INSOMNIAC: ALAN SMITH #2 (Alan Smith series)

by ARKOPAUL DAS

  He was standing in a bending manner, signing some files on the table with a lighted table lamp on it.

  There were chairs on the opposite side of the front wall and door at the opposite side leading to where they didn’t know.

  ‘Mr. Hopkins’ said Alan to get his attention as he kept the pen down and stood up to look at them.

  ‘Yes?’ he said with a confused face.

  ‘We’re from 13th precinct NYPD, I’m Alan Smith’ he said and came forward ‘We need some information about one of your patients, who you treated five years ago’

  ‘Okay?’ he said ‘May I ask what’s the name of this patient you’re talking about?’

  ‘Yes, McRae. We don’t know his full name’ said Alan.

  ‘McRae,’ he murmured to himself shuffling the pen in his hands. ‘Who is this McRae, can you tell something more about him?’

  ‘Yes’ said Alan and started describing the incidents, his looks and everything.

  After Alan was finished the doctor still looked confused. He said ‘I am sorry I still can’t understand who you’re talking about’

  ‘He used to live in the ward no. 25’ Ryan said hoping this time the doctor would remember something.

  ‘McRae, let me think... schizophren...’ he then became more confident and his eyes lit up. ‘Yes, I remember, yes he shot someone’

  ‘Five cops actually’ Ryan corrected him.

  ‘Yes, so I’ve heard. He shot five cops...yes!’

  ‘Okay Dr. Hopkins, what can you tell us about this schizophrenia?’ asked Alan. ‘I know about it only vaguely’

  ‘Yes, schizophrenia’ replied Dr. Hopkins. ‘This is a mental disorder which is rather difficult to distinguish. It’s often characterized as a abnormal social behaviour and failing to recognize what is real. And the symptoms that are associated with this disease occur along the continuum in the population and must reach a severity before –

  Alan interjected ‘Okay what causes this, why does this happen?’

  ‘Tough to define. It can start from anything. Early environment, genetics, psychological and social process appear to be important with some contributory factors. Even some recreational prescriptions sometimes worsen the symptoms. The mainstay treatment is the antipsychotic medication, which primarily suppresses the dopamine receptor activity. Counselling, job training and social rehabilitation can also be some effective process of treatment’

  Dr. Hopkins stopped and looked at everyone to make sure they were following him.

  ‘But we’re not interested in these details’ said Kevin. ‘Just tell us how severe was McRae’s schizophrenia?’

  ‘His was nearly in the third stage. Too dangerous if you leave it too long, and it can be also fatal if you try to experiment too many things on him. But it seemed like my antipsychotic medicine worked, isn’t it? And also rehabilitation daily. After two years or so he seemed to have become okay, so that’s why we released him.’

  ‘Can this disease come back again even after it is cured?’ asked Alicia.

  ‘You just can’t be so sure about this mental disorder. But yes, sometimes schizophrenia can also be cured if you have used proper medication .Or else it can be fatal. But still just like I said, you can’t be sure about this’

  ‘But you said that fatal, how fatal can it exactly be?’ asked Ryan.

  ‘Just a minute’ Dr. Hopkins suddenly remembered something. ‘You all just came here claimed to be cops and started questioning me, but why? Why now after five years you suddenly need to know all about this man? Perhaps there is a reason for that, right?’

  ‘Right there is’ Alicia said in an all business tone. ‘He’s one of our suspects. So naturally we need to know everything about him.’

  ‘Suspect?’ Dr. Hopkins thought how a mental patient could also be a suspect. He had never been through all this before.

  ‘Yes, like a murder suspect’

  ‘So he killed someone again?’

  ‘Our answer will be just like yours’ said Alan. ‘You just can’t be sure about this thing. That’s why we’re trying to check everything out’

  ‘Then he killed someone’ Dr. Hopkins persisted again.

  ‘Maybe not. We’re just trying to get a better view at the man and his life. But he’s involved with our case anyway’

  ‘Sounds awful, all these thing’ said Dr. Hopkins as Ryan bit his lower lip and thought ‘not awful as this place’ , ‘So do I need to tell you anything more about this schizophrenia?’

