The Stolen - Jason Pinter [76]
more question?"
"Absolutely," he said, clutching his clipboard to his
chest.
"What could cause a person to lose their memory? Not
permanently, but, like, a chunk of it. A few years. What
could punch a hole in someone's life?"
"Well, a few things. I assume you're referring to a kind
of anterograde amnesia. Most of the time amnesia is the
result of some traumatic damage to the brain, specifically
the hippocampus and the medial temporal lobes. Anterograde, in which there is usually what's called a 'hole' or
'blackout episode,' happens as the result of a chemical imbalance. It's commonly referred to as Korsakoff syndrome."
"What happens when someone is a victim of Korsakoff?"
"Basically, it's a degenerative brain condition that's
brought on by a severe lack of thiamine--or vitamin B1--
in a person's brain. Thiamine helps metabolize fats and
carbohydrates in the body."
"Thiamine--is this a natural substance? Does the body
produce it?"
"No, it's like any other vitamin, it has to be absorbed
in the system from outside. There's vitamin B1 in dozens
of everyday foods, from bread to meat, vegetables, dairy.
You'd almost have to go out of your way to deprive
yourself of it.
"Is there any way this chemical imbalance--or Korsakoff syndrome--could be induced?"
"Absolutely. Have you heard of GHB or GBL?"
"Date-rape drugs, right?"
"That's the lay term for them, yes. In effect, what
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those drugs do is induce a form of retrograde amnesia.
Ironically, GHB is sometimes prescribed to help combat
alcoholism." Brenneman looked at Jack. He figured I was
asking these questions because of him. "GHB and
Rohypnol, especially when mixed with alcohol, can be a
potent and often lethal mixture."
"But aren't the effects of those drugs pretty shortterm?"
"Assuming they're not ingested in lethal amounts, yes,
they generally only cause memory lapses of four to ten
hours. And though that's not a tremendous amount of time,
in the grand scheme of things, people who use them for nefarious purposes can accomplish an awful lot of evil in that
time."
"What about long-term anterograde amnesia? Are there
any ways to induce Korsakoff syndrome in a way that
could affect the brain for months or even years?"
"In severe cases, people either born with dangerously
low levels of thiamine, or whose levels are brought down
to a certain level, can experience a form of long-term anterograde amnesia. The damage is done to the medial
thalamus, and if left untreated, if thiamine levels are left
below a certain level, the memory loss can be long-term,
or even permanent." Brenneman eyed me. "Ironically
again, alcoholism is one of the most common causes of
long-term anterograde amnesia."
Again he eyed Jack. And while Jack would face a tremendous struggle in his battle against the bottle, the more
pressing fight was to uncover what had happened to Daniel
Linwood and Michelle Oliveira. Jack was in good care. I
couldn't say the same about Girl X.
Suddenly I heard a buzzing sound, and Brenneman's
hand went to his coat. He took out a small pager, clicked
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Jason Pinter
it, then said, "I've been summoned. Nice to meet you,
Mr...."
"Henry Parker," I said.
"Mr. Parker." He looked at Jack. "Please, take care of
him. More important, get him to take care of himself."
Then Brenneman left.
I stayed with Jack for another half an hour. I just
watched him breathe, waiting for him to wake up. Half
wanting to go over there, shake his drunken ass until his
eyes opened, letting him have it about how he was
throwing his life's reputation away. How he was in danger
of throwing his legacy away. Instead I sat there, watching
the tubes drip, the machines beep, thinking about how the
man who single-handedly brought the New York Gazette
to prominence had to be carted out of his house like a
derelict.
After half an hour I couldn't sit there any longer, so I
left and called Wallace from the street.
"How is he?" the man said.
"About what you'd expect, only worse."
"I