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Feb-25-2009 03:59


Leopold Parr walked as fast as he possibly could in and around Victoria Station. The young officer had anticipated the arrival of his younger sister with great trepidation. He finally saw her waiting for him in a mauve overcoat and a large purple hat through the window of one of the station’s waiting rooms.

When Miss Violet Parr got up and walked out of the waiting room, Leopold’s walk turned into a sprint as he finally reached Violet and hugged her tightly in a collision of joy.

Violet pushed hard against his force not to fall on her back. She kissed him on the cheek and whispered. “Really Leopold, this show of affection can do with some self-restraint!”

“Two years in France…” Leopold replied, “…haven’t changed you a bit!”

“I know better than to let the French freely mold me to their pleasing!” Violet Parr huffed in a mock of indignation. Then she turned her gaze to a young girl standing next to her looking curiously and cautiously at Leopold. “…but I am afraid I can’t say the same about young Isabella.”

Leopold looked at his young niece in utter astonishment: Isabella was a pretty little thing with curiously mixed features. At such a young age, her skin looked like a yellowish tanned shade of ivory. She had long light brown hair, hazel eyes and a serious look of disapproval on her face.

Mar-1-2009 14:48

…

He stepped up on the waiting platform and lit himself a cigar to make time pass faster. The train entered the station with a long screech. Just a few couples came down. Looking along the platform Bane noticed there were not many travelers at that late time in night: a couple of old hags, a family, some workers and…a nun. She wasn’t carrying any luggage. ‘Maybe she’s only carrying her faith around’ thought Bane, wandering then why would he make such an ironically rude remark. ‘Maybe the last events had made me a little cranky…’

There was though something strange about that nun. Bane couldn’t stop looking at her, yet he could not pinpoint what exactly it was that was making him feel like that.

“AAALL ABOAAAARD…” the intendant’s voice startled Joey. “This train is due to depart in 5 minutes! AAALL ABOAAAARD, please!”

Bane slowly grabbed his bag and headed towards his train car. As he was climbing the stairs inside, it suddenly stroke him: ‘A nun wearing makeup?!?’ Indeed he realized the woman dressed as a nun had a pair of the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen…and they were adorned with mascara! Bane quickly leaned back to take another look at her, but she was gone. ‘Eh…what the hell do I care?’…said him to himself, finally reaching the car’s floor and heading for his compartment.

“Tickets, please” said a man in a railroad suit stepping out of a coupe right in Bane’s face, startling him a bit.

“Damn it, mate…I haven’t even reached my compartment and you’re already asking me for the ticket!” He reached in his pocket though and handed him the small piece of paper.

“Wrong car, sir” said the ticket controller looking at him disapprovingly. “This is first class. Please move onto the regular cars.” Bane opened his mouth to say something, but the man started again cutting him off. “And Sir, we do NOT allow animals running loose through the train. Please put a leash on your dog and please do NOT disturb the passengers in the first class car.”

Mar-1-2009 14:49

With this the man pushed Joey away and went ahead on his business. “Tickets, please…”

Bane just stood there somehow astonished, mouth open. He then looked down at his feet where he discovered…obviously Pierre. “We cannot work like this, dog” he started. “If you’re gonna follow me around, we have to set some rules. Ok? Now, rule number one: ‘I’ call the shots! Understand?” Pierre was sitting and looking up at him. At Bane’s last word he lifted both ears and leaned his head just a bit on a side. Joey felt somehow encouraged by getting this reaction out of him, so he continued, raising a finger. “Good. Rule number two: No more appearing and disappearing! You’re gonna give me a heart attack if you keep acting like this.” For a moment there Bane was almost under the impression that Pierre was actually understanding him. His illusions were scattered the next second, as the dog just got up and left in the opposite direction as if he would not even exist. “I HATE THIS DOG!” shouted Bane in despair and then his attention was attracted by a small scream of fear. Turning his eyes he saw an old lady who appeared as if she had witnessed the whole ‘conversation’ between him and Pierre. Noticing his eyes pointed at her, she quickly stepped inside a compartment and Bane heard the lock as she was switching it on.

Upon going through a couple of cars, Joey finally reached his compartment and set himself comfortable. Only one other person was in there with him: a man dressed in an Arabic suit and…well…looking Arabic. Bane could easily tell he was tensed: he eyes were suspiciously looking around, he kept on arranging his turban every two seconds and his fingers were constantly tapping on his knee. ‘This guy must’ve overstayed his welcome in England, I reckon…’ Another thought then hit Bane and managed to take completely his mind off his companion: ‘The restaurant car!’ He got up and headed towards it.

