"We're sorry, but the number you have dialed is no longer in service. If you would like to make another call, please…"
Face looked at the phone, frowning. He had redialed the number to Murdock's phone three times now, all with the same result. Something wasn't right. Even if Murdock was mad at him for waiting until so late in the afternoon to return his calls the pilot knew better then to unplug his phone. He dialed a different number, waiting impatiently as it rang.
"VA Psychiatric Ward, this is Sherry. How can I help you?"
Sherry- he recognized that name. She had been there a while, and he was surprised she hadn't caught on to his scams by now. "Hello, this is Agent Rogers from the Houston Police Department. I was going over some of my files and the name H.M. Murdock came up as a witness to a murder three months ago. I understand he's at your facility… can I speak with him?"
There was a long pause at the other end of the line that made Face uneasy. "Now's not the best time, detective…" She replied hesitantly. "Maybe we can call back when he's able to speak with you?"
Face suddenly had to work to keep the casual tone in his voice. "Why? What's wrong with right now?"
Sherry's voice took on a hard tone. "Detective, this is a psychiatric ward. In a place such as this people tend to have good days and bad days- Mister Murdock isn't having a good day. We have him in restraints and under heavy sedation right now, and that's barely keeping him still. You can speak to him another day-"
"What'd he do?" Face didn't have time to stop the words from coming out, but he didn't really care. Sure, Murdock liked to be a pain sometimes, but never enough to be restrained like this.
"Sir, that's confidential," The nurse shot back.
"Don't give me that confidentiality bull! Tell me what-" He paused, forcing himself to calm down. "Ah, I mean, it's imperative I know the state of my witness. I need to be able to at least know what he's done so that I can judge if he'll be able to make a court appearance any time soon."
"I can already tell you no, detective."
"I'm sorry Sherry, but you're in no place to make that decision. His eye witness statement could save dozens of lives, and I'm willing to do the best I can to get him here. If you don't tell me what he did than I'll send some agents your way right now to come get him." Face crossed his fingers, hoping his lie would play out like he wanted.
Sherry paused, and he could hear her curse slightly under her breath. "Fine. But this stays between you and me," she breathed in a voice so quiet that Face had to strain to hear her. "Mister Murdock was screaming in his room, so a few nurses went to check on him. When they arrived, he attempted to kill them."
Face sat in shocked silence for a moment, trying to process what she had told him. Kill… Murdock would never kill anyone, Face thought to himself. At least, not since we came home. "Are you sure you aren't mistaken? I mean, you sound like you could be jumping to conclusions here-"
"He broke one of our orderly's hand and bashed another's head against the sink repeatedly. We couldn't pull him off until after the man was unconscious. If you don't think that's dangerous than go ahead and take him, Detective. Just don't hold me responsible for the lives you put at risk." There was a click, than the line went dead.
Face sat in stunned silence for a long while. He knew there had to be something more to this, something they were missing. Murdock didn't just try to kill people. Face knew his friend wasn't that crazy- he hadn't even been close to that crazy in years- but there had to be an explanation. With shaky hands Face picked up the phone and dialed another number. It picked up on the first ring.
"Hello?"
"Hannibal, get BA and meet me at the VA. We have a problem."