[Superfreaks/ACRA] Superfreaks Season 2 #1
Martin Phipps
martinphipps2 at yahoo.com
Thu Apr 5 04:58:44 PDT 2007
Michael King, Mary Jones and Frank Lopez: crime scene
investigators. John Phelps, Mark Johnston and Tom
Jackson: police officers. Jack Greenspan and Edward
Bailey: medical examiners. Alan Russell and Roger
Roeper: lawyers. These are the men and women who are
truly our last line of defense. But what about the
capes whose cases they have to investigate? Should
they be considered a help or a hindrance?
SUPERFREAKS SEASON 2 #1
"STANDARD PROCEDURE"
PART I
9:15 am
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Detective John
Phelps asked.
Detective Michael King nodded. "Absolutely.
There's no harm in having him look at old cases."
"He's not a trained investigator."
"No, that's why we won't have him handling any of
the physical evidence. But anybody is entitled to
look at the reports and photographs. Frankly, if he
thinks he can help us I don't see what the harm is."
John grimaced. "His psychic visions are not
admissible in court."
Michael nodded. "Which is why I prefer to have him
looking at older cases, cases where we've exhausted
all other leads."
"You really believe this psychic hocus pocus?"
Michael smiled. "It's not a question of what I
believe or don't believe. Think of this as an
experiment. If he doesn't have psychic powers then he
can't help us but if his powers are real then he can
help us a lot. I'm willing to take that wager."
Suri Das looked up from his desk and smiled at the
two officers. He then went back to looking at the
report that they had given him to read.
"Yeah, well, maybe after he's read a whole bunch of
reports he can be considered an expert on them. That
might be useful."
"That's the spirit."
Just then Naomi Chen called to the two officers from
across the room. "Detectives, we've got a dead body
in the harbour."
"Thanks, Naomi. Michael?"
"I'll get my equipment."
9:39 am
"So, Michael, what do you think? Did this guy drown
or what?"
"Not likely, John. Look at his ears."
"What about them?"
"They're pointed."
"Oh yeah. What could cause that?"
"He's an Atlantean."
"Ah. So drowning is out of the question."
"No, John. Atlanteans are perfectly capable of
breathing under water. See? He has gills."
"Okay. So what killed him?"
"My guess is he was shot. Notice this bullet hole
entry wound in his back and the exit would through his
chest."
"Okay. Yeah. That would have done it."
10:10 am
Detective Mary Jones and CSI Frank Lopez arrived at
the scene of the brutal murder at the zoo.
"Did anybody see anything?" Mary asked one of the
zookeepers, a Mr. Carl Thompson.
"There were no people around when it happened but
one of the chimpanzees might have seen something."
Mary looked at the zookeeper askance. "That's not
very helpful."
"Don't be so sure!" the zookeeper said. "These
chimpanzees have all been taight sign language. You
might be able to get a description from them."
"Really?" Mary said. "Okay, Frank, that's your job
then: you get one of the zookeepers to help you
communicate with the chimps and I'll process the
scene."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"I'm not, Frank," Mary said. "And that's an order."
"Okay." He spoke to the zookeeper. "So can you
communicate with the chimps?"
"I'll try."
"Let's go."
Frank followed the zookeeper to the cage where the
chimpanzees were kept and asked them if they saw
anything. One of the chimps signed back.
"What did he say?" Frank asked.
"He said he saw the killer."
Frank sighed. "Can he give us a description?"
"That's going to be a bit difficult."
Frank nodded. "I'm sure. Okay, he's what we do.
First we take the chimp to a room where we can
question him. What's the best place?"
"The main office."
"Alright. Have the chimp brought there and I'll see
if I can draw a picture of the suspect based on the
chimp's description."
"You can do that?"
"It's my specialty."
"Alright then. We'll do that."
10:31 am
"What can you tell me about the body?" Michael
asked.
Medical Examiner Jack Greenspan shrugged his
shoulders. "Cause of death is a bullet through the
heart. What's interesting is that the bullet was
through and through, which is odd for an underwater
shooting."
Michael nodded. "Because the water should slow down
the bullet so that it wouldn't be moving fast enough."
"Correct." Jack Greenspan cringed. "There's no way
for me to determine the kind of ammunition used based
on the wound. The only way we can move forward in
this case is if we can find the bullet that shot him."
"And there's not much chance of that if our victim
was shot in the middle of the ocean."
"I would imagine it would be extremely difficult if
not impossible."
"Okay. Thanks."
10:39 am
"And how about the eyes?" Frank told the zookeeper
to ask the chimp. "Bigger or smaller?"
The zookeeper signed the question and the chimp
signed back. "Smaller."
"How's this?" Frank asked after modifying the
sketch.
"My God."
"What?"
"That looks just like the zoo groundsman, Chuck
Perez."
"Ask the chimp if the drawing is of the man who
killed our victim."
The zookeeper signed the question and the chimp
signed back. "That's him."
"Alright. I'll go tell Detective Jones. You bring
Chuck Perez here immediately."
"Will do."
11:01
"Any luck?" Michael asked.
