Suzy finished buttoning up her blouse, adjusted her belt buckle and slipped her shoes on before turning around to see the silver champagne bucket perched atop the shelving unit in her bedroom. The bucket, which contained an empty champagne bottle that had a romantic card tied to it was especially noticeable because inside the neck of the bottle was a single red rose...a fresh rose.
"Oh Neil, you old romantic...you put that there" she thought. One of the nice things about living in their new house were the floral bushes in the garden. Neil must have got up early in the morning before she arose, taken a flower and put it in the bottle.
She picked up the flower from the bottle and gave it a sniff. Yes, it was freshly cut. The romantic gesture was appreciated and she ventured out to the kitchen to see her loving husband, seated at the bar eating his breakfast. She sidled up and sat next to him, a big smile on her face.
"I appreciate the rose" she said.
Neil wafted a hand at her. "I got up very early this morning and noticed the rose bush outside was in bloom so I wanted to take a cutting for an art project I'm working on...but I thought you might like it as well. Your observational skills are, as always, peerless" he said.
"We must make time to go on a date soon; we haven't been out as a couple for a romantic evening since we've moved here" she said.
"I agree; I will make it a priority" he replied, putting down his bowl after finishing breakfast.
"Actually, can we not make it today, though...got a lot on with work at the moment" she said, grimacing apologetically.
"And we wonder why we don't go on dates anymore..." he mused. "Anyway, must shower. See you in a bit" he said, getting up to go.
"Not before I give you this in return for the rose..." she said, standing up as well and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"In lieu of a date night, I'll accept that kiss" he responded before heading to the bathroom.
Suzy was alone in the lounge and let out a satisfied sigh. Yes, there was a lot to do work wise but also investigation wise as well. She had recently found out that the mysterious book of knowledge, which she possessed only one page of, belonged to Advik...the previous owner of the house. Maybe the book was still hidden here? Before they moved in, it was heavily redecorated and nothing unusual turned up but the floorboards were original; they'd only been French polished and not replaced, so that old creepy mystery cliche of a hiding place under the floor could be the location where the book was to be found? Suzy tested her theory by examining the living room floor closely.
But there were no tell-tale squeaky floorboards to be found. No loose panelling, no discoloured planks betraying a secret hideaway. No, just solid, unmoving and boring floorboards. Suzy's initial hopes were dashed but then she shifted away from examining the floor to examining the walls. Tapping them to see if there were any hollow cavities she drew a blank here as well. At one point she knocked on the wall only to hear a knocking sound coming back. Strange...she tapped again and once more there was a knocking sound but coming from another source, a different wall. She turned her head to look towards where the sound was coming from and saw that her friend, Bakko, was at the door and it was he who was knocking on it.
"I'm becoming too wrapped up in this mystery!" mused Suzy to herself as she went to greet Bakko.
"Bakko, what a lovely surprise, how are you?" she said warmly to her visitor.
"Suzy, my girl, good to see you too. Sorry to be bursting in on you and Neil so early in the morning but I had a long trek from downtown to here and I ain't been around this part of town before."
"Oh my gosh! I didn't give you my address before we moved out! I feel so bad; we're well behind on letting everyone know. Anyway come on in"
Suzy ushered Bakko into the house and invited him to take a seat while she made coffee.
"We've been so busy unpacking and getting the house sorted...plus there's my work and Neil's now a full time artist so that means we have hardly had any time to play host to our friends. There you go..." she said, handing him a cup of coffee and sitting next to him on the couch.
"I'm digging the place, Suz, really am. Lacks a bit of colour for my tastes; it's very two tone black and white here."
"You know me; I love the black and white Mod style" said Suzy.
Bakko stopped looking around the place and his face dropped from a smile to an expression of seriousness.
"Suzy...the reason I'm here this morning is that last night I found out something bad, something that involves you" he said, gravely. Suzy's expression now changed to one of shock and surprise.
"What is it?" she asked.
"OK, here's the lowdown: Last night I'm doing this gig downtown at the Planet Honey Pop bar and I'm setting up the microphones and speakers and all that. Anyway, I go over to the sound mixing desk to check everything's plugged in and working when my mic starts picking up this conversation between this guy and a girl on the other side of the bar. Normally I wouldn't pry but then I hear them mention your name so I put on the cans..."
"Cans?"
