Part Seven of the PW Timeline
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a complete series I wrote from July 2019 to July of 2022. While visiting Schneep, things go awry for Chase and JJ, and Chase quickly catches on that something has changed.]
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Chase pulled his car into a spot, parking it easily enough. The lot was usually pretty empty, and having done this every Friday for a few weeks now, Chase had every moment of this down to a routine. Well, today that routine was slightly different. Because now JJ was sitting in the passenger seat, looking a bit uncomfortable as he stared at the front of the building.

“You okay, bro?” Chase asked.

JJ didn’t answer for a moment. Until: 'Maybe I shouldn’t have come,' he signed slowly. 'Won’t it just be…weird, having a third person in the room with you?'

“There’s always a third person in the room,” Chase said, shrugging. “The doctor has to supervise it. Sometimes there’s another guy, too, one of the, uh…I don’t remember the word, but he works there.”

JJ bit his lip. 'It’s different. This time there’ll be a stranger.'

“Hey, I’ve told Schneep a lot about you, it’ll be fine,” Chase assured him. “It might be a little awkward at first, but I think you two will get along.” If Chase was being honest, he was a little nervous about the two of them meeting. He wasn’t exactly sure why; maybe it was just the possibility that things might go wrong. But he had to try. Schneep needed more people to talk to than a doctor and one friend, and since all his other friends were currently…unavailable, this was probably the best move. “We can wait in the car for a bit, if you want.”

'No, no let’s do this.' JJ shook his head. 'The more I think about it, the more likely it is that I’ll back out.'

“Alright. Let’s go, then.” And with that, Chase opened the car door and stepped outside.

The routine once again took over. The two of them signed in for visiting hours at the front desk, then Chase showed JJ down the hall to the visitors’ room. Which looked the same as ever, furniture still beige and brown, books and magazines still on the tables. Chase sat down on the nearest sofa, taking out his phone to pass time while waiting. JJ didn’t sit, instead standing awkwardly near the wall like he was afraid to get too close to the center.

A few minutes later, Chase heard the door open, and looked up to see a blonde woman in a white coat standing in front of him. He didn’t recognize her. “Um…hi?” He said.

“Sorry, but are you…” The woman looked down at a clipboard, the same clipboard they’d signed in on at the desk. “Mr. Brody or Mr. Jackson?”

“Um…just call me Chase.”

“You’re here to see Henrik von Schneeplestein?”

“Uh…yeah…” After an unsure moment, he stood up. “Is…something wrong? Who are you?”

“My name’s Dr. Newson, I’m the head here,” the woman said coolly. “I just wanted to check to see if you were…sure.”

Chase blinked. “Sure about what?”

“Well…this visit.” Dr. Newson flipped through the pages on the sign-in clipboard. “I can see you’ve been here almost every week for about two months now. That’s great, consistency is a virtue. But today is…” She stopped, searching for a word. “…perhaps not the best day.”

“Um. Why?” Chase looked over Newson’s shoulder at the door on the other side of the room. “Where’s the usual doctor? Dr. Laurens?”

For a moment, something flashed across Newson’s face. Was it worry? Or something…guiltier? But it was quickly hidden behind a professional facade. “She hasn’t come in today.”

“Oh. That sucks.” Chase got the feeling there was something more to this story, but now wasn’t the time to push. “But again, why isn’t today the best day?”

“Well…Henrik has been…” Newson pursed her lips. “…not well. So for your own safety, you know?”

Normally Chase might’ve dropped it there, but there was something in Newson’s last statement that rubbed him the wrong way. “What do you mean by ‘not well?’”

“Oh, um…” Newson tucked the clipboard under her arm. “He’s been…not all there. A bit confused, I believe.”

“Okay, so?” Chase shrugged. “I’m fine with that.”

“But…” Newson hesitated. “Well, I’m not sure you’re aware of what happened before he came here—”

“Yeah, I’m aware of what happened,” Chase interrupted. “But Schneep’s my friend and I only get to see him once a week, I’m not about to leave now.” He might’ve been inclined to if he wasn’t getting a sort of tone from Newson. He looked back at JJ, still standing by the wall. “Jays, do you want to leave?”

