Part Five
"I miss you," she said. She traced the outline of his face with her finger, lingering over his neatly trimmed beard.
"I hear you finishing my sentences. Our plans. Your laughter." She touched his lips. "We laughed so well together. Especially when our plans fell into place." Her fingers caressed his cheek and outlined his brown eyes.
"Soon we’ll laugh together. This plan will work. We’ve had a little set back. Soon we’ll be back together again."
She raised the picture frame and placed her lips on the cold glass.
**************
"The trail leads to Metropolis," Anna explained to her superior, Inspector Joe DeSantos, who was absently flipping through the file she had placed on his desk. "DNA evidence confirms that the victim was Jeremy Hamilton, a resident of Metropolis, New Troy."
"So we’ll turn the investigation over to the Metropolis police and you can get back to your normal duties."
"No sir, I was hoping I could follow up in Metropolis. I have a few leads. His brother..."
"Sorry Sergeant, it doesn’t work that way." DeSantos stood up and handed the file over to Anna.
"But sir, this is a murder investigation, a murder that took place in our jurisdiction."
"I know, but it’s no longer in our jurisdiction."
"Then let me connect with the MPD, go down there and..."
"Make the connection by phoning down..."
"Inspector, I really want to follow this through. It’s important to my career that I have a challenging homicide investigation under my belt."
"Is that why you want to go?"
"Yes. No. I want to follow through with this. It’s personal."
"You’re not listening, Sergeant. You can’t go to Metropolis." De Santos walked around his desk. "If you think that we need someone down there, I’ll tell Dr. Morrow to contact the MPD."
"Morrow? Why him?"
"He’s in Metropolis anyway --for that forensic seminar. He can be the liaison."
"But sir, he’s a doctor, not a police officer. I don’t think he’ll know what to do."
"According to this file," he said pointing to the file in Anna’s hands, "he has had input in this case."
"Yes, but that was medical input."
"Look Anna," he said, his voice softening, "We simply can’t afford to send you. I realize it’s an important case for you, and I want it solved just as much as you do..."
"But?"
"But there’s no money for this."
"Money?"
"The cutbacks have made it impossible for me to subsidize this kind of expenditure."
"You sound like a bureaucrat now."
"Whether I like it or not, I am a bureaucrat...and you’re whining."
Anna hung her head like a child being scolded. She was quiet for few seconds, then raised her head defiantly. "I think I’ll take some of my vacation time and fly down to Metropolis."
"Nice place to visit. And while you’re there, you can drop in on an old buddy of mine, Bill Henderson."
*********************
Metropolis, New Troy
Anna heard the sonic boom as she entered the cab at Metropolis airport. She shielded her eyes from the sun and watched the caped hero fly across the sky.
"Pretty amazing, isn’t he?" the cab driver said.
"Yes," she answered following the superhero as he wended his way over the city.
"You must be new in town."
Anna grumbled in response.
"I can tell. I get a kick out of newcomers watching Superman. They’re the ones staring up at the sky open-mouthed." Not hearing any response from his passenger, he continued. "We’re immune to it. We know he’s here."
"I don’t think that I could ever become immune to that," she said as she turned her attention to the cab driver. He was in his mid-fifties, speaking with what sounded like an eastern European accent.
"He saved me once back when he first came to Metropolis," the man continued. "I was making a run to Suicide Slum, not a very good area, but the fare gave me a big tip, up front, so I took it...and him. After I let him out, I drove a few blocks and all of a sudden there was these punks in front of me...I had no choice. Slammed on my brakes. I rolled up the windows quick, but not before one grabbed the door handle...I couldn’t drive...Then a gun appeared. I thought it was the end of my life. In my mind, I started saying good-bye to my wife and my kids...and just then, he was there, in front of me...and the punks, they just ran off. They knew what he could do to them."
"So, he’s a deterrent..."
"No, it’s more than that. When I was saying good-bye to my family, I swore I would do more for the community, to make Metropolis a better place. Sounds corny, no?"
"Not really," Anna said politely.
"Well, I did do something. Now, I volunteer at an inner city schools. I coach soccer. I give back."
"So, Superman rescuing you made you into a soccer coach?"
"Think about it. He doesn’t get paid for what he does. He just does it. Whenever someone needs help, he’s there."
"Always?"
"Probably not always...but he gives us hope. He shows what can be done if you care. He shows one person can make a difference." The cabby looked in the mirror. "Look, with all the powers that Superman has, he could probably take over the world, get really rich, and turn us into his slaves." He turned his attention back to the road. "But he doesn’t. He doesn’t ask for anything."
"But he gets money from endorsements and royalties from action figures and t-shirts."
"Sure, the money goes to the Superman Foundation. That money goes straight to charity. I don’t think he gets any of it." The driver pulled the cab over to the curb. "You see, miss, Superman gives us much more than we give him. Metropolis and the world are better places to live because of him. That’s the bottom line." He lifted the meter’s handle. "This is it, miss. We’re here."