"Yeah, headphones. Anyway, I put them on so I can hear what these cats are talking about without alerting them and sure enough, they are talking about you and not in a good way. I got the impression they wanted to do you some harm."
Suzy was aghast but she'd received plenty of threats in recent months for her work. "OK..." she said, with trepidation. "...what kind of harm were they talking about?"
"The dude says you need to be kept quiet and the chick who was with him asked if he wanted her to 'silence you permanently' or else 'absorb you'...whatever that means."
"How did the man respond?" asked Suzy.
"He says no violence yet, but keep it as an option. Suzy, you gotta go to the police with this! I'll come with you."
Suzy nodded. "Yes, in good time but did you manage to get their names?" she said.
"Yeah...she called him Luke."
"Luke...Luke? Hmm, why does that sound familiar in this case? And the girl?"
"He called her Leanne"
"Leanne! Of course! Wait there just a moment!" said Suzy, leaping off the couch and running to her handbag to fetch something. She returned and sat down next to him, showing him the photofit picture of Leanne McGregor.
"Did the woman look like this?" she asked.
"No...completely different. This chick I saw last night was skinny, pale and with short red hair. Her face was completely different."
Like with the secret place under the floorboards theory, her trying to connect the dots by tying it down to Leanne McGregor had fallen flat. Unless Leanne had disguised herself, who knows?
"What did the man look like?" Suzy asked.
"Average height, slicked back red hair and a tiny pointed beard. Cruel eyes, though." replied Bakko.
"That sounds a lot like the guy who accosted me in the street last night!" said Suzy. "I had this weirdo, claiming to be a fan, tell me to stick to fashion journalism and give up on the investigating stuff. Now it all makes sense, well, kind of. He was warning me off before something bad happens."
"Suz! Why haven't you gone to the police with all this stuff?" exclaimed Bakko.
"I have...and I'm working with Action on this case." she replied.
"I'm worried about these guys...I'll keep my ear to the ground in future. I've seen the man around town a few times. If I see him again, I'll give you a call." said Bakko.
"What's this? Which guy?" asked Neil as he entered the lounge. "Hello Bakko, I overheard some of this...what's going on?"
Suzy and Bakko brought Neil up to speed on the latest information and she was relieved that he didn't get angry or annoyed but she could clearly see the concern on his face as he took all the new information in. She wondered if he would intervene and stop Suzy from working on the mystery in order to keep her safe.
Then they're gazes met and Neil nodded reassuringly to her. "Well..." he said at last. I agree; we have to pass on the new information to the police, preferably Action as he has been on this case as long as Suzy has. Bakko, thanks for bringing this to our attention and if you hear or see anything else of those two..."
"I'll get in touch right away!" replied Bakko.
Bakko got up to go about his day's business whilst Suzy and Neil showed him to the door, thanking him once again for his care and diligence towards them. Once he had left Suzy turned to Neil; hoping he would speak his mind about this affair.
"We're going to have to give Action a call...these people mean you harm. If Leanne McGregor is back in town..." said Neil.
"But the woman Bakko saw doesn't look at all like the one I encountered." said Suzy.
"Maybe a disguise, maybe Leanne is a codename and there's more than one...heck, I don't know. But if we're going to get to the bottom of this..."
"So this is still 'we', is it?" asked Suzy.
"Of course it's we; us two. I'm your sidekick, remember?" said Neil, dismissing her doubts with a wave of his hand. "Now we've got a new lead; find out who Luke and the new Leanne are"
Suzy took a deep breath. "Actually, I have another idea..." she said. "I think we should try to find this book Advik had. The answers to all our questions lies in it."
Neil shook his head. "I looked all over the house this week and I didn't find anything"
"Neither did I...I even checked the floorboards and walls to see if there were any secret hiding places and drew a blank" said Suzy.
"You've been watching too many mystery movies. OK, so if the book isn't here then maybe the opposition have it?" said Neil.
This time it was Suzy's turn to shake her head. "I don't think so; if they had they wouldn't be pursuing me so much. They might think we have it. But one thing's for certain...we're in a race to get it. Now where would he hide it?"
"Somewhere that wouldn't be easy to find but at the same time somewhere familiar to him where he could get it when he needed it" mused Neil.
"I checked the library system" said Suzy "and nothing. So somewhere else...how about the gallery?"
"Remember they don't like us down there; refused us permission to view the catalogues."
