Superfreaks/ACRA: Superfreaks Season 3 #9

[Martin Phipps]

The public interest is served by five equally
important groups: the detectives who investigate
crimes, the medical examiners who perform autopsies on
the victims, the forensic experts who examine the
evidence, the police who arrest the suspects and the
district attornies who try the cases.  These are their
stories.

                 Superfreaks Season 3 #9

        Law, Forensic Science, Order and Justice

A far away planet.  One week ago.

  Lord Kuoto looked at General Kaiko with disgust.
  "For almost a year now," he said, "you have been
attacking Earth with monsters and giant robots and
each time you have been defeated by either Gonjira or
the Power Scouts!"
  "Forgive me, my Lord!"
  "Silence!  I have had enough of your waste of
resources!"
  "But I am sure that the next monster will defeat
Gonjira!  And the next giant robot will defeat the
Power Scouts!"
  "So you have been telling me for months!  Don't you
think it is time to change your strategy for invading
Earth?"
  "What do you suggest, my Lord?"
  "For one thing, you might consider attacking a city
other than Tokyo!"
  "I see.  Perhaps Osaka then."
  "No!  Perhaps not even a city in Japan at all!"
  "But then how will we defeat the Power Scouts if we
don't attack their country and draw them out?"
  "Fool!  It is because you attack Japan that you have
always been defeated!  Why not attack another country
altogether?  It would be the last thing they would
expect!"
  "What country, my Lord?"
  "I don't know.  How about the United States?  Once
the United States falls under our control, the entire
Western Hemisphere will fall with it!  Then we will
have bases from which to launch attacks against the
Power Scouts in Japan!  With such an overwhelming
attack, even they must fall!"
  "Brilliant, my Lord!  Which American city will feel
the brunt of our attack?"
  Lord Kuoto sighed.  "I know so little about that
part of Earth.  Just pick a large city on the East
Coast!"
  "As you wish, my Lord!  Our next attack will be
launched against Pepperton!"

Da dum.

Same planet.  Today.

  "Why have you returned so soon?" Lord Kuoto asked.
  "Forgive me, my Lord!" General Kaito said.  "I have
failed you again!"
  "How is that possible?  Our plan was foolproof!"
  General Kaito sighed.  "Pepperton had defenders of
its own!  A couple of them even could fly!  Another
had these knives that could cut through our robots
like butter!  And even ordinary people off the street
had powers!  One woman shot flames from her hands!  A
man used explosive arrows to fell one of our robots! 
And when our forces were driven out to sea the very
fish of the ocean rose up against us!"
  Lord Kuoto shook his head.  "Unbelievable!"
  "It's true, my Lord!"
  "Do we hjave anything left of our forces?"
  "Not for another week, my Lord!"
  "Very well.  Next time stick to just attacking
Japan."

Da dum.

Pepperton.

  Officers Mark Johnston and Tom Jackson surveyed the
aftermath of the latest battle to take place in
Pepperton.
  "That robot over there was destroyed by Extreme,"
Mark told Tom, "and the other one was destroyed by
Colonel Wonder."
  "Who?"
  "Colonel Wonder."  Mark shrugged his shoulders.  "He
shows up maybe once a decade and gives Extreme a hand.
 I guess he's from Neon too."
  "It all happened so fast," Tom said.
  "Yeah," Mark agreed.  "It's a wonder nobody was
killed."
  "Help!  Police!" a city worker cried out just then.
  "What seems to be the problem?" Mark asked.
  "We just found a body!"

Da dum.

  "You don't need to be here," Detective John Phelps
told Detective Michael King.
  "Why not?"
  "The victim was crushed when a giant alien robot
stepped on him.  There's no mystery here."
  Michael smiled.  "Every death in Pepperton is
treated as suspicious.  You know that."
  John nodded.  "Except in this case it's pretty clear
that the cause of death was blunt force trauma exerted
by giant foot."

Da dum.

Pepperton City Morgue.

  "Cause of death was a bullet to the brain,"
Pepperton Chief Medical Examiner Jack Greenspan said.
  "Are you sure?" Michael asked.
  Jack nodded.  "There's no way he was shot after
being crushed.  And the crime scene photos indicate
that he bled out before being crushed."
  Michael considered his colleague's point.  "That
would explain why he didn't run out of the way to
avoid having the foot step on him.  If he was already
dead I mean."
  Jack shrugged his shoulders.  "I can't guarantee
that he was already dead when the foot crushed him."
  "But you don't think he was going anywhere."
  "He was most likely shot where you found him."
  Michael nodded.  "There was no blood trail leading
from anywhere else."
  "And in my experience people don't usually get up
and walk after getting shot in the head."
  Michael sighed.  "Alright.  So the question is then
who shot him."

