With much conversation and effort on Kowalski's part, the mayor and his wife agreed that their daughter was not alive.
If it had been a momentary delusion due to the trauma of what had happened, it mattered little.
Kowalski called a friend from another city who was a psychiatrist and asked him to come urgently to their house. Jack, Adam, and Steven cleaned the kitchen.
But before that, Adam—who had a camera in his car—took some photos; he made sure to do so. The three men wondered how that door had been forced open; Janet could not have done it by herself.
The plan was to wait for the psychiatrist, who would probably arrive at night. Meanwhile, the mayor and the First Lady spoke with Kowalski in the living room.
" I can't believe this is really happening," said Steven.
"You didn't see anything at all?? You got here before us, and you didn't see the two of them upstairs with the corpse?" Adam asked.
"No, I even tried, but the mayor told me to stay down here—what could I do?" replied Steven.
"Leave him alone, Adam. I would even send you home, kid, after a long shift, and still have you go through all of this, but I want you to stay here at least until the other doctor arrives. We're here to support Kowalski," Jack said in a commanding tone.
Jack left through the kitchen door, accompanied by the boys. He knew that the First Lady hated cigarettes and wanted to smoke, so the outdoors was the best choice. The backyard garden was very beautiful; there was a small paved path that led to cushioned benches—"first-class stuff," he thought.
Adam observed some marks on the ground—not just any marks. They were footprints, footprints of a small foot, marked by what appeared to be blood.
He quickly followed them and came upon a wall, where there was more blood.
"Had you seen this before?" Adam asked Steven, who was staring with his mouth open.
It was getting dark, and the three had already inspected everything. The footprints continued in the dirt on the other side of the wall and went straight into a small grove at the back of the mayor's property. They might have gone further, but it was dark, and they couldn't risk getting lost in the grove, so they decided to go back:
"What was that? I mean, how come I didn't see that before?" Steven wondered.
"It doesn't matter much; there's too much blood for it to be just an accident. What about that blood in the kitchen? Did Kowalski just now justify those footprints? There must be a plausible explanation, and whatever it is, I want you two to keep quiet. Let's call Kowalski into a corner and talk—nothing to make the parents' situation worse," Jack instructed.
The men entered the living room, alarmed. Kowalski stood up; the mayor and the First Lady were sitting, embracing each other.
"The doctor hasn't arrived yet. I think it's better if we go into town—perhaps this isn't the right environment to continue. The body doesn't need to be removed from here," Kowalski said.
"All right, is the clinic's car available? Take the parents to my car; the boys and I will take the body and put it in the clinic's car," Jack instructed.
It was colder than when they had arrived; anyone would say that the night was pleasant, if not for being in that room.
When everyone got up to leave, footsteps on the stairs drew their attention.
The first to look, for sure, was Jack, but someone who already knew what was going on was Janet.
Like a thief who moves slowly, descending the stairs as if just waking from a deep sleep, in a pink dress adorned with small white flowers, there was Penelope.
A normal person might have fainted; some, more fearful like Steven, might even have run. But everyone present was paralyzed, as the girl continued to walk, staring at them as if nothing had happened.
Jack rubbed his eyes, thinking that the whiskey might be having a greater effect than desired.
Janet said happily, "I told you I wasn't crazy!!"
For the rest of the night, Jack interrogated the First Lady:
"I want you to explain to me again how you found your daughter," Jack demanded.
"I already told you how I found her," Janet replied.
"Did anyone else see her here or anything like that?" Jack asked.
"No, but Doris, our cleaning lady, arrived in the morning, and I dismissed her with some explanations," Janet said.
Kowalski performed all the possible examinations with the instruments he had at the time.
He appeared nervous, something that was not usual for him.
"Gentlemen, I don't mean to be rude, but how about we continue this conversation in my office? My wife and daughter need to eat, of course, if it's all right for her to eat, according to Kowalski," Carl said.
"Of course, of course—it's important that she eats and stays hydrated!" the medical examiner replied laconicly, clearly very nervous.
In the office the men discussed:
"How can this be? I mean, the girl seems fine," Jack said, looking at Kowalski.
"Janet says it's a miracle," Carl replied.
"A miracle? Forgive me, but I'm not a man of faith, Mr. Mayor; I don't believe that's the case," Kowalski countered.
"So it's about you, Kowalski? Maybe you were wrong—you know, it happens, doesn't it? Doctors make mistakes," Adam said.
