WEDNESDAY MORNING

Light poured in to the interrogation room startling Jimmy seated and handcuffed to the metal chair. He winced at the pain felt behind his eyes and squinted trying to bring the room into focus.

"He's coming around." Detective Gennery turned to his boss, Captain Chambered of Precinct Nine; commonly referred to as The Nine. "Maybe some coffee will help?"

"Yeah. Get some coffee. Let's see who he is. Oh and call the doctor." Chambered suggested.

The detective opened the door and yelled for a subordinate. "Klages! Klages?"

Officer Klages hung up the phone and headed to the interrogation room. "Detective, Sir."

"Grab some coffee and get the doctor down here and maybe try Interpol for our John Doe."

"Got it!"

Gennery retreated back to his seat at the table. The Captain folded his arms as he looked at the detective raising his eyebrows as if to tell him to begin.

"Hey...hey...can you hear me? Eh?"

"Awww...what in the hell?" Jimmy raised his hand but could not reach the back of his head.

"You have quite the lump on the back of your head there. Who shot you?" Gennery began asking questions far too quickly for the man not even sure where he was.

Jimmy looked across the metal table to the detective and the Captain. "Where the hell am I?"

"You are in Precinct Nine of the NOPD. We are just waiting for a doctor to stop by." Gennery looked at his superior.

"And these handcuffs are for what? I never wear jewelry." The suspect, though sarcastic, did not appear to be jovial in any way.

"Oh, you are funny! You're not from around here, are you?" Gennery scoffed.

"I am from...I am not from here." Jimmy could not remember ~ anything.

"Yeah, I gathered that. You have a northern accent." The detective deduced quickly.

Jimmy frowned. "I am from the north?" Then gave the slightest of shrugs to indicate he had no idea where he came from.

"It's gonna be like this, is it?"

"Like what?" Jimmy squinted, not trying to focus with his eyes, rather trying to interpret the mixed signals firing inside his brain.

"Just tell me where you are from."

"I am from...I am from...arghhhh. I can not remember!" The frustration evident from Jimmy's response.

"And this?" Gennery stood then pushed against Jimmy's shoulder.

"Ahhhhh! Heyyyyy! That..." Jimmy's mind flashed back to the room. "I was shot." Another memory flashed in his mind. "Lana!"

The detective sat back down witnessing Jimmy flinched as a snapshot memory flashed in his mind. Gennery watched Jimmy's eyes focus on him.

"My girlfriend and I were separated during the parade. They took her!" As quickly as his memory came back it was whisked away into another part of his brain.

"Who are they?" Gennery scribbled notes into his leather-bound flip pad.

"They...the two...arghhhh! Fuck, I can't remember!" The handcuffed man tried to recall but the damage to the important part of the brain appeared too great.

Captain Charles Chambered sat up straight in his chair before speaking to Gennery. "Is he tooling with us?"

"Hmmm. Maybe."

"I don't know who the hell I am." Jimmy's cloudy mind only gave up puzzle pieces. "But I know I have a girlfriend who was taken from me."

"Okay, let's start as far back as you can remember." Gennery flipped back several pages of his police flip-pad.

Captain Chambered observed Jimmy while being interviewed. It's been a while since he sat in on an active case. The pressure from the mayor and the governor to get answers about the missing women's case began to squeeze him.

Gennery tried to relax the suspect in an attempt to uncover more clues."Maybe close your eyes. See if that helps."

Jimmy did just that and allowed whatever his mind would give up. It felt as if he was looking into a crystal ball but very few things were revealed. "There was loud music. Dancing. My heart pounding." He frowned before asking himself a question. "How did he know what she wore?" His eyes opened wide as they were when he searched for Lana.

Chambered and Gennery looked at each other.

"What? Why did you two look at each other like that?" Jimmy looked at one then the other.

The detective wrote as quickly as he could before explaining what he thought happened. "These guys usually work in pairs. Identify easy targets and strike when the victims are not paying attention."

Jimmy seemed pissed at himself.

"Can you remember anymore?" Gennery prompted the suspect. "Try closing your eyes again."

Jimmy nodded. "I ran."

"Do you remember where?"

He shook his head. "No...no, I can't remember." Jimmy winced in pain. "He shot me."

"And?"

Jimmy wanted to rub his shoulder but the handcuffs restricted his attempt. He looked up to the two. "Hey, why am I handcuffed?"

Gennery paused before enlightening Jimmy with the circumstances of his arrest. "You were found with a woman who overdosed on heroin. You were holding a syringe and she held the handgun."

"So, I am the suspect in this woman's death?"

