SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 1988
Diana Carter’s Condo
The Simpson Building
Ninth floor
303 7th Avenue
New York City, NY
Diana lays in her bed thinking over all of the events of the past month. Ending up in another dimension to learn that she has inherited more from her true father than just the powers Shana taught her to use. She can’t help but to wonder how the link she has to the world of Primus is another piece of the puzzle of her origin. Once again meeting up with Master Warrior and for the first time seeing the good he really does in the world. In a way they started this journey together in Zeeza, it would seem their paths are destined to intertwine. That also reminds her of the good she could do in the world beyond just cleaning up William Carter’s mess.
Then there is Abraham Woodlawn and his secrets. What is she going to do about him? Surely he knows she is Miracle Maiden or at least suspects it. He claims that the energy released at her birth changes him, making him a kind of immortal, dying only to be reborn over and over again. Having witnessed it herself she can not dispute it, but does that mean he can be trusted with her secret?
Closing her eyes her mind drifts to Wes and how she screwed up with him. He will probably never speak to her again. He is the second man she has met with powers that might be resistant to her own. Then another enters her mind, actually Wonder Man fits into that category as well she thinks. She must admit the name Master Warrior is much better. Realizing she is only putting off the inevitable Diana pulls herself out of bed to get a shower. She needs to be at her Aunt and Uncle’s in a few hours for breakfast.
Little does she know she is not alone, someone else watches her from a place outside of her perception as she showers. He watches as her hands soap her smooth supple body. He desires her as her hands move over her ample breasts. He wants to emerge from his hiding place to join her in the shower. She reaches to take the showerhead from its mount, moving it over her body to rinse the soap. She moves the warm water sprayer down her body making him throb with excitement as her fingers move to wash her nether regions. He must contain his desires, for this is his time to observe and learn everything he can about this woman who he wants nothing more than to destroy!
The Condo of Zacary and Jean Carter
1292 Third Avenue
New York City, NY
Having breakfast with her Aunt and Uncle on a Sunday morning is something Diana wishes she could do more often than one day a week. Diana feels like she needs family more than before she found out the truth about Robin. Diana has spent most of the Christmas holiday lost in thought about it. She knows she has to let what happened with Robin at Stanford go, but that doesn’t make it any easier to accept Robin as her twin sister. The time they spent together on Magic Island was great but how can any of this story of her being the soul of her twin be true?
All of that might change today as her Aunt Jean brings in the Newspaper. “Oh my, look at this,” Jean says opening to the front page. “Looks like New York has its very own Superhero now!” Jean shows the photo on the front page to her family. “Diana didn’t we buy a leotard just like that one for you?” Aunt Jean asks as Uncle Zac glares over at his niece suspiciously.
“I don’t know, did we?” Diana answers trying to look confused. “I really don’t have time to workout much, like I told you when we were shopping.” “I think I ended up donating some of that stuff to charity.”
“Looks like she shops at the same place then,” Jean replies.
“I’m sure that is right!” Zac states looking to his niece pretty sure his wife has overlooked the obvious because she doesn’t know Diana’s secret.
After breakfast while Jean is taking care of the kids in the other room Diana sits down with her Uncle in the living room. “Have you expanded your adventures beyond your father’s problems?” Uncle Zac asks inquisitively.
“It was never my intention to do that, but now that I am coming to the end of the files full of his dirty work and you, Aunt Jean and the kids will be safe, it seems to be the next step.”
“Up until now I really haven’t asked any questions about what you were doing to fix the problems my brother caused for our business, but now I wonder if I should have,” Uncle Zac says. “Just how dangerous are these people that he was associated with that you need to hide your identity like that?”
“More dangerous than I could have ever imagined,” Diana answers reluctantly, feeling she needs to be completely honest with him. “At first I didn’t understand how he kept some of these people in check, but now I have learned that he was not the man in charge.”
“What do you mean?” Uncle Zac asks at her counter diction of what he has believed all along.
“It would seem that there is a bigger organization and William Carter was only Middle Management,” Diana explains. “I believe I am on the verge of finding his replacement and then hopefully bringing the whole thing down.”
“What of Miracle Maiden when it is all over?” Zac asks, making it clear to Diana that her Uncle has figured out her double identity even if her Aunt Jean could not.
“I really don’t know,” Diana says honestly. “Recent events tend to make me think there is a place in the world for her, beyond just cleaning up William Carter’s mess.” “It seems like there are more people with superpowers and bad intentions everyday.”
“What about these guys?” Zac Carter asks about holding up a World Newspaper from before Christmas. The front page shows a photo taken from a helicopter at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis with Miracle Maiden standing at its peak and Master Warrior and Olympian flying nearby.
“Those guys are a very different story,” Diana says, taking the paper from him that she must have missed at the time. “How long have you been sitting on this one?”
“If it weren’t for the distortion of Miracle Maiden’s face I would have never figured it out,” Uncle Zac admits. “Funny how that Master Warrior guy seems to have the same thing going on.”
“Yeah it is,” Diana replies looking at the photo closer. “I didn’t really notice it before in person.” “I wonder if that vest he wears produces the same effect as my necklace?”
“What necklace?” Aunt Jean asks entering the room carrying the baby.
MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 1988
Carter Industries
The Simpson Building
Fifth floor
303 7th Avenue
New York City, NY
Diana arrives in her office early. Today she begins the final file left behind by William Carter. Entering the outer office there is no sign of her morning coffee or her assistant Jan. She didn’t expect Jan to be here this early, so she walks by the empty desk into her office.
Entering her office she finds an uninvited visitor, Mike White. He is the custodian that has been flirting with her for a year now. Diana has no interest and has told him so months ago. What is he doing here now? “Mike is there a problem?” The custodian does not reply as he continues to go through the papers on her desk. “Mike what do you think you are doing?” she asks.
The custodian looks up at her, he does not speak but there is something in his eyes that is unsettling. Looking back to the desk he finds it, the file that Diana was completed on all of the people she has taken down from her father’s secret files. Diana recognizes the folder in his hand instantly. It is something she keeps locked in the safe. She turns to the cabinet that houses her safe. On the floor in front of it are a variety of tools including a drill. The safe door has been broken open. Still not speaking Mike White storms around the desk as he takes a gun from the back of his pants.
Diana’s first thought is to stop him as her body’s density increases and he fires the gun at her chest. He does not react to the bullets dropping to the floor off her body other than to fire again at her head. Before he can fire the gun she strikes him down with a bio-energy blast. Diana stands in shock as he crumbles to the carpet. How could turning him down for a date lead to this she thinks as she approaches him on the floor. Taking the files from him she sits down behind her desk. She has read over this file many times before. It is different from the rest. It is written in some kind of code that she has yet to break.
