“Well, now he’s annoying me buddy. I mean it is one thing for the guy to throw a bomb at us but to simply stand us up, now that’s just not good form.”
Letting out a weak chuckle Patsy rubbed his eyes quickly before returning them to the theater scene.
“No worries Joe, this stakeout is only step one in my master plan for finding Gregs.”
“Step one? OK Sherlock, what’s step two of this master plan to find this fink? Hopefully it’s a little drier than step one,” Joe replied wiggling in his seat still finding it impossible to get comfortable in the cruiser in his wet clothes.
“Maybe not drier but step two is easy. We walk up the alley and grab Wiggy by the collar until he sings,” Patsy replied reaching for the door handle.
“What?” Joe said confused until he looked back on the now thin crowd at the movie theater exit. Slinking out the double door exit was a lone figure. Tall and lanky, the figure easily stood out towering over the remaining group, mostly children shadowed by a few parents, standing outside the theater. If the figure was trying to purposely stand out he could not have done a better job in the crowd, Joe thought. Wearing a long, light tan trench coat with the collar pulled up to his ears and a wide, ill-fitting fedora pulled down over his face, the man looked like a player straight out of a B-rated serial.
“Do they really dress like that now? Why doesn’t he just wear a sign saying I’m the bad guy?” Joe murmured to himself as he opened the door of the police cruiser and hopped over to his wheelchair.
“Must’ve seen it in a movie…” Patsy grumbled stalking from the car in the direction of the theater.
Reaching his discarded chair in two hops, Joe slid his hand across the seat, quickly trying to wipe away the excess water from it. Finding little success, he figured his still soaked through suit couldn’t get much worse and jumped into the wet chair. Spinning it around in the direction of the theater, Joe started after Patsy who by that time was already past the front of the car moving at a determined pace toward the stalky figure.
Trying to keep to the shadows of the street until he was closer to his target, Patsy quickly approached the end of the street and stopped. As Joe tried to catch up he noticed Patsy stoop down in the shadows by a row of trees across the street of the theater. There he waited for Gregs to leave the crowd of kids and walk across the street in his direction. Joe slowed and held back some, not wanting to give away Patsy’s position as he noticed the figure of Gregs start to walk away from the crowd and cross the street in Patsy’s direction. Halfway across the street, Gregs was only a few steps away from Patsy before the world around them lit up in a blinding flash.
The manager of the theater, apparently deciding the afternoon show was empty, had lit the large multi-bulb billboard in the front of the theater to advertise that evening’s shows. This illumination bathed the stalky figure in a bright halo of light making it quite easy to verify him as Gregs. However, it also completely washed away Patsy’s hiding spot only a few feet in front of the now surprised Gregs. Even from his position down the street, Joe could see the immediate reaction on Gregs face when he noticed Patsy waiting for him. Whether recognizing Patsy from earlier that morning or from years ago, Gregs spun and took off running back in the direction of the theater.
“He’s rabbiting!” Joe heard Patsy yell as he quickly took off in pursuit.
Joe tried as best as he could to roll his chair up the rest of the alley. He lost sight of the chase when Gregs ran into the crowd of another exiting film near the theater. Just as he made it to the corner of the alley, near the tree where Patsy had been hiding, he heard a loud yell of pain and a scream from the crowd. Looking across the street at the scene, Joe noticed the crowd parting, revealing Patsy standing with gun raised at a cornered Wiggy Gregs. With his back against the brick theater wall, Gregs stood near a man crumpled over in pain grabbing at his side. Kneeling next to the man was a woman begging to Gregs while simultaneously trying to console the injured man.
The crowd stood stunned in shock at the erupting scene as Gregs hissed at Patsy to stay back. Never lowering his weapon Patsy tried to calm the now panicked man in front of him. As Patsy moved back, Joe could now see what was keeping his partner at bay even with a clear shot. Waving a knife crazily in front of him with his left hand, Gregs shot a crooked grin at the crowd as he wrapped his other his arm tighter around his hostage, a crying young boy.
“Get Back! I tells ya one step closer flat foot!” snarled Wiggy as he gripped the squirming young boy even tighter. The small, panicked child cried out to his mother only feet away. Every time he attempted to pull away, Wiggy would flatten his back again the brick wall of the theater keeping the boy in-between himself and Patsy. A crowd started to form around the scene as on-lookers noticed the commotion.
“Bruce!” screamed the young child’s mother as she desperately reached out for the boy from her kneeling position next to the fallen man with a hurt side.