Jameson, probably picking up on the same tone, shook his head, stubbornly folding his arms.

Chase turned back to Newson. “So, yeah. We’re already here, and we want to see him, and we’re not leaving.”

Newson sighed, defeated. “Very well. You’re aware that I have to supervise, right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Alright. I’ll be back, then.” Newson turned on her heel and walked back through the door she came through, shutting it behind her.

Chase looked back at JJ. “Sorry about that.”

'It’s fine, you weren’t in control of that,' JJ signed. 'You handled that very well.'

“Oh. Thanks.” Chase sighed, folding his arms. “You still nervous?”

'Well…yes,' JJ admitted.

“And it’s still going to be fine,” Chase assured him. “I promise.”

Only a few minutes later, Dr. Newson reentered the room. “I’ll um…just be over here, I suppose,” she said, walking some ways away to stand next to a chair…and decidedly not sit down in it. Shortly after her, the guy who was always there—Chase finally remembered the word “orderly”—entered as well. He was holding Schneep’s hand, almost pulling him along into the room.

Chase knew something was wrong immediately. He had a half-formed thought that Newson was just making up the bit about Schneep being “not well” for whatever reason, but apparently not. Schneep…didn’t look good. To be fair, he hadn’t looked his best for a while. Chase wasn’t sure when it happened, but sometime in the nearly ten months he hadn’t seen him (in between his initial disappearance and his admittance to Silver Hills) Schneep had gotten paler and thinner, and his eyes almost always had dark circles underneath them. But in addition to that, today there was…a sort of shakiness about him. He wasn’t quite looking at the room around him, letting the orderly guide him.

Well, Chase wasn’t about to let that stop him. He’d just have to be careful today. He could do that, especially if it made things easier for Schneep. Chase smiled, walking up to Schneep but stopping some way away. “Hey. How’re you doing today?” He tried to keep his voice light.

Schneep looked at him, and didn’t say anything. Or…it didn’t really feel like he was looking at him. Chase recognized the sort of glazed look when someone wasn’t quite connected to reality—he’d seen it in the mirror enough. Behind Schneep, the orderly took a few steps away, clearly giving the two of them space.

“It’s fine, take your time.” Chase took a step closer, but he was still some ways away. “I’m doing alright, though. Not perfect, but things have been okay.” They were okay enough, Chase supposed. He’d had a really bad day on Wednesday, but he was trying to get past that. Not quite succeeding, but it was better, he guessed. Maybe. “You know?”

Schneep slowly nodded. He still didn’t look like he was entirely listening, but that was a response.

“Cool.” Chase cleared his throat. “Anyway, I wanted you to meet someone. Remember JJ? Jameson, I keep mentioning him.” He paused, but apparently that one wasn’t going to get a response. “Alright. Well, he wanted to meet you too. So he decided to come along today.” Chase turned around. “Jays?”

Jameson had shrank back against the wall when Schneep entered, but now took a deep breath, and stepped forward. He waved a “hello.”

Schneep looked over at Jameson. His eyes widened. And then he screamed.

“What—no, Hen, it’s okay!” Chase reached out, but Schneep backed away, not taking his eyes off Jameson. He ran into a coffee table and fell over it, but continued scrambling backwards. “No no no, it’s fine, I promise.” Chase dropped to his knees to be on the same level, trying to reach out again.

“N-no! No—nein, nein!” Schneep smacked Chase’s offered hand. “Get away! Back!”

“Henrik, it’s fine, he’s not going to hurt you,” Chase said in a soft voice.

Schneep shook his head. His back was now pressed against one of the chairs, and he was still trying to back up further, legs kicking. There were tears shining in his eyes as he breathed too quickly. “No no, no, p-please do not—I-I do not want—I have done everything, everything, A-An—” He clapped a hand over his mouth, bending over and wrapping his other arm around his middle. He kept shaking his head.

