Supercop II: The Black Knight -- 11/13?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"Hi, honey," Neil's warm voice said from the speaker. "I'm about to go in to dinner with the company president and two of the company officers, so I can't talk long. How are you doing?"
"Um -- I'm having dinner with Inspector Henderson and Sue," she hedged. The last thing Neil needed right now was to worry about her safety.
"Oh?" Neil said. "Well, they seemed like nice people. Honey, I hate to break the bad news, but I'm going to have to stay another day. I wish I didn't, but they're apparently considering me for a junior vice presidency with the company and --"
"Don't worry about it," she told him quickly. "It's important. Call me as soon as you know what your new schedule will be."
"I will," he told her. "I miss you."
"I miss you, too," she said.
"Oops; here they come," Neil's voice said. "I'll call you as soon as I can. Love you." The phone went dead.
**********
And now, Part 11:
Norma Randall yawned behind her hand. It had been a busy night. The night before Halloween always was. The inevitable pranksters that couldn't possibly wait until October 31st had made themselves known on and off throughout the night. A fire in someone's front yard, where a practical joker had set someone's Halloween decorations on fire had been the first call. Norma Randall and John Braxton had arrived to find a leaf-stuffed jack-o-lantern blazing merrily, to the imminent danger of the house and the neighbor's fence. The fire department showed up just as Superman dropped into the yard before them, holding a nineteen-year-old by the collar. The man, it turned out, was known for this kind of prank, and not only at Halloween. He already had two prior arrests for minor vandalism and one for setting fire to someone's tool shed on this same night, the year before. Since the homeowner in question had set up a video camera in his yard to guard against this very thing, it looked as if the case was going to be open and shut.
Half an hour later, they had answered a silent alarm and intercepted two holdup artists departing from the scene of a robbery at an all night liquor store. They called the paramedics for the night clerk, who had sustained a blow to the head, and eventually transported the teenage crooks to the Precinct.
That barely completed, they were called to the scene of another Halloween prank, where teenagers were in the process of painting someone's house without the owner's permission. The night was off to a running start, Norma reflected as they pulled into a parking lot for a delayed lunch break, following the business with the house painters. Things were hopping, all right, but so far, at least, there had been no sign of the creepy little man in the picture that Henderson had shown her and no evidence of a blue car following her. That didn't mean she could relax, of course, but it made her feel just a little better. Maybe the guy had decided that a cop was too dangerous a target.
"Man!" John Braxton said. The rookie that Henderson had partnered her with tonight was a good-looking young man just out of the most recent class at the Police Academy. Norma had met him casually a few times and had wondered briefly why Henderson had assigned this particular rookie to accompany her, since she had seen him coming on this morning just before she'd left for the day. He was cute, Norma thought, and seemed to be a pretty smart kid, but still in the dewy-eyed, wet-behind-the-ears category, and she'd been keeping a sharp eye on him all evening in case she needed to intercept any attempts to be a hero. He reached for the hot thermos of coffee that he had brought along with his food and began to open it. "Is it usually like this?"
"You mean, the night before Halloween?" Norma asked. "Yeah. Actually it's not as bad as usual. Maybe it's because we have three super heroes on watch this year."
"Three vigilantes," Johnny snorted. "We'd be better off without them."
Norma paused in the act of unwrapping a tuna salad sandwich, careful not to dislodge her own open thermos of coffee that sat on the seat beside her. "Why would you say that?" she asked casually.
"Well, you know -- they're not even cops! They've got no right to chase criminals. That's our job."
Norma raised an eyebrow at the younger man. "Metropolis has the lowest crime rate of any big city on the East Coast, and that's largely because of Superman."
"He's a vigilante," Johnny insisted. "That's against the law. *He* should be the one up in front of a judge. Why doesn't anybody ever bring that up?"
Norma was silent for a moment. She had run up against this attitude before in one or two rookies, and had seen the viewpoint change over time, but it usually seemed to spring from a misconception. "What's a vigilante?" she asked suddenly. "Do you know?"
