John Action was spending his morning before work hanging out at the gym and chewing the fat with fellow fitness enthusiasts Brant Hecking and Don Lothario. Brant was talking about a recent vacation he'd had with a buddy that he recommended and Don was bragging about how his housemates, 3 women, were keeping him busy. It was good to hang out with the guys and put all the recent work and personal issues to one side for just a brief moment.
As he towelled himself off after the run, he noticed Jeremy Saint had arrived and so Action walked over to him to say hello. Jeremy had a strange expression on his face when he saw Action: One of annoyance.
"Yo, Jez...how's it hanging?" said Action.
"It's Jeremy, not 'Jez'" replied Jeremy, coldly.
Action was taken aback by Jeremy's frosty response. "No worries, guy, I'm just being friendly"
"Yeah, whatever" replied Jeremy, still in a tone that bordered on hostile. Action, however, was someone who never backed down from a challenge and something was clearly up with his neighbour: Something that needed challenging.
"You gotta problem with me, Jeremy?" said Action, bluntly.
"Maybe I just don't like all this fake machismo you project" replied Jeremy.
"Fake? Who are you calling a fake?" said, Action, standing right up to Jeremy.
"Look at you: You still wear your dog tags and you're not even in the army anymore" said Jeremy.
"I was in the Marines" said Action, bristling.
"Whatever; same difference" said Jeremy, turning his back on Action.
"Hey, don't you turn your back on me!" said Action, his voice raised and his hand poised to grab Jeremy's shoulder. At that moment Brant Hecking stepped in to calm things down.
"Gentlemen...there's no need to go bouncing off the walls here!" said Brant. "This is a gym and you're creating a disturbance for everyone. Now Jeremy, I happen to be wearing dog tags. They're not mine; they're my brother's...he was killed in Vietnam at the start of the year so I wear them to remember him by. Now Action's proud of his service to his country and you have no right to have a go at him about that here. Have a little respect, hey? Now, Action, don't start something here you'll regret."
Jeremy's head dropped and he mumbled an apology. Action had calmed down by now and he nodded his appreciation to Brant for stopping what could have been a fight. He went over to the weight lifting machine to work off his anger at Jeremy. Jeremy, for his part, stood in front of a mirror, looking at his reflection and wondering what had just occurred. It was like he lashed out, instinctively, but why he couldn't figure out. John...Action...is my...enemy popped into his head but something seemed off. As he thought, he suddenly got a sharp headache and he pressed his fingertips to his temples in response.
His impulse was to approach Action again but this time in a non-hostile way however, with each step he took towards him, a sense of revulsion started rising. But why? Action and he had always got along in the past, why is he feeling antipathy now?
"Action....I just wanted to say....s-s-s-sorry for earlier" he said, stammering over the word, sorry.
"All is forgiven...tell me to shut my yap for prying but are you OK?" said Action.
"I guess the new job is intense. So much to learn, to adapt to."
"I hear you"
"Fortunately Geoffrey and Mother are helping me to adjust"
"Your Mom?"
"Did I say 'Mom'? I meant Nancy"
"Well, I gotta get to work soon but you stay cool, man" said Action, suspicious of Jeremy's mixing up his mom with Nancy Landgraab.
Action arrived at the 13th Precinct house with barely any time to think about Jeremy's strange behaviour. For once, his case load was in the clear and he started his shift with no ongoing investigations.
The first person he met at the station was his favourite co-worker, Bibi Stahler. She was the deputy head of forensics at 13th Precinct, on loan from the Munich police department. What Action liked about her was that she was cool, logical, very good at her job and on top of all that she was a hot red headed Teutonic beauty. They weren't an item, but he sure liked having beautiful women around him.
"Bibi, got anything interesting for me today?" he said.
"Case wise, I do. A burglary over at Oasis Springs." she replied, handing him a case file. Action flicked through the incident report just making some surface notes in his head.
"And anything on our little ongoing investigation?" he asked, hoping that Bibi had any new information on the strange McGregor/Landgraab case.
"Oh some very interesting things. For example, all those samples you brought back were of commonly found fish and plants except for one thing." she said with an enigmatic upturn to her voice at the end.
"Which is?" asked Action.
"The cellular walls were much weaker than you would normally find." she said, matter of factly.