"No, I don't mean the Casbah, I mean Municipal Muses right here" said Suzy. "After all, it's local and it's where we first discovered his painting."
Neil grabbed the car keys and the two of them headed off to their Volvo P1800 to head into downtown Willow Creek. Suzy's heart skipped a beat at the excitement of all this and the way Neil just went into action without being asked.
Neil was a man on a mission, Suzy thought, just by the way he was driving.
"Suz, we must assume these opponents of yours mean what they say and that you're not safe so we have to act fast and stay one step ahead of them." he said.
"I've had a sinking feeling that's the case." she replied. Suzy looked over her shoulder at the road behind them. "I don't think we're being followed, so that's good"
"These are the kind of precautions I think we should take from now on" he said, grimly.
The way Neil was driving they made it from their house to the museum in mere minutes. As they parked up, the pair of them were still checking to see if they were being followed but even if they were they had little way of recognising who was doing it unless they looked very suspicious. Suzy thought about the man, Luke, who had slicked back red hair and this other Leanne who was a skinny redhead with pale skin. There wasn't anyone who looked like this Luke but they spotted a pale woman with short red hair...only it turned out to be someone Suzy had met once before and whose name was definitely not Leanne.
"Where to start?" asked Suzy.
"I'll check outside...look for nooks and crannies where he might have stashed the book" Neil replied.
"Meanwhile I'll check inside. Do my loose floorboards and knocking on the walls trick."
"Just don't get us thrown out of here, that's all! Oh and..."
"...I know, check for suspicious characters spying on us."
"Good; you're focussed." They split up to cover more ground and Neil was looking for anything out of place in the museum's pleasant flower garden area. As a painter who specialised in landscapes he had a good eye for what looked natural and developed over long periods of time and what looked influenced or altered by man. That's what he was looking for here: Ground or stonework that showed signs of recent disturbance. He was looking at a display of pot plants on a wooden trestle table, looking for hiding spots Advik might have used when a young woman, dressed entirely in black and with heavy make up. She had a strong smell about her as well: Incense and musk in copious amounts which meant that when she was standing next to him, the fragrance was overpowering...he had to turn to look towards her and eyeing her up and down he noticed she was wearing the shortest dress he had ever seen...it barely covered her behind. Not even Suzy was that daring with her wardrobe.
"I know you from somewhere" she said in a sultry voice.
Neil gulped. "If we've met before I think I should have remembered" he replied, awkwardly.
"Oh you will have..." she said, looking at him from head to foot and liking what she saw. "A face across a crowded room, perhaps? You're an artist, aren't you?"
"Yes indeed I am, yes siree" he said, trying to sound relaxed around this very forward woman who was overloading all his senses at once.
"I thought so! I've seen you in the magazines...it's...Noel Humphries, isn't it?"
"Neil"
"Ah, Humphrey Neil, that's it"
"No, it's Neil Humphries"
"Of course you are, silly me" and she reached out to touch his forearm and get closer to him. He instinctively flinched. "Oh don't be scared of me, Neil, I feel like I've known you for such a long time."
"There you have me at a disadvantage, Madam." he said, his voice croaking under the stress.
"I'm Pleasant..." she said.
"I'm sure you are" he replied.
"Lilith Pleasant and I'm what you would call an Artist's Muse. Do you have a muse, Neil? Someone who inspires you to new passions and desires? Someone who stirs in you feelings, emotions and....power...to create masterworks beyond your wildest imagination?" the way the words tripped off her tongue made her speech sound highly sexual.
"Gulp...erm...actually I do. My wife..." he said, backing away from her.
"Wife! Oh no...it's always the same; you find an artist, you make your way into becoming their muse and then they either have a wife or up and die on you." she said, her demeanour changing from seductive to angry in a flash.
It was at that opportune moment that Suzy emerged from the museum and came to join Neil in the garden. She instantly recognised the woman he was talking with; Lilith Pleasant, a very volatile person on the art and social scene. The place was starting to get busy as well and it would be difficult to go around snooping with such a crowd.
"Hello Lilith, Neil." said Suzy.
"Ah, this is my wife who I was talking about" said Neil, hoping that would put Lilith off from encroaching on his space.
"You're a lucky woman, Suzy" said Lilith, once again looking Neil up and down in approval.
"I certainly am. Neil, did you discover anything out here?" asked Suzy.
"No...and you?" he replied.