Chase heard a strange, strangled sound behind him, like someone shocked. He turned around to look at the doctor and orderly, but they weren’t in the same direction the sound had come from. And besides, the two of them were busy talking to each other. Chase looked in the sound’s direction, but the only one there was Jameson. Who…also had his hand covering his mouth, like he’d just said something he hadn’t meant to. But…Chase blinked. “Jameson?”

Jameson lowered his hand, and took a few steps backwards. 'I think it would be better if I waited in the car,' he signed, and before Chase could say anything, he turned and quickly left.

Odd. Chase wanted to call after him, but there were more pressing matters at the moment. Namely, Schneep was still panicking, hyperventilating and muttering something that was muffled by his hand still pressed to his mouth. Chase tried again to reach out. He set his hand on Schneep’s upper arm, relieved when Schneep didn’t try to shake him off. “Hen, it’s okay. You’re okay. Nobody’s going to hurt you, I promise.” He kept mumbling words to this effect as he slowly scooted closer to Schneep.

After what felt like forever, Schneep’s breathing slowed, and he loosened from his tense position. His eyes flicked up to meet Chase’s, and this time Chase was sure he saw some sort of registration in them. He slowly lowered his hand, and leaned forward against Chase. His fingers curled around the loose folds of Chase’s jacket.

“Yeah, see? It’s all good.” Chase wrapped his arms around Schneep, who let it happen. “I…I’m not sure what that was about, but it’s over now.” He fell silent for a moment, giving Schneep time to calm down. “Do you…do you want to sit on the sofa, or something?” Schneep made a short, high-pitched keening sort of sound. Chase felt him shake his head. “Alright, we’ll just stay on the floor, then.”

A moment more, and Schneep finally pulled away, though he kept hold of Chase’s hand. “It is over?” He asked, hushed as if worried someone will overhear. “He is gone?”

“Uh…yeah, he’s gone, bro, don’t worry.” Chase gave him a small smile.

Schneep visibly relaxed. He looked like he wanted to cry. “I am sorry,” he croaked.

“No, it’s fine, it’s not your fault you freaked out. It’s no problem,” Chase reassured him.

“No, is my fault.” Schneep shook his head. “It is because of me you are here. Jackie, I am so sorry.”

Chase froze, eyes widening.

Oh.

“You are not hurt?” Schneep asked, pulling on the edge of Chase’s jacket. “I can fix.”

Chase shook his head. “N…no, Schneep, I-I’m not—” The last word got caught in his throat.

“That is good,” Schneep said, unaware of Chase’s sudden cut off. “Very good.”

“Schneep, it…” Chase cleared his throat. “It’s Chase.”

“What about him?” Schneep gasped. “Did you see him here? Did he get—nein, please say he did not—!”

“No, no I haven’t seen him,” Chase hurried to say.

A sigh of relief. “Then what is it? Did you…” Schneep leaned closer. “Do you think he knows?”

There was something about the way Schneep emphasized the he that drew Chase’s attention. “I…don’t know if he knows,” he said slowly, playing along.

“I see,” Schneep said, nodding. “Well, if he does, it is not your fault, Jackie. You know, he is very clever.”

“Yeah…” Chase’s voice broke. “Yeah, I know.”

Schneep leaned further forward, until his head rested on Chase’s shoulder. “Can I stay here?” he asked quietly. “Until he comes for me again?”

“Of…of course.” Chase answered in an equally quiet tone.

Schneep sighed. “Danke.”

The two of them fell quiet again. Chase listened idly to the doctor and the orderly talking, saying something about medication. He…he had no idea what was happening anymore. Why had Schneep freaked out so much when he saw Jameson? Who was the he? Someone that both Schneep and Jackie knew, probably, if he thought he was talking to Jackie about him.

Maybe it was simpler than he thought. But something felt off.
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Chase was almost out the hospital’s front door when he was stopped. By the orderly from before. “Oh. Um, hi?” He said, not bothering to hide his surprise. He wasn’t expecting this guy to talk to him.

“Hi. Sorry, just wanted to catch you before you left,” the orderly said. “You’re Chase? Schneep’s friend?”

“Yeah.” Chase noted the way the orderly called him ‘Schneep’—something Henrik only let his friends do.

