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Jan-20-2009 12:15

((In case you missed the other threads, check out: The USS Sleuthetania, the any location place ;), and The Expecting Miss Violet Parr.))

Ah, France. Not just France, but Paris, France.

Scarlett, Clift, Ace, and Vivienne decided to cut their wonderful trip to New York short. They had lost Violet, but they were to meet her when they got into Paris.

Clift picked up a newspaper. "MURDER IN THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT!" was emblazoned across the top of the page. Clift red it for a few moments as Ace chattered with Scarlett and Vivienne. They waited for Violet outside of a little cafe, knowing they'd be waiting for a while.

"Wow!" Clift interrupted his friends, "Guess who's dead?"
"Who?" Scarlett jumped.
"Joey Bane."
"Bane is dead?" Ace inquired.
"Apparently he murdered a man and was shot down by police."
"Who was the man?" Vivvy asked.
"I don't know. It doesn't go into it."
"What happened?" Scarlett asked.
"Foot pursuit on the docks. They shot him and he went over the rail into the ocean. They didn't find the body for several hours."

Just then, Violet's cab pulled up. The group hadn't yet reserved a table, so they grabbed one now.

"Remember, Ace." Scarlett asked, "No ketchup!"
"Ha ha ha." Ace mocked, "And no soda! Especially not in Italy."
"We are in France, not the boot of Europe." Violet spoke up from behind.
"Hey, Violetta!" Ace teased.
"Hey, Tonail." Everyone laughed at the comeback.

Jan-28-2009 02:43

A knock on the door.
"Joey! Are you in there? It's me Abdur Rahman Ahmad."
No answer
Entering the room carefully, he steps forward. A bullet shot and he jumps.
"Wow! Nice shot Joey. You could have killed me." he says
"Who are you?" asks Bane, still hidden somewhere
"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself." Abdur Rahman says,
"I'm your fan
I'm a businessman on a trip to Paris. I heard about the incident that happened near the docks and couldn't believe that you were shot to death. Therefore, I came to have a look at your house. And there you are! But you better hurry up, the bloodhounds are after you."

Jan-28-2009 13:13

“Keep your hands where I can see them!” said Joey slowly getting up from behind the sofa, keeping his gun pointed at the stranger. He leaned a bit on a side and took a long look through the half opened door, checking the entrance lobby. “Are you alone?”

“There’s no one out there, Joey…rest assured” replied the man posing a tricky grin. Strangely enough, he seemed to be somehow amused by this whole situation.

Upon scouting the hallway a few moments, Bane finally decided it was safe and turned back his attention to the man standing before him. “Ok…now shut that door and take a seat. You have some explaining to do.” He pointed towards an upside down armchair, knocked over by the man’s evasive jump. “No sudden moves!” he added, while adopting a cozier position with a foot on the table, resting his shooting arm on his knee.

Bane started then to thoroughly study the man’s appearance, meanwhile watching him slowly comply with his demands. He was a well built individual with a skin complexion fitting his Arabic name, wearing an elegant dark suit. A thin mustache was boarding the clear line of his upper lip, marking distinctively his cunning smile, as his keen eyes were inquisitively checking up the room from under the cover of a white wide brim hat. The man sat down in a relaxed position and started talking in a calm voice.

“I can assure you, Mr. Bane, there is no reason to…”

“Cut off the sweet talk, mister!” interrupted Joey. “Empty your pockets on the table…NOW!”

Jan-28-2009 13:14

Slowly shaking his head in disapproval, the man decided to comply again. “I do not carry a weapon, Mr. Bane.”

Apparently he didn’t lie. Joey started to feel a little more relaxed seeing the man’s belongings lining up on the table. He straightened up and decided to take a sit himself, while changing the revolver in the other hand. “Consider yourself lucky today, mister...if my wound wasn’t still bothering me, I might have not missed that shot.” He reached for the man’s wallet and opened it: “Abdur Rahman Ahmad…” he mumbled. His eyes then lay above a small metallic object looking somehow like a curved head pin. He picked it up raising his eyes back to the stranger.

“A lock pick, Mr. Ahmad? Why would a business man carry a lock pick in his pocket?”

The man continued smiling. He raised his hands in a redemption gesture and started to attempt an explanation: “Well, Mr. Bane…you see…”

“Enough!” Joey cut it again. “Now listen here, mister… Abdur Rahman Ahmad…if that’s your real name: I may’ve cashed quite a few punches in the head in my days, but I wasn’t exactly born yesterday. I’ve never been good enough in the ring in order to have fans and this…’house’ as you called it is just a rented flat that I’ve been occupying for the past three weeks. Also…what kind of a businessman makes his way through a locked up door so easily?”

