desk, she took two sets of keys. 'Follow me please' she said and walked up a flight of stairs and along a carpeted corridor.

The clinic reminded Hutch of an expensive hotel. There was patterned wilton carpet on the floor and small side tables with floral displays and lamps on them lined the walls of the broad corridor. There were doors to left and right and the receptionist stopped at one about half way down. 'David, this is your room and Ken will be right next door. There's a connecting door too.' She unlocked the first door and opened it, allowing Starsky to see a large, open airy room decorated in calming blues and greys. A queen sized bed stood against one wall and another door led through to a private bathroom. At the opposite side of the room a connecting door led into a mirror image room decorated in green and with its own bathroom off. Depositing the holdalls onto the bed, Hutch thanked the receptionist who dimpled a smile at them and left, leaving the two keys on the table by the door.

'Well it's a mink lined prison' Starsky observed as he went to the window and looked at the view down over the hillside.

'Starsk, it's not meant to be a prison. This is to get you back to normal. Think of it as a paid vacation. We can do some walkin'. I saw a lake on the way up so we could fish.'

'See, I knew it was gonna be crap' the brunet moaned good naturedly. He turned as there was a knock on the door and Beth poked her head around.

'Hey Dave. Good news about the case huh? What's it feel like to be a free man again?'

'Dunno. Ask me when I've got my marbles back an' I'm outa here' the curly haired man said not recognising the woman, but surmising that this was Beth, Hutch's new girl.

'Well we're gonna start working on that just as soon as you've settled in.'

'No time like the present' Starsky said mildly. 'What delights do you have in store for me Doc?'

'Well, I think we need to start working on breaking down the conditioning you've been subject to. I need to speak to you both, but I'm gonna take Hutch away first and talk to him, if that's ok. I'll be back for you in half an hour or so. Can you amuse yourself while we're away?'

Starsky smiled. 'Sure. I'll sit and watch the tree rats for a while. Go ahead and have a good time with Blondie.'

Hutch followed the woman outside. He paused at the door and looked back at his partner who was perching on the edge of the bed looking a little lost. He winked. 'Be right back buddy.'

Starsky grinned back briefly. 'Just go huh? Don't keep your lady waitin'.'

Beth led Hutch down the stairs and along to the back of the big house, pushing open a door to the treatment rooms. Here, things were different, looking more like a standard hospital with tiled floors and pale green walls, small treatment rooms opening off to left and right. She led him to an office at the end and they sat down by a desk.

'So, the tapes. I haven't had a chance to hear them, but I take it you have. What can you tell me about them?' Beth asked without preamble.

'They sickened me' Hutch said honestly. 'The ones I heard started with a general conversation between Edgar and Starsky. It was like they were getting to know each other and Fisher kept calling him David – it was like he was lulling him into a false sense of security. They went on from there. The next tapes were Fisher telling him he needs to test how much Starsky trusts him.

'Yes, that's as far as we got in the jail, when I had Dave under the drugs. I wanted to know if the tapes revealed anything else?'

'Like what?' Hutch asked, thinking back to the fourth tape that he'd taken to the end of the pier and thrown out into the ocean. That tape had born the sounds of Edgar Fisher forcing Starsky to violate himself and the blond had vowed that no one would ever hear that, not even his partner.

Beth pursed her lips. 'There must have been a trigger word. There must have been some method of Fisher getting under Dave's skin. For the most part, he acted fairly normally, right?'

Hutch nodded.

'So there must have been some word – we call it a trigger word – that he would have planted in Dave's mind, probably in his last contact with him, to enable him to have full control over him when it came to shooting you. I think that same trigger word is the secret to unlocking Dave's mind now. We find the word and we find the key.'

Hutch's face fell. 'In his last contact, you say?'

'Yes, it would have to be something that he didn't use in every day life. Something that Edgar could use to start the hypnotic trance. But that's ok. If we can get hold of the final tape, we can listen to it. I'm sure I'd recognise the word if I heard it.'

The blond sighed deeply. 'I don't have the tape. Not the final one.'

'Well we can get it back from the court can't we?' Beth asked.

'Um… the court didn't have it either' Hutch replied softly.

'They didn't? I thought I read that they had all three tapes?'

'There were four.'

'What?' Beth asked. 'What happened to the fourth one? Where's that?'

'At the bottom of the ocean. Shit Beth, I had no idea. You're the only one that knows about it and I want it to stay that way. Promise me honey, its important.'

'Of course. My lips are sealed. But why do that? What was on the tape?' she asked.

The flaxen haired cop looked uncomfortable. 'It was…. um. I listened to all of the tapes and I got steadily more sick. He said he wanted to test how much Starsky would obey him. He said he needed to check.'

Beth put her hand on Hutch's knee. 'Tell me.'

'Starsky was obviously in a trance, his voice sounded spacey and kinda far away. Edgar told him that he was wrong to think of me as a friend and that he wanted him to follow his orders to the letter. He…. Shit Beth, it was inhuman' Hutch mind played back the scene in his head. Edgar's slimy cold voice echoed.

'Are you excited David? Can you feel the tension building in your groin? You sound so husky. You're voice is so full of need. Not like the young boys. You've lasted much longer than they ever did. You're much more fun David – much more entertaining …… Not yet David. It's not allowed yet. I want you to hurt. I want this to go on so long that you feel like you're on fire. I want you to plead with me to let you release. Tell me how you feel David.' …….'

'Hutch, I know it's tough, but it's also important. Tell me. I promise it won't go beyond this room.'

Hutch closed his eyes, trying to control his breathing. 'He ordered Starsk to…. to jack off and then he talked him through it, the sick bastard.'

Beth nodded. 'I assumed it would be something like that. It would have to be something so abhorrent that it would be a test of his strength over Dave. Hutch, it's important. Did Edgar use some unusual word? Did he repeat a word at all? Something memorable.

The blond shook his head. 'I was so angry at what I heard, I didn't really listen past that. Damn. I should never have destroyed it, but I was so anxious Starsky would never hear it and that no-one else would either.' The blond paled. 'If this is successful – this treatment, he will remember, won't he?'

Beth nodded sadly. We can't have good memories without the bad. That's life, but it still doesn't get us any nearer the word.'

'What can I do?' Hutch asked.

'I could always try to regress you to the point where you were listening to the tape. Maybe….'

'Won't work. I think Fisher may have tried to hypnotise me to begin with and soon gave up. Apparently I'm not a good subject – we tried it at college.'

Beth sighed. 'In that case, it's gonna be down to Dave, and a lot of hard work.'