“My name’s Oliver, I, uh, I work with him,” the orderly said. “And I work with, uh, Dr. Laurens. The two of us sort of…do things with him.” He paused. “Okay that sounds a lot worse than I meant it to be—”

“No, I get it, you mean like therapy and stuff.” Chase nodded.

“Yeah, exactly.” Oliver looked relieved.

“Anyway, uh…what’s up?” Chase noticed Oliver was holding something in his arms. “You, uh…want to talk about something?”

“Yeah, so.” Oliver shifted on his feet. “You know how Dr. Laurens hasn’t come in today. Well…she didn’t come in yesterday, either.”

“Oh. Is she sick or something?”

“I don’t think so. Dr. Newson tried calling her house. The two of them kind of…had a fight on Wednesday, and Laurens was supposed to show up the next morning to talk with her, but she never did.”

“Maybe she did show up but left super quickly?” Chase suggested. “Because maybe, if they had a fight, and Dr. New said she was in charge, maybe Laurens got…fired?” He hesitated to say it.

Oliver was already shaking his head. “No, you don’t get it. Dr. Newson was TRYING to call Rya—er, Laurens. And she got real nervous when Laurens didn’t pick up. If Laurens isn’t here, it’s not because of Newson. I’m worried something…happened.”

“That sounds bad,” Chase admitted.

“Yeah, I know. That’s enough on its own, but also, Dr. Newson is going to take over Schneep’s case until Laurens gets back. And those two, uh…” Oliver bit his lip. “They don’t get along. She, uh, really doesn’t like him. I don’t know why.”

“Well, shit,” Chase said. That would explain the tone from earlier. “Well, what do you want me to do about it? Do you want me to, like, sue her?”

“I don’t know, I mean, maybe it won’t be so bad.” Oliver didn’t sound too optimistic. “But anyway. I just thought that…I-I don’t know what I thought. But, um, on Wednesday, Laurens gave me these.” Oliver showed what he was holding to Chase: a manila folder with a keycard peeking out the top, and a thick turquoise notebook. “She said it was in case anything happened to her. It’s uh, Schneep’s case file, the card to his room, and her notes from all the sessions. I wasn’t sure what to do with them. But I thought, maybe, that you’re his friend, maybe you would…want to have them?”

Chase didn’t say anything, too stunned to for a moment. “Wow,” he finally landed on. “That…are you sure that’s a good idea? Won’t you guys need that?”

“Well, um.” Oliver shifted his weight. “Technically the case file is a copy. Because I copied the original Laurens gave to me. Which is still here. And I have my own card, and Dr. Newson has a master card, so we don’t need this, but…I-I don’t know. And I asked Newson if she wanted the notes, she didn’t. But uh…you can always give them back.”

After staring at the folder and notebook for a while more, Chase reached out and took them. “Thanks, I guess.”

“You’re welcome, I guess.” Oliver stepped back. He hesitated. “Y’know…I don’t think Schneep’s bad. If that makes sense.”

“Good. Cause he’s not,” Chase stated.

Oliver nodded once more, then turned and left without saying anything else.

Chase looked down at the folder and the notebook. The former he could read, it would be nice to learn more about what happened. But the notebook…? Wouldn’t reading that be a violation of doctor-patient confidentiality? And also a little personal, besides? But he had it now. And if Newson didn’t want it, he wasn’t going to force her to take it. So instead, he tucked both items under his arm and walked out to his car.
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The ride back was silent for a long time. Though that was mostly because it was hard to talk to JJ and drive at the same time: you needed your eyes and mind to focus on the road and not on interpreting sign. But this was an…uncomfortable kind of silence. The sort that came about when something pressed on the air between two people.

Eventually, Chase couldn’t take it anymore. Soon after they turned onto the street to his house, he pulled to the curb and parked, looking over at JJ. “Hey…are…you okay?”

Jameson was silent for a while. 'Yes, I’m fine,' he finally signed, the gesture somehow small.