"Nothing out of the ordinary" Suzy said with a sigh.
"Looking for something specific?" asked Lilith, who was eavesdropping on their conversation.
"A book..." said Neil and he looked around the grounds once more for any clues. Then an idea struck him. "Lilith...you know all the artists on the scene?" he asked.
"I do. If not personally then by reputation." Lilith replied with some pride in her voice.
Suzy immediately picked up on Neil's question and quickly followed it up. "Did you know Advik Archaya?"
Lilith let out a deep, heavy laden sigh. "Oh poor, poor Advik. It was just like him to wander off into the wilderness, never to be seen again." she said. Looking around her she wasn't pleased with all the people crowding her out of the area. "Let's talk somewhere a bit less hectic....later boys!" she said, giving the men hanging around in the garden a dismissive look.
The contrast between the garden and inside the museum was stark. Outside was filled with bright sunshine and the people hanging around were drawn the peaceful, idyllic setting of the garden with its fragrant, flowery smell. Inside was dim, quiet with the vague whaff of dust and lint in the air. The trio found a quiet spot to sit and discuss Advik.
"Well enough" Lilith said. She tilted her head slightly to one side and smiled, as if recalling a fond memory. "The artist community isn't very big in Sim City which is why it's surprising we've never met before, Neil." she continued, patting him gently on his knee.
"Ahem!" said Suzy, not happy with Lilith's move. "Did you know him before or after his mental breakdown?"
Lilith quickly removed her hand off Neil's leg and looked towards Suzy. "A little of both. I like a bit of crazy in a man...or woman...but try as hard as I could to help him, he was too far gone in the end. Plus that scheming bitch he was seeing didn't help matters!"
Neil and Suzy looked at one another when Lilith said that. They both knew who she meant. "Was that woman called Leanne, by any chance?" asked Suzy.
"Yes. She was such a control freak! Cut Advik off from his friends, banned me from seeing him! And his behaviour only got worse. I reckon she was out for his money; he had done well in the financial sector before becoming a painter so he wasn't short of a few Simoleans."
"Did Advik mention a special book to you?" asked Neil.
"A book? No, not really." she shrugged.
"When was the last time your saw him?" asked Suzy.
"I called in at his house in late February this year just to see how he was doing and I found him in the park opposite his house digging up holes in it. I asked him what he was doing and he just shouted at me to go away...well the tone in his voice was scary, I can tell you, and he was carrying this very heavy shovel, the kind you dig graves with and I did not want to be the person who ended up in the hole so I left!"
Again, Neil and Suzy exchanged knowing looks. "Well, Advik might have left us something to turn up after all" said Neil.
Neil and Suzy stood up and thanked Lilith for the information. Lilith gave Neil one more favourable look and said "If you're looking for a muse anytime, just give us a call" whilst giving him a suggestive look.
"He isn't, bye" interjected Suzy and grabbing Neil by the arm and leading him away.
As they walked back to the car Neil said "You can let go of my arm now; I'm not going to run back there...she is definitely not my type!"
"Do you think she would let that stop her from devouring you?" replied Suzy. They got in the car and drove speedily back home to see if they could find what Advik had buried in the nearby park.
Once they parked up, they looked across the road and into the park. "Dang it!" exclaimed Suzy. "In my rush to keep Lilith well away from you I'd forgotten to ask her where she saw him digging! Now we've got that large area to go looking in!"
"Hmm" said Neil, thoughtfully. Well...if Lilith was standing outside of the house and turned to see Advik in the park then he would have been in that gap between those two houses opposite. So let's go in that direction and see if we can spot anything out of place"
They headed for the gap, staying within view of their house. Neil was searching the ground area for signs of disturbance in the soil but Suzy found herself looking upwards.
"Do you know, this is the first time we've been in this park area since we moved in?" she said.
"Really? Now you're noticing that? We're supposed to be looking for a spot where he might have buried that book."
"Oops, sorry" she replied.
"Hey...there's a patch of dirt just here with no grass growing from it...looks like the kind of thing we're looking for."
"Hmm, a good place to start. OK, let's get digging..." she said, kneeling on the ground by the patch of disturbed soil.