"Well, sure." Johnny took a swig of his coffee, wincing slightly at the heat. A light mist was beginning to coat the windshield with tiny flecks of water. The weather report last night had predicted showers after midnight, Norma recalled vaguely. Maybe it would discourage the less-determined pranksters. The landscape out there sure looked uninviting at the present. "A vigilante is somebody that tries to take the law into his own hands. Like Superman."
"Not exactly," Norma said. She took a swig of her own coffee, careful not to sound anything but casual. Johnny sounded defensive, and if she started preaching he wasn't going to listen to anything she said. "A vigilante plays the part of judge and jury, and then executes the sentence. Can you give me an example where Superman -- or either of the other two -- has done that?"
Johnny was silent, scowling.
"If he did those things," Norma said, "he'd be in jail. All Superman ever does is catch bad guys and hand them over to cops -- just like he did tonight."
"But he has no right to do that," Johnny argued. "That's *our* job."
"Actually," Norma said, "he does."
"*What*?"
"Ever hear of a citizen's arrest?" she inquired, dryly. "I'm sure they covered it in the Academy. It's even in the Constitution. We may not encourage ordinary people to chase crooks, since it can get them hurt, but it's pretty hard to injure Superman. He's an honorary citizen, so he has the same rights as anybody else. If he sees a crime being committed, he can make a citizen's arrest -- and that's what he does. That's not vigilantism."
Johnny seemed dumbfounded for a moment. "I guess," he said after a moment. "But --" He frowned. "But," he began again, "what if he decided not to follow the law? Has anybody thought of that? What if he decided to make himself emperor or something? No one could stop him."
"True," Norma said, "but what if John Q. Citizen decides not to follow the law? Should we arrest and prosecute people for something they *might* do? Besides, don't you think that if Superman were going to do something like that, he'd already have done it?"
"Maybe he's trying to get us off guard, or something," Johnny said.
"Uh huh; right," Norma said skeptically, "And why would he need to do that? As you pointed out a minute ago, we couldn't stop him if he decided to make himself the ruler, so why would he need to get us off guard?"
Silence for a long moment. She probably hadn't convinced him, Norma thought, but hopefully she had given him something to think about. "Look," she said finally, "you don't have to like Superman, but, as a police officer, you're obligated to treat him the same as you would any other honest citizen. And if you'd like a word of advice, I'd give the man the benefit of the doubt. He's saved the lives of a lot of guys in the Department here. You're not going to win very many brownie points with them if you give Superman a hard time. Take it from me."
"I guess not," Johnny said. "You're probably right."
Norma shrugged. "Just my two cents, for what it's worth." She took a bite of her tuna sandwich.
The rest of the night followed the pattern of the first part. Scattered examples of vandalism popped up here and there, along with reports of the occasional appearance by Superman, Ultra Woman or the Black Knight, each intervening to prevent a minor incident from becoming something larger. Johnny made no further mention of Superman and Norma didn't comment about the reports, but she hoped that what they heard would not be lost on Johnny.
By 5:30 in the morning, Norma was struggling to keep her eyes open. She certainly wasn't going to have any difficulty sleeping today, she thought, but she was more thankful than she could express that she had only one more night on the night shift.
Johnny yawned widely enough to nearly dislocate his jaw. "Man! Another hour and a half and we're off," he remarked. "Any more of that coffee?"
Norma echoed the yawn. "No, but there's an all night convenience store on the next corner. Let's stop and get some. I've got to get something to keep me going until the shift is up."
The little convenience store was like all the others, with a gas station and racks outside with supplies of motor oil, gas additives and various other automotive products. A blinking sign in the window advertised beer and spirits and another informed potential customers of the fact that lotto tickets were sold inside. A car with a small dent in the right fender was parked around to one side with the motor running, and Norma saw a single occupant in the driver's seat, apparently reading a newspaper. She pulled into a parking spot in front of the store and turned off the engine. Johnny got out, slamming the door behind him and Norma also exited, wincing at the icy drizzle that immediately coated her face.
Inside the store, she could see the night clerk seated in a chair behind his counter. She and Johnny entered, and Norma wiped dampness from her face.