“Um…” Chase cleared his throat. “I didn’t know you…could make…sound.” Nope nope nope, abort, stuff that sentence back in your mouth, oh my god—

JJ smiled a bit. 'It’s not the sound I have trouble with, it’s the words. It’s…difficult to form them.'

“Ah.” Chase relaxed a bit, but only a bit. His fingers drummed a pattern on the steering wheel. “Hey, uh…about what happened back there, I-I don’t think—I mean, that didn’t have anything to do with you, Schneep just…gets confused. Sometimes.”

Jameson stared forward, out the windshield. 'Has something like that happened before?'

“Yeah, uh…kinda, I guess.” Chase looked down. “I mean, I wasn’t there, but I heard about it. Jack went over to Schneep’s apartment. Apparently he had a big surgery that day, and he wanted to see how it went. And uh, Jack had an extra key, so when Schneep didn’t answer he just walked in. Turns out, the doc was just sitting on the couch, kinda out of it. The moment he saw Jack, though, he started screaming. Told him to get out of his apartment or he’d call the police. Didn’t…didn’t recognize him at all.” Chase swallowed down a lump in his throat. “Jack and I went back the next day, and uh, long story short, that’s how we figured out Schneep had some issues that he needed to see people about.” He took a deep breath, and looked back up. “So, it probably wasn’t because of you.”

Jameson was still staring out the windshield. 'Chase,' he signed slowly. 'Is someone outside your house?'

Chase looked up. They’d stopped on the street a few houses away from his, and…and it DID look like someone was outside. Chase didn’t recognize them from this distance, but they were knocking on the door. “The hell?” Chase muttered. “What do they want?” He climbed out of the car, Jameson following his lead, and started walking down the sidewalk—quickly. Once he was in earshot, he shouted “Hey! You!”

The person at the door started, and turned. And that’s when Chase saw his face. He stopped, gaping. Jameson caught up to him, then had the exact same reaction.

The man at the door waved, a little awkwardly. “Hi. I guess you weren’t at home?”

Chase didn’t answer the question. He just stared. “Marvin?!”

“Um, yeah?” Marvin shifted awkwardly on his feet and folded his arms. “Why do you say it like that?”

“Where have you BEEN?!” Chase asked. “It’s been months!”

Marvin winced. “Yeah, I know. I probably should’ve said something at some point, but things got all…like….you know, uh…ugh.” Marvin sighed. “Words.”

JJ stepped forward. 'Should we go inside to talk?' he suggested.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Chase agreed. He closed the rest of the distance to the front door, unlocking it and pushing it open.

The three of them took seats in the living room, with Marvin on the sofa and Chase and Jameson in an armchair on either side. “So…are you gonna tell us where you’ve been? Or…” Chase trailed off. Maybe that was too personal to ask right off the bat.

“No yeah, of course,” Marvin waved away the awkward ending of the question. “I, um…well, I went to live with my grandma, for a while.”

“Oh, really?” That hadn’t been the answer Chase was expecting. “Just to visit, or, um…?”

“I mean, yeah, kind of.” Marvin ran his hand through his hair. In the time since Chase had seen him, it had gotten longer, now long enough to be held back in a ponytail. “It’s been a while. But also there was some, um…other…reasons.”

“Ah. Okay.” Judging by the uncomfortable pauses, Marvin clearly didn’t want to talk about it. So Chase should obviously stop talking about it too. God, why had he pushed so much? He felt a lump of guilt weigh down his stomach. “Well, it’s good to see you agai—Jays, you okay?”

JJ was staring at Marvin with a wide-eyed incredulous look. 'Marvin, doesn’t your grandmother live in Ireland?'

“Um, yeah? Where the fuck else would an old Irish woman live, Florida?” Marvin shook his head. “Actually older people travel too, never mind.”

'And you took your pets with you.'

“Yeah, I wasn’t about to leave them.”

JJ paused, processing this. 'Marvin, don’t take this the wrong way,' he signed, 'but how the hell did you take a three-foot-long snake across the Irish Sea?!'

Chase couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Bro, yeah, now that you mention it—the cats I get, you can get carriers for that, but how’d you take the snake?”

