The hospital called, a week after the death of the old man. The young man–their "John Doe"–had awakened from his coma.
By the time Jeff arrived, they had already moved him out of the ICU, into a step-down room. The doctor was finishing a series of tests on him. "Young man, as far as I can tell, you're in perfect shape," he said, as Jeff came into the room.
Jeff stepped up to the young man, who looked up at him. He does look in perfect shape, like he's a bodybuilder or something like that, Jeff thought. The young face did not react to Jeff, but his pupils dilated. Jeff's nostrils flared as his cop's instincts lit off. Something about this man, Jeff decided, was definitely fishy.
"Can I go now, doctor?" the young man asked him.
He wouldn't be afraid if he thought I was a doctor. Jeff smiled and flashed his Detective's badge. "I'm not a doctor, and no, not just yet. We're still trying to make sure you're okay, and we're still trying to figure out what happened. We're hoping you can help us with that."
The man swallowed. "Okay."
Definitely nervous. Jeff smiled some more. "Why don't we start with your name?"
"Okay."
After a pause, Jeff went on, "What's your name?"
"Oh! I thought you were going to tell me that. Don't you know?"
"Don't you?"
"No."
After about twenty minutes of asking him questions, Jeff thanked him, smiled, and went out. He was still polite and cheerful on the outside, but inside he was seething.
The John Doe appeared to have complete amnesia. He did not know how he had gotten into the apartment, or even his name. From his accent, Jeff was pretty sure he was from out of the area–maybe Los Angeles, but he could have lived in San Francisco all his life. He appeared to have a complete grasp of English, missing only every single detail of his own life.
Sure that the man was lying, Jeff got a detail of officers assigned to watch him. When the doctor cleared him to leave the hospital, Jeff took him down to the station.
Jeff got him some water, and sat him down in an interrogation room. The man was watching him cautiously, but he no longer seemed nervous. He even had a half smile.
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The Jumper (SF Mystery)
Mystery / ThrillerNow in trade paper and for all eReaders at Amazon and Smashwords! An old man dies in a very public and very strange suicide-or was it murder? Jeff Cramer has to figure out which, and quickly. Nothing about this case appears normal, and it could ge...