Mar-1-2009 15:26

...

In half an hour Bane’s belly was fully stuffed. He leaned back in his seat and lit himself a cigar to relax.

Just as he was about to state he was finally having a good moment, the car’s door suddenly burst open and Pierre entered in a rush, running through the middle aisle like crazy and dragging a couple of table tops along with him. Needless to describe the mess he left behind upon exiting the compartment though the opposite door. Closely behind him followed the ticket inspector Bane had met earlier. Noticing Joey, he stopped right in front of his table. “SIR!” he started with anger, “I have instructed you to keep your animal on a leash. Please do so. If not, I will have to ask you to disembark from this train on our next stop, along with your…BEAST!” With this he turned straight around and left, not giving Bane any opportunity to respond.

Joey got up from his table, cursing again and again in his mind and exited following Pierre’s tracks. He went through several cars up to the end of the train. While crossing in front of his coupe on the way, he saw his companion was not there. He went ahead. Reaching the storage wagon, he heard Pierre’s barking. ‘Good’ he considered. ‘If he’s stuck in there, he won’t bother me anymore.’ With this Bane stepped up to the door attempting to block it.

The train shaking kept opening and closing it back. Not little was Joey’s surprise as he had approached the door when he noticed inside…’A foot?!?’ He quickly went in, his eyes falling upon Pierre who was sniffing up and down the corpse of what seemed to be a man, hidden behind some crates. Bane approached him slowly, wondering if it was a stiff or only a drunk. His question has found its answer fast as he noticed the meat hook stuck right in the middle of the man’s chest.

Mar-1-2009 15:54

Upon checking the body up closely, Bane was again truly surprised to notice the man was none other than his…now ‘former’ compartment companion. His turban and long traditional shirt were now gone though, as he was wearing just a regular pair of suit pants and regular shirt. Even though Bane had no actual talent towards the detective work he’s been running…reason for which it also didn’t pay good…he did learn a couple of tricks though. The fact that there were no signs of a struggle around led him to make the assumption the victim knew its aggressor…or just didn’t fear him. The hook was inserted in the lower part of his chest, which meant that the killer may be slightly smaller that its…dead friend. Also, the fact that it was stuck in a soft point and not in the ribs showed Bane that either the killer knew what he was doing, or just didn’t have enough strength to go through the bones. “I’m thinking…maybe a woman” Bane mumbled.

All this detective work was suddenly rendered completely pointless, as Pierre barked and jumped like an arrow towards…the aggressor? Bane caught just a glimpse as this person went through the door with Pierre on its tail, but it was enough to make him exclaim: “The NUN!?!”

As Joey was ready to follow the two, he stopped in his tracks noticing the head of an envelope coming out from under the body. “I guess Pierre can handle this by his own” mumbled him, leaning and picking the envelope up. Only one thing was inside: a picture. Bane took it out: “Violet Parr!?!” He turned it around hoping to find a writing or something, but there was none. He then searched inside the envelope, but it was empty. Closing it up, Bane noticed it looked as if it has been worn for while…or kept in a book. The paper presented clear marks as if something wider than that picture had been kept inside it. “A letter…” Bane thought. “Well…maybe the nun has it now.”

Mar-1-2009 15:55

Joey took one last look at the corpse to make sure he didn’t miss anything and then left through the train to find Pierre and hopefully also his target. While walking the aisle he kept on mumbling to himself…”Violet Parr...Again? What the hell is it with me and this woman? The second time I step inside England and again I stumble onto something related to her! Well…this time I WON’T get involved. That, Miss Parr, it’s a promise!” A couple of steps more…”Who the hell am I kidding?” He stopped then as his ears picked up Pierre’s ‘musical’ voice.

Mar-2-2009 01:20

The trans-Atlantic ocean liner could not enter the shallower water of the river Thames. Passengers had to be ferried to the dock on smaller ships. Upon setting foot on the transfer vessel, Zeo met Clift again.

The renowned detective was friendly enough, and it always felt good to meet someone from your hometown when traveling abroad. Zeo introduced Gregory to Clift, and their topic of conversation drifted to the location of their accommodations in London. Gregory told Clift the address of their to-be-residence.

“I believe the place is several blocks northwest of the New Scotland Yard headquarter at the Victoria Embankment. It’s not too far from the dock. You should be able to get there on foot within half an hour.” Clift replied in hopes of assisting the two new arrivals. Zeo thanked Clift for the information. Their ship finally docked and they parted company.