"You are. And you are widely considered to be the prime suspect. The serial abductor in the Crescent City case."

"Serial what?!"

"She was a local prostitute. We had seen her here many times. She..."

"What is her name?" Jimmy insisted.

"Why do you want to know?"

"She was a prostitute not a stray dog." The suspect struck back.

Captain Chambered breathed deeply before standing. "Gennery, follow me."

Jimmy watched the two leave the room but they spoke just outside the door. Then turned his focus back on himself. Who the hell am I?

The door opened again.

"Have at him, Doc." Gennery pointed at Jimmy.

"Have at me? Right here?"

"It's not worth going to a hospital. I will freeze it before removing the bullet." Doctor Solder dismissed Jimmy's concerns.

"Doctor, check out my head first. See if there are any marbles missing."

"Hahahaha, that was good. You do have a nasty lump but I can not tell if there is damage to your skull. Now back to your shoulder." Doctor Solder unraveled the bandage exposing Jimmy's colorful shoulder.

"Owwwww! I will take the freezing now, Doctor! No more prodding."

"You are not the toughest man around, are you? Okay!" The doctor injected a freezing compound into his shoulder.

"I guess I should have asked if you had any allergies before poking you. I don't see any reactions so we're good." Solder laughed.

The doctor removed the small caliber bullet set it in a metal pan then stitched two sutures to seal Jimmy's skin. "Let me take a look at your eyes. Hmmm, can you focus on my fingers?"

Jimmy looked but squeezed his eyelids closed again.

"I'll take that as a no. Okay, I am done with you for now." Solder injected another needle for the pain before promptly leaving the room.

Jimmy painfully opened his eyes again, "who the hell am I?" He closed his eyes as the medication for the pain took effect. "What the hell happened? Why can I not remember?"

The door opened again, Gennery returned with coffee and a brown paper bag. "Thirsty?"

"Yeah."

"I hope you like black coffee."

"Anything."

"Hungry?"

"No, not really. Thanks." Jimmy shook his head.

Gennery looked for any signs of progress in the suspect. "Remember any more? Your name?"

"Shit, I think I know even less. How do I remember I have a girlfriend but not my own name?"

"Your fingerprints are not on any data base from here to the UK. And we have access to every set of prints taken. Maybe you're black ops?"

"Do I look like black ops? I am way out of shape."

"Okay. Your hands are callused. Carpenter? Mechanic?"

Captain Chambered returned to the room and sat in front of Jimmy. "There are people asking about you."

"Me? Who are they?"

"The mayor. She is pissed you gave the city a black eye last night by killing the prostitute during Carnival."

"Really? The mayor?" Thick sarcasm rolled from Jimmy's mouth.

"And the Governor." The Captain added to halt the sarcasm.

"What did you tell them?"

"Nothing. This is my presinct...for now."

"Can I drink my coffee now?"

"Gennery, uncuff him. I think it's safe with, killer here."

"So tell me...who knocked me out? Maybe even - why did they knock me out?"

The Captain nodded. "Good question. I believe it was a good samaritan helping the police."

Jimmy was not impressed by that answer. "Right - a good samaritan! So, what now?"

"The doctor suggests you need to go to the hospital. You will be handcuffed and guarded until we find out who you are. We can't have our prime suspect die here. Can we?"

"No, I don't want to die here!"

"Gennery, he goes out the back door. We don't need a circus!" Captain Chambered left the room.

"Let's go...John."

"John?"

"John Doe. You know? All unidentified guys get that name."

"Say it again? That name seems familiar to me."

"What? John Doe?

"Just John. I feel like a John."

"We will check the hotels for a John. Okay let's get it moving, my wife has reservations for dinner and I can't be late!"

"How long have you been a cop?" Jimmy wanted a little perspective on the detective.

"Twenty years. Just made detective last year. I think that's why the Captain sat in today." Gennery rolled his eyes.

"With twenty years in the trenches, do you really think I am a serial abductor and killer?"

Gennery did not want to commit an answer. "That question's above my pay grade, John. I collect evidence."

"Even I know that is not true, Gennery." Jimmy

"Yeah, well I am just a cog in the wheel."

"Really? Any more cliches?" Jimmy shook his head as Gennery whisked him out of the interrogation room.

All eyes were trained on Jimmy. With every step through the hallway he absorbed glares from the officers.

Gennery opened the back door to his unmarked police car. "Watch your head."

"They all believe I am the serial abductor. Don't they?"

"Who?"

"Everyone in the hallway!"

"Well, you were next to the dead prostitute. You tell me what you would think?"

"You've got a point there." Gennery slammed the rear door, securing Jimmy inside.