Author: minty
Date: July 13th, 2012
Here's the people who volunteered and the roles they're playing:
@Magnum: sniper/hitman
@CallMeMaggot: Detective Inspector Lestrade
@Baya Rae 4900: insisted upon being Moriarty, so... Moriarty
@BizarrePsycho: Trixie's Boss
@Trixie: volunteered to be the victim
@uberfukken: Sherlock
@Sugar Bombs: Dr. Watson
@$$Trooper: Detective Inspector Gregson
@Moscow: policeman who finds Trixie's body
Setting: modern day. i do not know enough about the original time period to write in it.
The Adventures of Uberfukken and Dr. Sugar Bombs: A Deadly Game of Chess
Chapter 1
Uberfukken sat in the apartment of 221B Baker Street slowly dragging his bow across his violin strings. The consulting detective's case load had been very slow lately. Uberfukken's roommate and assistant, Dr. Sugar Bombs, watched him play from the hall. She could tell he was joyless from his somber and lifeless playing. They needed something to work on. She missed the vibrant playing she would hear when he was working on a case.
She walked from the hall into the kitchen and put the tea kettle on. She looked back into the living room. He had stopped playing and was putting his violin away in its case. Next to the violin case on the table was the small black case he kept his morphine and cocaine in. She sighed and looked away. It was something they disagreed on frequently but she didn't feel like bringing it up right now.
After a moment, the kettle started to whistle and she poured herself a cup. She was about to ask Uberfukken if he'd like some as well when the doorbell rang. They heard Mrs. Hudson, the landlady, go down to answer the door.
"Hold on, I'm coming," she said as she went down the stairs.
"There's a patrol car out front," said Uberfukken while gazing out the window. Sugar Bombs walked over to the desk by the couch and picked up the TV remote, turning to the first news channel she could think of. A woman had been found dead at home.
"Do you think this is why they're here?" she asked.
"Indeed. It's the only reason why they would be."
Sugar Bombs was about to ask "What makes you say that?" when footsteps coming up to their flat interrupted her.
"Uberfukken, the police are here," Mrs. Hudson said as she pushed in the half-open door and looked inside.
"Send them in," he replied.
Detective Inspectors Maggot and Trooper stepped into the living room. They looked worriedly at the consulting detective.
"We've got a dead woman, late 30's early 40's, gunshot wound to the head. Will you come?" Detective Inspector Maggot asked.
"What's special about this case? You wouldn't come to me if it were just a simple murder."
"The bullet's gone."
"What do you mean 'gone'?"
"I mean, it was a clean-through shot and we've searched the whole premises. It's gone."
At this, Uberfukken's eyebrows perked up.
"I guess we'd better find out where it went then, shall we? Dr. Sugar Bombs and I will follow you in a cab. Give us a moment please."
The two detectives went down to their car and waited.
"My dear Sugar Bombs, could you call for a cab for us please?" Uberfukken asked, smiling for the first time in weeks.
"Yes, of course," she answered, dialing the number.
Chapter 2: Part 1
The cars pulled up at 213 City Road in Central London. They avoided the camera clicking papparazzi and news reporters as best as they could and ducked under the police tape. As they walked up the stairs inside the building to the apartment the murder occured in, Detective Inspector Trooper spoke about the case.
"We've interviewed some of the neighbors. They said she'd split up with her boyfriend recently but he'd still come around and have a row with her on occasion. Never called the police about it. Got two uniforms on the way to question him now."
As they reached the hallway of the apartment, Uberfukken paused. The other three paused and looked at him with anticipation, waiting for him to make the first move.
"Is there anybody in the flat?" Uberfukken asked, searching around the hallway.
"No. We've got them out questioning others in the building and running the victim's fingerprints," Trooper replied.
"Don't come past the doorway until I say so," Uberfukken said as he walked into the flat, quickly looking over the door.
Sugar Bombs and the two detectives waiting by the doorway and watched him work. Sugar Bombs wished she knew what he was looking for. When she looked at something, she never saw what he did. He was always very in-depth, but she'd just scratch the surface. It was still marvelous to watch him work though.
"The flat had a well-waxed wooden floor, eggshell white walls, stunning chrome kitchen stove and sink, an expensive wall-mounted flat screen TV, light yellow couch and chair, a marble table. A few photos and candle fixtures hung on the walls. There was a glass-doored wall to the left which opened out to a balcony. The glass doors were open. In the middle of the living room, a few feet from the couch was the dead body of a woman in a bathrobe with blood pooled around the head.