"OK, and that's surprising how?"
"It's surprising in that when subject to handling the various flora and fish become....how do you say it in English? Der matsch or schleim?"
"Sounds like slime...all pulped up and messy?"
"Ja, that is it. Now what causes weak cell walls? I do not know at this stage"
"That's something to be getting on with" said Action.
"Ahem...you have this case here to be getting on with first" she said, pointing to the file he was holding.
"Awww, and we were working so well together as well. There's always this barrier between us and I don't mean this flimsy tape thing here" he said, indicating the queueing barrier in the lobby of the station house.
Action made his way down to Oasis Springs, to a wealthier, middle class part of the neighbourhood. It was rich enough to be full of nice places to live, but not so rich that those houses would have decent alarms or security systems. In short, a juicy place for burglars to target. The crime scene was familiar as well...his first case after being assigned to 13th Precinct happened here as well. A large, single floor house inhabited by four young professionals, one of whom he had met briefly: J. Huntington III, member of the Lothario Club.
Action approached the senior uniform cop present, Senior Patrolman Tony Gunn. "What's the score, Tony?"
"Looks like a break-in and theft job, Detective. The perps made off with TVs, a fridge and an expensive stereo system. State of the art record and cassette player and all."
"A combined record AND cassette player? Impressive. That'll fetch a hefty price on the black market" replied Action.
"Forensics are on their way" said Gunn.
"OK, I'll take some photos and have a look around. You round up any witnesses" said Action.
"Graffiti...why do they always leave graffiti?" he muttered to himself as he got to work. Judging by the size of the stereo...which apparently had a built in radio with both AM and FM bands as well...and fridge Action reckoned there had to be more than one person involved and that they would have needed a van or truck to make away with the loot.
There were three witnesses and they were all marshalled to a room at the back of the house. When Action entered the room he saw one of them browsing through the bookshelf.
"Cut that out! You don't live here" said Action, swatting the book out of the man's hand. "Now, one at a time, what did you see?"
"I saw this dirty white van pull up outside and this lady stepped out and walked over to the house" said a young, Hispanic man who was sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Your name?"
"Rez Valdes, Detective. I saw this dirty white van..."
"Did you get the licence plate number?" asked Action.
"No. I didn't see it. Anyway the van pulls up to the front of the house and then I see this lady step out..."
"Are you sure it was a woman? What did she look like?"
"Yeah, pretty sure it was a woman...she had, well, you know, a woman's figure" Rez said with a little knowing laugh.
"What was she wearing?" asked Action.
"Shorts, a blouse and she had a baseball cap pulled low over her head so I couldn't see her face. I thought it was odd that a woman in a fancy blouse would be driving a dirty old van"
"Did any of you two see this woman?" Action asked the other witnesses.
"Oh yes, Detective. Yeah, she was wearing a fancy blouse and cap" said one.
"I saw the van and I got the first 3 numbers of the licence plate: 335" said the other.
"Very good, guys" said Action, jotting this all down on his notepad. Turning to Gunn he said "you finish things off here, I'll head back to HQ to look through the files and see if we can get some suspects"
"OK, Action"
Back at 13th Precinct Headquarters Action was able to use the latest electronic document reader to look through a list of potential suspects...files kept on microfiche. The reader also had a photostat printer so that files could be printed out to A4 size.
Gunn had returned with the last of the evidence and witness reports bagged up and was joking around in the squad room how this should be an open and shut case.
"Ain't no such thing until we get a name and we're not there yet!" said Action, warning Gunn not to get too ahead of himself. He admired the young officer's zeal but that could lead to sloppiness. Better whip him into shape before they botch this case, thought Action.
"OK, the stolen items are all electronic goods so the thieves will want to offload them quickly. Let's look into the local markets, shops who we know handle stolen goods and black market regulars." said Action. "Bibi, do you have anything from the lab?" he said to her as she entered the room.
"No fingerprints, but we're looking at a hair sample" she replied. "Also, we're running checks on that partial licence plate"
Action was impressed at how his team were working together and the rest of the shift saw people being brought in for questioning, ruling out suspects and narrowing down the list of potential ones. An arrest was definitely in the cards for the next couple of days.
