The Murder of Marvellous Marv, Part 1


    The job of Mayor is an intensive one, placing huge demands on a person’s time.  With nearly any other job, someone not showing up wouldn’t draw any real alarm for days or weeks.  With the Mayor, people notice after just a few hours.

    Usually, the staff at the Paradopolis Mayor’s Mansion is instructed to leave the Mayor and his family alone to the private areas unless called for.  The head butler decided to violate that directive when he realized that it was past noon and nobody called for him, or breakfast, or the limousine - and he hadn’t reported to City Hall, either.

    He found Marv’s bedroom in the Mansion in disarray, the television left on.  Marv was lying on the floor, pale and unmoving.

    An ambulance arrived four minutes later.  The paramedics declared him dead upon arrival.

    The entire mansion was then ordered closed off by Police Commissioner Don Graham, especially to the press, until an investigation could be performed.  The lead investigators appointed to the case were two of his best - Jack Burns his partner, Vicky Cameron.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What do you think?”  Graham asked as he showed the bedroom to his two detectives.

    The two had opposite styles.  Jack’s style was to remain perfectly still and look around the room.  Vicky slowly and carefully stalked around the room in sneakers, careful not to disturb anything.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Looks like a minor struggle.”  Vicky finally piped up.  “No furniture is knocked over, so it wasn’t a cat fight to the death.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No blood.”  Jack pointed out.  “That leaves blunt force, electrocution--”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Drowning.”  Vicky added.

    Graham looked confused.  “Drowning?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yah.”  Vicky frowned, she didn’t appreciate what she thought was a tone mocking her theory.  “Force water down the throat.  Or some super-type who can control water.  It’s a pretty good way to kill someone indoors.  Hardly any evidence, and nobody would think to look for it.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Ah.”  Graham wrote that down on a pad he carried.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Did we get the Coroner report yet?”  Jack asked.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“They’re working on it.”  Graham noted.

    Vicky asked, “What about a list of suspects?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That.”  Graham replied, “is where things get complicated.”


---


    Hatman wasn’t doing his usual pacing around the Ready Room after calling the entire Lair Legion in for a meeting, Hallie included.  Also present were Anna, Chiaki Bushido, and Liu Xi Xian, by his request.  Notably absent was Lara Night, who went home for a little while.

    Once in a while, Visionary sniffed and wiped his nose with a tissue, and then discarded it into a rapidly growing pile.

    The Ready Room was only barely bigger than the large, wooden table in its center.  There was a whiteboard on one wall, and a large flat screen monitor on the other.  It was lit sparsely, most of the light focused on the table.  That room was designed entirely for quick meetings and strategy sessions.

    Instead of pacing, Hatman was sitting at the head of the meeting table, tapping a pencil against a pad of paper.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Commissioner Graham called me first as a courtesy.”  he said.  “We’re all suspects, including me.  We’re not the only ones, though...and the faster we can help solve this mystery, the less mud the Lair Legion will be dragged through.”

    For some reason, he looked directly at Chiaki when he said that.  She gave him an injured look, and cast her eyes down sadly.  He made a mental note that he’d have to apologize to her later.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where is Lara, anyway?”  he asked Liu Xi, the only person he knew of who could contact her while she was back home.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“She said she would come back as soon as she could.”  Liu Xi replied defensively.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh.”  Hatman said quietly.  “I’m sorry to hound you like this, Liu Xi, but the timing of her not being here doesn’t look to good for us, or for her.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Whatever.”  Liu Xi rolled her eyes.  She had one elbow leaned on the table, and was resting the side of her face on her palm.  

    She changed her mind about her response when she saw Hatman’s eyes.  He had a haunted look about him, like he was hiding a fear of some kind of horrible retribution, and the meeting was a last-minute attempt at salvation.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m sorry.”  she apologized.  “I’ll get her to come as soon as I can.  In the mean time we can keep the focus off of her, yes?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.”  Hatman agreed with a sigh of relief.  He seemed a little happier with Liu Xi working at his side.  He took out a pad of paper and looked around the room.  

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“The last time Marv was seen alive was when he ordered a night cap from the kitchen staff, around 11 p.m.”  Hatman said.  “So I’d like to know, in detail, where everyone was between 11 p.m. last night, and noon today, and who might have witnessed it.”

    CrazySugarFreakBoy! raised his hand.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where everyone else was.”  Hatman clarified.