"Dr. Sugar Bombs," Uberfukken called as he looked around the bedroom to the right.
"Yes?"
"Could you get suited up and come into the living room?"
"Okay," Sugar Bombs said, putting on gloves, a thin bodysuit cover and shoe covers to prevent evidence contamination.
She walked into the living room, turned to the right and saw Uberfukken looking at a spot of wall by the bedroom.
"My dear Sugar Bombs, could you please examine the body and tell me anything you see of note?"
"Okay."
Sugar Bombs went over and started to look over the body. She called out things as she noticed them.
"The body's still limp, hasn't been dead more than a few hours at most. The bullet entered the top right back of the skull, exited the left cheek."
"Anything else you see?"
"No. She looks fine, apart from the bullet wound. Normal."
"Hmmm... Detectives, what do you make of all this?"
The detectives were talking to a uniformed officer. It seemed to be important by the sound of it.
"Detectives?" Uberfukken asked again.
"This is Officer Moscow. He's the one who got called out when the report first came in," Detective Maggot stated.
"You found the body?" Uberfukken questioned.
"Yes, I did," Moscow replied.
"When did you get the call?"
"An hour and a half ago."
"Tell him what you just told me," Maggot told Moscow.
"We ran a few checks. The woman who lived here, Trixie, she's here on a work visa. Lived here two years. She's American. 2 months before coming here she got her name legally changed. Her name used to be Tracey Gibbons. Two weeks ago she reported her flat had been broken into. There was nothing taken and the only prints they could find belonged to the ex-boyfriend, but he had an alibi. According to neighbors, the break-up happened 3 weeks ago."
"What was the call that made you come investigate?" Uberfukken asked.
"There was a suspicious person seen leaving her apartment by one of the neighbors, and when they tried knocking she wouldn't answer," Moscow answered.
"There was no report of gunfire?"
"No. Nobody heard a thing."
After a few seconds of silence, Trooper spoke up.
"So, should we bring in the ex-boyfriend? He's the only real lead we have in all this."
"He's innocent. All the clues in this case point to something far more devious," Uberfukken replied.
"What do you mean?"
"A hitman. Everything in this apartment shows this woman was on the run from someone."
Chapter 2: Part 2
"How did you reach THAT conclusion?" Maggot asked.
"Officer Moscow, when you got here was the door locked?" Uberfukken asked
"Yes."
"And when you spoke to the neighbor that made the call, did they report the same?"
"Yes."
"I figured as much."
"Excuse me, but I'd still like to know how you figure a hitman is responsible for this," Maggot stated.
"Me too," Sugar Bombs seconded.
"There's no powder burns on the back of her head or any other evidence that anybody else was in the apartment when she was shot. She's still in her bathrobe. It's a fair bet she wasn't expecting anyone over," Uberfukken said.
"But the person seen leaving the apartment?" Trooper asked.
"The hitman. He came in and collected the bullet so nobody could trace it. Nobody heard anything so that means he's got a silencer for his rifle. More than likely it was custom built. From the angle she was shot at and her height, the hitman was positioned across the street on the roof. Now we follow the path the bullet took and see it landed right here," he said, pointing to a small spot on the wall at ankle height which was a little bit off-color. Sugar Bombs recognized this as the same spot he'd been looking at when he asked her to examine the body.
"It's just a small discolored spot in the paint. Probably a stain," Sugar Bombs said.
"That's exactly what you're supposed to think. The hitman dug the bullet out of the wall, and used a small amount of plain white toothpaste to cover up the hole," Uberfukken replied.
"Okay, now how did he get in and out with the door locked?" Trooper asked.
"It's simple, really. He had a key."
"How did he get a key?"
"He had one duplicated."
"What?"
"The break-in. Nothing was taken. He knew when the hit took place he didn't want the door to look broken into. He also wanted a better look at the inside of the apartment. Look at the door lock. It's brand new but still matches all the other doors. She had it replaced after the break-in. Our hitman may not be good at lockpicking, but he was smart. He knew she'd need the door locks replaced, and that the building's obviously got it contracted out to one company. Given that he had a key and locked the door when he left, this means he either knows someone who works there and had them duplicate the key, or got himself hired there to install the lock and quit shortly after."