“OK Wiggy, OK, take it easy…let’s talk about this,” Patsy pleaded raising his weapon in the air taking a step in front of the surging crowd trying to take control of the situation. “No one is going to mess with you son. Just let the little guy go to his momma.”
“Oh I don’t think that’s the best thing for me,” Wiggy hissed back. “I think what’s best for me is you getting back and forgetting all the hero junk that’s going through your head, copper, unless you want me to return this little guy to his momma with a few more holes in him like I added to his daddy there.”
Waving his knife crazily in front of them, the crowd slowly started retreating back in fear of what the maniac would do to the young boy.
“Lady get over here…” Patsy called out to the screaming mother. The woman, finely dressed with a fur and set of pearls, pulled herself away from her frantic attempts at reaching her son and with help from a gentleman from the swelling crowd carried the injured man she had been shielding away from the chaotic scene. Even though he could barely stand, the man sporting a blue suit and thin mustache, found his way back to the scene when he heard the little boy crying out.
“Shut yer yap!” Wiggy barked at the crying child squeezing the boy even harder to try to stop his obsessive wailing.
This made the boy cry even more fervently and pull harder away from the criminal’s grip. The boy continued to try and pull away toward his mother, unheeding Wiggy’s demands or threats with his knife. As the scene started to escalate beyond his control, Patsy became more concerned for the safety of the boy as he noticed Wiggy becoming agitated with no one really listening to him.
“This will quiet ya up!” Wiggy finally barked raising the heel of his fist holding the knife to strike the captured child.
A scream rang out from the crowd. Patsy stood staring in silent shock as Wiggy’s fist descended on the boy only to pass straight through the head then body of the child. Wiggy’s fist passed straight through as if the child wasn’t even there! As Wiggy pulled his arm back in surprise he was met with yet another surprise as the child, still pulling away from him, passed straight through his arm as if it was air and ran off to his mother.
Trying to reach out after the boy, Wiggy found himself firmly planted to the spot by a firm grip on his right shoulder. Looking back at the hand holding him, Wiggy’s eyes bulged in fear as he noticed the hand was jutting out from the side of the brick wall behind him!
“What gives?” Wiggy cried out in horror as he tried frantically to break away from the vise-like grip of the mysterious hand.
Looking on at the fantastic sight unfolding in front of him, Patsy was the first to see the strike coming even before it landed on Wiggy’s jaw.
So intent on wrestling himself free, Wiggy never saw the clenched fist pass through another part of the brick until it connected with his face.
Flying away from the wall due to the impact, Wiggy landed in a heap on the sidewalk. Looking back trying to find his assailant, he and the rest of the crowd gasped in amazement as the owner of the fis
t walked completely through the brick wall as it was air. Clad in a dark gray suit coat, hat, and stark white domino mask that completely shielded the top part of his face, the broad man stood over Wiggy.
“A young child you Villain? How about you try your luck with me!” the dark savior growled at Wiggy in a deep and insidious voice.
“It’s the Grey Ghost, the one the papers have been talking about!” someone from the crowd yelled.
“Yeah Ghost, well take this Mr. Ghost!” Wiggy cried out as he flung his knife at the apparition. Wiggy smiled for a second seeing the blade flying true and aching straight at his assailant’s chest. That brief joy disappeared and was replaced with more fear as he witnessed the knife pass straight through the Grey Ghost and clang against the wall behind him. Looking up at the masked man, all Wiggy could see past the lowered brim of the Grey Ghost’s hat was a large mischievous smile, which sent shivers down his spine.
“Quarterpenny…” The Grey Ghost quietly laughed stalking toward his prey. Reaching down with one hand, the Grey Ghost grabbed Wiggy by the front of his shirt and easily lifted him off the sidewalk. Moving in one fluid motion the Grey Ghost effortlessly twisted his upper body launching Wiggy over his shoulder and into the very solid theater wall.
Stalking over to the dazed villain, the Grey Ghost once again reached down with one hand and effortlessly pulled Wiggy up by his shirt, this time to eye level.
“You are going to tell the police everything about the bombing this morning AND everything you know about the murder of Professor Harold Stone or I’m going to find you Wiggy and we are going to have this friendly chat again.. And remember . . .” the avenging specter sneered at the barely conscious thug, pausing so that Wiggy would hear every single last word.
“THE GREY GHOST CAN ALWAYS FIND YOU!”
The Grey Ghost spun his victim around toward Patsy and the gathered crowd, reared back and launched a solid right hook across Wiggy’s glass jaw that sent the two-bit hood sliding over to Patsy’s feet.
