[Superfreaks/ACRA] Superfreaks Season 2 #3

[Martin Phipps]

Michael King, Mary Bailey 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
aretruly our last line of defense.  But what about
thecapes whose cases they have to investigate?  Should
they be considered a help or a hindrance? 

                SUPERFREAKS SEASON 2 #3

                      "COGNITION"

                         PART I

12:02 am

  "So you say that these girls are all actual clones
of porn stars?" an anonymous pervert asked.
  "That's right.  And you get thirty minutes with the
one of your choice," the "massage" parlour owner told
him.
  "What if I need more than thirty minutes?"
  "Then you need to provide another hundred dollars. 
How much do you have on you?"
  "I have more than two hundred with me."
  "That should be enough.  Our customers are
usually... fully relaxed within half an hour of their
massage."
  Just then a man in a mask carrying a machine gun
barged through the front door.  "Everybody get down!"
he said.  He aimed his gun at the window in front of
the clones.  He opened fire and shot them all.  He
then left the way he came.
  "Somebody call the cops!"

12:58 am

  "I'm Detective John Phelps.  What happened here?"
  "Some madman broke in here and shot up all my
girls."
  "My God.  Did you see who it was?"
  "No.  He was wearing a mask."
  John grimaced.  "Okay.  We'll get people in here to
examine the scene and take the bodies to the morgue. 
We'll find the man who did this and we're going to put
him in jail for a long, long time."

9:01 am

  "Naomi, I need to speak to one of the detectives."
  Naomi Chen gave Suri Das a sympathetic look.  "I'm
sorry but they're all out on a case.  A whole bunch of
girls got shot at a massage parlour."
  "Okay.  When one of them comes back, tell them I
need to speak to them."
  "Will do."

10:02 am

  "All rise for the honourable Judge Kevin Matthews in
the case of Charles Perez versus the City of
Pepperton."
  Judge Matthews entered the court room and sat down
on the bench.  "You may sit down," he said.  "Mr. 
Russell, you may present your case."
  Pepperton District Attorney Alan Russell got up. 
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are here to
prove that this man here, Mr. Charles Perez, did
murder Dr. Kevin Knightly with his bare hands, in cold
blood, in a premeditated act when no human witnesses
were present.  The prosecution contends that there
were not only no other people in the zoo when it
happened but that he was identified as the killer by
our witness, a chimpanzee named Jacky."  He sat down.
  "Mr. Roeper?"
  Pepperton Public Defender Roger Roeper got up. 
"Ladies and gentlemen, the proscecution's case is
ludicrous.  A chimpanzee as a witness?  What will they
think of next?  If a parrot says he murdered Dr.
Knightly will they say the parrot is a credible
witness?  Ladies and gentlemen, you canot allow
yourselves to be swayed by the testimony of a witness
that isn't even human!  Thank you."

11:01 am

  "Mr. Craig Thomas?"
  "Yeah?"
  "I'm Detective John Phelps from the Pepperton
Police.  Are you the owner of the Pussycat Massage
Parlour?"
  "Yeah."
  "Are you aware that there was a shooting at the Miss
Galaxy Massage Parlour across the street from your
establishment?"
  "I heard about it on the news."
  "Members of your staff reported you leaving work
before midnight.  Can you tell us where you went after
that?"
  "I was tired.  I went home."
  "They tell us that was early for you and that you
are usually there until three in the morning."
  "Yeah well I had to run some errands yesterday."
  "Right."  John took out a piece of paper.  "I have a
warrant to search your apartment.  These two officers
and I will conduct the search."  He pointed to
Officers Mark Johnston and Tom Jackson who were
standing behind him.
  "I've got nothing to hide," Mr. Thomas insisted. 
"Come in."
  The three police officers searched separate rooms so
it wasn't long before they found what they were
looking for.
  "Is this your mask?" Mark Johnston asked.
  "Yeah," Craig said.  "I wore that last Halloween. 
Is that a crime?"
  "How about this machine gun?  Is _this_ yours?"
  "Ah."
  "Because owning a machine gun _is_ a crime.  And if
we can match this gun to the bullets fired at the
scene..."
  Mr. Thomas laughed.  "Look, guys, those girls were
all clones!  He was taking away my business!  That
means that my girls, my real human girls, aren't
getting a fair share!"
  "You're talking to the wrong person if you're
looking for sympathy," John said.  "You're under
arrest!"
  "Oh come on!"
  "Tom.  Read him his rights will you?  Then get him
out of my sight."
  
                        PART II

11:48 am (the same day)

  "Mr. Thompson, you are the zookeeper at the
Pepperton zoo, are you not?"
  "Yes."
  District Attorney Alan Russell nodded.  "Alright. 
And is it your contention that you can communicate
with Jacky the chimpanzee through sign language."
  "Yes, I can."
  "Alright.  Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I would
like to introduce to you Jacky the chimpanzee."
  Jacky walked into the courtroom whle holding the
hand of one of his handlers.  He was led up to the
witness box and placed on Carl Thompson's lap.
  "Mr. Thompson, would you please ask the chimpanzee
to point out the man who killed Dr. Knightly?"
  Carl Thompson spoke to Jacky using sign language. 
Jacky then pointed to Chuck Perez.  The jury members
all gasped.
  "Does the defense have any objection?" the judge
asked.
  Public Defender Roger Roeper confered with his
expert in sign language before answering.  "We don't,
your honour."
  "Do you wish to cross examine?"
  "We don't, your hounour."
  "Alright then.  We'll break for lunch then."

1:01 pm

  "Michael?"
  "Yes, Naomi?" Detective Michael King asked.
  "Suri Das wanted to speak with you."
  "Is he here right now?"
  "I think he went out for lunch."
  "Alright.  I'll talk to him when I see him."