Glancing back to the young man on the floor she spots a business card extending from his shirt pocket. Retrieving the card it reads Open World Logistics, Antonia Simpatico, CEO. The name is very familiar to Diana as she turns back to the file that Mike was stealing. The name on the tab of the file matches Antonia Simpatico, although the name is not mentioned again inside the file.
Looking at the clock on her desk Diana realizes she has only about forty-five minutes to figure this out before her assistant Jan arrives with her morning coffee. This woman Antonia Simpatico must be connected to all of this somehow. This is the first time since returning home that Diana has been attacked personally. Looking at the gun on the floor Diana thinks, perhaps I should have died. It would have taken the heat off of Carter Industries and kept her family safe. But faking your own death is not something you figure out in forty-five minutes. It takes planning, finding a duplicate body alone could take weeks. When the idea comes to her she hates it, but it would be the best solution to this problem.
“Shanna, I need your help!” she calls out in the empty office.
19th Police Precinct
153 E 67th St
New York City, NY
Detective Prussia and Agent Lei arrive at the call to Carter Industries, an apparent homicide. It is of no surprise to Prussia, he has been expecting this call for months. His only question is who did Diana Carter kill? As they enter Diana’s outer office they find the receptionist crying on the sofa, Zac Carter’s arm around her. Prussia and Lei continue into the main office greeting the other cops on the scene.
In Diana Carter’s office Captain Forester stands over a body covered with a reflective blanket on the floor. “About time you showed up in Prussia,” the Captain comments. “Figured you’d want to see this, with the history you have with her.”
“Who did she kill?” Detective Prussia asks walking up to the body on the floor. “What did you do with her?”
Detective Prussia lifts the corner of the blanket as the Captain answers, “Didn’t do anything with her, she’s right there.”
Prussia stares at the body of the woman on the floor under the sheet, two bullets in her chest and one in her head. “This is not fuckin possible!” Prussia exclaims looking at Diana Carter lying dead on the floor. He bends down to have a closer look at the wounds and place his fingers on the woman’s cooling throat.
“Believe me Prussia she is dead, no one walks away from a bullet to the head!” Captain Forester snorts. “Can you give this vendetta a rest now!”
“I want to know who did this!” Prussia shouts standing up. He looks to his partner FBI Agent Lei. “I will do this alone.” “I need to know how this happened!”
After the body has been cleared Detective Prussia is alone in Diana Carter’s office. He sits down behind her immaculately organized desk. There is no paperwork on it at all, not even in or out baskets. Looking through the desk drawers he finds nothing different than would be found in a school teacher’s desk. What did this girl do at this company anyway? he thinks. He looks to the empty safe, guessing what she did needed special security from the look of that safe. Most likely that is where she kept her father’s files he so desperately wanted to see.
There is a rolodex on Diana’s desk that Prussia flips through. A business card falls out onto the blotter. Picking up the card it reads, Lincoln, Private Taxi Service, Anytime of the day or night. This is the guy that has been driving Diana around since she returned home. He could be useful, Prussia thinks sliding the card in his pocket.
Looking to the phone he can tell that the buttons are well worn. He picks up the receiver to try to get a feel for the young woman’s work day. Looking to the desk blotter where her hand would be while on the phone, he is in luck. There is an impression there. Taking a fresh piece of paper from a drawer and a pencil he does a rubbing that reveals three letters, OWL.
Detective Prussia’s thoughts are interrupted by a knock at the door. What idiot rookie is bothering him, he thinks. “I said I needed some time,” he calls out.
The door opens slightly and a man pokes his head in, “Excuse me, but are you the Detective in charge?” Martin Harper asks his reporter eyes taking in every aspect of the office he can see from where he stands. Seeing the Detective, Martin reaches into his pocket to turn on his mini-recorder.
“Who are you, this is an active crime scene, you can’t be here!” Prussia tells the man.
Martin Harper does what a good reporter does, the opposite of what the Detective tells him by stepping all the way into the room. One look at the large blood stain on the carpet and the taped outline he asks, “So it is true, Diana Carter is dead?” “Are you sure it was her?”
“I will ask you one more time to leave sir,” Detective Prussia says getting up from the desk chair.
“Are you sure it was her?” Harper asks, stepping around the stain on the carpet. “I never thought she would be taken out so easily.” The now angry Detective walks toward the reporter who evades him. Harper walks toward the open safe to take notice of its emptiness. “It would take someone who knows their stuff to get that model open.” “Was it a robbery gone bad?” As the large black man pursues him around the office chairs the reporter catches sight of the rubbing on the desk, OWL.
“That is enough questions from you,” Prussia states, taking the man by his arm to escort him from the room. It is then that Prussia catches sight of the man’s PRESS badge on his jacket. “I must admit you are a good reporter though, Mr….”
“Harper, Martin Harper, The New York Bulletin,” the Reporter explains. “I’ve had many questions about Diana Carter’s life and I have even more about her death.”
“Then you will have to find them somewhere else,” Detective Prussia tells the reporter, even though he would like to know what those questions are. He knows that he must keep this investigation on the up and up more than any other.
Martin Harper knew there was little chance that he would get any help from the police but what he did find at the office was enough of a start. “Well thank you Detective….”
“Prussia, I’m sure I will be seeing you again,” the Detective says.
Tuesday, January 25, 1988
Carter Industries
The Simpson Building
Fifth floor
303 7th Avenue
New York City, NY
Getting an early start Detective Prussia begins by interviewing Zac Carter. Getting to his appointment early he is not surprised when the business man makes him wait. After all, the man’s niece was just murdered in an office down the hall. It is nearly fifteen minutes past his appointed time when the assistant directs him into Mr. Carter’s office.
Detective Prussia enters the office to shake the business man’s hand. “I’m sorry for your loss sir but there are some questions I need to ask you if I am to find her murderer.”
“I understand Detective,” Zac Carter replies. “I hope you understand that this is not going to be easy for me.”
“Of course sir,” the Detective answers. “I would like to begin by asking, what was your niece’s job here at Carter Industries?”
“Diana’s position here is…., was rather fluid,” Mr. Carter begins. “When she returned home from college after her father died she found several files of clients that her father had been working with unknown to me.”
“Yes, she told me of the files but never revealed all of the details,” Detective Prussia explains. “Are those the files that were in her safe?”
“Yes, not even I knew the full contents,” Zac reveals. “Diana thought it would be best that way.” “She felt that knowing what my brother had done would put my family in harm’s way.”
“She took a lot of responsibility for someone just out of college and you gave it all to her freely,” Prussia sums up. “Seems rather irresponsible of a loving Uncle.” “Or was there another reason?”