    The Wired Wonder put down his hand, looking disappointed that he didn’t get a chance to describe his night.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I had a code.”  Visionary mumbled.  “I took subtink and wend to sleeb.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“While Visionary was ‘asleeb’ I was playing pool at the Fatal Toilet until 2 a.m.”  Yuki added.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“The Fatal Toilet doesn’t have a pool table.”  Hatman pointed out.

    Yuki smirked.  “Who said I was using a table?  Anyhow, after that I came back here.  Flapjack is my witness, because I slapped him.”

    Hatman looked at Flapjack, who was drooling more than usual.  “Okay, I guess Yuki is telling the truth.”

    He then looked at the Manga Shoggoth, and determined that it would be bad for everyone’s sanity to ask his whereabouts last night.  Besides, if he killed Marv, there wouldn’t have been a body left.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I was unconscious.”  Al B Harper piped up.  “Yuki brought me a bottle of something from the Fatal Toilet.  I tried a shot of it...and I don’t remember anything after that.  Except slapping Flapjack.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I left for the Moon at midnight.”  the Librarian plainly said.  “But first I slapped Flapjack.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Chiaki?”  Hatman looked at the Psychic Samurai.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I was at home.”  the Japanese swordswoman said quietly.  “I’m sorry, I live alone so I have no witnesses.  I did not have the opportunity to slap Flapjack.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Much to my regret.”  Flapjack leered.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I went home too.”  Liu Xi Xian supplied.  “But I was with you until midnight.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.”  Hatman agreed with a nod.  “But we can’t prove where you were after that.  And you did curse Marv.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“To keep him out of here.”  Liu Xi pointed out.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That still makes you a suspect.”  Hatman responded.  He frowned when Liu Xi responded by looking away and crossing her arms.  “Look, Liu Xi...I’m not trying to be cruel, I’m just telling you what to expect.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Then you’re doing it wrong.”  Yuki interrupted.  “I left the Fatal Toilet at 2 a.m....I would have had plenty of time to make Al B Harper pass out, slap Flapjack, and murder Marv.  So I’m a suspect too.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’m trying to gather information--”  Hatman started to say.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“And so are you.”  Yuki continued.  “You had no alibi either.  In fact, you might be taking the lead as a distraction.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Visionary here has a cold.  But how many friends does he have who could have done this kind of dirty work for him?  One phone call doesn’t take very long.  The Moon Public Library has the best teleport system we know of, Lee could have made a stop along the way--”

    Hatman stopped her.  “Is there a point to all this Yuki?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yes.”  Yuki finally concluded as she stood and looked around the table.  “We’re all suspects.  We’re all in this together.  All this meeting is doing is dividing us.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Fine, then.”  Hatman sounded frustrated as he waved his hand over the table and said, “Meeting adjourned...for now.”

    He stood, unmoving, as he watched the Lair Legion and its guests shuffle out of the room slowly.  All except one.

    Yuki gently ran her fingers through his hair, and rested her hand on his opposite shoulder before drawing him in a one-armed partial hug.  “I’m sorry, Jay.  I was trying to save you wasting your time.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I know.”  he agreed, sounding a little defeated.  “I thought I could clear everyone.  For my own peace of mind, at least.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yeah, I was kind of hoping too.”  She smiled at him, and that seemed to cheer him up a little.  “Don’t worry, I live for this stuff, Jay.  Investigating complicated mysteries.  Trust me, I’m going to be with this every step of the way.  With a little luck, I’ll solve this before the cops do.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You think so?”  Jay asked with an unconvinced sigh.  “I’m genuinely worried.  There have been so many attempts to tear apart the Lair Legion...to prosecute us, to turn the public against us--”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I know.”  Yuki interrupted him.  She sat down on the table.  “I didn’t say it would be easy.  But the Lair Legion is worth fighting for, for me anyway.”

    Both of them turned to face the door when Flapjack burst in.  He seemed disappointed that he wasn’t interrupting anything special.  Finally, he announced his original cause for appearing, and it seemed to get drooling even more.  “Lara Night is here.”

    Yuki looked at Jay.  “I’ll let you talk to her,”  she said.  “I have some snooping to do.”  She winked at him, hopped off the table, and left.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“So where is she?”  Jay asked Flapjack.


TO BE CONTINUED


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2009 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin