John Action had just returned from a lunch date with his girlfriend, Katherine. They had wined and dined at the Kitten Club; now that he had been given membership by the owner, Alan Cuffe. It was a great time and Action wanted their date to continue but Katherine had a family engagement to attend and so they parted with a kiss and a hug, promising to resume their romance as soon as both had a day off.
But when Action had arrived home he found his neighbour and friend, Jeremy Saint, waiting at his front door and looking agitated.
"Yo, Jeremy...what are you doing hanging around out here? Locked yourself out again? Babs thrown you out? What gives my man?"
"I have something weighing on my mind...it could be nothing, it could be something big. I need to get your expert opinion." said Jeremy, rubbing the back of his neck in worry.
"On chicks, yeah, on drinks, I'm your man...but police business? That should be done down at the station house." Action replied.
"It might be of interest to the police...let me explain..." began Jeremy. "I have a friend...well, more like a work colleague...actually it's former work colleague. I knew him before I was fired from Landgraab..."
"Get to the point" interjected Action.
"OK, this colleague...former colleague. I was working with him to get the dirt on the company; he hates them as much as I do. Anyway we fell out when I went to the police early and he wanted to wait until we had gathered more evidence."
"From what I could tell, Jeremy, Landgraab security were closing the noose around you...if you hadn't had gone to the cops when you did you could have ended up in more trouble than just getting fired."
"That's what I told him...anyway, we eventually patched things up and were working together again to get more compromising evidence against them."
"And have you?" asked Action.
"Darrin...that's his name...said he had got something and was going to get it to me so I could pass it on to you and Suzy. That was supposed to be yesterday but he never showed up to the rendezvous point we'd agreed on. I phoned him, no answer. I visited his home, still no answer. He's usually so precise and a man of his word that it's not like him to fail to show up for a meeting and then not tell me."
"Hmmm" said Action. "When was the last time you had any contact with him?" he asked.
"Does he have a wife? Any family in the city?" said Action, not answering Jeremy's question right away.
"No. I know hardly anything about his background other than he had deep, personal reasons to hate the Landgraab family."
"So did he find any extra information and pass it on to you?" asked Action.
"He called me to say he had something and wanted to meet. Oh, and he sent me a birthday card yesterday...but my birthday's in February!"
"Hmmm, now that is interesting." said Action, stroking his chin.
"I thought he'd made a mistake..." said Jeremy.
"You said he was precise and methodical...so he'd have your birthday written down in a diary and would consult it if he were wishing you a happy birthday." Action replied.
"So you think he was trying to send me a message?" asked Jeremy.
"Yeah, he's one smart cat. OK, now you've got my interest...let me look into the matter and, oh, do you still have the card?"
"Yes...do you want it?"
"Not now. Keep it in a safe place and DON'T throw it away! I'll be needing it later..."
The next day at work Action thought about this missing person's case. He consulted his colleague, Cole Michaels.
"Yo, Michaels...I'm looking into a missing persons case: The guy's name is Darrin Lew, he's from Windenburg and he was last heard from two days ago. Any of your 'Mod Squad' hear of anything.?"
"How old is this Mr Lew?" Cole replied.
"36. I've got a description of him as well. 5'11", medium brown hair, average build and with a goatee beard."
"My squad covers the teen beat but I'll put the word out to see if any of our street contacts have heard of anything. Is this Mr Lew connected to the underworld or in some important position?"
"He's an insider at Landgraab and was one of the people who got us information about Geoffrey's criminal activities so, yeah, he's important."
"You know who becomes the leading suspect if something bad has happened to him...?"
"Yeah, don't I know it! I'm gonna be locking horns with that family again...OK, later, Michaels"
Action then proceeded to records to look up the case files he had on the Landgraabs. Maybe there was something that could link Lew's disappearance with either Geoffrey's murder or young Malcolm's drug dealing empire. It was there where he found his most trusted work colleague: Bibi Stahler.
"Bibi, just the person I wanted to see" he said the moment she walked into the room.
"And what is it this time, Action? Is what you're working on an official case or one of your side projects?" she replied.
"Maybe something that can link the the two. It's a missing person case right now but it has links to the Landgraab Corporation."
"You are still going after them even though the Geoffrey Landgraab case has been turned over to the FBI?"
"New information, Bibi...and I've been entrusted with it. A man named Darrin Lew was one of our informants...working alongside Jeremy Saint. Now Lew's gone missing."
"Alright, let's assume for this moment his disappearance is linked to the Landgraabs? Have you checked his home? Known hang outs?"
"I'm off to check those right now...In the meantime can you run a full background check on Lew? Any criminal record? Where he's from originally? Known associates, family, the works. Can I leave all that with you?"
"Leave it with me, now...schnell! You'd better get moving on your end." said Bibi, coolly.
WINDENBURG: 1420hrs
Action arrived at the address he was given and from the outside it looked neat and well looked after...and quiet. After looking around the outside and seeing nothing noteworthy he tried knocking at the door to see if anyone was in and he wasn't surprised when there was no answer.
Taking a look around to see no-one was watching he pulled a set of skeleton keys from his pocket and used them to get in the house. He would bother with a search warrant later, for now it was all about having a look around.
Once inside the first thing that struck Action was how sterile the place was. Sure, there was furniture and all the basic comforts but no personal touches, no artwork, photos or mementos of any kind. There was also no dust, not even under the sofa or chairs. The whole place was impeccably clean.