Zac Carter is quiet for a moment locking eyes with the detective. “I guess I screwed up and it cost my niece her life,” he finally says. “I think that is enough questions, detective.”
It is clear to Detective Prussia that he is not going to get the answers he wants from this man. “Thank you for your time, sir,” the detective says, getting up from the office chair. “I will be in touch.”
Open World Logistics
163 Randolph St
Brooklyn, NY
Dee Moore has worked at Open World for two years, but this morning standing outside the front doors it is as if she is seeing the place for the first time, mainly because she is. This place makes more sense than the one she and Archie visited months ago, it is much closer to LaGuardia Airport for quick entry and exit of the City. She worried about how much of this plan can go wrong. Using Robin to fake her death was an obvious choice, but then there is the pain that is going to cause her Aunt and Uncle, not to mention friends. Diana just has to keep her eye on the prize. At the end of all of this she will be done with William Carter’s mess.
Then there is this spell that Shanna cast. Shanna’s powers can not change her appearance, only what people perceive of her appearance. The result is that anyone who knows Dee Moore will see her as Dee Moore. So it is very important that she avoid anyone who knows her as Diana, because that is who they will see.
Lastly Miracle Maiden has to go on the shelf until this is over. If the person behind the attempt on her life is Antonia Simpatico there is a good chance that the woman knows that Miracle Maiden and Diana are one in the same. Two months ago she would have gladly given up Miracle Maiden, but after what happened in Ghaza and St Louis, Diana feels like being a superhero has more value.
After spending the night at Dee Moore’s apartment and studying her a bit, Diana prayed she could pull this off. She also hopes that she can do that without causing too much damage to the real woman’s life. Shanna can keep the real Moore in suspended animation on Magic Island for as long as it takes to end this, but the life she returns to is completely on Diana.
Taking a deep breath Dee Moore steps into the office to begin her day. She has spent the night studying the work dynamic and names of the people Dee Moore comes into contact with on a daily basis. Her goal is to uncover what exactly Open World is involved in as well as find how Antonia Simpatico plays into all of this mess.
Dee walks into the lunchroom to stow her purse and coat in her locker. By the sink is a coffee pot where two women stand discussing their weekend. The blonde is Sue and Mary is the brunette. Sue has just come back from a long weekend with much to talk about. “Hey, Dee wait until you hear this one,” Mary calls to the new arrival.
Here goes, Diana thinks to herself. If she can fool these girls who are Dee’s closest friends she might just be able to make this charade work. “Let me guess, Sue met another guy,” Dee replies, closing her locker. “I’m going to need a strong cup of coffee for this one aren’t I?”
“Already got it,” Mary says, handing Dee a mug. “Sue says that this one must be on that Viagra drug.”
“Viagra drug?” Dee questions. “Is that some kind of new designer club drug?”
“Better, it keeps his dick hard for three hours!” Sue announces not caring who hears. “I thought he looked good in the club but when we got out to his car, I didn’t ever want to go home!”
“You know that really doesn’t sound safe,” Dee suggests.
“I said the same thing,” Mary adds. “All she could say was..”
“It was safe, a box of condoms safe that is,” Sue giggles. “His name is Bobby and believe me bobbing on it was fantastic!”
Diana is used to having girlfriends that talk to her like this, so she just smiles and nods her head in agreement. She just wants to get through all of this without being discovered. She looks to Mary who has something of a glimmer in her eye. “I think we should all go to this NIGHTLIFE place on Friday,” Mary announces. “I think Dee could use a little of what Sue got last weekend.”
“Really?” Dee replies. “I don’t think so.” She can’t believe how much these women are treating her like Tracey and her Aunt Jean. Why do so many women think that every woman needs a man to be happy?
“As the old married woman here I know what a pent up sex drive looks like,” Mary tells Dee. “And that is you Miss Moore.” “If there is one person in this office who needs to get laid it is you!”
“What about Harriet from accounting?” Sue giggles as the older woman walks into the lunch room.
Glancing over at the old woman putting her lunch in the refrigerator. “I would guess that well is dry as a bone,” Mary jokes. “Dee here is a young single girl in New York City, if you don’t use it you lose it!”
“I don’t think so, I’m more of a home body on a Friday night,” Dee replies. “I don’t need a man to be happy.”
“Neither do I,” Sue fires back, “But it sure is fun to have them around.”
Diana Carter’s Condo
The Simpson Building
Ninth floor
303 7th Avenue
New York City, NY
Using Diana Carter’s keys from the evidence lockup Detective Prussia proceeds to her condo to have a look around. There are no signs of any kind of disturbance to the pristine high-rise condo. Clearly whatever the thief was looking for he knew was in that office safe. Prussia is looking for something else. Something to prove to him that he had been right about this young woman all along.
On the coffee table are law textbooks, which make sense because he knows she was still taking night classes at NYC Law School. He glances over the handwritten notes and homework. Nothing of interest there, he determines. As he moves around the living room he spots nothing unusual. It is not surprisingly most of the things in the room appear nearly brand new. Prussia is aware that when Diana’s father died he left her nothing so she would have to start all over in this new home.
Moving on to the kitchen it is as clean as the living room. The refrigerator has more food than he has in his at home but, obviously the young woman does very little cooking at home. On the counter a cold pot of coffee sits from the morning before her death. In the sink are unwashed breakfast dishes that she probably figured she could clean up later.
The bedroom is the thing that reveals the most about a person. The unmade bed shows that Diana was not looking to impress any male guests. So does the sexy lingerie in the closet with the price tags still on them. Glancing up to the top shelf of the closet Prussia spies a box with the words “Diana’s stuff” written on it in marker. He reaches the box down to sit it on the unmade bed.
Fumbling through what are probably the only remnants of her childhood he comes upon a child’s diary with a silly strap to lock it. Breaking open the strap is a joke to the seasoned cop. He flips through the hand written pages. Each page has pre-printed lines and a floral border. Glancing at the dates and the passages he notices that there are blank line breaks in the writing of the young girl. She talks about her mother’s death on tear stained pages. There are passages that talk of a secret mother and daughter shared but reference to what it was is wiped clean as if it was never written.
Then there are tales of her father’s anger and drinking. Her hatred of him fills pages and there too are blank lines and even paragraphs. She talks about a boy she met at camp one summer. He smiles at the story of young love lost. Then skipping ahead he finds the passage of the night he first met Diana Carter in The Midnight Bar. She expresses how sorry she was over what happened but again her side of the story is blank. Turning to the back of the book he discovers the diary ends with Diana’s departure to College and she never writes in it again.