“Hey, there are carriers for snakes, too!” Marvin said defensively.

'You left the enclosure here!' JJ pointed out.

“Yeah, there was an old one back at my grandma’s place,” Marvin said, as if this was the most natural thing in the world. “I first got Salazar back when I was living with her, and she never took it down. Kept all the accessories and everything.”

Chase was still laughing, wheezing at this point as he leaned over the chair’s arm. “Bro, that was the most matter-of-fact way you could’ve—oh my god. Oh fuck, dude.”

Marvin cracked a small smile too. “Okay, guess that could be kind of funny.”

“Ah…” Chase finally calmed down. “Well, it’s good to see you again.”

The smile grew a bit. “Thanks. It’s…well, I needed to get away, but it’s nice to be back. Sorry about…not telling either of you. I probably should’ve, but it just…” Marvin paused, trying to find the right words. “It seemed so…big.”

Jameson nodded. 'Well, you came back eventually. Sounds like it was good?'

“Yeah, it was good. But I did miss you guys. Anything happen in the last, um…five months?”

“Oh boy, you have no idea, bro, so much—wait, five months?” Chase sat up straight. “Oh shit it’s August. Oh shit, your birthday was last week!”

“Oh, yeah it was.” Marvin sounded surprised. Not like he forgot his own birthday, but like he wasn’t expecting anyone else to bring it up.

“I didn’t get you anything!” Chase realized. “I didn’t know if you were going to be here!”

“It’s fine—”

“No, I’m gonna get you something. Give me like a week, I’ll do it.” Chase looked over at JJ. “Jays? Agreed?”

JJ smiled smugly. 'I actually did get you something, Marvin.'

“What?! Kiss-up!”

“You got me something?” Marvin repeated. “Even though I wasn’t here?”

'Well, yes, I figured I’d see you again,' Jameson said. 'So I could give you your present when I saw you. It’s back at my apartment, I can stop by your house later to drop it off? Maybe help you unpack, if you’re still having trouble with that?'

“Yeah, if you could do that tomorrow, that would be great.” Marvin flashed a smile. “Heh. Hey JJ, how does it feel to be two years younger than everyone?”

JJ huffed. 'You are not two years older than me.'

“Hmm, really? I thought there was a two-year difference between 28 and 26.”

'I thought there was a one year difference between August 1990 and October 1991,' JJ pointed out.

“Yeah, well. Same thing.” Marvin chuckled. “Anyway, you’re still the only one of the group that hasn’t had their birthday this year. Or, well…” Marvin settled a bit, looking sadder. “If all of us were here, you’d actually have someone else who’s not done that yet. Y’know, in September.”

Suddenly, Chase gasped. “Oh, you don’t know!”

Marvin looked over at him, confused. “What?”

“I’m so sorry, I got sidetracked, I wanted to fill you in on all the stuff that happened—” Chase cut himself off. Don’t waste time. “Anyway, Schneep’s back! Kind of.”

“Wait, he’s WHAT?!” Marvin gaped. “We found him? Where? What happened? What do you mean ‘kind of’?”

“It’s a…it’s a long story, bro,” Chase sighed. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Well, tell me the same way you found out,” Marvin suggested.

“Hm. Okay, that can work.” Chase settled back in his chair. Beside him, JJ got comfortable too. “So, basically this day in June—I think, it could’ve been early July—I get a knock at my door, and I open it to see this lady I’ve never seen before. She says her name is Dr. Rya Laurens, and that she knows Schneep.”

“Friend of his?” Marvin asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Uh, no, not exactly. Well…” Chase considered this. “I guess kind of. But anyway, I thought she worked with him, but she’s actually the wrong kind of doctor. She, uh, works at Silver Hills. You know, the mental hospital a bit out of town?”

Marvin nodded. Then he visibly started as he realized something. “Wait—so Schneep is THERE now?! Like, living there?”

“Yep. We were actually just up there, visiting. That’s why I wasn’t at—oh my god, I just remembered I left something in the car.” Chase shot to his feet. “JJ, fill him in on the rest? I’ll be real quick.”