2:03 pm

  Detective John Phelps went to the crime lab to see
forensic expert Edward Bailey.
  "Edward, have you examined the DNA from all the
victims in the Miss Galaxy Massage Parlour shooting
last night."
  "Yeah."
  "And?"
  "Eleven of the girls were clones but one of them was
the real Sahara Sands."
  "You're sure?"
  "Nuclei DNA and mitocondrial DNA were a match.  It's
definitely the real Sahara Sands and not a clone."
  "Why would the real Sahara Sands be working in a
massage parlour?"
  "Deniabilty perhaps.  If anybody recognizes her they
just think she's her own clone."
  "Okay, thanks."

3:40 pm

  "Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked.
  "We have your honour."
  "Please read the verdict to the court."
  "We the jury in the case of Charles Perez versus the
city of Pepperton find the defendent guilty on the
count of murder in the first degree."
  The judge nodded.  "Thank you.  Will the defendent
please stand."
  Chuck Perez got up.
  "Mr. Perez, you have been found guilty in the murder
of Dr. Keven Knightly and are hereby sentenced to
twenty years in prison with no possibility for
parole."
  "But your honour!  The witness is a fucking monkey!"
  "Order!  Order!  Officers take Mr. Perez away!"

4:32 pm

  "Suri?"
  "Ah!  Mr. King!"
  "You wanted to see me?" Michael asked.
  "Yes, I was reading about this case here.  The man
who killed a woman and buried her out in a field."
  "What about it?"
  "It wasn't his only victim."

                        PART III

9:43 am

  "Are you sure this is where you saw the killer bury
the body in your vision?" Detective Michael King asked
Psychic Investigator Suri Das.
  "Yes, I'm sure."
  "Because if your not sure..."
  "I'm sure."
  "I was about to say that we have no reason to think
that there was even a second victim."
  Just then, Officer Tom Jackson made an announcement.
 "Detective, you need to take a look at this."
  Officer Mark Johnston pointed at the body he'd found
buried one foot into the soil.  "Is that the girl you
saw in your vision?"
  The body was badly decomposed.  "I certainly hope
so.  If not then there'd be another one."

10:12 am

  "Hey, honey, sit down!  What can I do for you?"
  Mary smiled.  "I'm Detective Mary Bailey from the
Pepperton Police Department."
  "Oh.  I see.  Well then, am I in any trouble?"
  "Not yet.  You're Max Hardinger, the manager of the
porn star Sahara Sands?"
  "That's right."
  "I'm sorry to tell you this but she's dead."
  "Dead?  How?"
  "She was shot."
  Max cringed.  "Who did it?"
  "It was Craig Thomas, the owner of the Pussycat
Massage Parlour.  The shooting happened at the Miss
Galaxy Massage Parlour across the street from his
establishment."
  "What was Sahara doing at a massage parlour?"
  "She was working there."
  "What?  This is the first time I've heard of this."
  "She was apparently working there in secret."
  Max Hardinger laughed.  "Not possible.  Sahara Sands
is one of the most recognized faces in the porn
industry today."
  "She was able to work there in secret because people
assumed she was her clone."
  "What?  Well how do you know she wasn't a clone?"
  "Because her nuclei DNA was a match for her
mitocondrial DNA."
  "What?"
  "It was her.  It wasn't her clone."
  "My God."
  "On top of that the manager of the Miss Galaxy
Massage Parlour admits to hiring Sahara Sands under
the condition that she be introduced as her clone and
not the real Sahara Sands."
  "I'll sue the bastard!"
  Mary sighed.  "Mr. Hardinger, Craig Thomas is
already facing charges of manslaughter, assault,
trespass, property damage and criminal negligence. 
Any civil action you would want to file would have to
await the outcome of the criminal trial."
  "Alright.  I'll wait.  Meanwhile I'm short one
starlet."
  "I sympathize with yoyr position, I really do. 
Right now, however, I need you to come down to the
morgue and officially identify the body."
  "Yes.  Yes, of course."

11:20 am

  Detectives Michael King and John Phelps were meeting
to discuss what was now apparently a double murder.
  "What do the two victims have in common?" John
asked.
  "Not much," Michael admitted.  "They were both
students but they went to different universities. 
Wait."
  "You've got something?"
  "They were both enrolled at ELI language school. 
They were in the same Spanish class."
  "Alright.  Let's go."

11:50 am

  "Jordan Banks and Adriana Winphrey were my students,
yes," Miss Ruiz told them.
  "Was there anybody in your class who you would
describe as acting suspicious?" John asked her.
  She nodded.  "Yes, Matt Spencer.  He creeped out
everybody."
  "Would you happen to have an address for him?"
Michael asked.

1:20 pm

  John kicked open the door to Matthew Spencer's
appartment.  "Police!" he shouted.
  "What's this about?" Matt asked.
  "What do you know about the deaths of Jordan Banks
and Adriana Winphrey?" Michael asked him.
  Matt smiled... and disappeared.
  "He teleported!" John said.
  "No," Michael said, "we would have heard an audible
pop when he disappeared.  He must have turned
invisible.  He's still in the room!  Quick!  Close the
door!"
  Before John could close the door something -actually
someone- knocked him out of the way and sped outside. 
Michael opened fire but all he hit was the wall on the
other side of the hall.  Michael looked both ways out
the door but couldnb't tell which way Matt went.
  "He's gone," he said.
  "A serial killer who turns invisible?" John asked.
  "Looks like it."
  "So what do we do now?"
  "We're going to need help on this one."
  "The Extreme Force Six?"
  "Not them.  Not just yet."
  "Then who?"
  "Some old friends."

                    TO BE CONTINUED

Martin


 
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