Night of the Garrote (IC)

[ca_lazerdwarf]

Charlie stared in shock at the guy in the glasses. "Him." He said quickly, pointing at the screen and leaning in closer. "I saw him before the action started, something struck me as suspicious. Too nervous, twitchy. But I totally forgot him by the end of the fight. Just wanted to make sure your officers, and Mr. Lewis there were alright."

 

He watched more closely what the man did as the fight unfolded and more importantly, what he did afterwards. "I need to take notes next time," he said quietly to himself, "get too lost in the action."

[Thevshi]

Detective Erickson froze the image when Coiled Lightning pointed out the man with the round glasses.  He quickly jotted down a few notes before letting the recording continue once more.  The man watched as the fight unfolded, his body language somewhat hard to read on the tape. 

 

When the fight ended, he moved out as a crowd began to gather once more around the scene, but his attention seemed very much focused on the officer Charlie had handed the duffle bag to.  Once the duffle bag was placed into a squad car and taken from the scene, the man watched for a moment, then turned and left the area.

 

"Hmm, we will certainly have to see what we can find out about that guy."  Erickson stated as he turned the monitor off.  "Well, thank you for your help, both during the incident and now.  Is there a way we can reach you if we need to ask some follow up questions or come up with some possible leads?"

[ca_lazerdwarf]

Charlie dug a slip of paper out of his pocket, printed with a coiledLightning email address and passed it to the detective "I haven't set up anything official yet, but I'll watch this address if you find out anything more. I'd really like to know how this comes out, and of course will help out in any way I can. Just let me know."

He stood up to leave, but stopped and asked. "Could I get a copy of that video? Maybe I can remember something else about this guy if I look at it again later. Or see something else important that I missed."

[Thevshi]

"Thanks, we will be sure to be in touch."  Detective Erickson stated as he took the slip of paper with the email address Charlie had created for his alterego.  The detective took out a business card as well and handed it to the costumed hero.  "This is my contact information, so feel free to call me if you remember anything else or have some questions."

 

When Charlie asked about getting a copy of the video footage, the detective shook his head slightly.  "I'm afraid not, we have a pretty tight policy on when we share evidence with costumed crime fighters.  You are certainly welcome to come back and look at it again if you want, and I might get in touch with you when we have one of our tech experts go in and try to clean things up some."

[ca_lazerdwarf]

"That's ok I understand" Charlie said "Policies and all. Well, I'm glad I could help where I could. I'll keep in touch." He headed back out of the precinct, nodding to the officer at the desk as he left.

Once outside, he walked around the building, looking for signs of where the breakin had occurred. Fourth floor, he remembered and used his whip to pull himself up the wall toward the upper windows. A slight adjustment on his whip caused it to start spitting out a shower of brilliantly luminous sparks, giving him light to see as he looked for any obvious clues the criminals could have left behind.

[Thevshi]

Coiled Lightning used his whip to pull himself up to the upper floors of the police station.  It did not take long to find the likely window, as he found one of the fourth floor windows broken and a temporary board put in to cover it from the inside. 

 

As it turned out, the window was right by a fire escape, providing rather easy access for whomever had broken in to seal the time capsule contents.  But looking around the fourth floor section of the fire escape and the ledge by the window turned up nothing that looked to be any sort of clue.

 

Moving down into the alleyway beside the station that the fire escape led down to, Coiled Lighting began to search around for any other clues.  At first it seemed that there was nothing out of the ordinary in the alley, but as he moved toward the back, he spotted something white lying off to one side of the alley.  It turned out to be an old white hankerchief.  Embroidered on the hankerchief was a name: Zeke Simmons.

[ca_lazerdwarf]

Charlie shook his head as he looked at the fire escape. Not the most secure room to have chosen to store the evidence. Then again, who would expect someone to break in to a police station? He was pretty sure the police would have found any clues left behind and was surprised when his side-trek prooved fruitful. His first instinct was to pocket the handkerchief for later, but probably better to let the police examine it. He left the handkerchief behind and turned to go tell Detective Erickson about it.