Bane lowered down his head a bit in order to impose his look into the stranger’s eyes and then continued in a cold steel voice: “No, mister. You are NOT who you pretend to be and the fact that you came here prepared to break in leads me to believe you were actually looking for something.” He took a small break raising his head back up trying to pose into a dominating figure. “Now this… would be a good time to start talking and also start making some sense. I’m sure that shot I took at you could not have passed unheard, so I assume we do not have much time. I’m listening. And no more lame excuses!”

Jan-29-2009 04:33

Inspector Yousuf went to visit his best friend Abdur Rahman who was on a business trip in Paris. Reaching the hotel he found his friend getting in a taxi. He heard Abdur Rahman telling the address of Joey Bane. No wonder Abdur Rahman's voice was as loud as ever.
"Why is he interested in Bane so much?" thought Yousuf
Suddenly he remembered the news about "MURDER IN THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT!"
"Oh I see! But why would he go to visit Bane's mansion." thought Yousuf
Although he had been friends with Abdur Rahman for years, he still couldn't understand his personality.
"But what am I doing here?" he thought, "I should also go see what Abdur Rahman's up to."
He looks for the taxi in which Abdur Rahman sat but there were no signs of it.
"Anyway, I should go by myself." he said to himself
As soon as he reached the mansion, he heard a bang.
"That must be a shot from a gun. I better hurry up to find out what's going on." he murmured and hurried upstairs
As he reached the door, he saw it was shut.
He was sure the shot came from that room. After all, he had been a French cop for six years as an inspector before starting his career as a PI.
KNOCKS THE DOOR
"Abdur Rahman, are you in there?"
Abdur Rahman, on recognizing his buddy's voice replies: "Ah yes I am in here."
"What's your position?" asks Yousuf
"Well, I'm sitting down right now." replies Abdur Rahman in a calm tone
"Would you open the door then?" said Yousuf
"Nope! You'll need Mr. Bane's permission to enter. I already have broken a rule by entering without his permission." Abdur Rahman answered
"Oh! Is he alive?" asks Yousuf

Jan-29-2009 04:49

Same time the door opens and Yousuf sees the face of his friend Abdur Rahman.
"Come in mister whoever you are." said Mr. Bane
"People know me as Yousuf Ahmad. I am a former police officer, known as Joseph Sherlock." replies Yousuf
"Oh a police officer!" says Mr. Bane, "Looks like I'm being followed and there are cops around this mansion."
"Well, there was no one around when I came here." replies Yousuf
As he finishes his sentence, sirens could be heard.
"There you go." says Yousuf, "Looks like I need to do something about it. Mr. Bane don't shoot!" he says as he jumps out and runs downstairs
'If Bane wasn't injured and also distracted, I would be dead on the ground.' thinks Yousuf while running down
There comes some police officers running.
"Ah Inspector Joseph, how are you doing." asks the inspector in charge
"I'm doing fine. What's all this fuss about." asks Yousuf
"We were called by someone that a shot was heard." replied the inspector
"Oh! That was just practice." replied Yousuf
"Practice?" said the inspector
"Yeah! Me and my friends were just practicing to shoot. Too bad we forgot to put the silencers on our guns." said Yousuf
"Oh I see!" said the inspector, "Never forget to put the silencers again."
"Unfortunately, our's got misplaced. Would you give me two or three?" said Yousuf
"There you go!" said the inspector and the cops left
Getting into the room, Yousuf found it was empty.
WHERE DID MR. BANE AND ABDUR RAHMAN GO?

Jan-29-2009 06:07

(This part is not in the story.
First thing I want to say is that I and Yousuf are the same user.
Second thing is that I apologise for any grammer or spelling mistakes as English is not my first language.
Thank you!)

Jan-30-2009 12:44

*back in the apartment, while the cops were distracted outside*

“This place is starting to get a bit too crowded for my taste” grumbled Bane as Yousuf Ahmad was rushing out of the building. “Is he a friend of yours?” asked him upon turning his eyes towards Abdur Rahman.

“Yes…and a dear one, in fact” replied Abdur who was now standing in front of a mirror, arranging steadily his tie. He was still acting as if this was the most common situation in his life.

Upon adjusting also the position of his hat, he started gathering his things up from the table. Bane was standing in the door frame, still holding the gun in his hand and not being sure if he should raise it up again or not. Abdur noticed his hesitation and started speaking in a calm but emphatic voice: “Mr. Bane, holding that weapon in plain sight will not be a good thing if one of your neighbors should happen to step out in the hallway, so I suggest you holster it. We both know you are not going to try and kill me, as I am worth more to you alive; to you and…most likely also to your freedom, I may add.”

