Case Files of Detective Kenneth Cohl

Character File Two: Enigmatic Background

Joe Hardy was a member of the army, fighting on the front line. He never thought growing up, this is what he would do with his life, but after high school, it was the card he was handed. He was a great athlete, he always had been. In high school he was the star of track and field, he was already the best player on his school Basketball and Football team. 

 Then after high school came the choice; enroll in a college or enlist in the army. He figured he could go to college at any time in his life, but a chance while he was in his prime to serve his country, he couldn't pass it up. He wasn't bad at being a soldier either; he was good at everything they had them do, he was always a bright kid growing up, and as he got older he never missed a chance to expand his knowledge. He was never afraid to step foot on the battlefield and fight, he never even got badly hit just a scratch or two.

They had him stationed in Iraq, he had actually been promoted up to a captain and was leading a group into a city, and it was there that a battle broke out; guns were blasting back and forth. He had learned the language and could understand what they were saying during the battle, it was then he heard one of them mention a bomb and point to a building. He looked and saw civilians in the same building the soldiers were pointing to. He ran inside avoiding the barrage of bullets and got to the people and tried to explain to them to get out. They eventually understood and started to exit out, Joe was right behind them, but there was a child that was too scared to move, so he took off his helmet and put it on the child's head, that was enough to make the child go. Once they got out of the building, Joe kept pushing them to move forward as they passed his fellow soldiers. 

It was then that the explosion went off, but it was more than just the one building, it was all of them in the area, he got the people away and turned to watch his fellow soldiers vanish in an expanding fire, he began to turn and run but debris started flying at him and a piece hit him right in his head, knocking him out.

The next day, other soldiers came to the area and started to clear it out, looking for any survivors. It was then that they found Joe's body under a pile of debris, but they couldn't tell who it was, his hair was gone, his clothes were gone, he had terrible burns all over his body, and he was unconscious. They picked him up and took him back to the base; he was out for the next week. When he came to, he had no memory of who he was. He remembered everything else; he knew how to live his life, he knew daily activities, how to fight, government Intel, and anything else he had learned since joining the army. His name, his family, information like that was gone from his mind. They even tried to match his fingerprints but, they were so badly burned, they couldn't match them to any on file.

They had him sent to Washington DC, it was there that the Bureau took an interest in him, and began to give him some tryouts and started code-naming him Enigma. A few months went by and he still had no memory of his actual past or name, but it didn't bother him all that much it barely did from the start. One day, some of the Bureau's top doctors did come by and make an offer to him.

"Hey Enigma, how are you doing?'

"I'm doing pretty well; what's up guys."

"Well we wanted to make an offer to you, we can do some DNA testing to find out who you really are, it may not bring back your memories, but at least that's one thing you would know."

"Thanks for the offer guys, but I don't want to know who I am, if I don't remember anything about being that person."

"You sure, it may help you remember."

"I'm happy with just who I am right now, even if I don't remember who I was, so I have to pass on the offer."

Sure enough, he was happy, he was making new memories for himself and the one thing he remembered was the most important thing and that was his job. One day he was going through some case files, and ran into a file for an Alister Crowley. He began reading through it. Most of it was just questions with no answers, possible events having to do with this character, but nothing concrete. The last thing on file about him was that he caused the death of a detective and his wife. That the FBI caught him that same night, but he got away shortly after. The agents that made the arrest were found dead before it was even recorded that he escaped. Never before did he read anything more interesting at the Bureau.

He grabbed the file and quickly went to his superiors, begging them to put him on this case if Alister Crowley ever showed his face. It took some convincing but they eventually agreed to it. A month later, a red flag appeared when they found out that he had sent a letter to someone close to Enigma's age. He was a detective in training named Kenneth Cohl. Enigma went back through the file and found that was the son of the detective Alister had killed years ago. He quickly hopped on a plane and flew to the town this boy lived in. 

 He began trailing him until it led to an old warehouse. He stayed hidden in the shadows, maybe a bit too long, by the time he made it up to the top floor, he saw Alister leaving, he barely had enough time to save Kenneth and escape the explosion. Kenneth was hurt, so once he got picked up, they dropped him off at a hospital and Enigma returned to the Bureau to tell his higher-ups what had happened. When he got back and gave them his report they were not happy he let Crowley slip through his fingers, but on the same note they were glad to have him back and know that he was able to save the life of Kenneth.

The next part of his job had him bugging every place Kenneth would be located at so he could hear everything. Then he had to stake out the hospital Kenneth was staying at while he recovered, then when he was released, Enigma had to stake out his home, work, any place Kenneth went, Enigma was there behind him. All the way until one night Kenneth returned home from work and he could hear what sounded like segments from Shakespeare's play Cleopatra. He then heard Kenneth say Crowley's name and heard a loud cracking sound, before seeing him run out of his house and into the car. He followed him to the Police Station, which is where Enigma really introduced himself. 

He and Kenneth then worked together on the case, until they returned home and went their separate ways. Enigma returned to the Bureau empty handed but still alive, knowing he went up against a seven foot tall giant named Hell's Guardian; his superiors were rather impressed just to see him standing there, and didn't care he had nothing to show for it. The only major injuries he returned with were just a few broken ribs. Sadly for Enigma though, it was back to paperwork as normal until anything else from Crowley came up.