Glancing back to the bottom of the closet Detective Prussia notices the two suitcases. Getting up from the bed to take a closer look he can see that the large and medium cases are meant to be part of a set of three. The smallest one, an overnight/makeup bag is missing. Prussia looks through the rest of the room, the bathroom and the room Diana used as an office for the third case to find it nowhere in the condo. It seems odd to him that the case would not be here, it certainly was not at her work office.
Open World Logistics
163 Randolph St
Brooklyn, NY
Being a receptionist is far from exciting as she knew it would be, but she had hoped to get some free time to look around the office. It is almost lunch time when a bicycle messenger arrives at the front door. It is an unusually warm January day and he enters the rather upscale reception area in a tank top with the words Cross-town Delivery printed on it. He tugs at the crotch of his very tight bike shorts trying to be inconspicuous about it. What a loser, Dee thinks to herself. He approaches the desk, his body drenched with sweat smelling of Right Guard.
“Hello beautiful, Dell’s my name, delivery’s my game,” the overbearing young man says approaching the reception desk. “I’ve got a big tube for ya, what do you have for me?” he grins handing Dee a cardboard cylinder.
Looking under the desk in the outgoing bin she finds a package about the size of a tissue box marked Cross-town Delivery. It isn’t very heavy as she picks it up to give it to the courier. “Do you know where it goes?” Dee asks.
“The same place everything I pickup here goes,” Dell responds. “The question is do you know where we need to go on a date?”
“Hell frozen over?” Dee replies not sure if this is how she should react to this man’s advances.
“Oh you know that is only the cold before the heat wave,” Dell smiles as he puts the package in his satchel. The bike messenger turns wiping his hand over his ass as he leaves. It is a depressing sight to Dee as he slaps his own boney butt.
Dee looks to the cylinder he has delivered. It is labeled Antonia Simpatico, CEO-Open World Logistics. She isn’t sure what to do with it. Dee has spent the morning studying the office directory and Antonia Simpatico has no office in the directory. She catches sight of Howard Murdock, one of the managing directors as he walks through reception.
“Excuse me, Mr. Murdock,” Dee calls out to the middle aged man.
The executive stops to look to the receptionist with disappointment. “The key is in your drawer and take it to the thirteenth floor,” he states with almost disdain. “Take care of it!”
Disgusted by the man’s attitude Dee opens the drawer in front of her, there is a key. It is labeled “13” Taking the key from the desk Dee can see that it is an Elevator key. Dee takes the key and the cylinder. She steps into the elevator using the key to unlock the twelve story building. The elevator begins to move upward, she wonders how a building can have twelve floors from the outside and thirteen from the inside.
When Dee reaches the thirteenth floor the door opens. A guard stands on the other side when it opens. He reaches out his hand to take the cardboard tube she holds. Dee slides her hand down the tube as he grips it. Her fingers touch his and he falls unconscious to the floor.
She knows she doesn’t have much time, he is surely not the only guard on this mysterious floor! It is an entire floor of a building! Where should she start? Computers! Flashes in her head. She isn’t sure why but somehow she believes that this place should have the best money can buy.
Finding anything on this floor is not going to be easy Dee discovers as she walks down the hall of unlabeled doors. Each door has an electronic pad as a security lock. It doesn’t pose an obstacle to someone who can walk through walls but there are so many doors and so little time.
The sound of two guards talking as they approach from around the corner makes the decision for her. Dee steps to the side through the nearest door to avoid discovery. Inside the room she is pleased to find rows of file cabinets. Moving to the first cabinet on the row she finds it locked. Locked doors don’t stand in her way neither will locked files. Full density means full strength pinching off the knob lock she has access to the cabinet. Fingering through the files she recognizes one of the files is tagged with the name Alpine, Minerva. Moving down the row to the drawer labeled “D” to find a file tagged Dudley, Roland Albert. Then she moves to “W” finding Watkins, Benjamin. These are just a few of the names from her father’s files. But these files have many more people in them from all over the country. Why would there be a paper trail like this? It seems risky to her, a signed confession all in one place.
Moving to the next row she finds draws labeled with the names of Medical Facilities, most of them specializing in Mental Health care. Opening one draw there are file after file of patients that appear to have curious cases. Some of the files are stamped “TERMINATED” on red ink. Others appear active as if they have been recently updated.
Then she hears the beeping of the electronic door lock as it opens. Finding a hiding spot at the end of one of the rows another guard enters the room. It is not the one she zapped but he does carry the tube that she delivered at the elevator. She watches as he opens the tube to unroll the papers inside. Opening the draw labeled Kingsboro Psychiatric Center the guard files the paperwork.
Once again alone in the file room Dee sneaks back to the draw with the new files. The curls still in the paper make it easy to find. She quickly reads over the newest addition to the file cabinet to discover that there is going to be some activity at the Hospital tonight. Something is happening with a patient Raymondo Del Santos, but the language on the paperwork doesn’t make sense to her. It would appear if she wants to learn what is going on she will have to pay a visit to Kingsboro Psychiatric Center.
McDonald’s
2549 Broadway
New York, NY
Agent Lei has continued Prussia’s habit of taking his lunch once a week at this McDonald’s in hope that Abraham Woodlawn might show up again. Up until today Lei has had no luck making contact with the mysterious doctor a second time. With Prussia working on his own personal case it frees up time for Lei to perhaps make a dent in the Woodlawn case alone.
Agent Lei is just about ready to end his lunch break when a black man in his mid-thirties takes a seat at the table with him. “Hello Agent Lei,” the man dressed in a business suit says to him. The man reaches inside his jacket taking out an identification folder. “Captain Pelton, Special Military Intelligence Division,” he says showing Agent Lei the I.D. card. “I thought I might warn you to stop chasing Abraham Woodlawn.” “There are things in play here that you do not understand and are way above your paid grade.”
“You do realize that you are speaking to a FBI agent?” Lei counter.
“I am well aware of whom I am speaking,” Captain Pelton responds. “But you and your partner Detective Prussia are far out of your league with this one.” “I understand that the two of you are looking to reinvigorate and save your careers, but this is not the case to do it.” “Don’t for a minute think that you are both not expendable to the forces behind this, game shall we say.”
“Is that a threat, Captain?” Agent Lei inquires.
“Think of it as a friendly warning, you are not equipped to handle what you are digging up,” Captain Pelton explains. “Do not deceive yourself into believing that FBI badge protects you.” “Just ask Special Agent DuPont.” On that note the man gets up from the table to leave.
“Just a minute,” Agent Lei says but he is ignored by the Captain who leaves the restaurant without another work. Lei sits back in the booth staring at the empty food wrappers on his tray. The name Special Agent DuPont rings a bell in his head. He has heard the name before around the office back in San Diego. It would appear that this mysterious Captain Pelton and Special Agent DuPont have given him two new angles to look at the case of Abraham Woodlawn.
