The car was pulled from the river. It was early morning, and Detective Joe Cordona was pissed. He hated getting called out before his second cup of coffee. And sure enough, before he even got to the precinct, they called him and told him to come over to the river instead.
"Huh. A cab," he said. He turned to the officer standing beside him. "Three cars on him, and he still got away."
"Yes, sir," the cop said, trembling.
Cordona looked at the cop's nametag.
"Tell me, Devron. Why were three different cop cars after him?"
"I don't know, sir."
"Weren't you in one of them?"
"Yes, detective."
"And you don't know?"
Devron shook his head.
"Did you get a call?"
"I . . . I don't th- . . . I don't know."
Cordona mumbled something under his breath and walked back to his vehicle. "Devron. I want you and all the other cops involved in this chase to meet me back at the station. And you damn well better have some answers, or I.A. will be chewing all of you a new asshole!"
Margo Lane was making herself a cup of coffee, still not quite awake. She had stayed up a lot later than she had anticipated. Brett stayed over longer than she expected for a first date, especially considering they missed their dinner reservation.
She didn't remember Brett leaving, but he wasn't there when she woke up.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Actually, it was more of a thump. Tighting her robe, she rushed over to open it.
Lamont, still dressed in his Shadow gear fell through the doorway.
"Lamont!" she exclaimed.
"Accident . . . "
Margo caught Lamont before his face hit the floor.
Detective Cardona leaned back in his chair with his feet propped up on his desk. He looked at the lineup of five cops standing in front of him.
"I want to know why three police vehicles were involved in one chase that ended with the perp's cab in the river," Cardona said. He looked at the cop on the right end of the lineup, who appeared to be the youngest.
"Geller, you tell me what I'd like to hear," he said. "Why were you at the museum?"
"I don't know, sir. It's just that Fleming told me we'd gotten orders to work as guards over there."
"Who gave those orders?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask. I just accepted."
"And why the hell did you shoot your partner?"
Geller hesitated. "The Shadow."
"You saw a shadow?"
"No. The Shadow. He showed up. I felt the rage build up inside of me. I wanted to kill him."
"So you shot Fleming instead."
"No. Yes. I mean, I was aiming for the Shadow."
"Why would you want to kill the Shadow?"
"I . . . I don't know. I just felt the urge."
"You realize that Fleming's career is now over, once he gets out of the hospital, as well as yours?"
Geller fought back tears.
"Now, you started chasing him."
"Fleming brought me back to my senses. I called for backup."
"And two cars responded?" Cardona asked, looking at the four other cops.
"Actually, it was five, sir. The last two set up a roadblock," Devron replied.
Cardona looked at Devron, who was standing dead center. "So I see. Were you aware of what was going on?"
"Vaguely," Devron replied. "Things seem a bit hazy."
"And you, Officer Bendon?" Cardona asked of the man to Devron's right.
"Last night's events are hazy for me as well."
"Was there a damn one of you thinking clearly?"
All five stood, silently.
"That's enough of this charade," Cardona said. "I want all of you out of here. Geller, you report to the chief. He'll be wanting your badge."
"Son of a bitch," Harry Vincent muttered. The pounding on his door just wouldn't stop.
He finished buttoning his shirt as he walked to the door.
"All right already! I'm coming," he shouted, hoping that would end the pounding.
Harry opened his apartment door to find Moe Shrevnitz standing, wet and ragged.
"Vincent. Ya gotta help!"
"God sakes, man. Get in before someone sees you like that!"
"The sun is shining . . . " Moe began.
"Yeah, yeah . . . but the ice is slippery, I know."
Harry helped Moe in and shut the door. Moe slumped onto Harry's couch.
"What did you do? Forget to undress before swimming?"
"Yer very funny, Vincent. It's the boss. Last night, I took him to the museum. Things seem to go okay, until he comes running out, and we start getting chased by cops."
"By the cops?"
"Three of them. Plus two more making a roadblock."
"Let me guess, you drove off a bridge."
"Yeah. I blacked out. The boss pulled me out, made sure I was okay. Told me to come here."
"Where did he go?"
"To see a friend."
"Why didn't he just send you home?"
Moe coughed. "I guess he thought the cops might find the cab, and trace it back to me."
Harry sighed. He picked up a bottle from his coffee table, and poured the contents into two small glasses that he and Angel had left on the table the night before.
"This is going to take a while to understand," Harry said. "And normally I'd say it's too early to be breaking this out, but you look like hell, and could probably use some."
"Hello?" Margo asked, picking the phone up.
"Margo? How are you this morning?"
"Brett! Where are you?"
"I came back to the hotel. I had business to attend to, and I just couldn't stand to wake you. Are you busy?"
"Actually . . . " Margo trailed off. She wasn't sure how to explain Lamont's visit. " . . . Lamont is here, and we have some important matters of our own to attend to."
"So, you won't be available for lunch?"
"No, but perhaps dinner."
"Shall I come to your place again?"