Edward pointed to the computer screen where an ocean
current similation was running. "Yes and no. Based
on where the body was found, we can assume that the
body must have drifted in from the ocean."
"The problem being..."
"It's a big ocean."
"I know." He sighed. "There might be somebody who
can help us in this investigation."
11:15
"Where were you between eight and nine this
morning?" Mary asked Chuck Perez.
"I already told you. I was working."
"Were you anywhere near the scene of the murder?"
"No. I was on the other side of the zoo when it
happened."
"Can you prove that?"
"Are you saying I did it?"
"We have a witness who described you perfectly."
"A witness? That can't be."
"Why not?"
"Because... there's never anybody in the zoo that
early in the morning."
"Except you?"
"Yeah but I was on the other side of the zoo."
"And the victim."
"He does research into animal behaviour."
"So you knew the victim."
"Yeah. Wait. Are you accusing me?"
"We're not just accusing you, Mr. Perez, we're
arresting you. Mr. Perez, you are under arrest for
the murder of Dr. Kevin Knightly. You have the right
to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be
used against you in a court of law. You have the
right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an
attorney one will be appointed for you. Do you
understand these rights?"
"Who was it? Who is accusing me?"
"Do you understand these rights?"
"Yeah."
"Mark, Tom, take him away." Officers Mark Johnston
and Tom Jackson placed the suspect in handcuffs and
took him away.
4:11
"John?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm Roger Roeper, the public defender assigned to
Chuck Perez's case."
"Okay."
"Am I to understand that the witness who fingered my
client is a chimpanzee?"
"He did match the description the chimp gave us."
"John, this is ridiculous! You can't hold my client
based on such evidence!"
"Roger, he and the victim were the only two people
in the zoo at the time of the murder."
"How do we know that? Maybe the zookeeper did it."
John shook his head. "The zookeeper punched in at
9:00 after the murder took place. He's the one that
found the body."
"Right. So maybe it was pre-meditated: he shows up
early, he kills Dr. Knightly and then goes back to
punch in and give himself an alibi."
John bit his lip. "We have enough to hold him until
tomorrow and then we can bring in the witness and do a
line up."
Roger shook his head. "John, your witness is a
chimp."
"I know that. You get somebody who can read sign
language so that you have independent confirmation
that the chimp is being asked the right questions."
"This is ridiculous."
"It's standard procedure for suspects who are deaf
or mute."
"I'm going to get this case thrown out! You'll
see."
"Yeah yeah. Sure. Just come back tomorrow morning
and we'll get it all figured out."
PART II
9:13 am
"I appreciate you coming down to talk with us, Water
Lord," Detective Michael King said.
"Extreme said it was important."
Michael nodded. "I asked the Super Soldier to have
him bring you here."
"So what is this about?"
Michael showed him a picture of the victim. "Do you
know who this is?"
"Looks like one of my subjects."
"Can you give us a name?"
"No. We don't rely so much on facial recognition
seeing as how we can't see each other very well under
water."
"Understood."
"How did he die?"
"He was shot."
"Ah. Then I'm not a suspect. Atlanteans do not use
guns."
"I didn't say you were."
"Then why am I here?"
Michael frowned. "I would have thought you would
have wanted to help us find out who the killer is. Do
you know of any trouble between your people and the
people on the surface."
"No. We've been at peace. Until now."
Michael showed him another photograph. "Do you know
who this is?"
"No."
"It's Irwin Stevens, the Alligator Hunter. He did a
TV show down in Florida."
"I don't watch TV."
"No, I don't suppose you do."
"So what does this have to do with me?"
"Irwin Stevens was killed a year ago by a stingray."
"So?"
"So Singrays don't usually kill people. Now, I was
thinking that since Atlanteans can communicate with
marine animals that perhaps an Atlantean could have
been responsible for his death."
"Are you accusing me--?"
"No. Not at all. It could have been any Atlantean.
Or it could have been a freak accident. The point is
that each of us has had somebody from our race die in
the water under suspicious circumstances. Perhaps the
two deaths are related."
"You said your Mr. Stevens died a year ago."
"Yes. But I thought it might be a lead that you
could follow." Michael showed Water Lord a map that
Edward had printed out the day before. "We believe
your victim lived somewhere in this area."
"That's a pretty big area."
"But you are their king--"
"Atlanteans tend to keep to themselves."
"Nevertheless, you have both the means and the
authority to investigate."
Water Lord nodded. "Very well. I will ask about
both victims, yours and ours, and see what I can find
out."
"I appreciate that."
10:21 am
"Mr. Roeper."
"Mr. Russell."
Pepperton Public Defender Roger Roeper and Pepperton
District Attorney Alan Russell shook hands. "I
appreciate you being here for this."
"I have to protect my clients rights."
"I understand that. Did you bring your own expert
in sign language?"
"I did."
"Then we can get started. Mr. Thompson, is Jacky
ready?"
"I'll ask." Carl signed to Jacky and Jacky signed
back. "He's ready."
"Okay. We're going to bring in the suspect and four
look-a-likes and we're going to get Jacky to point out
which one is our killer."