JJ nodded, watching as Chase left the house again.

It was a quick walk back to where they’d stopped the car, and once he got there Chase figured he might as well drive it the rest of the way to his house. He got inside, and was about to start it when he happened to glance at the rear view mirror.

There was a person reflected there. A man Chase froze. Was he…looking at his car? He kind of looked like he was. But he was some ways down the street, he couldn’t quite see his face. He blinked, and when he looked again, the man was walking away.

It was probably nothing, wasn’t it?

A few minutes later, with the car parked safely in the driveway, Chase walked back into the house to see JJ and Marvin talking in sign, going a bit too quickly for him to pick up more than a few words. He sat back down in the chair from before, waiting for them to finish, and set the case file folder and Laurens’ notebook down on the coffee table.

Once he was finished talking with JJ, Marvin looked down at the new items on the table. “What’s that?”

“Oh, uh, I ran into this orderly named Oliver back at Silver Hills,” Chase explained. “He said he worked on Schneep’s case, and he…gave me these.”

Marvin chuckled. “Ha. Oliver the orderly. Alliteration.”

'You’re one to talk, Marvin Maher,' JJ smiled.

“There should be a ‘magnificent’ in there somewhere,” Marvin said, grinning. “Anyway, so what is it, then?”

“Oh, uh, this is the case file,” Chase said, picking up the manila folder. “Has all the police information about…what happened during those nine months. It also apparently has a keycard to Schneep’s room.”

“Nice,” Marvin said. “Can I have it?”

“What, the file or just the card?”

“The file. I want to know what I missed just because I avoid news about crime.”

'Both of you need to know more about what goes on in the news,' JJ pointed out.

“Yeah,” Chase sighed. “Anyway, sure, Marvin. Just bring it back when you’re done, I might want to read it too.” He slid the file across the table, where Marvin slapped it to stop it from falling off the surface. “And also, there’s this notebook. It’s, um…it’s Dr. Laurens’ notes from all her sessions with Schneep.”

Marvin’s brows drew together, confused. “Won’t she need that?”

“Well…that’s the thing.” Chase folded his arms, shrinking back into his chair. “She…she apparently hadn’t shown up to work the last two days. And hasn’t been able to be contacted. She…she might be missing.” He mumbled the last part.

“Oh,” Marvin said quietly. “That’s…oh.”

“Yeah.” Chase sighed again. “They put this new doctor on Schneep’s case, Dr. Newson, but apparently they don’t get along, so that’s going to…be great.”

“Well, maybe the normal doctor will come back,” Marvin suggested. “Maybe she just decided to leave. Because, y’know…sometimes people have to leave, but they’ll come back.” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Maybe.” Chase wasn’t too sure about that. He looked at the other two. “At least Schneep has us, right? At least—Jameson, are you sure you’re okay?”

Jameson was sitting rather stiff in his seat—had been for a while, since Chase said Laurens might be missing. His hands were clenched fists in his lap, and his eyes were locked downward. His face had suddenly gone very white, eyes wide. Almost as if he was afraid. When Chase said his name, he jumped, looking around, his hand going to his pocket. But he relaxed. 'I might be feeling a bit under the weather,' he signed.

“Um…yeah, okay,” Chase said slowly. Obviously, that wasn’t true. And judging by the confused look Marvin was pointing at Jameson, Marvin wasn’t buying it either. But maybe this wasn’t a good time to pry. “You want me to drive you home?”

Jameson nodded. 'Please.'

“Alright.” Chase stood up again. “Marvin, you want a ride?”

“Nah, I can take the bus back,” Marvin said, standing up at the same time.

“If you’re sure.” Chase shrugged. “C’mon, let’s go Jays.”

And so, for the third time that day, Chase found he was back in his car with JJ in the passenger seat. He glanced over at him. “You sure you don’t…need anything?”

Jameson shook his head. 'Just some space, please.'

“Okay, then.” Chase started the car.

As he turned to back out, he could’ve sworn he saw the figure of a man out of the corner of his eye. But it was soon gone. Just his imagination. Still, he felt a lingering chill.