 

But the lab boys probably had gone home already, Charlie reasoned. He could do a little research on the name first, maybe find something about him before the police. A quick trip home, an image search, social media search, should tell him if Zeke Simmons was the disheveled man at the time capsule scene. Then, he could send Erickson a message, letting him know to check out the handkerchief.

[Thevshi]

Once back at home, Charlie began trying to run searches on the name embroidered on the hankerchief. Looking on a number of search engines and social media, Charlie found a number of profiles and pictures for people named Zeke Simmons. But none of the pictures were of the disheveled man he had seen at the demolition site or on the surveillance videos. Similarly, the facebook profiles and linked in accounts that he found with that name, were not for people in Freedom City. The nearest one was someone in New York City.

[ca_lazerdwarf]

"So much for that idea", muttered Charlie. He poked around the facebook accounts a bit more, growing more frustrated. "Guess I should turn it over to the professionals." He typed up an email to Detective Erickson explaining that he had poked around outside the police office. He left he detective the name and described the location of the handkerchief, suggesting the lab boys have a look at it as soon as possible.

 

He waited for a reply as he tried to consider another move. "Who would have thought there'd be more than one Zeke Simmons?" he said to himself, "Which one would have a reason to be in Freedom?" He checked employers for any with an office in the city, for jobs with reasons to travel or for any connection with the Mayfair building.

[Thevshi]

After shooting off the email to Detective Erickson, Charlie spent a bit more time looking through the profiles for the various Zeke Simmons he had found.  A couple did work for companies that had offices in Freedom City, while one of the others had a job that likely involved some travel.  But there was nothing that seemed to connect any of them to the Mayfair building or suggest they were currently in Freedom City.  In addition, all three were in their late 20's, early 30's, and did not seem like the type to be carrying around a monogrammed handkerchief.

 

By the time Charlie had given up on finding some easy connection, he had received an email back from Detective Erickson stating they had found the handkerchief and would be having it analyzed.  The detective further indicated he would be in touch when they had some new information.

[ca_lazerdwarf]

Charlie nodded at the computer, then logged out and shut down. He set up his phone to buzz him silently if any mail came to that account. "I don't think I'm going to get anything else done tonight. Need to get some sleep anyway, if I'm going to get up on time tomorrow."

 

He packed up his gear and slipped in to bed, groaning as he accidentally overstretched a still tender muscle. But the excitement and exertions of the day had taken their toll, and sleep soon came to sooth all his aches. "Just hope the alarm is loud enough..." he thought as he drifted off.

[Thevshi]

Charlie was able to get up in time to make it to work the following morning, his soreness from the day before having mostly faded. Once at work, the events of the night before faded somewhat into the back of his mind as he settled into the routine of work. The day passed rather quickly, despite the nagging feelings in the back of his mind about the theft of the contents of the time capsule. When he was able to sneak some time and check the email he used as Coiled Lightning, he was disappointed to find nothing new from Detective Erickson.

That night he and Jane went out for dinner, and still there was nothing from the police. Spending time relaxing with Jane at home, Charlie did his best to keep the thoughts of the case from his mind.

The next morning he was back at work when Jane handed him a copy of the Daily Herald. "Hey, did you see this?"

Murder Shocks The Theater District
by Scott Lewis

Late last night, the police found the body of a homeless man in an alley in the Theater District. The cause of death is at this time unknown, but witnesses have reported that the man was found with pennies set over his eyes.

Many of my readers might recognize that the Garrote killer would leave pennies on the eyes of his victims back in the early 30’s. The police currently have no comment on this apparent copycat killing, but the fact remains that many believe objects tied to the Garrote were within the time capsule unearthed at the Mayfair Building Wednesday evening. As I reported yesterday, only the timely intervention of the hero Coiled Lightning prevented a costumed criminal from stealing the capsule's contents, but it now turns out that the contents were ultimately stolen right from under the police department’s noses that same night.

How all of this might connect to this recent murder is unknown. But certainly the community in the Theater District are on edge because of the killing.