Mar-2-2009 01:21

**Two hours later**

“Are you sure we should be turning right?” Zeo questioned.

Gregory glanced at his map and headed east again. Zeo believed they were currently due north from the Victoria Embankment Headquarter, which meant they had already gone too far. Spending days on an ocean liner was already very taxing to Zeo. He was getting ‘land seasick’- feeling dizzy as if he was still on the boat, and all he wanted at that moment was to rest his head on a sturdy bed.

To Zeo, the architecture of this ancient city all looked the same from street to street. Small, compact units lined up one after another like little toy modules. When they passed the seedier part of town, Zeo couldn’t help but noticed people talking with a mix of American accents. He never knew there were so many people from the ‘new world’ here in England, and mentioned this observation to Gregory.

“Well, we all know what it’s like in America nowadays. After the crash, no one’s getting paid enough. There are many who just want to press their luck some place else, and lots of croaks came here looking for the dough as well, if there’s any.” Gregory said in passing.

It took Zeo much effort to convince his friend to turn around. Forty-five minutes later, as dust was about to set in, the two finally reached their flat. They had to hull their luggage up 3 floors, and to Zeo the hallways in London seemed to be very narrow and dark. The flat was also tiny, but at least Gregory and Zeo each had their own room. Zeo crashed onto the bed; it was hard and sturdy, just the way he liked it. Next day, they will need to report in. Zeo did not intend to worry about it until tomorrow.

Mar-2-2009 01:57

((spelling correction: croaks --> crooks. Should read "and lots of crooks came here looking for some dough...". Apologies.))

Mar-2-2009 13:20

“Finally…” mumbled Bane…”this dog made himself useful.” Stepping towards where the barking came from, somewhere at the head of the car he was in, Joey hear a loud noise, as if the car’s door was opened. He then heard a last bark, followed quickly by the terrible growling of a dog fighting. He quickly started running towards the scene, only to find the nun…gone. Pierre was just standing in front of the open door, chewing satisfied on what seemed to be a piece of cloth, probably coming from the woman’s robe.

“Damn!” exclaimed Bane looking down at the dog. “Did you even consider…questioning her, Pierre?” The dog turned around throwing a bored look onto him and then left on the aisle, acting again as if Joey wouldn’t even exist. “Arrghh…forget it.”

Bane closed the door and then headed back to the crime scene in order to check the man’s pockets, hoping to find at least an ID, or anything else that could give him a clue on how to go forward on this.

Unfortunately he came out empty handed. He then headed towards his compartment and checked into the man’s luggage. He had only one bag and it only contained…dirty laundry.

Just as he was about to put it aside in defeat, Bane noticed a hidden compartment on the bottom. He opened it up and pulled out a small silver cigarette case. Two letters were engraved on its cover: “F.G...Who the hell is F.G.?” He opened it up and found that besides a couple of cigarettes, it contained nothing else. “Why would he hide a cigarette case? It doesn’t look really valuable… Hmmm…maybe this guy was smoking grass.” He smelled the cigarettes and decided there was nothing particularly about them. Bane gave up, shoving the case in his pocket for later analysis.

In about half hour the train was finally reaching Victoria Station.

Mar-2-2009 13:21

Since nobody seemed to have seen him running around the train and handling the dead body, Joey decided it would be safer for him not notify the authorities and keep his name out of this. “They’ll find him sooner or later…I’m guessing sooner.”

Stepping out of the train, Bane stopped for minute to figure out his direction. It was past midnight and since he didn’t plan ahead for this trip, he had no idea where to head off first. Obviously, he ended up in the first pub his eyes laid upon. There were no customers that late in night, besides a couple of drunks sleeping on the tables…considering they could still be called customers in that state. Joey ordered himself a bottle of scotch and took a seat at the bar.

Upon swallowing a couple of shots, his eyes laid upon his image in a mirror on the back wall of the bar. He was unshaved, showing a few bruises from hitting the steer wheel during the crash and his eyes looked somehow tired and empty. Even though he was always showing off as being a man who takes things easy, having to leave his crib was a bit too much even for himself. He never wanted anything else than to have a chance on living his life in peace. He was never lucky in this regard, as it seemed that always trouble had managed to find him one way or another. True enough that each time he would find a way to get out of it with a clean face, but it was starting to wear him off. He took another look at his face, noticing the thick pack of wrinkles in the corner of his eyes and also that he was starting to visibly lose his hair. “Not my best shape…” he mumbled. “I’m starting to look old…and feel old for that matter.”