  ‘What will he do when he’s under this effect?’

  ‘What else, he will talk rubbish, start scribbling words in anywhere, paper...or anything near him and that’ll also be rubbish. You can never make sense of something written by a schizophrenic patient’

  ‘Can he be more brutal than that or danger to others?’ asked Alicia

  ‘Of course he can be dangerous in some conditions’

  ‘Like he can kill someone in cold blood?’

  To this question, Dr. Hopkins thought more, took his time, scratched his head then said ‘You can’t rule out the possibility completely. But if he gets a gun in his hands even by mistake, he will not at all recognize the thing, so he’ll start experimenting with it, just like an infant would do. Then he might start shooting anyone who is near to him without knowing what he’s doing. Even himself’

  ‘I see, then it’s a yes’ said Alan. ‘That means you’re saying that he might well kill someone when he’s under this... schizophrenia influence, right?’

  ‘Yes, that is possible’ Dr. Hopkins nodded. ‘But I can’t press this theory because that occurs rarely, this doesn’t happen to everyone that schizophrenic person is killing others. So I can’t say for sure if this was the case here or not’

  ‘That means five years ago’ Ryan said to Kevin this time. ‘This man our suspect got a gun in his hands somehow and he just shot all the cops in front of him without knowing what he’s doing.’

  ‘Yes’ Dr. Hopkins answered although the question was not pointed at him.

  ‘Can this be cured completely?’ Alan said resting his hand on the table.

  ‘Yes, you can most of the times, cure this thing’ he said with a little grin. ‘but sometimes you can’t. And you can never predict if a person will get cured or not’

  ‘What about McRae. Was he really cured when you decided to release him?’ asked Alicia.

  ‘Of course he was cured, or so I thought. Why would I release him otherwise?’ he asked with a little irritation this time. ‘I informed the authorities that my patient is cured, so they checked with all these, then they also decided to release him. That’s it’

  ‘Then he was free’ said Alan to no one in particular. ‘After he was released no one cared to bring him to the trial again.’

  ‘Yes, that’s right.’ said Dr. Hopkins. ‘If someone commits a crime when under the influence of some serious mental disorder, in the majority of the times the court will consider the person not guilty’

  ‘Hmm...’ Alan shrugged. ‘It clears most of the things now’

  ‘Very well then. I hope I was helpful to you all and your case’ said Dr. Hopkins with a happy face, being able to satisfy these people.

  ‘Indeed you were’ said Alan and quickly moved on to the next question. ‘Can you tell me another thing, doctor?’

  ‘Okay?’

  ‘You said after it’s cured even then sometimes it comes back. So if this disease ever comes back what factor will encourage it to do so?

  ‘Say like something which happens all of a sudden. A sudden movement, a sudden head injury, or sudden news he hears, which is really shocking. Or if he sees someone from the past who is guilty of something or did something to someone he loved. These are the common factors that might help this disease to come back again’

  ‘I got it’ replied Alan nodding his head.

  ‘Wait a minute I think I can help you a little more’ said the doctor even after Alan said he understood everything. ‘I may let you talk to someone
who was with him for two years’

  ‘Okay’ said Alan. ‘Who’s he?’

  ‘Another patient. Suffering from the same disease. But now he’s nearly cured from it’

  ‘So they both used to live in the same room?’

  ‘No first they used to live in different rooms. But you shouldn’t keep a schizophrenic person lonely for too long. It might prolong the symptoms. So later McRae was also transferred to his room’

  ‘But what if they kill each other?’ Alicia said and immediately thought it was a nonsense kind of question. But Dr. Hopkins didn’t.

  He said quietly ‘Well I will not say they can’t. They can do that anytime.’ He pushed his specs again back in the original place, as it was slithering down on his nose. ‘These kind of patients can be unpredictable. And moreover you can’t tell them anything even if they kill each other. So I kept them in, which looks like one room but their places were divided by a unbreakable glass. There were two chambers on both sides separated by a glass. So they could see each other, talk to each other but they will not really get a chance to fight with each other’

  ‘That’s really thoughtful’ Alan remarked.