[ca_lazerdwarf]

Charlie quickly read the paper, suppressing a smile as he saw his name called out. He turned it to a frown when he remembered how serious this situation was. "We've got sick people in this city, someone preying on the homeless like this."

He put the paper down and thought for a second, "I don't buy that this is really the same guy, though, as those old murders back in the 30s. Someone with a sick need to get his name in the papers."

It occurred to him that he could have prevented this, if he'd been able to find a lead the other night, or he'd been able to protect the evidence and stop the break-in. He needed to find a way to get back in to this investigation. He looked back at Jane and added, "Let's not catch any shows for a while, though."

[Thevshi]

"It's probably not." Jane replied in agreement to Charlie's comments about how this recent murder was likely not the work of the original Garrote. "But, it does seem a bit odd that some copycat has decided to start acting now, when there was all this recent news and stuff about those old murders."

When Charlie mentioned not going to any shows for awhile, Jane gave a small frown, but it was a bit of a joking one, as she then became more serious and gave a small nod. "Yeah, might be best to be careful until the police are able to round up whoever is behind this. Anyway, I have my book group tonight, remember?"

[ca_lazerdwarf]

"Yeah, I remember" Charlie replied about book group, "It means Call of Duty and Pizza night. Can't wait. You should have book club more often." He joked.

 

"I'm sure the cops will wrap up that murder case, though." He said heading back out to the garage, "They're the professionals, after all."

 

But, of course, Charlie had no intention of leaving it the the police, and as enticing as Call of Duty and pizza were, he knew his first order of business was checking in with Detective Erickson. He sent an email, requesting any details the detective could provide, but assumed he would have to go down to the station in person after work. It might also prove worthwhile to pay a visit to Scott Lewis, to see if his sources had any more details that didn't make it in the article.

[Thevshi]

"Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you?" Jane stated with a small smirk at Charlie's comment about having her book club meetings more often. She then turned back to her work as Charlie made his way back out to the garage.

When he logged into the account he used for Coiled Lightning, Charlie found an email already waiting for him from Detective Erickson. It did not have any details, the detective clearly worried about discussing any sensitive information by email, but the message did state that he wanted to talk with Charlie about "recent developments." The detective asked when Charlie might be able to make his way over to the precinct.

[ca_lazerdwarf]

Charlie wrote back to the detective that he can come in after closing hours. He hoped he could finish up with the cars in the garage early and get back on the case. Hopefully no more murders would go down before nighttime. Though night was coming on earlier and earlier these days.

He rolled up his sleeves and dived in to the engine in front of him. What could this all mean, anyway? Was that cloak more than just evidence about the identity of the garrote? Would whoever had the cloak be driven to carry on the same murders? It didn't make sense. He hoped the police had found some more leads so that he could put an end to all this.

[Thevshi]

Charlie did his best to focus back on work in order to get the rest of the day pass quicker. While it was not easy, he was able to focus on the work he had, and eventually the day came to a close as he and his co-workers went about the process of closing up the shop.

With Jane busy with her book group, Charlie was able to waste little time in grabbing a quick bite of food and then changing into is costume and heading off into the city towards the Midtown precinct. This time, when he made his way into the entryway of the station, he found it a bit more crowded than it had been the other night. In addition, the officer behind the front desk looked up and seemed to recognize him, as he gave a small nod.

"Coiled Lightning right? Just a moment, I'll call the detective and let him know you're here."

[ca_lazerdwarf]

This time, since it was earlier, Charlie didn't worry about startling anyone and swung right up to the front of the precinct. He landed next to the door and deactivated his whip with a flourish.

 

After walking in and being addressed by the officer at the desk, he replied. "Yeah, Coiled Lightning, that's me. Detective Erickson asked me to come speak with him." As he waited for the detective, he looked around the station at the variety of people here in the evening. He flashed a smile and tipped his hat at anyone who looked at him.

[Thevshi]

It did not take long for Detective Erickson to make his way out to meet Charlie this time, and soon the pair were making their way back to the upper floors where the detective had his desk. "Thanks for coming down when you could." Erickson stated as they walked down a hallway. "Things have been rather crazy around here since that murder. We can talk a bit more about that soon, but first I wanted you to see some of the other stuff we have come up with."