The coffee machine was next to the counter. Johnny moved over to it and chose the largest in the cup selections, beginning to fill it. Norma glanced at the man behind the counter, who had gotten to his feet when they entered.
"Cold night," she remarked.
"Yeah," the man said. "Can I help you, Officer?" He rolled his eyes to the left in the direction of the cold beer and soda. Norma was instantly alert. She glanced casually in the same direction, noting two men in heavy clothing standing close together, half-concealed by a rack of various bags of chips, popped corn and nuts. Everything seemed normal, except for the attitude of the clerk. The clerk again rolled his eyes in the direction of the two men.
Norma had learned to pay attention to such subtle clues. "Two coffees," she said, "and do you sell aspirin?" She put a hand on her belt. "Johnny," she said casually, "go back to the car and see if I left my wallet on the seat, would you?"
"Huh?" Johnny said, obviously confused. "It's in your pocket."
"Johnny," she said softly, "just *do* it."
The rookie finally understood what she was trying to tell him and started for the door. Unfortunately, the two "customers" had apparently also picked up on it and charged for the front of the store. A shotgun blast roared, taking out the candy rack next to the spot where Norma had been standing. Norma, however, was no longer there. She was down behind the counter with the clerk, her .38 Special in her hand. "Get out of here!" she shouted.
Johnny ducked out the door and from somewhere outside Norma heard the roar of a car engine and gunshots, and then the diminishing sound of the motor. She popped up from behind the counter and fired at the approaching men. There were crashes as the two dived for cover. She ducked back as another shotgun blast roared through the space where her head had been, taking out the candy machine on the counter.
A gust of wind blasted through the small store and then everything was quiet. A deep male voice said, "I've got them, Officer."
Norma peeked over the edge of the counter. The two men were face down on the floor, tied with what looked like the wire from the ruins of the blasted rack. Beside them stood the black-clad form of the man that she had watched through binoculars two days ago when he lifted a tractor-trailer as if it were a sofa pillow and moved it to the side of the freeway. The Black Knight glanced about as John Braxton opened the door and entered. Outside in the parking lot, Ultra Woman set down a car and forcibly removed the driver. She marched him into the store and seated him firmly on the floor beside the other two men. "The getaway driver," she said briefly. She glanced at Johnny. "You might want to make use of those handcuffs of yours, Officer."
Norma turned to the store clerk, who was getting shakily to his feet. "Are you all right?"
The man still looked somewhat shell-shocked but he nodded. "Yeah." He took a deep breath. "Thanks. You saved my life."
"I think," Norma said, "that the Knight and Ultra Woman saved both our lives." She glanced at Johnny. "Did you call for backup?"
Johnny nodded. "They're on their way." He knelt to click the cuffs onto the wrists of Ultra Woman's prize. "Um --" He glanced briefly at the superwoman. "Thanks."
"Yes," Norma said, looking into the masked face of the Black Knight, "Thanks."
"You're welcome," the Knight said.
"Better call off the alarm," Norma told Johnny. She knelt beside the three captives. As usual, when something like this happened -- not that she had encountered many life-threatening situations on the job, but there had been a few -- she hadn't been aware of the fear that tingled along her nerves. The adrenaline rush and the need to act tended to blot those other feelings out, but afterwards she had to consciously stop her hands and voice from shaking and work to conduct herself professionally. Deliberately, she shoved the reactions to the back of her mind. She would think about everything that had happened later, when she had the leisure. Right now, she had a job to do. She took a deep breath, striving to sound cool and professional. "You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. If you choose to give up this right, anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law --"
**********
Bill Henderson pulled his car into the Precinct's lot and cut the engine. It had been a short night for Lois, Clark and him, but since he'd received that dose of Superman's powers he hadn't needed more than about four hours sleep to feel rested. Of course last night he'd only gotten about two, one at the beginning of the night shift and one just before his quick breakfast and drive to the station. Still, he'd done with less. As he got out of the car and stepped into the sunlight once more, he could feel the rays of Sol energizing him and his fatigue seeping away. It was a good thing that Halloween only came once a year, though. How supposedly mature adults could descend to some of the stupidities he'd seen last night was another of those things that left him scratching his head. Human behavior was completely inexplicable at times; that was for sure. Tonight was the big night, however. Then he'd be able to catch up on all the sleep he'd missed.