Kingsboro Psychiatric Center
681 Clarkson Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11203
The name Raymondo Del Santos keeps ringing in Miracle Maiden’s head as she arrives at the Kingsboro Center. She can’t help but to think she has heard the name before reading it in the file. She is not dressed in her usual red and yellow costume. As a way to avoid recognition now that Miracle Maiden is so popular she has changed into an all black knit shirt and spandex pants. The spell Shana placed on her necklace is nullified when using it in Miracle Maiden mode so no one will be able to recognize her as Diana or Dee for the time being.
The corridors of the Psychiatric center are quiet now after visiting hours making it easy for her to slip in unnoticed. The room doors are all locked but almost conveniently each patient’s chart is on a slot outside their room. Diana knows the floor from the paperwork she read, but not the room number. One by one she goes from room to room checking each chart for the name Raymondo Del Santo.
After going through several charts Diana finds Ray Del Santo’s in the slot outside room 432. Skimming the file she discovered he had a twin brother, Diego Del Santo. That is the connection that has been haunting her since she saw his name at O.W.L. Diego and Ray were the foster children of Luke Garrison, a man that worked at Carter Industries that she had no luck finding a few months ago. She gave up the search after learning the truth about Dr. Woodlawn. Now this boy has brought her full circle. Clearly O.W.L. is interested in this boy or they would not be paying for his treatment here, making it clear to Diana that this company has picked up where her father left off.
Diana takes the papers from the chart folding them up to stick in her bra. Now that she has found the boy’s room a locked door can not stand in the way of someone who can walk through them. Inside the room Ray Del Santo lays unconscious on a bed hooked to several I.V.s and monitoring machinery. She approaches the bed to look at the sick boy. According to his chart he has been bedridden since being rescued by Detective Prussia. She is no doctor but that doesn’t sound right to her.
“Who are you?” a voice asks from behind her. Diana turns to see the boy standing by the window. “What are you doing here?” he asks.
She looks back to the bed and then back to the boy. “Ray?” she asks softly. “How are you?”
“I am Diego not Ray,” the boy says to her. “I belong here, you do not!” There is an anger in the boy’s voice as Diana hears something move behind her. She turns to see a therapy chair lurch up to move toward her.
Diana is stunned by the sight as the medical equipment charges at her. Surprisingly fast she is grabbed and taken captive by the large therapy chair. Its arms and straps hold her tightly as it spins to face the boy in the corner of the room by the window. “You are a stranger to us, like the other woman who came to the house, she did this to Ray,” the boy tells Diana as she plays along.
“You mean Trudy Patterson,” Diana says. “I am not like her, I don’t want to hurt you or your brother.”
“I don’t believe YOU!” Diego Del Santos shouts. The chair creaks as the arms bend tighter around her body. Diana feels the pain as it crushes her ribs. She turns to look at the boy in the bed struggling in his sleep as if having a nightmare. A nightmare she can disrupt.
Firing a weak Bio-energy blast at the boy in the bed, Miracle Maiden ends the boy’s restlessness. She then turns back to the twin she believed dead as he fades away leaving her trapped. The threat at an end Diana simply phases through the twisted therapy chair. Stepping away from the chair that seemed to come to life she hears movement in the hallway. Attention has been drawn to the room. There is a camera mounted on the wall over the door that she had not noticed at first. Hurrying to the window she looks down to the street. A thought and she is gone from the room and on the street below. Diana touches her necklace changing back to her street clothes as she calmly walks from the scene.
Then she spots something odd at the Visitor’s Entrance. A well dressed woman with an ostrich feather hat leaves the building well after visiting hours. It isn’t possible, Diana thinks. She is dead, died in the fire. Diana follows the woman on a hunch. The way she moves the same as the woman she met months ago. “Minerva! she calls out down the street. Then on cue an ambulance swerves toward Diana jumping the curb. It harmlessly passes through her body to jerk off the curb back onto the street. Not wanting to risk discovery she teleports away.
New York FBI Offices
23rd floor
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY
Agent Lei has spent most of the day searching through file after file to find background information on Special Agent Charles DuPont. Lei had heard the name mentioned years ago when he was in the FBI academy but never in any official capacity. DuPont’s personnel file doesn’t help much; it only lists his years of service as 1960 to 1976 and that he died in the line of service, not explaining how. It appears that the year of his last case files before his death are also missing. Lei has no idea if anyone still working at the FBI even knew Agent DuPont personally because of the missing files. The only lead he has found is that he had a wife and son, who disappeared soon after his death.
Surprisingly Debra DuPont also has a file on record but not with the FBI, with the US Marshall’s service. That leads Agent Lei to believe that the wife went into witness after her husband’s death. Agent Lei does have a connection at the US Marshall’s office but he doubts that there will be anything he can learn from the secretive agency without a court order.
Just as Agent Lei is ready to call it a day the black man with a shaved head dressed in Army fatigues comes around the corner of the high file shelving. “Hello Captain Pelton is there something I can help you with?” Agent Lei asks. “Do you have clearance to be in here?”
“I have something that might help you.” The Army man takes a file folder from behind his back and lays it on the table in front of Agent Lei.
Agent Lei opens the folder to read the papers inside. This is Debra DuPont’s US Marshall’s file. “Where did you get this and how did you know I was here?” Lei asks looking up from the table. Captain Pelton is gone, just as he arrived, without a sound. Lei runs from the table down to the end of the shelf row to see no one. When he returns to the table the file is still there. Flipping to the back he finds the last known address of Agent DuPont’s widow; 396 Park Place, New Rochelle, NY
Dee Moore’s Apartment
315 E 57th street
New York City, NY
Arriving back at Dee Moore’s apartment Diana switches her clothing back to retrieve the papers she stashed inside her bra. Sitting down on the lumpy sofa she reads over the paperwork. To her it is a bunch of medical jargon that she really doesn’t understand. Skimming down to medications given not the patient, she finds the medication spoken of in the office paperwork.
Ray has been given a dosage of .001 of something called Prometheus-55. She wonders if Dr. Woodlawn would know what that is but going to see him would give away her cover. Perhaps there is another way of asking him, Diana thinks looking at her overnight bag on the floor in the bedroom. Maybe if he thought it was an old message that she left behind the last time she was in his office. Something she dropped on the floor in all of the confusion. The few things she brought along in her overnight bag are the only evidence that she is really Diana Carter and not Dee Moore. She would have to use something from it to leave the message. Sneaking in wouldn’t be hard but finding out his answer would be the problem.