"No," Margo replied, tightening her robe once more. "We should meet at the restaurant this time."
"Very well."
"I'll get back to you on time and place, okay?"
"That will be fine."
"Okay, goodbye." Margo quickly hung up.
"That was Brett?" Lamont asked, now sitting up on Margo's sofa, and looking much better.
"Yes, he was hoping to grab lunch. But we have work to do."
"No, I have a case that my agents are working on."
"So what are you doing?"
"I . . . don't know."
Harry Vincent walked into the bar. It was still early evening, so the dress was still nice. He walked over and sat at a table where an older man was already seated.
"Evening, Perry," Harry said.
"Rough day, huh?" Perry replied.
"Why do you say that?"
"You only come see me when you've been put on a rough case."
"You're getting perceptive in your old age."
"No," Perry replied, finishing his shot. "I'm just not drunk yet. Whaddya got for me?"
"You heard anything about cops acting weird?"
"I heard about the commish getting arrested, but that's about it."
"Yeah, he gave me a nice knuckle sandwich yesterday afternoon." Harry leaned in and whispered, "Right after he robbed a bank. I noticed a ring on his hand."
"A ring, eh?" Perry started on the bottle that the bartender had brought him. "You know, I do recall seeing my old friend Manny - haven't seen him in years, thought he was dead - the other day. He had a strange ring on his hand."
"Did it have a blue stone?"
Perry tilted his head. "I believe so."
Harry stroked his chin. "Did he act weird at all?"
"Didn't seem to recognize me."
"I don't think it was your friend."
"I got this from him," Perry offered, holding out his hand. Laying in his palm was a small metal device, rectangular in shape, with a mostly round hole in the middle.
"This would almost be perfect to hold a ring . . . " Harry mused.
Harry was too busy looking at the object to notice the people at the next table over staring at him.
"Hey, that belongs to us!"
Harry jerked his head sideways and stood up in a hurry. He knew a fight was coming. He slipped the object into his pants pocket.
"Well, too bad for you."
"I believe it's gonna be worse for you . . . " the man said, twisting the ring on his finger. His facial features contorted, rearranging to look exactly like Harry!
Harry tapped his own ring, and hoped his plea for help would work!
Perry was soon taken out by the other men at the table. Harry was able to land a few punches on his doppelganger, but he took a few himself. Then, the other men were done with Perry, and came to help beat Harry up.
But something stopped them. As they rushed over, an invisible force knocked them backwards. They landed hard on the floor. Harry's lookalike jerked his head back for a second, wondering what had just happened. That was all Harry needed, grabbing his opponent's arm, and twisting it behind his back. The doppelganger tried to twist back around, but Harry forcefully gabbed his hand into the man's elbow. He wasn't sure if he had broken it, but he had caused a lot of pain.
"You're giving me that ring. Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way," Harry said. "And the hard way will result in something getting broken."
The man just panted, in obvious pain. Harry grabbed the ring and pulled it off. The man's featured reverted to his own. Harry pocketed the ring, and then bent the man's ring finger all the way back, breaking it.
"That's for trying to look like me, ass." The man fell to the floor. "How'd I do, boss?"
"You did well. Now, for the ring?"
"Here," Harry said, hanging the Shadow the ring and the other object. "I'm not sure what this is, but Perry found it."
"Interesting. It looks as if the ring fits into this."
"Yes, but I wouldn't try it right now. We don't know what it can do."
"A wise decision," the Shadow replied.
Just then, several police officers came rushing in.
"You must have come because of the fight," the Shadow said.
"Who said that?!" one officer exclaimed.
"It sounded like the Shadow!"
"It is. And you can go back to headquarters and release the commissioner. He did not rob the bank. This man on the floor did."
"But we have eyewitnesses! Descriptions!"
"I did it!" the man shouted. "I took the money! Take me in and I'll spill everything! Just get me out of here!"
It was raining that afternoon. Margo heard a knock on her door and opened it.
"Brett! We're not supposed to meet for another two hours!"
Brett was looking depressed. "I can't do it, Margo. I can't keep lying to you."
"Lying?"
"I'm a nobody. I have no prospects lined up in Hollywood. If I'm lucky, I can wash dishes for the caterers to the stars."
"Why the lie?"
"Because I didn't want to be seen as a nobody."
Margo was silent.
"And after last night," he continued, "I just couldn't keep up the charade."
Margo slapped him across the face.
"I probably deserved -- "
Margo slapped him again.
"You better leave now, or the third one won't be a slap," Margo said coldly.
"Huh? Oh!" Brett turned around to leave. "I'm sorry, Margo."
Margo slammed the door.
Moe was driving the Shadow and Harry back to their respective residences.
"So, did you ever figure out how they pulled everything off, or why?" Moe asked.
Harry shook his head. "No, I scared him a bit too much."
"It doesn't matter. Justice will be served, and we have the ring."
"You gonna run tests on it?" Moe asked.
"Most definitely. I have a feeling it's part of a large picture."
Next issue: Things that go bump in the night!