Autopsy of a Mind

It was seven in the morning and I was still sitting in front of the computer screen, watching the live-stream. It was horrifying, to say the least, but I felt like these women would be killed if I looked away. No, what was happening to the woman in the frame was horrible. She probably wanted to die, but I knew… I knew that death was the final fate. You could recover from everything… you had the chance to recover if you survived. 

So, I watched. 

Nash pressed his hand against my shoulder. "Evie, stop," he pleaded. 

I didn't look away. "I can't. I need to make sure they don't die," I whispered. "When we catch these people, we can find the other victims, but for now, my sole responsibility is to make sure these people don't die a horrible death."

"You need food," he pressed. 

"Would you mind bringing something for me? I really can't leave," I said. I gave him a small smile.

"Got it," he said slowly.

I looked back to the screen and huffed. I suddenly remembered that I needed to look at the people who were trapped with me and phoned Sebastian.

"Are you awake?" I almost whispered. I heard him take a shuddering breath and groan.

"Yeah, I was awake a bit longer after I spoke to you. I had some thinking to do about the cold case I am handling," he said, his voice groggy.

"Anything you can tell me?" I asked casually. 

"No, nothing concrete. I am just looking through all the evidence. I think I am getting somewhere. I should be able to crack the case, soon," he assured. 

"Wow, my fiancé is going to solve one of the longest unsolved cases in the world, huh?" I praised. I knew the pride in my voice was uninhibited. 

"Indeed, I'll crack it in a couple of days. I have the profile ready. Just going through some extra speculations. Are you calling me to wish me good morning?" he teased. 

"Absolutely not. I am calling you to ask a favor of you," I responded.

"Favor?" I could tell that he was off the bed and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"I was thinking back to what Alicia said. If I had dinner with the accomplice while I was captive, I must have thought he was kidnapped just like me," I told him. 

"Or you don't remember him at all," he responded.

"Well, if none of the faces I remember are missing, I will be certain it is not a memory I can actively recall. I will go to Dr. Knight and ask him if there is another way to do it, then." 

Sebastian was silent. "You can't do that," he said firmly. "I'll bring the file, but if nothing comes from it, you will stop."

And that was that. "What? You'll solve it without tormenting my broken mind?" I asked. I tried to joke, but I knew my words were scathing. 

"Yes, as always," he said firmly. 

"Okay, just bring the files," I replied. We'd see what needed to be done when the time came. "See you in an hour!" I chirped.

I hung up the call and went back to watching the footage.

Nash rushed in after a few minutes and placed a bag of food on my table alongside files. "I got two copies. We identified some of the men and women," he said excitedly. 

"Okay, so we have a location where they were disposed, right?" I asked. 

Nash blinked. "This is the weird part. Some of them are alive," he said. 

"They are alive?" I asked. "These people were kidnapped and kept for so long and they still appeared alive?" I asked. 

"Yeah. We already called some of them up. One of the victims is from another state, but I think we could get her on a video call!"

I pressed my lips together. I flipped through the pages and grimaced further. "Some of them went missing while hiking and never came back… bodies never found. Others just appeared in ditches and people sent them to hospitals…" 

I gaped. "Yeah, people thought they overdosed and everything," Nash explained. 

"So, he drugged them to acclimate them and keep them compliant," I muttered. I looked at the video again and felt my heart grow cold. "Then he must have given the girl drugs too, right? I don't know much about medication but this could lead to organ failure and other complications, right?" I asked. 

Nash nodded. "That's why we are looking at talking to the living victims. If they remember some detail," he said. 

"How about I talk to the victims while you see the locations they were taken and discarded. Maybe we'll get some clues?" I suggested. 

"I'll do that." That was the thing. I was good at helping victims speak and open up. But Nash had a world of experience in profiling and locating criminals. I was mostly a nuisance, in my opinion, but I would try my best to help out in the case. 

Sebastian must have entered without noise because I felt his lips on my hair. My lips perked up in a smile and I turned to him. But I saw his eyes fixed on the screen in front of me.

"I am not going to ask you questions about this," he said frankly, but I could see that he heavily disapproved of what I was doing.

"Don't worry. This doesn't affect me." It was a small white lie, and I knew he didn't believe me.

He pulled out a while from his bag and placed it beside me. "You have a lot of work on your hands today. Give it a rest, okay?" he asked. He rubbed my hair, mussing it up. I didn't protest but Nash groaned and hissed something about public displays of affection. 

Sebastian laughed. 

"I'll Look at it during my break. What do you think?" I smiled. 

"Work hard and don't forget to eat, okay?" He commanded. 

"Yes, sir!" I responded. He walked out and that was that. 

I prepared for the questions and as I waited, my eyes flitted to the file Sebastian had left. 

I took in a cleansing breath before I opened the file. I read through the profiles, how they were each taken and murdered. My parents were right there alongside them. I found mine, as well.

Sebastian had been kind enough to add the news clippings about each disappearance, the autopsy results, and copies of death certificates just in case.

I went to the memories, grabbing at them and trying to recreate the moments I had spent with these people. 

There were faces I had never seen, people who had been taken and killed before me and I felt pity for them. I wondered if their families lived and what they thought. How did they survive? 

But someone was missing. Indeed, someone was missing.

But when I thought back to the conversation… I couldn't remember him giving me a name.

The bite marks on his wrist from the ropes, the slight panic in his eyes… but the smile… the casual and helpless smile as he stared at me. 

Him eating the meat, candles lit between us, his shirt white and pristine… not a spec of dust on it. 

In those moments, I had been dressed in a new white dress and hadn't thought much of it. I hadn't understood why Alicia, who wanted me dead at all costs, played out this fantasy of a man and woman falling in love in front of her. She was the one who wanted love… she was the one who wanted to be on my seat, but as she placed those dishes in front of me, she glared at me like I was the devil. 

And now I knew why. 

I knew who the accomplice was. And his face was a mild blur. I placed my head on the desk and closed my eyes. How many times did I need to go over those moments to remember him in stark clarity? 

At that moment, I wished I could draw. If I didn't remember his face… how would I show it to the forensic artist who would recreate an image of him? 

I had no idea.

Nash's phone rang and I looked up. His brow was scrunched as he listened. "What am I supposed to do about someone leaving a bag in the middle of an abandoned park?" he groaned. "I am already working on a missing person's case. Can't you find someone else?" he asked. 

He sounded tired. 

"Okay, okay," he said finally before hanging up. 

"New case?" I asked. 

Nash shook his head. "Man in his forties was out on a morning jog and found an abandoned side bag on the park bench. No one was around so he called the cops," he said.

"There were a few bomb scares in the past few years, so I suppose they were okay. What was in it?" I asked. 

"Cryptic doll with a rope tied to it," he shrugged. "I think it's some sort of a prank or art project," he sighed. But then he paused.

"Nothing else?" I asked. 

"A note saying 'I'm back'," he said more quietly. He picked up the phone and then dialed. "Sebastian!" he exclaimed. "Do you mind looking at something?" he asked. 

"What are you doing?" I asked incredulously. 

Nash put up his hand to stop me. "Yeah. They found a bag with a doll and a rope around their neck. Doesn't it sound familiar to you?" he asked. 

My eyes widened.

"Right, you should go check it out!" Nash encouraged. The phone was cut immediately. Nash looked up at me and nodded. "Sounded like an article I read a decade back while I was in college…" He bit his lip.