She was found under a secluded rural bus stop sign. She held tight to a stuffed toy and a wooden
pop gun. The blood on the apron of her dress already changed from bright red to
a muddy brown. The police are gone. All the evidence they needed has been bagged
and tagged.
The five year old girl sits in the corner of Dr. Wyckoff’s
office holding her stuffed toy in a death grip.
She rocks back and forth; sucking on her thumb. Inaudible sounds can be heard coming from her
but no one can make out what she is saying.
That is, if she is really saying anything at all. Wyckoff calls in one of the nursing staff to
have the girl shown her room. He wants
her back in his office in an hour.
An hour later she sits in the chair opposite the doctor. She is still rocking, still mumbling
incoherently. Wyckoff watches her closely.
He decides hypnosis will be the best way to get information from little
Miss Jane Doe. He is certain this will
be the fastest way to get through to her.
He has seen trauma cases like this before.
She watches the doctor as he gets ready to hypnotize her. He interests her. He turns on a recorder
while he explains to her what will happen and that he will be recording the session.
He calls her Jane and asks her to relax.
How much more can she relax?
She’s almost asleep. He asks her
to look at the tip of his pen as he continues to ask her to relax and tells her
she is very sleepy.
Dr. Wyckoff asks her the same question she has been asked a
dozen times since she was brought here, “What is your name?”
“Tessa Greystone.” She’s
mute, but tells him in her thoughts.
“We can’t call you Jane forever.
Your parents gave you a name.
What is your name?”
“Tessa Greystone!” She
thinks the man may be hard of hearing.
“Can you tell me your mommy and daddy’s names?”
“Honey and
Sweetheart.”
Jane continues to stare at him.
“Let’s go back in time.
Let’s go back to a couple hours before you were found at the bus
stop. What happened then?”
“I killed
Jeremy.”
“What is your name?”
“I’ve told
you, Tessa Greystone.”
“Go back a few days before.
What are you doing?”
“Telling
Jeremy what happened to Abby. I killed her.”
“Tell me your name.”
“Tessa
Greystone.”
“I want you to think back before that. What happened at that time?”
Tessa sighs. “I killed
King, the dog next door. Oh, and the cat, Billy. Have you seen my mommy and
daddy?”
“What is your name?”
“TESSA
GREYSTONE!!”
Dr. Wyckoff tells her she can wake up. He calls for the nurse to come take her to
her room. He settles himself at his desk
to listen to the recording before sending it to transcription. He is shocked by
what he hears.
“Tessa Greystone.” She doesn't speak aloud, but in her thoughts.
“We can’t call you Jane forever.
Your parents gave you a name.
What is your name?”
“Tessa Greystone!” She
thinks the man may be hard of hearing.
“Can you tell me your mommy and daddy’s names?”
“Honey and
Sweetheart.”
He listens to the rest of the recording. Wyckoff calls nursing to have Jane Doe,
Tessa, back to his office. She is back in her seat, staring into space. He hits the recorder start.
“Tessa, I have heard your answers.”
“I didn’t
think you heard me.”
“Tessa, I have one more question for you. Why did you kill those animals and people?”
“Fluffy was
hungry.” Tessa holds her stuffed toy closer.
Dr. Wyckoff stops the recorder, rewinds and listens. He calls the duty nurse to sit with Tessa as
he calls the police and child protective services. As the little girl is being
carried away, the stuffed toy falls to the floor.
The doctor rewinds the recorder to the beginning. He’s decided not to leave this progress
report to transcription. He hadn't realized the recorder had been on when Tessa
was being taken away.
“WHERE ARE
YOU TAKING FLUFFY!?” The small voice had wailed.
The doctor’s jaw drops as he turns around to see what he thought
was the stuffed toy with the gun pointed to his head. His scream was never
heard when the gun popped.
“Fluffy
will be hungry.”