He'd made an effort to keep an eye on Norma Randall last night. He'd checked on her every half-hour, each time hoping that he would see the blue car or some sign that Robert Owens was in the area, but each time he had been disappointed. The shotgun blasts had drawn him to the convenience store in time to intervene, but none of the three thugs so apprehended was Robert Owens, not that he had expected anything of the sort.
He doubted that the man had given up but it was possible, he thought, that with the appearance of Superman yesterday morning, Owens had decided to lie low for a while. On the other hand, it was very likely that he had decided that the best time for an attack on Norma would be Halloween night. There would be thousands of masked people abroad tonight, from children to adults. There would be parents accompanying children, men and women attending masquerade parties ... what better a time than Halloween to choose for his dirty business?
Henderson strode up the steps into the Precinct and swept the area with his x-ray vision, looking for Norma Randall.
There she was at a desk in the main office, filling out paperwork for the incident at the convenience store. John Braxton was sitting at another desk, also hard at work. As he watched, he saw Norma sit back and stretch her arms over her head.
"Hey," someone said. "Watch where you're going, Inspector!"
"Oops, sorry," Henderson said absently, stepping aside to let Dan, the janitor, past.
"No problem. Maybe you should get some coffee," Dan said. "You look like you're half-asleep. Rough night?"
"Yeah," Henderson said. "Sue had false labor for hours." Sue, he reflected, wouldn't mind if he attributed his lack of attention to his surroundings to false labor, as long as it misled people from figuring out the real reason.
"Tough luck," Dan said. "My wife had tons of it with our last kid. It can't go on much longer, though."
"That's what I keep telling myself," Henderson said. "See you."
Dan lifted a hand vaguely and ambled on his way. Henderson headed for the office.
As he entered, Norma was gathering her things, preparatory to leaving and Johnny was just getting to his feet, a sheaf of papers in his hands.
"Anything to report?" Henderson asked Norma. "I take it there was no sign of him."
"Nope," Norma said. "We ran into that bunch that's been knocking off convenience stores around the area, so that's one headache out of the way."
"Yeah, I heard," Henderson said. "I happened to see Ultra Woman on my way to work. What are your plans for the day?"
"I figured I'd go home and stock up on sleep for tonight," Norma said. "It's going to be worse than last night."
"That's for sure," Johnny said. "Last night was bad enough." He hesitated. "You know Ultra Woman, don't you, sir? I mean, isn't she a friend of yours?"
"I suppose you could say so," Henderson said. "Why?"
"I was wondering if you could thank her for me. She -- well, she and the Knight probably saved our necks last night." He added artlessly, "She's a *fox*!" He glanced quickly at Norma. "No offense, Officer Randall."
"None taken," Norma said, although Henderson could see her struggling to keep a straight face. "Haven't you seen her before, though?"
"Sure; but not like *that*!" Johnny said enthusiastically. "She was like a -- like a --"
"If he says 'angel' I'm going to barf," Norma murmured softly, but Henderson heard it and had to work hard not to grin.
"There just isn't any word to describe her," Johnny said finally, words apparently failing him. "Could you tell her thanks for me the next time you see her, Inspector?"
"Sure," Henderson said.
Johnny went out and Norma's eyes met Henderson's. He raised an eyebrow. "Now now, Officer Randall," he said. "One shouldn't laugh at a fellow officer."
"Wouldn't think of it," Norma said, although her voice sounded choked.
"If you're ready," Henderson added, "I'll give you a lift, since you don't have a car here this morning."
"Thanks, but you don't have to --"
"We've still got the problem of Mr. Owens to deal with," Henderson said. "I'd rather you didn't stay at your house today. Besides, Sue was having more false labor this morning. If anything happens, I'd feel better if someone were with her."
Norma gave a faint sigh. "You do know how to stop an argument before it starts don't you. All right; let's go."
**********
tbc