"So, look into the contractors? Okay. But what makes you say she was on the run?" Maggot asked while writing in his notepad.
"It's simple, just look at her! Her hair and eyebrows are dyed. She's had breast implants. You can see the scars around the areola from her open bathrobe as well as tan lines from a bikini. She's wearing colored contact lenses. If you look up her nose you can see faint scarring from a nose job. All of the furniture and clothing in this house is less than two years old. Not to mention the name change. Top that off with the fact that all of the pictures in this house were taken recently, none of these locations in these photos are in the United States. None of the people in the pictures have similar physical traits so none of them are family.
"Two years ago before moving here, something happened which made this woman desperate to change her identity."
"What do we do now?" Trooper asked.
"Find out what happened to Tracey Gibbons."
Chapter 3:
It was noon when Uberfukken and Sugar Bombs left the apartment complex. They had been inside the building for 40 minutes. They started walking to the end of the street, heading to a restaurant nearby to get some food.
Sugar Bombs was running through everything that had happened in her mind. They took a right at the end of the street.
"Something doesn't make sense to me," she said.
"What doesn't make sense?" Uberfukken asked.
"Even if the gun had a silencer on it, they still should have been able to hear it. It only muffles the sound. It doesn't get rid of it completely."
"Look across the street to your left."
Sugar Bombs looked over and her gaze fell upon a construction site.
"A few noisy jackhammers WOULD cover up the sound, I guess," she said.
"We didn't hear them because it was their lunch hour."
When they got to the restaurant, Uberfukken ordered a coffee and Sugar Bombs got eggs and toast. She sat silently, still running through the day's events in her mind.
"You still have questions?" Uberfukken asked.
"Yeah. Every surgery I did when I was in the military that involved a rifle wound, the bullet fragmented. The gunshot doesn't make sense to me," Sugar Bombs responded.
".22 long hollow points."
"What?"
"Less likely to break into fragments or deform going through bone."
"Oh."
Uberfukken pulled out his phone and started typing.
"When you're done eating we can go by her employer and see if they have any relevant information," he said.
"How do you know where she worked at? Maggot and Trooper never said anything about it."
"I found an un-cashed check in her bedroom from 'Hot MILF Productions'."
Sugar Bombs choked on her toast for a moment.
"She starred in porn?!" she asked between coughs.
"Yes. She was making quite a bit of money from it too."
"Great. Brunch and a porn set."
................................................
"Hello. My name is Bizarre Psycho. May I help you with something?" asked a gentleman in a dark grey suit with broad shoulders and short, gelled hair.
"The receptionist said you were Trixie's agent," Sugar Bombs said.
"Yes, I am. I am the producer, director, founder of the company, and agent to all the actresses. All the women who sign up here work exclusively for me."
"I'm sure you've been told by the police prior to us coming here the nature of what our visit would be," Uberfukken said.
"Yes. Trixie's dead. It's a shame. She had a shoot tomorrow for 'Ms. Marvel's Night Out'."
"Did you notice her acting different lately?" Sugar Bombs asked.
"No. She was the same as she always was. Showed up on time for shoots, did as she was told, stayed longer if she was needed. She was very well-behaved."
Uberfukken's phone vibrated. He pulled it out, looked at it briefly and perked up his eyebrows.
"Excuse me, sir..." Bizarre Psycho said, looking mildly worried.
"I think we're done here, Sugar Bombs. Thank you, sir. You've been very helpful," Uberfukken said while getting up to leave.
As they walked out of the building, Uberfukken hailed a cab. Sugar Bombs didn't catch the address he gave as she was getting into the car.
"Where are we going? Why did you cut the interview short? What's going on?" she interrogated.
"We learned all we could from him, which amounted to nothing of real relevance. She didn't know she was being followed. That's not important at all," Uberfukken said while scrolling down on his phone screen and grinning.
"What are you looking at?"
"The REAL clue."
"Which is?"
"Tracey Gibbons. I had an informant of mine look her up and send me some files. She'd been implicated in a murder before coming here."
"What?"
"Her and two friends. They were out driving and hit a woman with a car. She ended up dying. They got off on a technicality, but the husband swore revenge."
"What technicality?"
"That doesn't matter. What DOES matter is that we find the other two women."
"So, where are we heading?"
"The police station."
Chapter 4
When they got to Scotland Yard they were taken to the side-by-side desks of Detectives Maggot and Trooper. Uberfukken had forwarded the information he'd received while he was still in the taxi. Maggot was on the phone but Trooper greeted them when they arrived.
"He's getting the file from the states," Trooper said.
"The case file on Tracey Gibbons?" Sugar Bombs asked.
"Yes. It'll take a bit for them to find and fax to us," Maggot said while hanging up the phone.
"How long?" Uberfukken asked.
"30-45 minutes, they said. Find anything out from the boss?"
"Nothing of great importance. She didn't know she was being followed, but if she changed her appearance he could've just as easily changed his. Any word on the two friends who were with Tracey in her car?"
"Nothing yet, but we'll keep you posted. How'd you get these newspaper clippings about the hit and run so quickly?"
"Knew someone who owed me a favor. They used to be a journalist."
"This is a hell of a lead. If you find anything else out, let us know. I know how you work. Don't try to solve this without us," Trooper said in his sternest voice.
Moscow walked swiftly over to the desk where they were standing at.
"You're not going to believe this," he said, handing some papers over to Detective Maggot.
"Three weeks ago, killed the exact same way," he continued.
"Who?" Uberfukken asked.
"One of the other two women from the car. Look, her picture is practically identical," Maggot said, first looking it over, then comparing it to the printed newspaper article Uberfukken had sent, and finally handing both to Uberfukken to look at.
Sugar Bombs glanced over. It was a woman with short brown hair laying dead in her living room from a gunshot wound. In the corner was a picture of her face with her name under it. Alicia Woodrow. Sugar Bombs then looked over at the article. It was the same woman with longer hair and styled different.
"If he's working his way through them, we need to find this third woman quickly before she ends up dead," Sugar Bombs said.
"Unless she's already dead," Trooper said.
"We've got our best people tracking her now. If she's alive, we'll find her," Maggot said.
"We've got a lot of work to do. The best thing to do now is to go home and wait until we call you," Trooper told Uberfukken and Sugar Bombs while motioning to a stack of files on his desk.
Uberfukken and Sugar Bombs left the station. Uberfukken pulled out his phone and started typing.
"Should I call us a cab then?" Sugar Bombs asked.
"Yes, obviously," Uberfukken replied without raising his eyes.
She waited until she could see one, then waved her arms and hailed it. They got in the car and she gave the address for their apartment.
"So, what do we do now?" she asked.
"We find out where in London the third woman is."
"How do you know she's in London?"
"Didn't you read the papers at all?"
"Well, I must not've noticed..." she was cut off.
"Aha! I found her! Cabby, I need you to drive to Harrington Gardens, South Kensington please."
"Wait, what?"
"I'll explain later. Right now we have a shooter to catch."
Chapter 5
Sugar Bombs watched as Uberfukken dialed a number on his phone and put it to his ear.
"We'll be there in about ten minutes, Sugar Bombs. Do you have your gun?"
"Yes, it's in my pocket, but why sh-"
"Hello, is Detective Maggot or Trooper there? It's urgent."
After 30 seconds of being on hold, he was put through to Trooper.
"Hello. Detective Inspector Trooper speaking."
"It's me, Uberfukken. I found her. Meet me at Harrington Gardens."
"What? How'd you find her?"
"I'll explain later. Just meet us there with a backup patrol car."
He hung up the phone before anything else could be said. After a moment, Sugar Bombs spoke up.
"How did you find her?"
"She didn't change her name like the others. Her name is Allison Smith. Common enough last name to make her feel safe."
"But, how do you know she's here in London?"
"I don't have time to explain that now. We're almost here. Cabby, let us out here, please."
When they got out, Sugar Bombs paid the fee and the cab drove away. As she turned around she noticed Uberfukken surveying the street's rooftops.
"What are you looking for?" she asked.
BANG! The unexpected loudness made Sugar Bombs jump and echoed in her ears. She understood now why he'd been looking at the rooftops.
"We're too late," Uberfukken said in a disheartened voice.
They stood there for a moment silent until Sugar Bombs spoke up.
"What do we do now? There's no telling where he fired the shot from. Maggot and Trooper aren't-"
Uberfukken raised a finger to quiet her and then pointed at a man in a work uniform with a key ring on his hip and holding a black case. He walked out of one building and started heading to another one across the street.