Kowalski shot Adam a look of disdain and said:
"You weren't even born and I already had twenty years of experience. If I declare a death, it's because there is a death."
Adam swallowed hard. Jack intervened:
"Guys, calm down. I know we're all nervous and looking for answers. Kowalski, I've known you for a long time; I know how dedicated you are to your work. Honestly, you're one of the most committed men I know. But maybe what Adam is trying to say is that something might have led you astray, you know? It happens to everyone—remember the Thomas Johnson case? Maybe it wasn't that," Jack reasoned.
The medical examiner calmed down and reflected:
"No, the Thomas case was different, and I didn't follow it closely enough to say that he was really dead," Kowalski admitted.
"Okay, but is there anything that could leave someone like that? That makes a person appear dead?" Jack asked again.
Once more, the doctor looked at Jack with disdain:
"If you're asking me if there is any disease or medical condition that makes a person appear 'dead' for a moment, the answer is yes! Long QT Syndrome, or the athlete's heart syndrome, Torsades de Pointes, or apparent death from hypothermia. In short, there are several factors to be considered, but there's no prior information that she suffered from any of these. Perhaps Mr. Carl didn't know, nor did his wife. Even so, it's something that needs to be studied in depth before any conclusions are drawn," Kowalski explained.
"Okay, but what about the blood?" Steven spoke as if coming out of a trance.
Everyone looked at him in surprise; his comment underscored his presence there.
"The blood? Well, I examined Penelope. There are no exposed fractures or hemorrhages. Perhaps it was intense, but I can't examine it properly—I'm not the appropriate doctor for that. Ideally, a gynecologist should do it. She appears fine, but I still insist that we take her to a hospital. She needs more in-depth examinations," Kowalski replied.
The answer did not convince Jack. All that blood—if it had come from the girl, she shouldn't even be standing.
But it was getting late, and the best they managed was to get the mayor to promise that he would take her to the hospital the next day.
The psychiatrist, who had arrived at the mayor's house, was taken to a hotel; he would also examine Penelope and then the parents, just as a precaution—all the next day.
Before leaving, Kowalski took one more look at Penelope—not because he still doubted that she was alive, but because he couldn't believe what he saw.
The girl's body was intact; he looked into her eyes, and the blue inside them seemed even brighter than normal. Her mouth was lightly colored with a soft red; her skin was not very warm, but he excused that because of the dress and the low temperature that night.
"Keep her warm," he told the mother, Janet, who was watching everything.
Jack approached the girl and looked at her feet while Kowalski used a small hammer on her knees.
He pressed his fingers against the girl's head and then lifted her hair to examine the wounds on her neck.
"Well, that's it—it seems the little lady is fine. In that case, I think we should go," Kowalski said.
Jack released Adam and Steven, but he stayed at the station. His ranch wasn't nearby, so he managed to bring a sofa bed for his office—it was for the best.
Before leaving the station, Steven spoke to Adam:
"What a day, what a day!" said Steven.
"Yeah, I thought I'd have a nice week. Now I'm going back to my cubicle and hoping not to find another dead animal," Adam replied.
"You still have that look on your face. Why don't you sleep at your place? You have another room there with a single bed—I bought it for when my sister came to visit," Steven offered.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll manage," Abrax said.
As soon as he got home, the phone rang—it was Jack:
"Looks like you're home already," Jack said.
"Well, yes, I just got here. What's up?" Adam asked.
"I just want to make sure you got home safely. I know you had a tough day, especially with what happened at your apartment."
"Don't worry, I have a gun and a frying pan, and I know how to use them," Adam laughed.
"Very good, my friend. I talked to Steven too—I want you to come to the station bright and early tomorrow. Actually, more than early—don't come to the station; go to the mayor's house with that camera of yours."
"And why? Wouldn't it be better to call the whole team?"
"No fuss, and I don't want Mrs. Doris to find those bloody footprints in the yard tomorrow and decide to clean them up, if you know what I mean."
"Okay, I get it. Don't worry."
Lying on his back with his hands resting on his stomach, Jack thought:
He was an old man, he was sure of that; he didn't consider himself totally ignorant nor overly traditional. He wasn't the best student in his school days, but he was certainly the most inquisitive and strong. That's why he knew something was wrong with the whole Penelope story.
Many questions came to mind. How did Penelope leave without anyone seeing her? How did she get home, walking through the grove? Would she have jumped the wall—even in her fragile condition? No, everything was very wrong.
Was she really kidnapped? There were so many questions to which he wanted answers.