"STOP! IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!" Yelled Action as he gave chase to the mysterious woman who went by the name of Leanne MacGregor. She was the new chief suspect in the attempt to kill Policewoman Marina Beckett, Alan Cuffe, Madelyn Buchanan and Lily Feng. Action had been alerted to Leanne's presence in Foundry Cove by his neighbour, Suzy Kent, an intrepid reporter who had done much to uncover who was behind these crimes. Suzy had spotted Leanne in the street, confronted her and found out her name before being threatened by the strange woman. Suzy then immediately roused Action, who grabbed his .38 service revolver and set off in pursuit.
Action had an athlete's physique and was able to run at speed as soon as he shot out of his front door. Within seconds he had turned the corner into the main road and could see Leanne up ahead. He yelled his challenge, all the while preparing to ready his revolver in case she was armed. But the woman just walked casually ahead, not gathering pace but not slowing down either. She completely ignored the challenge he had shouted and walked on.
"STOP! POLICE!" he yelled again, gun in hand. She ignored him and walked on. Action was perplexed: He was running at full speed and yet despite the fact she appeared to be casually walking he hadn't gained on her: She was always constantly 30 feet away from him, he didn't understand how. He now considered firing a warning shot to stop her but, suddenly, the brilliant white headlights of a car which was heading towards him momentarily blinded his vision.
When he'd recovered his eyesight, seconds later, Leanne was nowhere to be seen.
Action was mystified by all this: Where did she go? How did she maintain that same distance from him despite his chasing after her? He looked down the road: It was the main road through Foundry Cove with no side streets for 500 yards in the direction she was heading so she couldn't have gone down there. He frantically looked into people's front yards and in the communal garden in case she was hiding but she was nowhere to be found. Perhaps she lived locally and had vanished into one of these houses? He decided to go door to door, prepared to wake people up if necessary, to find her. After two hours of this he'd turned up nothing: No one had seen her, no one had heard of her name and although some people had heard him shouting to her to stop, no one had witnessed anything. He went back home, called Precinct 13 and explained the situation to the head of the night shift. An APB was put out for any units in the area who had seen her: They were to detain her and take her to the precinct house.
The next day Action arrived for his shift despite only getting 4 hours sleep the night before. This case had now moved up a gear and he was too restless and fired up to take things easy. He headed straight to his desk in the squad room to file a full report on what he had seen and the actions he took the previous evening. Seeing Action working frantically at his desk, Duty Sergeant Kitchen approached him.
"Did Night Shift find anything, Sarge?" Action asked.
Kitchen shook his head. "They did a thorough house to house search and turned up nothing" he replied.
"Well, we've got a name, an age and a physical description so the next step is to get a photofit image of her and get it to all units." said Action.
"Have you considered that might not be her real name?" asked Kitchen.
Action said nothing but gave Kitchen a look that said "don't insult my intelligence".
A uniformed policeman entered the squad room and said "The chief wants to see you, Action". Action got up from behind his desk and went to the Chief's office.
Two other police officers were present, one of them being Cole Michaels of the Juvenile Investigation Team...or 'Mod Squad' as it was informally known as.
"Action!" bellowed the Chief. "What's the latest on this woman?"
"I'm getting a photofit image of her so we can distribute that to all our mobile units, witnesses and newspapers. We have a name...which is probably false but nonetheless a name she uses. She gave her age as 27, which fits her physical description and another clue is that she says she's originally from out of town."
There was more Action could have mentioned: The claims she was a hypnotist, or could levitate or that strange way she could just stay ahead of him as he chased her without breaking into a run. To bring up those things to the Chief would probably lead him to being suspended and sent off to see a psychiatrist. Instead, Action suppressed that information.
"So how did she get away?" said the Chief.
"She's skilled at escape and evasion, she managed to infiltrate Cuffe's house and plant a bomb and she's most likely the one who tried to shoot Lily Feng. My guess is that she's a spook" replied Action.
"A spook?" the Chief didn't recognise the term.
"A spy, a secret agent...maybe one of ours, more likely a foreign agent. That hint 'I'm from out of town' could be a clue. It fits that she's works or has worked for some Intelligence agency."
The Chief paced up and down the office. "Dammit! If that's the case then we'll have the F.B.I. and the N.S.A. on our backs! The paperwork...the paperwork!" he said.
"Sir...I want to get back out on the street, I want to shake down my informants...one of them should give us a lead." said Action.
The Chief nodded before turning to Cole. "And I want your team to work their contacts and informants as well. Apparently she's a fashionable young woman so she might be known in the latest trendy spots...your pimply squad should know where to look"
Cole said a brisk "yes sir!".
Action and Cole left the Chief's office and walked down the hall to the reception area together.
"So, Action, what avenue will you be pursing next?" Cole asked.
"Question everyone working for Cuffe and the Fengs. Maybe this Leanne works in either organisation or has a contact in them. I've asked one of Cuffe's Kittens to meet me here to give a statement.