"We follow him far enough behind that he can't see us," Uberfukken said.
They walked down the street through the crowd of people confused about the noise.
"If only they knew what had just happened..." Sugar Bombs said quietly.
They followed him into a lobby with nobody in it and watched him get into an elevator by himself. When it reached the fourth floor, a light blinked indicating it'd stopped.
"Hurry, the stairs," Uberfukken said.
As they ran up the stairs, his phone started to ring.
"It's Maggot. We're parked. Where are you?"
"Heading up the stairs of the redbrick apartment building third from the end of the street. Meet us on the fourth floor and have the patrol car by the fire exit."
When they reached the fourth floor they had just enough time to see the workman open and close the door at the end of the hall. They waited for a few minutes until Trooper and Maggot showed up. They all walked slowly down the hall so they wouldn't be heard. The detectives drew their guns out and positioned themselves by the door. Uberfukken and Sugar Bombs waited back a few feet. Maggot looked at Trooper and nodded. Trooper nodded back. That was the cue. Maggot opened the door with a kick and yelled "Freeze!" Trooper followed into the room.
The man in the workman's uniform was sitting on the couch with a laptop open on the coffee table. He didn't move. Maggot went around one side of the couch. To the front of him was the suspect. On the floor in front of the coffee table was the dead body of Allison Smith. He kept his gun pointed at the suspect and nodded at Trooper. Trooper came over and cuffed the suspect while Maggot made the call back for the homicide. Today was going to be a long day.
Chapter 6
Sugar Bombs and Uberfukken arrived back at their flat a little after 8 in the evening. Sugar Bombs plopped on the couch, exhausted from all the running around. Mrs. Hudson made them tea and they relaxed on the couch for a few minutes. As they sipped their tea, they reflected on the day's events. After a few minutes of light chatter, Sugar Bombs finally asked the question she'd wanted the answer to in the taxi.
"How did you find Allison Smith?"
"Social networking site."
"What?"
"Lots of people have a facebook. I hacked into Trixie's. It wasn't hard to guess her password. She had a series of picture updates on apartment hunting with Allison tagged. All the locations were in Harrington Gardens."
"But, how'd you know she was in London to begin with? Did you get lucky with the facebook, or what?"
"When you looked at the crime scene photo of Alicia Woodrow, what did you see?"
"A woman dead from a gunshot in her living room."
"What else did you see?"
"Uhh... her hair was different?"
"And that's your problem. You see, but you don't observe. On the table there was a cardboard box with some linens in it. Next to it was packing tape and a marker. Next to the door was a stack of newspaper to wrap glasses and plates in. She was getting ready to move to London."
"How do you know it was London and not somewhere else?"
"These women had been friends since grade school, grew up together, and attended the same college. They came over here so they could be a group again. Trixie came over first and when the other two saved up enough money, they were coming over as well."
......................................................................
Sugar Bombs awoke to the sound of voices in the living room. She checked her phone. It was 2:52 in the morning.
"There was nothing on him. His prints match nothing in any database whatsoever and there was nothing else to identify him either," a voice said.
"The gun didn't have a serial number and ballistics couldn't trace it to anything either. Just the make and model," another voice said.
"Of course they couldn't trace it. He picks up the bullets afterwards. He's a professional," said a third and more familiar voice.
By now, she'd decided to join them in the living room. She'd gotten out of bed, put on a pair of pants and ran her fingers through her hair a few times to straighten it out. She popped a piece of gum into her mouth and went into the living room.
"Does he have a scar above his left eye in the shape of a crescent?" Uberfukken asked.
"What does that matter?" Maggot countered.
"When you walked him past me down to the patrol car I didn't get a look at that side of his face. I need to know if he has a scar there or not. It'd be no bigger than a fingernail."
"Yes, he does. Why?" Trooper replied.
"Magnum," Uberfukken responded.
"What does that mean?" Maggot asked.
"Magnum is the only identity of a hitman wanted by Interpol. He's always very professional and never leaves anything traceable. The few witness sketches of him there are all have the same crescent-shaped scar. It fits."
Maggot's phone rang and he went into the hallway to answer it.
"Has he said anything?" Sugar Bombs asked.
"Not a word," Trooper replied.
"So, the husband hired a hitman to kill three people over a hit and run?"
"Crazy world, isn't it?"