"You'll ruin your outfit...let me get a shovel and a trowel first" said Neil, trying to reign in a very excited Suzy. Her heart was starting to beat faster at the prospect of finding the book that had literally changed her life as a reporter. Just one page was enough to spark a flame, a thirst for knowledge of what was really going on in this city. From that one page she had stumbled upon the criminal dealings of the Landgraab family and a sinister, unknown cabal that was prepared to kill to get what it wants...whatever that was. And as for the hidden glade...well, that was something that played its part in the bigger mystery. Possibly the book could reveal the truth about that.
Neil returned with the digging implements and they went to work. They dug about a foot down when they hit something solid that was soft enough to rule out being a rock or a tree root. Neil took the trowel, knelt down and dug away the specks of dirt to reveal an oilskin package, tied up in string.
"Could it be...!" exclaimed Suzy.
"It's the right size for a book...hang on, I'm going to lift it out of this hole. Here we go, what do you think?" said Neil, brushing the dirt off of the package.
"I think this is it! Oh, Neil, we did it! We found it!" she said with a look of joy and relief on her face.
"Steady on, tiger. Let's not open up the package here...let's get inside. You carry it, I'll carry the tools."
They rushed back to the house and while Neil put the gardening tools away Suzy took a pair of scissors and cut the string. Then she tore away the oilskin cover and looked at the set of books contained within. They had plain covers and bindings and it was only by opening the top book and looking at the title page that gave a clue to its contents.
THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF SIM CITY by Patrick Cornelius. An investigation into the organisations and agents that secretly control the city.
Suzy gasped and took a pace backwards from the book, now lying on the kitchen counter. "Oh my gosh, Neil. This is is. This really is it!"
Neil picked up the book and flipped through the pages..."A history of the Landgraab family from 1810 to the present day...A history of the Feng family from 1937 to the present day...Suzy, you're right: It's all in here! Can you fetch those torn pages from your desk? Let's see where they fit in this book."
Suzy rushed off to the study and found the two pages she had found in the library and then she rushed back to give them to Neil. He noted they were pages 71-74 and flipping through the first book he found a gap between pages 70 and 75. "Well, that confirms it" he said, putting the pile of books back on the counter. Suzy was shaking; this was going to be the result of months of investigation and finally what she'd been looking for was now in her possession.
"Neil...I'm now scared to read them..." she said, her voice sounding shaky.
"I'll read them if you like" he replied.
"No...I must. It's just that..."
"Reading them sent Advik around the bend." Neil said, sombrely. "He lived alone, had no one and probably was a highly strung person judging by what people have told me about him. You've got me. Anything too scary, too horrific...you must tell me. I'll be here to give you support."
"Thanks. We should also let Action and Jeremy know as well; they're involved in this" she said.
"Good idea" he replied. "OK, remember security now...I'm going to stash them in the lockable draw in the study desk."
There was a knock at the door. Suzy's heart jumped wondering who was calling. She approached the door with some trepidation but there was a sense of relief that it was Abigail, her publisher over at 'Hey, Wow'.
"Abigail...now this is a surprise. Is everything alright?" asked Suzy.
"Actually I was just passing and remembering that this is where you now live, I thought I'd say hello and see how you are settling in." said her boss.
"Oh we're settling in very nicely" said Suzy. "I'm glad you stopped by, Abigail. I think I might have a bombshell of a story in the works."
Abigail raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "A new one or a continuation of your existing investigation in Malcolm Landgraab?" she said.
"Oh it's bigger than that! It involves the Landgraabs but it's so, so much more. I need to do a lot of research but I have the materials and...Abigail...I promise you this will be a massive story!"
"Suzy, I can see you're very enthusiastic about this story but is 'Hey, Wow' a suitable vehicle for it?"
Suzy's smile vanished from her face. "I know it's not the usual thing you publish in it but it does have a lot of relevance for people living here!" she said, making her case.
"No, you don't understand...I mean, if it's as good and sensational as you claim then maybe a different publication in the Whittaker House line would be a better match. Is it a crime story?"
"Yes...and...erm...no, not entirely, but there's criminal activity in this story" Suzy replied.
"Is it more political then?" asked Abigail.
"Again, yes and no. This story involves the Landgraabs, the Fengs and the people who tried to kill Alan Cuffe."
Abigail's eyes widened and her mouth opened in astonishment. "That big, eh? I'm going to go with this being a criminal story and so you write it and if it's good enough...and doesn't get us sued into oblivion...then I think printing it in 'That Crime Magazine' would be the right place. Suzy...don't let me down on this!"