As he ended his shift and was preparing to go home, he saw Bibi once again.
"Good work today...say, I was going to grab a bite to eat; want to tag along?" he asked.
"You're not asking me on a date, Action, are you?" asked Bibi, sceptically.
"Oh no...nothing like that. An end of shift bit of socialising, getting some decent chow and catching up on things, that's all. What say you?"
"As long as it is not a date, that is fine" she replied. "Where shall we go?"
"I was thinking something simple and low key such as The Sunny Side Up?"
"I have not been there. Do I have to look smart?"
"You can go as smart or as casual as you want"
"Good. I will go home and get changed and will meet you at this Sunny Side Up place but it will NOT be a date."
Both of them headed home and changed into more casual clothing before meeting up again outside of the diner.
"Bibi, you look amazing as usual" said Action.
"You look very smart. That is some jacket you're wearing" she replied.
"An original Pierre Cardin. A friend recommended it to me and I trust her fashion judgement" he replied.
"A Pierre Cardin jacket on a Detective's salary? You must tell me your financial secrets, Action" she said, with a smirk.
They took their seats in the diner, Bibi looked around with interest.
"This is how I have always imagined what American restaurants to be like...a good idea of yours, Action, to come here: I hate cooking" she said.
"And there I was thinking you might make a mean strudel" he replied.
"I do not" she said, curtly.
The waiter came and took their order. Action had a burger, Bibi a quiche.
"And what would you like to drink?" asked Action.
"I would like....hmmm....as this ISN'T a date..."
"It's not" said Action.
"...then I will have this" she said, jabbing her finger at some kind of cocktail listed on the menu.
Action was happy to socialise but Bibi wanted to cut straight to business.
"So, to business." she said.
"I was afraid you'd say that" said Action.
"These samples, they turned out to be unstable. Did you obtain them from a laboratory?" she asked.
"No, in the field" he replied.
"Then was this place, remote, normally inaccessible?"
"You could say that"
"Then that explains it. An environment normally restricted and, if handled incorrectly, the flora and fauna lose their cellular cohesion"
"I think I know what you mean. But why? Is it some kind of freaky experiment?"
"Possibly scientific research into some new agricultural methods" she replied with a shrug.
"Yeah, but this 'research' as you call it could be the reason behind all the cloak n' dagger jazz we've got going on with this case!"
"I don't understand...'cloak n' dagger jazz'" she replied.
"I mean spies, Bibi."
"Ah, ja. That I do understand. Yes, that is a possibility. This food is surprisingly good"
"Talk about a change of subject." Action said, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"Yes. This is a much nicer place and the food is of a higher quality than I expected. Almost as if this were the kind of place you'd take a date. Which this is not"
"If you say so" he said, taking another sip of beer.
"I thought you were seeing someone, Action?"
"That's on hold for now"
"Oh, sorry to hear that. I will not pry"
"What about yourself? Are you seeing an American guy or is there someone special back in Germany?"
"There is no one. I am happy with things that way: It was easier for me to come to America if I was not involved with a man back home, and getting involved with one here will lead to problems once I go home so this way I do not get hurt, and no one gets hurt by me." She made it all sound matter of fact.
"So let's keep this professional then" said Action, raising his glass to her.
"Yes. Professional...although you make it difficult sometimes" she said, smiling suggestively at him.
After dinner he escorted her home but didn't stay for a night cap. Instead, he went home and crashed out. The next morning he awoke, showered, got dressed for another shift and was eating breakfast when the lights and radio suddenly cut out.
"Dang...what now?" he muttered. He went to the light switch and flicked it up and down a few times. Nothing. Then he checked out the fridge. It had stopped working. Every electrical device in his house stopped working. Was there a power cut? He went outside and noticed the lights on at Jeremy's house so whatever the problem was, it seemed to be affecting him. He noticed a letter sticking out of his mail box so he went over to see what it was: It was an electrical bill from the providers; the Landgraab Energy Company. He looked at it; it said he hadn't paid his last bill so they were shutting off the power until he did.
"But I did pay the last bill! Last Monday...this is a crock of...heck, I'm going to have to sort this out but I have to get to work! Damn electrical company, stupid admin people! Damn the Landgrab Corporation! Damn them! LANDGRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB!"