Uberfukken stared quietly out the window. Sugar Bombs was about to ask him what was wrong when Maggot returned.
"What's wrong?" Trooper asked Maggot.
"He killed himself in his holding cell. Cyanide tablet," Maggot answered.
"Who the fuck searched him?"
"I don't know."
Chapter 7
Trooper and Maggot went back to the station to deal with the situation there. Sugar Bombs put the tea kettle on and scooped two spoonfuls of sugar into her favorite mug while she waited for the water to boil. She turned to ask Uberfukken if he'd like some tea, but saw him pacing back and forth and decided against it. He was focusing on the case.
After her tea was done, she took her mug to her bedroom, read a little while she sipped her tea, and fell asleep soon after.
When she awoke, she went into the living room and saw Uberfukken on his cell phone.
"What do you mean it isn't a real badge number?" he asked, looking over the case files that had been sent to him the day before.
"What about the newspapers from the day after?" he asked, pausing for a moment over the article he'd looked at in the police station.
After listening for a few more seconds, he hung up without a word.
"So, what was that all about?" Sugar Bombs questioned.
"The files are a fake. The hit and run, the backstory, the newspaper articles..." he replied while lighting a cigarette.
"Wait, what? Who the hell would go that far to make up such a story?"
"I don't know yet. I need to think."
"YOU don't know something?!"
He looked at her and she saw an expression she'd never seen on him before: confusion.
.....................................................................................
The next morning she got up, went into the living room and saw him sitting in the same spot she'd him in the night before when she'd finished her dinner. The only difference was today he had the black box out.
"I HID THAT!" she yelled.
"Yes, I know. It wasn't hard to slide out from under your mattress while you were sleeping," he said without looking up.
"Is it cocaine or morphine today?"
"Cocaine."
"So, figure anything out, then?"
"Whoever did this is very smart indeed. Believeable forgeries, ability to hack into police databases, hacking into my informant's email and sending those files... possibly even hacking into my email. I'm very impressed by it all."
"What about the laptop at the crime scene that Magnum had?"
"Only used for correspondence with whoever gave the orders. Throwaway email accounts. No real leads from it."
"So, what parts were made up and which weren't?"
"The hit and run never happened. The woman being shot in the states did happen. Beyond that, I don't know what's true or false yet."
Uberfukken's phone rang and he answered it.
"We need you down here," Detective Trooper said.
"Where?" Uberfukken asked.
"You didn't see the news?"
Uberfukken reached over to the remote and turned on the television, quickly switching to the nearest news network. There was a story on of another person who'd been shot in their apartment.
"The killer left a note for you this time," Trooper said.
"What's it say?" Uberfukken asked.
"We don't know. Nobody's opened it."
"I'll be there in ten minutes."
Chapter 8
Sugar Bombs and Uberfukken arrived at the crime scene at 9:02 a.m. They walked inside the living room. Another flat, another corpse laying on the floor with a bullet wound in the head. Maggot motioned them over to the dining room table where an off-white envelope lay with the name 'Uberfukken' written on it in cursive.
"Classy stationary," Uberfukken said, looking over and opening the envelope. Inside was a neatly folded piece of paper which matched the envelope, also written in cursive.
"What's it say?" Sugar Bombs asked.
"'Here I was playing chess by myself, moving pieces around as I saw fit, watching them fall as I cornered them with others. Make no mistake, they were my pieces to move around. ALL of them. Then you butted your way in, moving rooks and pawns without my permission. Consider this check. You have four hours from the time you read this until I make it checkmate. Your move. Sincerely, Baya Rae.'"
Everybody stood around silently for a moment until Maggot broke the silence.
"What the fuck does that mean?" he asked.
"It means there's one more person he intends to have killed, and we have four hours to find them," Uberfukken replied.
"How do we find him, or her?" Sugar Bombs asked.
"I don't know, yet. Who was killed here?"
"We have nothing on him yet. The apartment is registered in the name 'Brad Paiselle' but there's nothing identifiable on the body or anywhere else and half his face is missing. We're going to have to try matching dental records," Trooper responded.
"Does this 'Baya Rae' name mean anything to either of you?" Uberfukken asked.
"No," Maggot and Trooper responded, blankly.
"I'll let you know if I find anything out," Uberfukken said, turning to leave.
"Hey, wait. We only have four hours. We should be working together," Maggot said.