Diana will ponder the plan later as she gets ready for bed. Then she decides to look over her father’s papers again. At the very bottom of her overnight case she finds the files. Reading through them again she finds a clue, Victoria Simpatico is the last name on the contracts but there is something different about these contracts. If there is one thing she has learned working at Open World Logistics it is that Simpatico is the CEO making her a very powerful woman. Most of the other people in the files were low level thugs and mobsters.
Dee has another early day at Open World tomorrow and there is nothing she can do about any of this now. Tucking the files back into their hiding place, she climbs into the small single bed. Longing for her own queen size bed, she can’t help but to think of the woman she saw at the hospital. Could it have been Minerva Alpine? What would she be doing there? The fact that she could be alive really shouldn’t surprise Diana, but it does.
Last known address of Debra DuPont
396 Park Place
New Rochelle, NY
The house is large and looks like a bomb hit it as Agent Lei pulls up the driveway to it. It is late and he knows he should have waited until morning to investigate the place. But he figured what would it hurt to just drive by it to have a look around. He never expected it to be up a long driveway this far from the road or the condition it is in. A good portion of the house appears to have been burnt out by a recent fire. It seems unlikely to Agent Lei that Special Agent DuPont could have afforded such a place on his FBI salary. Moreover why would the US Marshall’s service be footing the bill for such a place.
Agent Lei curiosity gets the best of him as he gets out of his car, letting it run with the headlights pointed up to the front porch. He casts a long shadow on the frost covered ground in the light of the headlamps as he walks across in front of them. Going up the steps of the porch he feels that it is unlikely that anyone lives here but he knocks on the door just the same. He presses the doorbell to hear no chime inside.
Turning to leave the porch he walks to his car to get a flashlight. Agent Lei begins to walk around the outside of the house, along the side toward the back. He can feel the January cold now that the sun has gone down. He shines his flashlight on the overgrown grass as he goes, the grass is frozen from the recent rain. There is little chance he is going to find out anything about DuPont here he thinks. Coming to a stop at the burnt out back wall of the house Lei shines his flashlight around inside. For a second he thinks he sees something move in the debris. Probably just an animal of some kind he thinks continuing to look around. Then his light dim and goes out. He hits the flashlight against his other hand thinking, these are newer batteries!
Then he hears something in the darkness of the burnt out house. Taking a few steps forward the ground under his feet gives way. Agent Lei stumbles to slide down the muddy slope into the open basement. He comes to rest on his back in the old fieldstone basement room on the pile of rocks that were once a wall. It is dark down there, lit only by the moon that shines from above through the missing wall. He sits up in the dank, wet basement to spot his flashlight to his left. It lays on the muddy floor shining against the wall. He moves to stand and walk to retrieve it.
Picking up his flashlight he shines it back the way he came in. It has been raining here the last few days making the broken basement wall muddy and impossible to climb out. Looking around the room to another way out he spots old wooden stairs. Then he hears a sound in the darkness. It is the creak of the floorboards that remain unburned over head. “Hello!” he calls out, shining the flashlight up onto the bottom of the floorboards.
The sound of footsteps move toward the stairs as if to meet him as he begins to climb up them. “Agent Lei of the FBI, I slipped and fell into the basement,” he states as he comes to the top of the stairs to find the door locked. “Hello, can you hear me?” he calls out, knocking on the locked basement door. There is a chill in the dank air as his flashlight goes out again.
Suddenly the door swings open and he feels himself yanked from the basement stairs into the center of the room beyond. His feet kick barely skimming the remaining floor as he is sent backwards against the wall. Agent Lei is pinned to the wall, feeling as if his whole body is being compressed at once. “What’s happening?” he shouts as he tries to catch his breath again.
“You have made a very big mistake!” a woman’s voice says in the moonlit room. “It will be your last!”
“No!” another female voice shouts. “Minerva what are you doing?” “Let that man go!?”
Agent Lei struggles in a panic against the invisible force that holds him against the kitchen wall as he pays little attention to the two women arguing in the darkness only feet from him.
Minerva Alpine increases pressure on the helpless man as she tries to crush his ribcage. “Young goddess of the hunt you should not have returned here!” Minerva tells the darkly dressed Miracle Maiden. “I have already failed the General, she cannot fall the Owl too!” “Leave before I regret my decision to spare you!” she pleads.
Miracle Maiden can tell that the man pinned to the wall is in serious danger, Minerva’s power is stronger than before when they last met. She sends a Bio-energy eye blast at the dangerous woman forgetting the true nature of her power. As the beams leave her eyes, glowing brightly in the dark, they bend and turn to not hit Minerva but Agent Lei, rendering him unconscious. “Shit!” Miracle Maiden shouts as Minerva begins to chuckle. She had forgotten that her powers don’t work properly around this woman. It is probably for the best that Agent Lei is not a witness, but Miracle Maiden must work quickly if she is to save him.
Time to put some of the training she did with Robin to use while Minerva is still distracted. Charging the older woman at normal body density is her only option. Miracle Maiden collides with the bad luck spreading woman in her midsection with her shoulder. The force of the attack sends them both back through a window to the overgrown front lawn. The women tussle on the ground for a few minutes until Miracle Maiden manages to pin Minerva down.
“What is this all about?” Miracle Maiden demands. “Who are the General and the Owl?” Speaking the one name aloud rings a bell in her head. “Why do they want Agent Lei dead?”
Momentarily powerless Minerva on the wet ground under the younger woman. Confused as ever the woman sobs, “Please sister you must let me complete my task!” “The Owl will kill my son if I fail!” “She is a ruthless monster!” Gathering her fear to focus it through her power Minerva blasts Miracle Maiden from on top of her. Miracle Maiden is thrown back taking out one of the porch posts before smashes back through the wall of the house.
Miracle Maiden’s reflexes took over trying to make her intangible to Minerva’s attack. But true to form the other woman’s power made her own work in reverse. Miracle Maiden leaves a path of destruction in her wake as if she was a cannon ball fired at the house. She comes to a stop embedded in the brick chimney that is in the grand parlor. It is a room she remembers from her last visit. Even at full density the force of Minerva’s blast has taken a toll. She has to ignore that now. Her only goal needs to be to get Agent Lei out of here, because Minerva might just be unstoppable this time. She has gained a more complete control of her power from the last time they met here at this house.
Freeing herself from the brick chimney in the wall Miracle Maiden staggers forward calling out hoping that her stun blast has worn off, “Agent Lei, run!” Bracing herself on the wall she is pretty sure she has a few cracked ribs from that porch post before her power kicked in. Normally she would heal herself, but while still near Minerva there is no telling what that might do to her. Miracle Maiden will just have to push the pain aside until her foe is defeated. Stepping forward she feels light on her feet. So light in fact she doesn’t even touch the floor. Miracle Maiden suddenly finds herself floating upward and passing through the ceiling to the next level of the house. Her trip does not stop there as she continues to float up through the house.
