Trial by Fire—the Aftermath
Epilogue 4 Friday morning, 11:25am just outside Billy Melrose’s office within the Agency
Dr. Pfaff knocked on Billy’s door.
“Come,” the section chief replied from within his office.
Dr. Pfaff entered, “Hello Melrose. Do you have a few minutes? I’d like to brief you on Mrs. King and Scarecrow.”
“Sure, Dr. Pfaff, have a seat,” Billy offered.
The Agency psychiatrist sat and began his report, “They have completed the sessions you assigned them.”
Billy nodded his reply.
“Mrs. King seems to be coping remarkably well. I’m surprised by her resilience. Once she uncovered the repressed memory of her sexual assault,” Billy winced at the term, “she made remarkable progress. Not only emotionally, but also with the aftereffects of the drugs. I don’t know if you noticed, but her confusion and memory lapses stopped almost immediately. She stopped having nightmares as well.”
“Yes, I know. She has always bounced back quickly. Even when she first started—she always seemed to deal with whatever had happened and always came back for more. That’s why I’ve kept her working with Scarecrow.”
“Yes, I see.” Dr. Pfaff nodded, “I am concerned she is not allowing herself time for her own pursuits—she claims she doesn’t have time to date and she refused to consider full joint custody of her sons with her ex-husband,” he said concernedly.
“What!?!” Billy roared. “Pfaff, what the hell are you trying to do?”
“I’m just worried about Mrs. King’s long-term mental health and ability to effectively partner with Scarecrow,” he replied reasonably.
Billy pointed an accusing finger at Dr. Pfaff, “You’re trying to run my agents’ lives!”
“I’m trying to help them maintain a balance in their lives and not become overwhelmed or stressed out. Mrs. King has, in my opinion, way too much responsibility with her sons to allow her healthy outlets for rest and relaxation,” he explained patiently.
Billy shook his head, “You aren’t married or have kids, do you?”
“No. I was married briefly but we chose different paths so we parted amicably,” Dr. Pfaff replied in a self-satisfied manner.
“Tell me, how did Mrs. King react when you told her to change the custody arrangement with her ex?” Billy asked innocently.
“She became angry and agitated,” Dr. Pfaff looked affronted. “Really, I’ve studied family dynamics and she seemed to imply I was not fit to offer my opinion.”
“And you aren’t. Didn’t I tell you to stay out of their personal lives, man?”
Dr. Pfaff recalled the conversation, “You said until they are over this I should lay off their personal lives or relationship. I think Mrs. King has, for the most part, successfully processed her experience and is ready to move on.”
“Listen to me, Pfaff, and listen good,” Billy pointed at the man and spoke sternly, “lay off Mrs. King’s personal life, her children, her ex-husband and her dating habits—if any. One reason she is valuable to this unit is precisely because of her ‘normal’ domestic life. Her abilities and skills as a housewife have proved invaluable to this agency on many occasions. I will not have you screwing her up about all that. She’s managed her life between her family and the Agency for three years now, and she’s still alive, still here, and still doing the job and her kids are still normal and well-adjusted.”
“Well-adjusted is such a layman’s term…”
“Can it, Pfaff,” Billy cut him off. “Do you hear me? Lay off Mrs. King and her personal life. Period.”
Dr. Pfaff sighed. “An agent’s personal life impacts their effectiveness on the job. I can’t do my job effectively if I’m restricted in how I treat my patients.”
“You work for the Agency, not those individuals. I’m the head of this unit, and I get to decide if my agents are effective or not. You help and advise, but here in this unit it’s my decision.”
“I could go over your head,” Dr. Pfaff said calmly.
Billy met his eye and nodded, “You could, but are you willing to bet your connections and value to this Agency are better than mine? Is this matter worth the fight? Or maybe you’re operating under someone else’s orders here?” Billy laid out his suspicions.
Dr. Pfaff looked down at his notes. “There was a … request … to ensure Mrs. King was fit for duty and that she and Scarecrow remained an effective team. And if I was to find either of them was compromised by this incident—I was to report it immediately.”
“Who made this … request, Pfaff?” Billy asked in a deadly calm voice.
“That would be need-to-know, Melrose.”
Billy nodded. “I thought so. I’ll deal with this personally.” He sighed. “OK, what about Scarecrow, how’s he doing?”
“I think he’ll be OK—he’s behind Mrs. King in processing—but he’s always taken longer in things like that. We both remember Eric…”
“Yes. Did you bring that up with him?”
Dr. Pfaff nodded enthusiastically, “Yes. He actually responded to some of my observations.”
Billy was surprised, “Has he done that before?”
Dr. Pfaff shook his head, “Usually he just shuts down. This time he actually responded a couple of times before he shut down on me.”
Billy looked amused, “How long did you wait him out this time?”
“Four-and-a-half minutes. Then I moved on. It seemed pointless to press the issue.”
Billy nodded. Dr. Pfaff continued, “Have you noticed? He’s not dating within the Agency any more.”
Billy bristled, “Pfaff, what did I just say?”
“He offered an explanation,” Dr. Pfaff went on ignoring Billy’s outburst. “He said a couple of his dates compared notes and he got burned a couple of times—so he’s confining his activities to women outside the Agency.”
Billy calmed down. He thought to himself, ‘I guess Scarecrow is being more cautious—maybe he’s actually growing up.’ He spoke to Dr. Pfaff in a calmer tone, “I see. That’s probably for the best.”
“Yes, I concur.”
“So, is he good to go back into the field?” Billy asked.
“Yes, I would say so. He operated well previously—if somewhat recklessly—after his previous partner died—and Mrs. King has recovered nicely so he should be fine in the field. He will probably have more work to do to process—but he’ll do that with Mrs. King.”
“With Mrs. King? What’s that about?”
“He said he talks to his partner on stakeouts. I would presume they will discuss this past week and work through it together. At least he does talk to her—he certainly won’t open up to me.” Dr. Pfaff sounded resigned.
Billy nodded in agreement, “His track record is bad with psychiatrists. I guess he had several bad experiences with Air Force psychiatrists when he was young.”
Dr. Pfaff looked pleased, “That would explain a lot, Melrose. Thank you for that information. I’ll note it in his file.”
“Anything else to report?”
“Since you have restricted the scope of my ability to work with these two agents, no.”
“Pfaff—just stay out of my agents’ private lives.” At Dr. Pfaff’s attempt to defend himself, Billy cut him off with a raised hand, “You go beyond finding out what is going on and tell them how to live their lives. That’s none of your business. If they need to change their habits, I make that call. I’m the section chief. You make the recommendations—and I can take them or not as I see fit. Until you become section chief—that’s the way it goes down here. Since you can’t stop meddling—I’m ordering you to keep out of my agents’ private lives. Got it?”
“Got it. But I have to report to other authorities within the Agency as well.”
“I’m fully aware of that, Pfaff,” Billy said with a dark look. “And I’m going upstairs right after lunch to talk to Smyth about his meddling in my unit.”
“I never said it was Dr. Smyth, Melrose.” Dr. Pfaff replied.
“You didn’t have to. I know the man and how he operates all too well. If there’s nothing else—I have work to do here. Thank you for your report.” Billy dismissed the psychiatrist.
“You’re welcome.” Dr. Pfaff left.
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