"We'd be better off investigating independently so we can cover all the avenues," Uberfukken responded without turning around.
"Umm, bye," Sugar Bombs left, following after Uberfukken. By the time she got outside the cab he'd hailed was taking off without her. She cursed under her breath and hailed the next one she saw a few minutes later. By the time she got to the apartment she wasn't mad about being left behind anymore. They had less than four hours to figure this out. They needed to work quickly.
When she got up the stairs he was pacing the living room with a lit cigarette.
"How do you think this 'Baya Rae' got another hitman so quickly?" she asked.
"It's obvious, isn't it? He keeps them in his employ at all times," he answered.
"How can he afford to do that?"
"Must be a career criminal. The forged documents, the hitmen, the hacking. This all screams of a very well-organized criminal network."
"What abou-"
"Please? I need to think."
Sugar Bombs sat on the couch and said nothing, deciding to try some critical thinking of her own. She reached out and grabbed one of the fake news articles off the table. "Woman, Age 32, Killed in Hit and Run" the headline read. Underneath it said "Defense Pleads 'Not Guilty'". She looked over at the doctored court room picture. She was impressed. Whoever photoshopped this did a really good job. She skimmed through the article, thinking to herself "If this were supposed to look like a payback crime, who else would an angry husband want to have killed?" As she asked herself, her eyes skimmed over a picture of two defense attorneys.
"Oh, shit!" she exclaimed.
"What?" Uberfukken asked.
"The defense attorneys, in the fake case!"
His eyes lit up and he snatched the paper out of her hand. He looked it over and then lowered the paper slowly.
"How did I miss this?" he asked.
"Yeah, thanks," Sugar Bombs said, trying not to sound too dejected.
Uberfukken raised the paper again.
"They both look enough alike in build and skin tone that either one could be the body in the apartment," he said.
"I'll call Trooper. Maybe they can tell us something," she said.
"Ask him if there's a mole on the right side of the chin. That should give us what we need."
"Okay."
She checked the time as her phone rang out. There were 3 hours left.
Chapter 9 Part 1
"He's not answering, should I try Maggot?" Sugar Bombs asked Uberfukken.
"No, if one of them can't answer, the other won't answer either. One of them will call back soon though," he answered, scrolling through his phone.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking up their names. Daniel Rifkin and Benjamin Ainsworth, neither of which is turning anything up. More name changes. We can't do anything until your phone rings."
"Can't you try facebook like last time?"
"NOTHING is coming up. I've looked up every name."
"Well, maybe while we wait we can look through here for more clues," she suggested while pointing to the papers on the table.
He picked up the article on Alicia Woodrow and started looking it over, she picked up the crime scene photos for the murder. 'He was right,' she thought while looking at the pictures. 'There are boxes and newspapers... she was moving. How much of the story is real though?'
"Do you think the facebook was made up?" she asked.
"If it's fake, it's very convincing. I have to confess, though..."
"What?"
"Everything about this case so far. It's all done a marvelous job of confusing me with it's fake, well, everything."
"Yeah, I can see that. The lines of reality are sort of blurring with this case, aren't they?"
"It's... very elaborate, to say the least."
He set down the paper clipping and picked up another.
"I'm going to make some tea. I'm parched," she said, setting the pictures down and getting up. When she was done, she walked back into the living room and Uberfukken was staring out the window.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Here, look at this," he said, handing her an article.
It was the article stating that the women would be getting no jail time for the hit and run. She skimmed over it, not sure what she should be looking for.
"Ummm..."
"Look at the husband's name. The part where he swears revenge."
She quickly half-read until she saw it. The husband's name was Ray Abae.
"Do you see it?" he asked.
"Yeah. Baya Rae, but with the letters jumbled. What does it mean, though?"
"It's a calling card. He cannot directly state that he is behind any crimes, so he does it indirectly."
"He's advertising?"
"Yes. He's saying 'Here, look what I can do.'"
"But it's all fake. We figured it out."
"We weren't supposed to investigate. Had we never gotten involved, the story of the hit and run would have been what the police would have gone with. Nobody would have dug deeper than those faxes."
Sugar Bombs phone rang and she answered it.
"We rushed, but we got a match back on the dental records. To be on the safe side we checked the fake names. It's Daniel Rifkin," Trooper said.
"Did you find any addresses for the other name, Benjamin Ainsworth?" Sugar Bombs asked.