Looking through the bookcase didn't reveal anything either. Two dictionaries, a cookbook, a guide to Sim City...it was all so generic. There wasn't a single novel or anything to indicate what Darrin Lew's taste in books were.
And it was the same upstairs: Clean, spotless and ordered. The bed was made with the precision you would find in a hospital. The drawers and closet contained clothes, all perfectly folded and stored but, again, no personal effects. Action thought about this...was this really Darrin Lew's home or merely some kind of front? The other possibility is that someone had been here and removed all his personal belongings, anything that would reveal what kind of man he was.
Eventually Action gave up searching around. A look for some kind of secret compartment revealed nothing and so he left, pausing to search the empty letterbox out the front. If Lew did have compromising material on the Landgraabs it wasn't in this house. He considered the possibility that Nancy, or whoever was running her security, had the place searched, cleaned and stripped of that material. As for Lew...Action didn't hold out much hope of finding him alive. He had no proof of that, just his gut instinct.
As he went back onto the streets of Windenburg he pondered what his next move would be and then he noticed there was a bar just across the way from Lew's house. Could that be a place where he was recognised and known? Well, only one way to find out.
It was a nice, cosy establishment...well kept but nothing outstanding about it. Action had arrived just before the place started to fill up so he found getting to the bar and getting served no problem. He also found striking up a conversation with the attractive barmaid no problem either.
"Say, sister, I'll have a bourbon on the rocks" he said to her.
"You got it...we don't get many cops in this joint. You here on official business or is this a social call?" she replied as she poured him his drink. There was definite sass to her voice and Action liked that in a woman.
"A little of both. Nothing heavy...Miss?"
"Call me Emily" she replied.
"Call me Action"
"Yo shittin' me?"
"No, my name really is Action. John Action."
"You look it. So what's the official part of your business or do we skip straight to the social?"
"I'm looking for a man..."
"And there I was getting my hopes up"
"Steady, sister, that's not what I'm talking about. The cat I'm looking for is called Darrin Lew. White guy, mid 30s, brown hair and a light beard. Lives nearby."
"Darrin? Yeah, I know him. He visits here regularly. What's up?" she said in surprise.
"When was the last time you saw him?"
"He was in here three nights ago. Had a couple of drinks, chatted a bit but then said he had an early start the next day so went home about 9"
"Was he with anyone?"
"No, that evening he was alone. He usually comes in here not with anyone but just to have a few drinks and talk to some of the regulars. Poor guy, he's still reeling from losing his wife and child a few years back. Likes to come here to forget all the pain."
"Do you know what happened to his family?" asked Action, now very intrigued by this new information.
"I don't know the details...it happened back in '62 I think. Some kind of accident, chemical spill, like I said I don't know the details and I didn't want to be curious and bring up bad memories for him by asking too much. Say, is he in trouble?"
Action took a sip of the bourbon before answering. "We're just looking for him, that's all." was his eventual reply.
The bar was starting to fill up with more customers and one of them looked in Action's direction and tried to get his attention. Emily the barmaid noticed her.
"One of your girlfriends has just breezed in" she said, nodding towards the door. "Tall, willowy redhead in a yellow dress"
Action looked around and saw Bibi right where Emily was indicating. "A work colleague, Emily. Thanks for the drink...here's a tip" and he passed her a $10 bill before getting up and going to greet Bibi.
"Ah, Action..." she began. "I had a guess that you would be in a nearby bar...investigating, of course. You were investigating this case of the missing man, ja?"
"You doubt that? Yeah, got some good information as well. His house; it's immaculate, I mean it's spotless, clinical...as a German you would love it." Action replied.
"I think that's a compliment. Anyway I did some looking into the files of the missing gentleman and I discovered his name in one file: Back in 1962 there was an accident..."
"And his wife and child were killed. Yeah, so I heard. Any specifics in the file as to how they died?"
"Yes. At that time he was a land surveyor for the State. In June 1962 he was doing a survey of the national park and invited his family to join him as a kind of small vacation...I think that's the proper term. In German it is mini urlaub. There was a chemical spill and a lot of people were hospitalised...including the Lew family. Darrin Lew pulled through after a few days, his wife and daughter were not so fortunate."
"I was in the Marines back then and out of country so I missed that story. Did they find who was responsible for the spill?" asked Action.
"Yes. It was a tanker truck that crashed into the lake. The brakes were faulty. It was a Landgraab Corporation vehicle filled with highly toxic chemicals."
"Landgraab!" muttered Action, disparagingly. "No wonder he wanted to bring the corporation down! So was no-one held accountable for the deaths?"
"Landgraab were not charged, the matter never went to court."
Action pounded his right fist into the palm of his left hand in frustration. "Damn you, Landgraab! I tell you this, Bibi. If anyone is capable of making a man vanish, it's that family! You've done great work and...wait a minute!" he said in a moment of revelation.
"Vas is das?" asked Bibi, looking puzzled.
"Lew's a family man yet there were no family photos in his house. No mementos, no pictures, no love letters from his wife, no keepsakes of their daughter growing up. You know, the kindergarten picture on a fridge or the first school report, that kind of thing. Landgraab had their agents clean the place out! Those heartless bastards! I'm going to hunt them down and make them pay!"