"Well...if you need any help interrogating her then I'm available" said Cole. "I mean I could be good cop, you could be bad cop"
"Easy bucko..." said Action. "I know your angle: This isn't a pick-up joint. You get your squad out there into the clubs and I'll work with Miss Black Cat herself". They could see, at the front desk, a strikingly attractive black woman who Action recognised from the time he had attended a Kitten Club meeting. Her name was Yadira Rosado but was known publicly as Miss Black Cat: Kitten of the Month for May 1966.
"Yadira, good of you to come down" Action said. "I need to ask some questions about the fire"
"Sure" Yadira replied. "But I wasn't there so all I know is what I learned from Alan and Madelyn...oh, and what I saw on the news"
"Maybe you can shed some light on another matter" Action replied. "Does the name Leanne McGregor ring any bells for you?"
"No, can't say it does" replied Yadira.
"Take a look at this picture...does she seem familiar?" he said, showing her the photofit image. Yadira studied it for 10 seconds.
"Yeah, she does seem familiar. I've seen her about...we did a show down at the Blue Velvet club last month and I saw her in the crowd. It was weird; everyone was dancing and grooving but not her...that's why I remember...it seemed odd and out of place that she wasn't joining in. Then, last week, I saw her again outside the Kitten Club in Newcrest when we had the big grand opening. Again, she didn't come in to the club but she was hanging around for quite a while outside. I remember arriving at the club in my normal clothes, going in to change into my costume and when I was ready I walked past the entrance and she was still there! Half an hour after I'd arrived and still standing in the same spot!"
All this went into Action's notes but now he had to follow up this lead and head over to the newly built Kitten Club itself.
The club had opened only last week and was one of the brand new developments in Newcrest. It looked pretty smart on the outside and Action was impressed. He couldn't work out if Alan Cuffe, the founder of the Kitten Club and proprietor of Lothario magazine was the sexually liberated man of pleasure he made himself out to be or was he hiding something more sinister and criminal?
The interior didn't disappoint either. It was large, modern and decked out in black, white and red. Action sauntered past the bar and noticed the large dance floor in an adjacent room. He nodded to the bartender "Is the boss in?" he asked.
"Upstairs" the man replied.
Action headed straight upstairs to find Cuffe and noticed his assistant, Madelyn, dressed up in her Kitten outfit and talking to a smart looking business type.
"Why, Detective Action, is this a business visit or....are you here for pleasure?" she said, flirtatiously.
"It's business today. Is Cuffe around?" replied Action.
"He's over there...shame you're here on business. Why not visit another time and have a little fun instead?" she said, winking at him.
"I might just do that" said Action.
Action saw Cuffe in the distance, talking to a member of his staff. He sauntered over to the man and directly interrupted their conversation.
"Under no circumstances are the staff to reveal any of their personal details: Last names, addresses or phone numbers. You got that?" said Cuffe. The man nodded.
"Mr Cuffe" said Action.
"Detective...you have this unerring gift of showing up when I'm at my busiest" replied Cuffe.
"I need to ask some more questions"
"I figured that the moment I saw you enter...let's go over here; it's more discrete." Cuffe showed Action over to a seating area with deep, leather sofas. "Do you like the place, Detective? This is phase 3 of my grand business plan."
"What were phases 1 & 2?" asked Action.
"Phase 1 was the establishment of Lothario magazine, phase 2 was the creation of a social club and an image in human form..."
"The Kittens"
"That's right. This is phase 3: The building of a bricks and mortar venue for men of taste and sophistication to meet women who can satisfy those needs"
"Some might call that prostitution" said Action, cynically.
"Detective, I am disappointed with your grubby imagination. This is not vice...no money changes hands for 'services rendered'. This is a venue to facilitate liberated social interaction, I make money from club membership, food and drink and merchandising. Now I thought you were investigating the attempts on mine and Madelyn's lives"
"And also my colleague, Marina" said Action.
"Of course. I hear she's been discharged from hospital now. Excellent news. Now what do you wish to ask me about?"
Action pulled out the photofit image. "Do you recognise this woman? She goes by the name of Leanne McGregor" he said.
Cuffe took the image and looked at it, at one time holding it at arms length from his face. "Hmmm, can't say I do" was all he replied.
"Look at it again. This woman was standing for half an hour outside of your club on the opening day. One of your closest members of staff remembers seeing her and I bet if I asked around more would recognise her as well. Funny that you don't, seeing that you oversaw everything on that opening day."
"Well, the face does seem quite familiar..." said Cuffe, nonchalantly.
"She was also the woman seen standing outside your home on the morning of the fire, the woman seen talking to Nancy Landgraab."
"I was a little preoccupied that morning with Marina at that time, so to speak"
"I bet you were" said Action, cynically. "I'll ask you again; do you recognise this woman and believe me, Cuffe, I'll haul each and every one of your staff down to the station to interrogate them until I get a straight answer. You could save a lot of lost time and business if you level with me now."