  ‘Sure it is’ said the doctor. ‘So you wanna meet this guy?’

  ‘Yeah, why not?’

  ‘Come on then’ said Dr. Hopkins and went out of the front door from which they came in. They also followed him out obediently.

  Then they again started walking through the straight corridor, which was more dark at the end. There was no sound no person, nothing. Just dim lights and an eerie silence that was succumbing everything. Ryan once felt that he might pass out as it was becoming too claustrophobic for him to bear this silence.

  Then they followed him to the darkness then turned left. They could see the walls on the both sides, an occasional door, otherwise it was all plain except that in some places it was dirty with some stains on the wall. Everything looked so white yet so dark, with a sick, greenish hue in it.

  Then Dr. Hopkins took another corridor, which was straight again, but first he looked at the both sides before entering. There was no one there for sure. Then he took out a key and opened the first door to find themselves in a completely dark room. But he soon switched on the dim lights again and turned to them.

  ‘The authorities here don’t allow everyone to meet the patients. But if you do wanna meet them then you will have to sign a paper’

  ‘And what’s written on that paper?’ Ryan asked.

  ‘That the medical authorities will take no responsibility for anything, any harm I mean, the patients cause to you’

  ‘Oh... that sounds mean’

  ‘Yes, but it seems like the security guard is not on duty yet, or maybe went somewhere’ said the doctor. ‘So I can only give you some minutes to talk with him okay? Not more than five minutes. He’s in the other room’.

  They could clearly see the door, which leads to the other room.

  ‘Another thing, I can’t allow all four of you to enter, only one can visit the patient. So who will come?’

  They looked at each other’s faces for sometime then Alan said ‘I’ll go’

  ‘Good and a last piece of advice. Don’t talk to him like you’re cop and you are interviewing him or something, rather talk to him like a friend whom you haven’t met for a long time.’

  ‘Got it’

  ‘Then come with me’ said Dr. Hopkins, and opened the door on the opposite side. Alan also followed him in.

  He soon found himself in a large room, with another glass room inside it. There inside the glass room a man sat wearing a colourless dusty T shirt and three quarter trousers, staring at the wall with his back to them.

  His head was round and he looked a little bit short. Actually a lot short if you compare him with Alan. The room had space for the visitors to stand and talk to him. And he of course could see through the glass or talk with others.

  ‘Hey Josh’ said the Doctor in a controlled voice, as Alan understood that their voices might make that echoing noise in this room. ‘Someone came to meet you’

  The man instantly turned back and looked at Alan. His face and eyes were hollow and dark, and he had some dark patches below his eyes. He was thin and his cheekbones were peeking out of the skin, just like Alan’s. His jaw had a weird shape. Alan looked at the wall for a second and saw that it was full of words or letters which as he expected didn’t make any sense.

  Dr. Hopkins glanced at Alan urging him to say something.

  Alan felt awkward but he still said ‘Hey man, how ya’ doing?’

  ‘Great, what about you?’ came the instant answer from the man.

  Alan was taken aback a little, he expected Josh to be a little confused seeing a stranger like him. But this straight answer certainly was unexpected.

  ‘Hey do you know me?’ Alan moved a little closer to the glass trying to sound normal.

  Josh sat on the bench looking at him. ‘Do I ?’ he answered.

  ‘Aren’t you gonna ask who I am?’

  ‘No’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because you must be some friend?’

  ‘Yes, that’s right. I’m a friend’

  ‘You see, I got you’

  ‘Yes, you got me. But I see, you’re all alone here. Don’t you feel lonely?’

  ‘I don’t. And there was another friend ...who lived here some years ago. I don’t know where he is now’

  ‘That’s great. You got another friend’

  ‘Yeah...’

  ‘What’s his name?’