The detective led the hero into a room along toward the end of the hallway, inside Charlie found several computers and monitors. Seated at them was a twenty-something man in jeans and a sweatshirt. He was of average height, with a rather thin build.

"Coiled Lightning, allow me to introduce Lance Ricks, a photograph and video analyst for the FCPD. Lance, this is Coiled Lightning, the guy that helped stop the theft at the Mayfair Building."

"Nice to meet you." Lance stated with a smile, extending his hand to Charlie.

[ca_lazerdwarf]

"Nice to meet you as well," Charlie said giving Lance a firm handshake, "I'm just glad to be able to help the city out."

 

"Did you have any lucky identifying that man from the video?" he asked as he peered at some of the monitors in front of Lance. "Or did something else pop out of the footage for a trained eye? It really frustrates me that I wasn't able to notice a single thing that would help me track these guys down. Especially if they're involved with that murder and it's not just a weird copycat"

[Thevshi]

Lance gave Coiled Lightning a small smile.  "In fact, I have had some success in that regard."  He stated as he turned his chair back around and pulled up one of the videos from the Mayfair Building incident.  The video was stopped on a frame showing the disheveled man.  "So, here is our guy.  Nothing new here, you've already seen it."  Lance then pulled up another image on one of the other monitors.  It was the same man, again among a crowd of other people, but Charlie could tell it was not at the Mayfair Building, but he was not exactly where the image was from.

 

"And here he is again."  Lance said.  "A little over an hour after Slice and his crew tried to steal the time capsule contents at the Mayfair Building.  This time, he is in the crowd of people that had gathered here outside the precinct to try to see if there would be any news about what was in the time capsule.  He hung around for about half an hour or so, before he head off to the south and we lose sight of him.  That was less than an hour before someone broke in and stole the stuff out of the conference room."

 

Some more typing and Lance used another one of the monitors to pull up what appeared to be the DMV records system, and there displayed was a picture of the same man, identified as one Avery Bittman, who resided in Freedom City.  "Mr. Bittman here is the owner and curator of Bittman's Wax Museum down in the Theater District."  

[ca_lazerdwarf]

"Still no real evidence that he's involved, of course, other than my hunch." Charlie looked over Mr. Bittman's records, "Could have just been interested in the time capsure, same as I was. Maybe he's got a exhibit on the garrote down at the wax museum." Then he quiety added "Those places creep me out, though. Wouldn't surprise me someone who ran one of those was up to something like this..."

 

"It is a coincidence that the murder took place in the theater district too, though. Any chance it was near the museum?"

[Thevshi]

"Yes, unfortunately we do not quite have enough to go on just yet to seek a warrant to search his home or the museum." Detective Erickson replied with a small frown. "Still, we are going to be putting some surveillance on him, try to keep an eye on him"

"The murder last night was about ten blocks from the museum." Lance replied. "Not too far, but still not really enough to make a direct link." He paused a moment then continued. "I also found out some information about the name on that handkerchief you found in the alley, Zeke Simmons."

Lance took the computer mouse once more, and pulled up another window on the monitor that had been showing the DMV records for Bittman. This one showed a copy of a newspaper article that looked rather old to Charlie. There was a somewhat fuzzy picture of a man in his early forties and dressed in a suit next to the article. "Mr. Simmons was a businessman and self-made millionaire back in the twenties and early thirties. But he disappeared in 1933, the last day that anyone can truly say to have seen him was the day of the last Garrote murder."

[ca_lazerdwarf]

"But that wasn't an 80 year old handkerchief, was it?"  Charlie asked, trying to picture it again in his head, "I guess it looked pretty old. Why would someone have been carrying this guy's handkerchief? Could it have been part of the stolen evidence from the time capsule? Though I can't think of any reason for it to have been in there either."

 

"Any relation between Bittman and Simmons? Maybe he knows Simmons's grandcihildren or something." Charlie struggled to think of a connection between the clues and the case. He was just going to have to talk to Bittman.