Meanwhile back in the burnt out kitchen, Minerva returns to find Agent Lei still unconscious on the floor. Her power has protected her a little from Goddess of the Hunt’s attack, but for a woman in her sixties it was still a lot to handle. “Now G-man where were we?” she asks as the man’s limp body floats up from the floor. He hangs there his feet dangling a foot from the old charred tile floor. “I am sorry that I must kill you but my child is more important!” Minerva reaches out her hand and a knife sales through the darkness of the room to strike Agent Lei in his left side. Still unconscious he begins to cough blood as his lung begins to fill with it. Then a second smaller knife flies to stab him in the back.
A Minerva released the man to drop to the floor. Miracle Maiden reappears in the kitchen. She acts much faster this time to throw the refrigerator across the room with enough force to resist Minerva’s power and knock her unconscious to the floor. Almost instantly Miracle Maiden can feel the change in the air. She rushes to Agent Lei on the floor. Pulling the knife from his side she moves to heal his punctured lung. Then rolling him on his side she does the same with the knife in his back that was too small to cause any serious injury. If she were to continue to heal him he would regain consciousness in minutes that is something she does not want.
Lifting Agent Lei from the kitchen floor she carries him back to his car which she drives to the end of the driveway and down the street several blocks. Leaving him a note to go home she can only hope he listens while she deals with Minerva. Stepping out of the car she teleports back to the house.
Earlier when she floated up out of range of Minerva’s power and began to fall back to Earth. It was then that Miracle Maiden realized the last time she was at this house her only power unaffected by Minerva was her teleportation. Teleporting back to the house she had to act quickly before Minerva knew she had returned.
Returning to the kitchen, Miracle Maiden can only hope that she can get through to Minerva by healing her injuries. She slides the refrigerator back across the floor away from Minerva. Kneeling down Miracle Maiden heals Minerva just enough to wake her up again.
“Where is he?” Minerva exclaims the moment her eyes open. “What have you done?”
“Agent Lei is gone, I can not let you hurt him,” Miracle Maiden tells Minerva hoping that she does not instantly turn on her again. “Is your son the reason you were at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center earlier tonight?”
“You foolish girl, the Owl will kill him now!” Minerva shouts trying to get up discovering that she has a broken leg.
“I can heal that if you tell me who is the Owl,” Miracle Maiden tells the injured woman. “With all the power you have why can’t you just take him from the Hospital?”
“To use my power in the hospital it would kill many people,” Minerva explains. “I refuse to do that!”
“But you were willing to kill Agent Lei?” Miracle Maiden suggests.
“Because I had to do it,” Minerva begins to sob. “But now sister it is too late.”
“Not necessarily, I could get him out,” Miracle Maiden suggested. “If you promise to leave New York and never come back. “I might even be able to heal what every has been done to him.”
Without any hesitation Minerva responds, “I agree, I would do anything to save my son!”
Wednesday, January 26, 1988
19th Police Precinct
153 E 67th St
New York City, NY
Detective Prussia believes he has found a lead in the Carter case the moment Archie Lincoln walks into his office. “Thank You for coming in Mr. Lincoln,” the Detective says. “Please take a seat.” The older black man sits down on the metal and vinyl chair noticeably uncomfortable. “I’ve asked you to come by because I have a few questions about one of your repeat clients.” Archie Lincoln remains quiet even as he anticipates the first question. “I assume you know that Diana Carter was found dead in her office yesterday.”
“Yes, I heard something about that,” Archie responds sadly. “It is a terrible waste of a young life.”
“You acted as her driver on many occasions, is that correct?” Prussia asks with a nod of Archie’s head. “Were there any of these places that you felt were dangerous or held any threat to her?”
Archie looks to his hands as he runs over several of the locations in his mind he had taken Ms. Carter that were very dangerous. Most of all he thinks of the Open World Logistics building where he got shot. “No, every place I took her appeared completely safe to me,” Archie finally replies. “I’ve lived in this city all my life, I’ve seen plenty of shady places, never with Ms. Carter.”
Prussia glares at the man across his desk. “Are you sure that is right?” “Your taxi has been reported at many such locations.”
“I’m sure those reports must be mistaken, because I know I was not there with Ms Carter,” Archie repeats.
Suddenly Agent Lei arrives clearly still upset from the events of the previous night as he announces, “We need to get a full forensic team to 396 Park Place, New Rochelle.” Archie Lincoln recognizes the address the instant he hears it. Agent Lei then notices the cab driver sitting in the chair. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were not alone.”
Detective Prussia can see the reaction to the mention of the address on Archie’s face and plays a hunch. “What is this all about Lei?” he asks, appearing to ignore the man in the chair. “It is out of the NYPD’s jurisdiction.”
“Last night I went there and was attacked by a woman with incredible power,” Lei responds, picking up his phone. “Then a second woman showed up calling the first Minerva and they argued over killing me.” “Then first called the second Goddess of the Hunt or something, next thing I knew I was waking up in my car two hours ago.”
Detective Prussia does not look at his partner as he tells his story, instead he watches the reactions of Archie Lincoln. It is clear to the detective that the man is almost pleased with the things he hears. Even in death Diana Carter has an influence on his life and career somehow. “Is there anything at all you want to say that might help me find Diana Carter’s killer?” Prussia asks Archie pointblank as Lei makes several calls to get an FBI team to the address in New Rochelle, NY.
“Only that I pray you find her killer soon, for your sake,” Archie tells him.
“My sake?” Prussia repeats. “Why, My sake?”
“Ms Carter seems to be very close to your heart,” Archie says. “Perhaps that is why you need such closure when it comes to her death.”
“And you don’t need closure?” Prussia prods as the old cab driver gets up from the chair.
“I know that wherever Ms Carter is and whatever she is doing, she can take care of herself.” Archie Lincoln makes his way to the door of the office with a smile, before the detective can ask him any more questions. Archie is relieved to hear that the Goddess of the Hunt is still alive and working an angle.
Open World Logistics
163 Randolph St
Brooklyn, NY
Dee reads the daily tube in the elevator this time. It is a report of the escape of Jeffrey DuPont from Kingsboro Psychiatric Center. It was a long night for her but getting Minerva’s son back to her was worth it. With Minerva’s age it was rather foolish of Miracle Maiden to think that she was rescuing a child and not a full grown man. It turned out that healing Jeffrey DuPont was little more than forcing the medication he had been given out of his system. She is just glad that Minerva is out of the picture now.
Returning to her floor the elevator opens and Dee comes face to face with Martin Harper standing on the other side. The fact that Martin instantly recognizes Diana shows on his face. Dee reacts just as fast by grabbing Harper by the shirt to pull him into the elevator. Jamming the elevator between floors she demands, “You can’t tell anyone about seeing me here!”