"Not yet. We'll keep looking and keep you in touch, though." He hung up.
Uberfukken's phone started to ring.
"Could you see who that is, please?" he asked Sugar Bombs.
She looked at the phone. Mintcroft.
"It's your sister."
"Ok. Answer it."
Sugar answered. "Hello?"
"Hello, Sugar Bombs. Would you mind telling my brother that the name for the other defense attorney he's looking for is Samuel Fairweather?"
"How did you know?"
"That's not important right now. You have two hours and ten minutes left."
*click*
Chapter 9 Part 2
Trooper and Maggot met up at Uberfukken and Sugar Bombs' apartment with the information they had gathered.
"Listen up, everyone. This Samuel Fairweather name turned up over 10 pieces of property in London alone. I'm not going to ask you where you got the information, so let's just take five addresses a piece and go look. We have an hour and thirty minutes left. Let's work quickly, please," Maggot said.
"You couldn't get more people to help?" Sugar Bombs asked.
"The few others I could get are checking out other addresses. This guy must've had a rich uncle that kicked the bucket or something."
"Sounds like it. Well, let's get started."
They took their addresses and hailed a cab.
"Are we going to have time to look at all of these?" Sugar Bombs asked.
"It's lunch hour for most businesses. Traffic will be heavy. It's possible, but it'll be very close."
They checked one house. Empty. One hour and twelve minutes left. They checked the second address. A flat. Empty. Fifty minutes left. A third address came and went, taking twenty minutes with it.
On the way to the fourth address, Trooper called to inform them there had been no success on their end. They had less than thirty minutes left. By the time they check the fourth empty address, it was ten.
When they reached the last address, they were eight minutes late. The door was already open and when they walked inside Mintcroft was sitting in a chair waiting.
"Hello, Uberfukken. Sugar Bombs. Been a long day, hasn't it?"
"What are you doing here?" Uberfukken questioned.
"The same thing you were: Trying to get to Samuel Fairweather on time."
"Where is he, then?"
"Already dead, of course. He was shot earlier today. Baya switched the dental records so you'd look for the wrong person."
"Wait, YOU didn't realize we were searching for the wrong person?"
"Dear brother, I cannot keep an eye on all of London."
"When did you notice we should be searching for Daniel Rifkin instead?"
"When I received this on my phone five minutes ago."
Mintcroft opened a picture message on her phone and handed it to Uberfukken. It was a photo of a man dead with a bullet wound in his head. Daniel Rifkin. Underneath the picture was the word 'checkmate'.
"Why were you helping me in the first place? You don't show up unless it's a matter of national security. They were spies, weren't they?" Uberfukken asked.
"Yes, all of them. We've known about Baya for quite some time. He has influences worldwide. Alicia Woodrow was found out first. We were trying to re-locate her when she got shot. Before she died, she forwarded her findings to the others that were shot earlier this week. They were reporting their information to these two, who were in charge of them. The fact that the leak in our security went this far means I now have some serious clean-up to do. Goodbye, brother."
Mintcroft walked out, her brother staying where she left him. Sugar Bombs followed Mintcroft outside.
"Do you think he'll be alright? I've never known him to lose a case before."
Mintcroft sighted. "He won't take this loss easy. You'll need to keep a close eye on him for a few days."
"He's already had a hard few days. Can I call you if it gets too much to handle?"
"Yes, of course."
"He really does care, doesn't he? He just doesn't like to show it."
"Sugar Bombs, my brother has the brain of a scientist or a philosopher, yet he chooses to be a detective. What does that say about his heart?"
............................................................................................
Epilogue
Sugar Bombs woke up to the sound of somber violin playing in the living room. She knew when she walked out of her room he'd be sitting in the chair, violin case on the table next to the contemptable black case. She didn't know if it was morphine or cocaine today, and she didn't care either. He'd been this way for three days now. She wasn't even sure at this point if he was eating anymore. She heard a phone ring in the living room and she started to get dressed. She heard talking but couldn't make out what was being said. When she finished, she opened her bedroom door and Uberfukken was standing there in his bathrobe.
"We have a case," he said with a small grin and light in his eyes.
"What? Who was that on the phone?"
"Mintcroft. There's a lead on Baya Rae."
"I guess you better get dressed then."
"I'll be ready in four minutes."
~The End~
."
