Jaws of Death

Chapter 6

Wednesday

20:00

Karen Page's apartment was deserted. A constricting silence hung around the rooms. Foggy Nelson stared at the sticky note in his hand. He had plucked it off her refrigerator from the kitchen. There were just three lines written in that note. The silence of the apartment was overwhelming him and hoping to break it, he read the note out aloud.

1. Mail to M.E

2. Contact J.R. (Docks)

3. McDonald's 5 PM (F.C.)*

Foggy took a deep breath. It had been a fortnight since he had talked to Karen Page. Yet, staring at the familiar handwriting on this note, it felt like yesterday.

Where are you, Karen?

He read the note again. Mail to M.E? What does M.E stand for? He could think of only one thing. The U.S Postal code for the state of Maine was M.E. Did she mail someone at Maine? She had no living relatives or friends at Maine, from what Foggy knew. He wasn't sure who she was mailing stuff to. But he made a mental note to pay a visit to the postal office and check if Karen had mailed any packages on Monday.

He read the other line. Contact J.R. (Docks). Did she pay a visit to the docks? Why would she? He couldn't understand it completely. And the last line talked about a McDonald's at 5 PM. Maybe she had been planning to visit McDonald's before she disappeared. Since the former two lines of her to-do list were struck off, that was the only plausible conclusion. Maybe he had to pay a visit to the restaurant too, if he needed any more clues.

Yet, there are six different McDonald's outlets in and around the city. Where should he begin? The one closest was about 2 miles away at the Silvercreek Avenue. Maybe he should visit there first.

There was a knock on the door. He put the note down.

"It's open!"

The door opened and a man walked in. He wore a black round necked T-shirt and a black pant. His hand was clutching a walking cane. His one hand adjusted his dark glasses over his eye as he closed the door with his other. Foggy exhaled a sigh of relief and smiled at his best friend. But his smile waned as he got a closer look.

Matthew Murdock looked as broken as Foggy had ever seen him. He had lost a lot of weight. The once handsome face looked unshaven and rugged, with a thick patch of beard covering his chin. There were thin lines of shadows under his eyes that were visible beneath his glasses, as if he hadn't slept properly in weeks. He walked slower than usual as he made his way towards Foggy. There was even a definitive limp in his stride.

Foggy rushed over to him. "Matt! Hi..How a..How are you?"

Matt didn't answer. Instead he rubbed his bearded chin absently as he inclined his head slowly on every side. Foggy knew that he was feeling, smelling and hearing everything in the room. It was his way of "seeing" things, in spite of having lost his actual vision at a tender age. He had never come even remotely close to understanding how Matt Murdock saw the world around him through his heightened senses. It was well beyond his imagination.

Matt spoke up. "You're angry at me, I take it."

"Oh... No! I was very much concerned about you. I'm really satis-"

"Foggy! Please, you know I hate lies."

Foggy exhaled and turned around towards the window. He glanced out into the evening darkness, at the streets, collecting his thoughts before turning to Matt again.

"Well, maybe I am angry. I am angry because my best friend decided to shut himself off from everyone, including me, for the umpteenth time. He's not been answering calls, he's not showing up for work, doesn't answer the front door...Of course, I am angry. Do you realise that you've been doing that for sixteen days, to be exact? Or did you lose track of time?"

Matt stood silent. Foggy was trying hard to control himself. He wasn't even sure if he should bring Karen up but he had to. He needed Matt's help. That was why he had sent a voice message calling him to Karen's apartment. He wasn't even sure Matt would respond but he had.

Foggy snorted. "Just another casual day in Foggy Nelson's life. One of his best friends decides to play peek-a-boo and the other one goes missing completely."

Matt Murdock didn't answer to that again. He was walking towards the bedroom, adeptly manoeuvring through the couch and table. He had the walking cane in his hand but Foggy knew it was just a show. In spite of being blind, Matthew Murdock was perfectly capable of walking without a cane. He could feel the obstacles in his path and move accordingly. Even in his anger, Foggy couldn't help but notice the admiration and happiness he felt on seeing him.

"There's nothing there, Matt. I checked the apartment thoroughly. The only thing was this sticky note I got from the refrigerator." Foggy read the note out aloud. For a brief moment, no one talked.

Then, Matt licked his lips melancholically. "Did you talk to her boss? Ellison, I guess?"

"I am going to do that right now. But I need a hand in something. An old woman had called in at Nelson & Murdock. I took the call. She requested our presence at her house, if that wasn't any trouble. She is not in good health to travel. While I go talk to Ellison, I would like if you could-"

"Sure. I'll meet her. Who is she? What does she want?"

Foggy dug in his pocket, searching. "Her name is May Parker. It has something to do with her nephew who was arrested earlier today. She heard about us and she wants us to represent him in the trial that comes in three days. Wait, I'll tell you the address..."

He found the paper he had been searching for and read the address out.

Matt nodded and walked gingerly towards the door. There was even a hunch in his posture which Foggy hadn't noticed before. He had seen him get banged up a lot of times over the course of friendship. But at that moment, Matthew Murdock seemed like a person who had just lost the will to live.

"You look terrible, Matt. I really think you must talk to somebody."

There was no reply. The door opened and then closed with a polite bang.