Joey raised his head up and looked into Abdur Rahman’s eyes, suddenly realizing that in the fast succession of events he didn’t get a chance to finish his interrogation…or even to actually start it, for that matter. Abdur Rahman smiled at him as if he was able to read his mind as an open book and the continued in the same manner: “Yes, Mr. Bane, your logic did not fail you. I did come here with a certain interest and I can also assure you it is in your benefit. I do realize there are quite a lot of variables to your current situation, but one thing is sure: the police are right outside and I don’t know if my friend Yousuf will manage to only stall them or ditch them completely. This leads to the conclusion that we need to make an exit.”

“WE?”

Jan-30-2009 12:45

“Yes, Mr. Bane, WE will leave together. Now…since the front door is not exactly an option under the current circumstances, I suggest we use another exit.”

Bane weighted all his options for a moment and then decided to agree with the man. “Ok, Mr. Ahmad, we go together. This building is though on the river bank, so there is no back door to it, only…please follow me.” Joey led the way to the bedroom, unveiling the tunnels access hatch.

A grin of disgust appeared on Abdur Rahman’s face upon comprehending Bane’s suggestion. “Hmmm…are you absolutely sure there is no other way?”

“Afraid to get a bit of dirt on your fancy suit, Mr. Ahmad?” Bane laughed. “Well…I guess there is also the river…”

“I fail to appreciate your humor, Mr. Bane. Please lead the way.”

“Hold on!” said Joey reaching under the bed and pulling out what seemed to look like a case file. “Ok, we’re good to go now.”

Bane went down the small ladder into the tunnel and lighted a small headlight he found at hand at the bottom. “Are you just going to stay there rubbing your hands, mister? Come on down…and hurry up a bit. We ain’t sightseeing here, you know…”

Upon Abdur Rahman reaching the pavement of the catacombs, Bane climbed the ladder back again and slammed the flap door, in an attempt to make the carpet fall over it and cover it completely. “Let’s move now!”

Jan-30-2009 12:46

*a couple of minutes after the two had left*

Yousuf Ahmad was standing in the middle of the apartment, looking around and trying to find a clue about where his friend and Joey Bane might have disappeared to…and also how, for that matter. His detective instincts kicked in as he started to slowly walk around the room. “Let’s see now…they did not come out through the front door, as I would have seen them. This building doesn’t have a back door, so…they either climbed up on the roof or there’s some secret exit around here somewhere.” He looked out on the window. “Hmmm…I strongly doubt they have got out swimming. Let’s try the bedroom…these old houses all have hatches to the tunnels.”

It didn’t take him long to find the flap door, but he had doubts about them having used it, as it was fully covered by a carpet. “I don’t believe an old prize fighter like Mr. Bane would pay so much attention to details in order to cover his tracks so good.” Upon turning around to exit the room he noticed something sparkling on the bed. He picked it up and a smile flourished on his face: “Abdur Rahman’s golden sleeve button. I knew he’d leave a clue for me. So…they’ve gone underground. This means Abdur will lead Bane to our usual safe place. I know where to find them now.”

He put the button in his pocket and left.

Jan-30-2009 12:46

*in the tunnels*

Joey was leading the way holding the headlight up in front of his eyes. He had no clue where he was heading to. After a few minutes Abdur got a bit fed up with his aimless wandering and decided to stop Bane in his tracks by firmly placing a hand on his shoulder: “Mr. Bane, it is already obvious you have no idea where you’re going. Please hand over that headlight and follow me.”

Bane turned around in surprise: “You mean you know your way around these caves?”

“Indeed I do. You see…I had to use them myself once before…in the past.”

“Ok then…but…HOLD ON! Where the hell are you taking me?”

Abdur shook his head in a displeasure gesture and adopted a serious attitude speaking emphatically: “Mr. Bane, your lack of trust had already seized to be amusing and it’s about to turn into just a distasteful and poor manner of communication. I will indulge though and answer your question: we will be heading to a safe place, a summer residence belonging to a friend of mine in Paris. The mansion is isolated and uninhabited for the time being. We will be able to talk there without anyone disturbing us. Now please stop any nonsense and follow me. Also…” he added “keep your voice down around here. These tunnels are not actually as empty as you might believe and we wouldn’t want some uninvited guest jumping at our throats, if you understand what I mean.”

Although Joey had his doubts about following a man he just met, he also realized he didn’t have much of a choice in managing to find his way through this labyrinth. So, he decided to comply with the situation for the moment, mumbling something just for himself: “There seems to be more to this guy than meets the eye on the first view…hmmm.”