"I know the procedure."
"Good." Alan signaled to Officer Mark Johnston to
have the line up brought in.
Once the five men were in line, Carl Thompson signed
to Jacky and asked him to point to the killer. Jacky
pointed to Chuck Perez.
"My God," Roger said. "Is this all on the up and
up?" he asked his expert.
"It's standard American sign langauge," she told
him. "And he definitely pointed to our client."
"Convinced?" Alan asked.
"I'm not the one who needs convincing, Alan. Are
you going to bring that chimp into court and have him
point him out in court? Because that's what you are
going to have to do. You're going to have to convince
a jury that a chimapanzee is a credible witness." He
picked up his briefcase and left.
11:55 pm
"Excuse me, but I think you've had enough."
"I'll decide when I've had enough."
"Actually, it's my job to decide when a customer has
had enough. I'm the bouncer. And you're going to
have to leave."
"Make me."
The bouncer smiled. "So happens that's part of my
job too." He grabbed the customer by the shoulder.
"Unhand me!"
"Stand up!"
The customer stood up... and then grabbed the
boubcer and threw him against the wall on the other
side of the bar. Several patrons screamed, including
some men. The customer just sat back down and
finished his drink.
"Okay," he said. "Now I go."
PART III
2:01 am
"Cause of death appears to be blunt force trauma,"
Detective Michael King determined. "The victim hit
the wall head first."
"The bartender says our suspect through him from
over there," Detective John Phelps said, pointing at a
table located on the other side of the room.
"Hmm," Michael said dispassionately. "That was
quite a throw."
"I don't think I'm going to want any of my officers
going after this guy. He's too dangerous."
"My thoughts exactly."
10:16 am
"I appreciate you having me come to see you,"
Michael said to the Super Soldier.
The Super Soldier nodded. "This is the second time
this week I've been able to help you."
"It's been a busy week."
"So what do you have for me?"
"A man was murdered today at a local bar. He was
thrown across the room. And this was a two hundred
pound man. A bouncer. The guy could defend himself.
Usually. But not against this guy."
"I see."
"One of my CSIs drew this picture based on the
description the bartender was able to give us."
"I don't know this man. I'm sorry."
"No, but perhaps Extreme can look for him."
"Extreme?"
Michael nodded. "We believe that this man would
kill any officer who tries to arrest him. Our only
hope is to have Extreme arrest him for us. Your
people are able to do that, aren't they?"
"We are authorized by the President himself."
"Then what's the problem?"
The Super Soldier smiled. "If we get involved then
it becomes our case."
"I understand that. Just keep us informed."
"Alright. I'll do that."
2:02 pm
Extreme had been scanning the city looking for
somebody who fit the description he had been given.
He finally found somebody at a construction site. He
flew down to confront him.
"Excuse me, Sir, were you at the Sax and the City
Music Bar last night?"
"What's it to you?" the suspect asked.
"A man was killed there last night."
The suspect nodded. "Yeah. He should have learned
to mind his own business. You should too."
"Was that a confession?"
The suspect smiled. "What it was was a bit of
friendly advice. And if you want me to stay friendly
then you'll leave me alone."
"Was that a threat?"
The suspect laughed. "You're a bit slow, aren't
you. Yeah, it was a threat! You don't understand
what I am, do you?"
"A mutant? An alien?"
The suspect shook his head. "Listen, hero, I am a
god. Mortals used to know not to mess with gods.
What happened last night was a reminder."
"I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me."
"I don't think so."
Extreme smiled. "You can't treat me the way you
treated that man last night."
"Don't be so sure," the suspect said and then used
his super speed and super strength to grab and lift a
steel girder to use as a weapon. He struck Extreme
and knocked him off his feet. "Too easy," he said.
Extreme got back up. "Everybody evacuate the area
for your own safety," he said, although he really
didn't ahve to do that because everybody working at
the site was already leaving.
The suspect was impressed. "Not bad. This will be
fun."
2:10 pm
Detective Michael King and John Phelps and Officers
Mark Johnston and Tom Jackson arrived on the scene as
shortly after the report came in on the radio.
"It looks like he's fighting the guy," Mark said.
"Good for him!" Tom said.
"It looks like it's over already," John said. "He's
bringing the suspect down to us."
Extreme flew the unconscious suspect down to show
the police. "This is your man. He confessed."
"Okay," Michael said. "Thanks. We'll take it from
here."
"Um, I'm sorry but I can't do that."
"What do you mean?"
"This man is too dangerous to be placed in your
custody."
"So what are you going to do with him?"
"We have a holding cell where we can keep
superpowered prisoners. I'll take him there."
"Where he can await trial."
"Um... you're going to have to talk to the Super
Soldier about that. This is our case now. Remember?"
And with that Extreme flew off, carrying the suspect
with him.
"What did he mean by that?" John asked. "What does
he mean it is there case?"
Michael cringed. "I didn't agree to this. He told
me I'm going to have to talk to the Super Soldier.
Well I'm going to do just that."
TO BE CONTINUED
Martin
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