Da dum.

The Crime Lab.  Pepperton Precinct One.

  "I ran a comparison like you asked of the bullet
Jack recovered from the victim with bullets recovered
from other crime scenes," Edward Bailey said.
  "And?" Michael asked.
  "I found a match."
  "Good work!"
  Edward called up a rap sheet on his computer screen.
 "The bullet came from a gun used ten years ago in a
bank robbery.  Tony Petrelli was charged and convicted
of both armed robbery and the second degree murder of
a bank employee.  The money, the gun and his partner
were never found."
  "We're going to have to speak to Tony Petrelli and
ask him what happened to that gun."
  "That might be difficult: Tony Petrelli was released
just a week ago."
  "That can't be a coincidence!"
  "Are we sure our victim isn't Tony Petrelli
himself?"

Da dum.

The Sax in the City Club.

  "We're looking for a Tony Petrelli," Officer Mark
Johnston told the club owner.  "Have you seen him?"
  "Maybe," the club owner said.  "What's he supposed
to have done?"
  "We're thinking he either killed somebody or got
killed by somebody," Mark told him.
  "Well, it ain't the latter."
  "How can you be so sure?" Officer Tom Jackson asked
him.
  "Because he's sitting right over there!" the owner
said, pointing out the suspect.
  "Thanks," Mark told him.
  The two officers walked over to where Tony Petrelli
was sitting down.
  "Tony Petrelli?"
  "What can I do for you, officers?" he asked.
  "You're going to have to come with us," Mark told
him.
  "Why?"
  "Detectives at the station have some questions they
want to ask you."

Da dum.

The Interogation Room.  Pepperton Precinct One.

  "I'll ask you again," Detective John Phelps said,
drilling the suspect, "what happened to the gun you
used to kill William Jacobs?"
  "I don't know," Tony lied.
  "So explain to me how just one week after you get
released from jail we find a bullet from that gun in a
dead body?"
  "Beats me," Tony said.
  Just then Detective Michael King walked into the
interogation room.  He whispered to John.  They
stepped out of the room for a moment.
  "What's so important that you had to tell me now?"
  "On a hunch," Michael told him, "I had Edward
compare Tony's DNA with the victim's."
  "And?"
  "Tony and the victim are brothers."
  John's eyes widenned.  He then went back into the
room.
  "Tell me, Tony, whatever happened to your brother
Eddie?"
  Tony swallowed hard.
  "Ten years ago we were sure that Eddie was the guy
who helped you rob the bank, except he had an alibi. 
So what happened, Tony?  Did it piss you off that your
brother got away with it and you got sent up for ten
years?  Did he refuse to give you your share of the
loot?  Did he claim to have spent it all?"
  "I want a lawyer!" Tony decided.

Da dum.

The office of the Pepperton District Attorney.

  "What evidence do you have against him?" DA Alan
Russell asked Detective King.
  "The gun used to kill Eddie Petrelli was the same
gun used to kill William Jacobs at the Pepperton
National Bank ten years ago.  A subsequent search of
the Petrelli family home turned up the gun.  It had
Tony's fingerprints on it."
  "Okay," Alan said.  "The only problem is that Tony's
been in jail for the past ten years.  So where's the
gun been all this time."
  "Tony won't tell us."
  "Of course not!" Alan laughed.  "So where do you
think it's been?"
  "Our theory is that Eddie was the other bank robber
and that Eddie had the gun."
  "So Eddie just handed Tony the gun that Tony used to
kill him?"
  Michael grimaced.  "Good point."
  Alan nodded.  "Try to find out where that gun has
been."

The Interogation Room.  Pepperton Precinct One.

  "The gun used to kill your brother has your
fingerprints on it," Michael told Tony.  "Care to
explain why?"
  "I'm advising you not to answer that question!"
Roger Roeper told his client.
  Michael sighed.  "Don't you want to know who killed
your brother?" he asked.
  "My brother was killed when a giant alien robot
stepped on him!" Tony told him.  "You planted evidence
to frame me!"
  "That's enough!" Roger warned him.  "Look, if you're
just going to badger my client..."
  Michael sighed.  "Tony, your brother's dead.  You
might as well tell us if he was your partner in the
bank robbery."
  "I loved my brother!" Tony said.
  "Is that a yes or a no?"
  "You've got nothing on me!  Nothing!"

Da dum.

The office of the Pepperton District Attorney.