"Thank you," Anna said, handing him payment for the ride. "You’ve given me much more than a ride."
Anna pulled her duffel bag out of the cab and headed toward the reception desk.
**************
David Morrow nursed his scotch on the rocks in the hotel bar while watching the comings and goings in the front lobby. The forensics course was interesting, but what really peaked his interest was his talks with Lois Lane and Clark Kent.
They were beginning to make inroads on the Jeremy Hamilton murder. He had spent the previous evening sharing information with the reporting team.
Lois Lane had told him about Emil Hamilton and his cloning experiments. The scientist was hoping to see if there was a way he could genetically change criminal behaviour, to make it more socially aware. In order to do this, he used technology to clone gangsters and bring them back. But before he was able to start his experiments, the clones returned to their natural criminal behaviour: robbing banks, stealing cars, attempting to bribe officials, and killing people who got in their way.
"In the end," Lois had said, "Superman stopped them."
"With Lois’s help," Clark added.
"What happened to Hamilton’s experiment?" David had asked.
"Nothing. He destroyed it and that was that," Lois added, taking Clark’s hand and squeezing it.
David noted that something private passed between the husband and wife team, but he didn’t feel comfortable pursuing it. Instead, he had asked what the connection between Jeremy’s murder and Emil was.
"That’s harder to explain because here we’re going on instinct."
"You have to realize, though," Clark had added, "that Lois’s instincts are 99% right on."
Lois smiled at Clark’s comment. "According to Shelley Hamilton, Emil had been phoning his brother almost daily a few weeks before his stroke. Jeremy was agitated after he spoke to his brother, mumbling about his harebrained schemes getting him in more trouble than any scientific discovery was worth. Although Emil was older, Jeremy seemed to be the pragmatic one, the one who kept his older brother grounded, so to speak. After Emil’s stroke, Jeremy had visited his brother’s office. When he got there, it had been ransacked. "
"It made sense to us," Clark had continued, "that Emil was the link. So we followed up on his clones. When we last saw them, they were in prison again for the crimes they committed their second time around. They’re still there now."
"We checked Hamilton’s visitors and phone calls. The lab he works for now keeps a record of visitors. The name that kept occurring was a Vic Newbury."
David stared at his empty glass. Tomorrow he was meeting with Bill Henderson of the MPD who was going to apprise him of what he had found out about Vic Newbury. Would they find a connection with Emil Hamilton and then with Jeremy? It could be a long shot.
He debated ordering another scotch when he looked out into the lobby. Now he knew that his mind was playing tricks on him. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think that Anna McLaren was standing at the reception desk in the lobby.
The woman drove him crazy. He had moved to Huntsville to get away from a relationship he felt was getting out of hand. The last thing he had wanted was another relationship, especially with a strong-willed, opinionated, stubborn woman, but somehow just being around her, watching her graceful movements, her compassionate handling of people in trouble, her problem solving, he felt himself falling uncontrollably under her spell.
To no avail, he thought. She wasn’t interested in him, and yet he couldn’t explain the palpable attraction that suffused his body. He knew that she felt it too. As much as she tried to hide her interest, he knew that the sarcastic gruffness he heard in her voice and the controlled body language were forced, an act she put on just for him, to scare him away. Or so he told himself.
He stared at the woman’s back. So like her, he thought. The same height, the same strong shoulders, the same dark brown braid. And then she turned around...
David took a final sip of the melted ice cubes, placed the glass on the table and headed into the lobby.
**************
"Anna!"
Surprised to hear her name called, she spun around. David. She knew he was registered in the Metropolis Grand, but hearing his voice calling her name startled her. She straightened her shoulders, and cleared the surprise from her face.
"Morrow?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Vacation."
"You? On vacation?" He stared in disbelief. "What are you really doing here?"
"Following up on the Hamilton murder."
"I’m doing that."
"Is that why you’re in Metropolis?"
"No. I’m here for the forensic conference, but the Inspector suggested I check in with MPD."
"Well, you can go back to your conference, now. I’m here and can take over."
"Sorry, I’m not giving this up. You wanna work with me, you’re welcome. If not, go vacation somewhere else."
David glared at Anna daring her to gainsay him. One part of her wanted to. Working with David was dangerous, affecting her core, an area that she wanted left in peace. The other part of her enjoyed the sparring, the interplay, the physical desire she worked so hard to keep hidden.
And yet, he might know something that would help her investigation. And she had to admit he had been more than helpful leading up to his trip to Metropolis. He’d spent more time than necessary on the autopsy. He’d helped her focus on the abandonned car. She raised her eyes from the room card in her hand. He was standing still, his eyes boring adamantly into her.
"I’ll meet you in the restaurant for breakfast at 7:30," she said. She turned towards the elevator. "And don’t smirk, Morrow."
**************
tbc
