“You must be feeling better if you’re already trying to solve crimes,” said Daryl with a slight smile. “Unfortunately, the flower man is not the Strangler. Would have been great if he was. The man who attacked you in your apartment was in jail during three of the Strangler murders.”

“Oh,” said Zoe.

“You want to tell me why you took all those pills?” said Daryl.

“But I didn’t…” said Zoe.

“Your doctor told us you have no memory of the three or four days before you were brought to the hospital,” said Heather. “How do you know you didn’t take them?”

“At first, the last thing I was able to recall was the flower man in my apartment and him choking me. Then this morning, I remembered something new. Conner and I stayed at his friend’s apartment for a few days after the attack,” said Zoe, wrinkling her forehead. “I can visualize the place and I remember we took an Uber from there back to our apartment on Central Park West. Other than that, everything else is a blank.”

“There was an empty pill bottle in your bathroom sink the night we found you,” said Heather gently.

“I’ve never had any thought to kill myself, ever,” said Zoe getting agitated. “Why won’t anyone believe me?”

The detectives pulled two chairs over and sat by the bed. “Why don’t you tell us everything you can remember,” said Daryl.

“After I fought with the flower deliveryman, I must have hit my head. When I woke up there were police officers there. I thought I was going to die that night,” she said slowly, running her fingers through her hair. “There was blood everywhere,” said Zoe starting to cry. “Then I went to the police station and Conner came and took me to an apartment on East 95th Street. We stayed there for a few days. That part is kind of fuzzy, but I do remember it.”

“Take your time,” said Daryl.

“I was afraid to go back to our apartment, so Conner went alone to clean everything. The next day we took an Uber to our place on Central Park West together,” said Zoe.

“Do you remember going into your apartment that day?” asked Daryl.

Zoe let out a frustrated sigh. “No… wait… Yes. Conner was carrying our bags. I didn’t want to go into the living room so I went directly down the hall to the bedroom. I didn’t want to see where the man died.”

“Okay, that’s good. You’re starting to remember bits and pieces,” said Daryl. “Anything else?”

Zoe shook her head. “No, the rest is a big gray blob.”

“Hey Zoe,” said a masked Sean standing in the doorway holding a large potted plant with a “get well” blue ribbon around its base. “How are you feeling?”

“Mr. McAllister,” said Daryl, “I thought the hospital wasn’t letting people in?”