  "Okay," Michael said, "how's this?"
  "I'm listening," Alan told him.
  "Tony gets out of jail and he immediately goes to
see his brother but his brother turns him away.  Later
he comes back when his brother isn't home, breaks in
and starts searching for the money they stole ten
years ago.  Instead, he finds his old gun.  He then
uses the gun to shoot his brother.  He then returns
the gun back where he found it."
  "And your new evidence is?"
  "There's evidence of the lock on the door to the
Petrelli family home having been recently jimmied. 
And Tony Petrelli's rap sheet includes breaking and
entering.  Well?"
  Alan nodded.  "We're going to trial."

Da dum.

Tony Petrelli trial.  Day one.

  "Your honour, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,"
Alan Russell began.  "Tony Petrelli is accused of
killing his own brother.  Our evidence includes a gun
with Tony Petrelli's fingerprints, a gun used to kill
Eddie Petrelli and which was also used by Tony
Petrelli ten years ago in a bank robbery where he
killed Pepperton National Bank employee William
Jacobs.  The gun was found in the Petrelli family
home.  The people will argue that Tony Petrelli found
this gun in his brother's home while he was searching
the house for the money the two of them stole ten
years ago."  He sat down.
  "Do you wish to present your opening statement now,
Mr. Roeper?" the judge asked Roger Roeper.
  "I do, your honour."  Roger faced the jury.  "What
the prosecution hasn't told you, ladies and gentlemen,
is that Eddie Petrelli was found crushed under a alien
giant robot foot.  Cause of death was clearly due to
being crushed by this foot."

Da dum.

Tony Petrelli trial.  Day two.

  "Cause of death was a bullet to the brain,"
Pepperton Chief Medical Examiner Jack Greenspan
testified.
  "Are you sure?" Alan Russell asked.
  Jack nodded.  "There's no way he was shot after
being crushed.  That's why he didn't run out of the
way to avoid having the foot step on him.  Whether or
not he was already dead when the foot crushed him is
beside the point because he died as a direct result of
having been shot."
  "Thank you.  No further questions."  Alan went to
sit down.
  "Your witness, Mr. Roeper," the judge said.
  Roger Roeper approached the bench.  "Dr. Greenspan,
how do you know that Eddie wasn't shot _after_ being
crushed."
  "I reconstructed the victim's skull and there was a
clear entry wound.  The victim's skull was then
crushed after he was shot.  Besides, the crime scene
photos indicate that he bled out before being
crushed."
  "How can you tell?"
  "There was high velocity splatter at the scene
consistent with the shooting of a live victim."
  "Couldn't that splatter also be consistent with
Eddie simply falling while trying to escape the giant
robot?"
  "No, it could not."
  "Alright.  Any reason to believe that the bullet in
Eddie Petrelli's head hadn't been there for years?"
  Jack shook his head.  "You don't get a bullet like
that in your head and continue walking around."
  "In your opinion."
  "In my expert opinion as the Cheif Medical Examiner
of Pepperton City."
  "Alright.  Fine.  No more questions."
  "You may step down," the judge told Dr. Greenspan.

Da dum.

Tony Petrelli trial.  Day three.

  "Has the jury reached a verdict?"
  "We have, your honour.  In the case of Tony Petrelli
versus the city of Pepperton, the jury finds the
defendent, Tony Petrelli, guilty of first degree
murder."
  Public Defender Roger Roeper sadly congratulated
District Attorney Alan Russell.

Da dum.

A warehouse at Stern Industrustries.

  Carlos Faulkner woke up and found himself tied to a
chair.  He recognised the man standing in fron to him.
  "Terry Stern!" he said.  "What is this all about?"
  Terry smiled.  "You remember how a year and a half
ago I went to jail for your murder.  Except you
weren't dead?"
  "So what is this?" Carlos asked.  "Revenge?"
  "Not at all," Terry told him.  "On the contrary,
I've learned the error of my ways."
  "Really?  You could have fooled me!"
  "I should never have shot you."
  "Okay.  I won't argue with that."
  "Because I now realise that your blood has special
healing properties.  If I can isolate the agent in
your blood that heals you then I could cure all
disease."
  "True," Carlos admitted, "but you could have just
asked."
  "Granted," Terry told him, "but in the meantime I
can just drain blood from you everyday and build up a
supply of it that rich buyers everywhere will pay a
fortune for!"
  "You're mad!" Carlos told him.  "You can't drain my
blood against my will!"
  "I can and I will!" Terry laughed.  "All these years
I was sitting on a gold mine!  The fountain of youth
was within my grasp and I never took advantage of it
until today!  I could have made billions by now."  He
shook his head.  "How ironic!"

                    TO BE CONTINUED!

Martin


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