Lost in Blue

𝖁𝖎𝖊𝖗: Man with a Mission

Continuing on a more serious note, the middle-aged man leaned forward across the table.

"However, the most interesting part is that she somehow seems to rely on you. In your report you mentioned that she called you 'Ruven' several times. We should take advantage of this – of course, it serves to help our investigation."

"Wie meinen?" Confused, Henning arched his eyebrows.

"I assign you with the task to keep an eye on her. You seem to trigger a few memories in her, so it is only beneficial for us if you happen to help her remember."

All those years of training at the police academy, spending hours stuck to the desk in front of books, learning techniques and working his butt off, in order to be paid to spend time with the surviving victim, who happened to be extraordinarily beautiful. A dream for most men, but a nightmare for Dorn, as it required for him to be socially engaged.

" ... I won't have a chance to decline, right?"

Eckert grinned, shaking his head.

"Absolutely not, Dorn."

Straightening his shoulders, Dorn dared to criticize his superior in the most diplomatic and neutral way his abilities allowed him to phrase.

"I'm afraid I do not wholly understand the effectiveness of our modus operandi here, Herr Eckert. May I ask the whole purpose of this operation? I don't want to be rude - "

"No, no, you are right. No need to justify yourself. For the boy, we are definitely no longer able to put his killer to justice anymore – the probability of our perpetrator being dead is very high. However, we can trace back his origin and maybe inform distant relatives about what happened to their ancestor. We could put this case to rest. As for the lady," he cleared his throat, closing the folder.

"Well, finding out her identity is vital. She wasn't injured, but my guess is someone attempted to murder her. We – or rather you - should find out what happened, why she was in the coffin in the first place and who put her there after salvaging the case from the Rhine, prior to Kühn. After all, it is unlikely she crawled into the burial case herself."

"So it boils down to hoping that she regains her memory," Dorn concluded.

"Ja, and as luck would have it, I received a call from Arzt earlier. Our sleeping beauty is ready to go outside after last time. It's the perfect moment for you to pay her a visit and drop a little apology in our department's name."

He smugly pulled out a get-well-soon gift basket from underneath the table, filled with tissues, different sorts of tea, a cup as well as care products.

Dorn couldn't believe it as it dawned on him that Eckert had already planned out everything carefully beforehand. Certainly, no maledictions left his lips, but Henning felt deeply grateful that his boss did not possess the ability to read minds.

𝕹 𝕴 𝖃𝕰 𝕿 𝕺 𝕽 𝕰 𝕿𝕰𝖄

No matter how his superior justified this scheme – it felt incredibly wrong. After last time, Henning was afraid that continuing to pester the woman might cause for another mental breakdown. And yet, here he was, doing his supervisor's bidding, because he knew that it was the most logical thing to do after ascertainments had hit stalemate.

Equipped with the basket in hand, Dorn got into the elevator and pressed the button labeled two. Earlier, the Loreley clinic's receptionist had been kind enough to tell him that Fräulein stayed in room 205. Lift ascending in a swift motion one barely noticed, the integrated loudspeaker's mechanic voice let him know that he had reached the second floor – Etage zwei – after a few moments of waiting. Beeping, the metal door opened and he got off.