Cuffed hummed and eventually said "Yes, I have met her...only the once. I met her at a bar in Willow Creek and got chatting. I thought she had the potential to become a Lothario Kitten and offered her a position in my organisation. She declined and looking back I think it was a good decision: There was something in her manner that was cold and remote...not the qualities I look for in a Kitten."
"And on the day of the opening?" continued Action.
"Well....yes..." Cuffe was getting defensive now. "A couple of times but I was too busy to take an interest in what she was doing there."
"I'm getting the impression you're not being entirely straight with me" said Action, a forceful tone in his voice. "This woman clearly makes you nervous just talking about her. What else do you know?"
"Look, Action, she's way above your pay grade. Don't ask me how I know, I just know that she's best left to the F.B.I. or C.I.A. or someone at that level. A local plod just won't cut it even if he does swagger around in a fancy suit."
"Is she a foreign intelligence agent? I have good reason to suspect she is" said Action, homing in on what Cuffe had just said.
Cuffe paused and looked at a random patch of the carpet as he composed his thoughts. "Yes...along those lines, Detective. Like I said, she's above your grade."
Action stood up, pointed his index finger at Cuffe's chest and pressed hard. "Don't hold ANYTHING back from me in future, Cuffe. Or else I might just have to run a background check on your staff"
Action walked away but paused to speak with Madelyn again. "Say, Madelyn" he began "do you recognise this woman?" he said, showing her the image.
"Yeah, that's the woman who came to fix the electrics in the living room" said Madelyn.
Action nodded and walked out of the club but as he did so he saw a familiar face, and not particularly a welcome one either. Aurora Ahmed: A career criminal who specialised in breaking and entry. He'd busted her a few months ago for her part in a string of robberies but the D.A. cut a deal before she went to trial where she gave up some names of pretty important organised crime bosses in exchange for a suspended sentence. Now she was here in the Kitten Club.
"Well, well, well, a bad penny always shows up" he said, sitting next to her. "You should be doing jail time"
"I cut a deal with the D.A....I don't want to do another stretch in the slammer so...get this...I'm now a paid police informant. Get a load of that" she replied.
"There's no justice in this world. But seeing as you're an informant now and I'm still the law I need to put you to work."
"I charge a fee" she replied.
"I'm sure you do. Here's 50 Simoleons to get you started. I want to find this woman" he said, once again showing the image. "The name's Leanne McGregor, age 27, probably foreign but speaks English fluently. We think she's with some kind of secret agent."
Aurora studied the photo. "And if I find her I want a bonus" she said.
Action then headed to downtown San Myshuno where he had more informants. It was the same routine: Show the photo and give out the name.
After pounding the beat, he did see one more person he was keen on speaking with: The woman who began this whole investigation when a folder containing photographs from a fashion shoot belonging to her was snatched by a local petty criminal working for someone higher up and unknown. That woman's name was Penny Pizazz.
"Miss Pizazz" said Action as he approached her.
"Detective....Action, is it?" she replied.
"That's right, do you have a moment to talk?"
"Sure, Detective, what's up?"
"Those photographs that were stolen from you? Were they all the photos that were taken that day?"
"Oh goodness me, no" she replied emphatically. "The photographer will shoot reels and reels of film but only select the very best for publication, which is what I had in that folder."
"What happens to the other photos, the one's not chosen?" asked Action.
"Well, the photographer will have the negatives of those and the proof sheets: That's a photo print of all the negatives...small, thumbnail sized images...on one photograph."
"Where can I find the photographer who took them?"
"His name's Michael Hemmingstamp but he's a British photographer who spends most of his time in the UK and only occasionally visits Sim City."
Action cursed under his breath. He needed to see those photographs to see if one of them captured the gunman more clearly. "Well, if you hear from him or he returns to the city can you give me a call straight away...here's my card. Thank you"
Action headed back to Precinct 13 to report on and type up everything he'd gathered today then he finished his shift and headed home...late. It had been a day of slow progress; of piecing together fragments of information about Leanne McGregor. He had done pretty much all he could have done, it was now in the hands of the police force as a whole to use that information and hunt her down.
As he arrived at Foundry Cove he saw a familiar face lurking on the street corner: Aurora Ahmed.
"Aurora, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I've come to tell you, Action, I'm out." She looked bothered by something or someone.
"What? Did you find something out about McGregor?"
"I found things out and I don't want to be anywhere near your case...she's dangerous, Action, and you're out of your depth! Take my advice; quit this case as well."
"What did you find out?" said Action, forcefully. "Do you need more money?"
Aurora shook her head. "You can't afford to pay that much to keep me involved! This is my life, Action, and the risks are too great. McGregor is highly dangerous and you'll be a gonner if you mess with her."
"WHAT. DID. YOU. FIND. OUT?" He repeated, shaking her by the shoulders. She shrugged him off.
"No...I'm out. Drop the case...hand it over to the Feds...or the Army." and with that she walked off into the night.