  ‘McRae, something’

  ‘Right...so tell me more about him. He sounds quite interesting’

  ‘Not so interesting if you have to live with him all the time. He also had some mental disease like me and sometimes suffered from panic attacks’

  ‘That’s really sad’ said Alan shaking his head. ‘What was he like?’

  Josh started counting something with his fingers and then after some moment he replied ‘He had things to say ’

  ‘Things?’

  ‘He said he was supposed to be in the jail first. He killed some men or so the other people think. And he said he needed to get out of here,’ he pointed around the place with his index finger.

  ‘Why, was he in some kind of hurry?’

  ‘Yeah, because he had a son to take care of’

  ‘Quite a story I see. But why did he kill those men, anyway?’

  Josh looked at Alan again with his dark eyes, as if he already knew that Alan was a cop but he was just playing along with him. Then he shook his head again and said ‘I have no idea. Oh right, I have an idea, he had some mental problems, just like I told you’

  ‘I see, so where’s he now?’

  ‘Dr. Hopkins once said that he’s released. I don’t know if he’s in jail again...or whatever’

  ‘Okay’ said Alan at last while Dr. Hopkins checked his watch. ‘I must be disturbing you. I should leave now’

  ‘Ok’ Josh said quietly.

  ‘See ya’ later’

  ‘Ok’

  Alan took a last look at him, and Josh was looking back at him until Alan went out of the room and Dr. Hopkins came out with him.

  ‘He has a sharp memory I see’ said Alan.

  ‘Yes indeed’ said Dr. Hopkins closing the door behind him.

  ‘But he didn’t say anything new’ said Alan.

  ‘He didn’t?’ Alicia and others were standing patiently waiting to hear something more. But now they were disappointed to hear this.

  Alan turned to Dr. Hopkins and said ‘But how did he accept me as his friend so easily?’

  ‘Look’ Dr. Hopkins started explaining ‘He doesn’t really care if you are a friend or not, he will be nice to you if you’re nice to him. And if you wanna hurt him then he will hurt you back. You get what I’m saying?’

  ‘Yes, now I get it’

  ‘Right, then’

  ‘Okay’ Dr. Hopkins again looked down at his watch. ‘My free hour is nearly
over. I have an important seminar to attend with the other doctors. So I better get going’

  Then he went back in his rooms to take care of some files.

  ‘So it was not of help?’ asked Alicia.

  ‘Let’s get out of this filthy building first’ said Ryan. ‘Then we will talk about this’

  * * * * *

  ‘At least now we know something more’ said Ryan steering the car through the Bronx Avenue. ‘Some more information about McRae’

  ‘Yes, that he had a tendency to kill people’ Kevin added.

  ‘Right and we do have quite a reason for suspecting him’ Alicia continued. ‘He’s a mental patient, with schizo...or whatever it was, it was quite serious. He will kill someone without knowing who he killed’

  ‘But he is okay now’ said Alan. ‘I don’t think this disease has came back’

  ‘No it didn’t. But I do think he have killed someone’ said Ryan.

  ‘Carter?’

  ‘That’s what I had in mind’ Kevin went on. ‘And now that he’s okay, we can arrest him anytime, because if he really killed someone then we will have to presume that he knowingly did so’

  ‘That’s right’ Ryan nodded.

  ‘We need more evidence to back up that theory’ said Alicia. ‘Or else we will have to make him say this himself’

  ‘Say what?’

  ‘That he killed someone?’

  ‘Why would he admit that?’

  ‘I know he would not that’s why we will have to make him say that’ said Kevin.

  ‘See’ Ryan himself geared up to present a new theory. ‘We know that Jade Carter called Donovan and discussed about this abduction about his friend who refused to give back his camera, standing in the middle of Paul Brown and McRae’s house .As you all know Mr. McRae’s house is just at the opposite side of Paul Brown’s house, then from there McRae must have heard Mr. Carter planning to abduct someone. After hearing that McRae thought it would be the best to eliminate this man. So he followed him somehow, waited in his car and later killed him. After that, we all know what happened.’