“You realize that Prussia has dropped everything to find your killer!” Harper replies.
Dee likes the sound of that, it will keep him and Agent Lei out of her hair. “I am undercover here, no one can know I am still alive!” Then it strikes her, Martin Harper is the missing piece to asking Dr. Woodlawn about Prometheus-55! “If you keep my secret I will give you the exclusive story.”
“Why would I trust you with that?” Harper asks. “You have done nothing but give me the run around since I met you!”
“How about I give you a crumb to start?” Dee says with a raised eyebrow. She knows this nosey reporter can’t let go of a bone once he has the scent. “I need you to go to the Hudson Veterans Clinic at 28 Hudson St and ask Dr Woodlawn about something called Prometheus-55.” “But you can’t do it inside the Clinic, you have to wait for him to leave.” “Then bring back anything he knows about it back to me.”
“Why not inside the clinic?” Harper asks.
“There is somewhat of a privacy issue inside the clinic,” Dee reveals. “Any conversation you have with him must be away from anyone else.”
“Again why am I doing this for you?” Harper asks.
“You know why,” Dee says, pushing the button to start the elevator. “Because you always want the story.”
396 Park Place
New Rochelle, NY
Detective Prussia accompanies Agent Lei and the FBI investigators. When they arrive the house is on fire again, this time it is completely engulfed as two fire companies work to put it out. “Looks like any evidence of what happened here is gone now,” Prussia comments as he sits in the car on the driveway. “Given any thought to the idea that this Minerva was actually Debra DuPont and this was all just a way to get you off her scent?”
“I’ve considered that, but I think she might just be the victim in all of this too,” Lei explains. “That Captain Pelton, first he warned me away and then he handed me everything I needed to find this place.” “He was setting me up and I walked right into it like an amateur.” “He was right about one thing there is something much bigger behind all of this, that stinks of military involvement at the highest level.”
There is a knock at the window of the car, it is the head of the forensic team. Agent Lei rolls down the window to speak with him. “We will wait until they get the fire out, then search whatever is left,” the man says.
“I’m sure it won’t be much but thank you,” Agent Lei responds. “We are going to head back to the city, get me the report ASAP.” As Lei turns the car around on the freshly fallen snow, he wonders aloud. “The real question is, who was the Goddess of the Hunt that argued with Minerva and saved my life?”
Detective Prussia reaches for the scrap of paper with the note written on it, GO HOME! “Did she leave you this?”
“I believe so,” Lei responds.
“Ever hear of a little thing called fingerprints?” Prussia suggests holding the note at the edge with two fingers. “Is there a pen too?”
Thursday, January 27, 1988
LaGuardia Airport
Queens, NY
Antonia Simpatico arrives from Ireland and she is not happy when she gets into the back of her limousine. “When I left for overseas I had arranged for this problem to be taken care of!” she bellows at the executive assistant who waits in the back of the car for her arrival.
“Diana Carter was taken care of right after you left, but the William Carter’s files are still missing,” Thomas Billiard informs the CEO. “Also the man you programmed to do the job, a Mike White, has gone missing.”
“Idiots!” Antonia shouts. “I am surrounded by idiots!” “Why have you not searched for him, he must have those files!”
“We have Ma’am, spent the last week searching and have turned up nothing,” Thomas answered timidly. “It is like he never left the building, just vanished.” “And then there is the other problem.”
“What other problem, idiot?” she demands her anger sending fear into the clerkish man.
“One of our Receptionists at home office has been acting out of character, becoming too curious,” Thomas explains.
“Who is she!” Antonia demands again this time with more displeasure if that is possible.
“Dee Moore, she has worked for the company for two years but last Tuesday began disappearing from her station and turning up in the most unusual places,” Thomas tells the Chairwoman showing her the woman’s personnel file. “We believe she even read some sensitive papers.”
“Then she will need to be dealt with too,” Antonia says closing the file. “Let’s not screw this one up too!” “Make it look like a crime gone wrong on the street.”
19th Police Precinct
153 E 67th St
New York City, NY
Agent Lei enters the office where Detective Prussia goes over everything he has found out about Diana Carter’s murder including the missing maintenance worker. “I’ve gotten the report on New Rochelle,” Lei says sitting down at his desk with the FBI internal information envelope. Taking out the paperwork he flips threw it as Prussia pays little attention to him.
Detective Prussia has pinned all of his notes to a board on the wall using colored pins to mark the importance of each. He can’t help but to notice how some of Diana’s closest associates have been acting. Even her Uncle Zacary seems less upset by her sudden death than he should be. It is not like the man is glad she is dead it is more like he does not believe it. Then there is the cab driver who appeared to become almost relieved to overhear the events that took place in New Rochelle. Unfortunately Archie Lincoln being a private cab driver there is not corporate management that they can subpoena records from to learn where Lincoln has driven Carter in the past months.
“There were no fingerprints on the pen or note left in my car,” Agent Lei says aloud. “But here is something strange.” “On a wine glass in what was the dining room there were identifiable fingerprints that appear to have been there since before the first fire.” “They were on file too,” Lei says looking up at Prussia still not paying attention to him. “The prints on the glass belong to Diana Carter.”
“What, what did you say?” Prussia asks at the mention of the name.
“The prints on the glass belong to Diana Carter,” Agent Lei repeats. “How did her fingerprints even get into the system?”
Prussia takes the paperwork from Lei to look it over. “I took her prints when she first reported a burglary at her father’s condo to exclude them from ones in the place.” “I also compared them to prints left at a bar years ago when I was a rookie patrolman.”
“So began your vendetta against Ms Carter,” Lei suggests. “I wonder what she was doing at this house in New Rochelle before the first fire?”
“I can only imagine,” Prussia replies. “But I can assume that it was Archie Lincoln that drove her there.” Detective Prussia points to the man’s business card on the board. “I would wager that is why he reacted the way he did when you mentioned New Rochelle.” “Who owns that place?”
“The twenty acre Estate is owned by a Minerva LLC.,” Agent Lei says reading from another file on his desk. “That is the name the second woman called the first, Minerva.” “I was looking for a woman in witness protection.” “I figured it was some kind of US Marshall cover story.”
“The other woman did you recognize her voice?” Detective Prussia inquires.
“No, it is strange, I can’t remember it at all,” Agent Lei responds looking confused.
“I’ve met someone else like that,” Prussia says, writing another name on the board. “Miracle Maiden!” “Every person I’ve ever interviewed about her can not remember her face or voice.” “Which brings the question, what is the connection between Minerva, Miracle Maiden and Diana Carter’s murder?”