Looking away from the lump of human trash now sprawled at his feet, Patsy saw the mysterious man cordially tip his hat at the crowd and simply step backward through the theater’s solid brick wall, mysteriously disappearing from sight. Starring silently at the brick wall for a few heartbeats, Pasty reached down and picked up his discarded hat, which had been knocked aside in the commotion. Whistling out loud and replacing his bowler with a tap, the officer turned from the scene whispering to himself,
“Joseph my lad, what in the world are you doing?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“I said what in the blue blazes do you think you’re doing?” Patsy hollered at Joe sitting on the couch next to Kate in the Bevine’s living room.
The explosion had started simmering inside Patsy the moment he, dragging Wiggy’s unconscious body from the theater to the cruiser, had spotted Joe seconds after he had returned to his abandoned wheelchair that previous night. Biting his tongue because of Wiggy, the large officer had quietly stewed until finally reaching a boiling point as he arrived at the Bevine’s household that following morning.
“What do you think you are some sort of big hero now? Boo! I’m the Grey Ghost! Katie did you know we are in the presence of a fancy-dancie bonafide super hero? Excuse me mister ghosty can I have your autograph?” Patsy yelled waving his arms mockingly.
Shocked by Patsy’s outburst, Joe was suddenly thankful that both of his parents had already been out and about before Patsy’s arrival. He had completely thought his facade at the theater had worked. Never for an instant had he thought anyone had recognized him last night, not even Patsy.
“Wait, Joseph what did you do? You let people see you again?” Kate yelled bolting up to glare at Joe alongside Patsy.
“Again, Katie do you know about this craziness?” Patsy asked still yelling.
“Oh of course I did Patsy. Do you honestly think Joe could hide something like this from me?” Kate yelled back at Patsy.
“Well the big mook did a great job hiding whatever this is from me and I wouldn’t have believed that!” countered Patsy.
“OK, wait a minute. Let’s relax a second here,” Joe said, trying to calm the yelling match seeing that whatever heat they both had for him was now focused on each other.
“Stay out of this Joe!” both Patsy and Kate yelled back, silencing him before they turned back to each other.
“So how long have you known about this mook’s super-secret identity? Patsy said starting to grill Kate.
“This whole Grey Ghost foolishness just started yesterday and I only found out about it by reading the afternoon post Patsy!” Kate said standing her ground. “What did the big goof do now?”
“I can’t for the life of me understand why everyone seems to yell at me when they find out about this,” Joe mumbled to himself as he sat there watching the two yell the entire story of Joe’s magical exploits back and forth.
After they finished, seemingly yelling themselves out, both Kate and Patsy reeled angry stares at Joe as he quietly sat there listening to his own amazing tale.
Raising his hands in an “I surrender” motion, Joe slowly asked, “Are you two done?”
The statement did nothing but intensify the glare now burning holes straight through him from his two best friends.
“Kate I think I understand why you’re mad but Patsy what are you yelling about so much? And even more importantly, how in the world did you know that I was the Grey Ghost last night?”
“I’m mad because we’re partners and you kept something THAT BIG from me. Here I’m trying to figure out how we are going to make this work out there on the street with you in a chair and secretly having that little trick of yours up your sleeve! Oh and how did I know? Ha! Boy-o we’ve known each other since high school. Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize you because I couldn’t see your nose under that little mask of yours?” Patsy responded.
Looking away from his friend Joe slightly reddened. He had honestly thought the mask was genius.
“Do you think anybody else knew it was me?” Joe asked looking back.
“Nah, I doubt it. I can tell you Gregs had no idea. Remember, he just kept wailing about the Ghost over and over even when he was looking straight at you. You really scared the stuffing out of the little guy,” Patsy replied.
“Wait, what did you two find out from that low-life?” Kate cut in. “Did he know anything about Dad?”
“Sorry hon. We are not going to find out anything from that little rat for a while until at least that weasel lets us have a crack at him,” Joe said clinching his fist.
“What?” Kate asked confused.
“As soon as we pull the car up to the station, there waiting for us with the captain was the scum-bag’s lawyer. And did Gregs clam up when he saw that suit waiting for him, turned as white as a sheet,” Patsy explained.
“He had a lawyer waiting for him?” Kate asked.
“Yep, don’t ask me. I can’t figure it. Geesh, we didn’t even know that we were going to arrest him that night. How could that ambulance chaser have known?” Joe asked.
“And if that wasn’t bad enough news, Officer O’Brian tells us about the body they found on the outskirts last night,” Patsy grumbled.
“Body?” Kate asked with a small shiver in her voice.
“Yeah… I’m sorry honey. I would’ve told you about this last night but it was late and you were already headed to bed. I wanted to break this to you a little more delicately than this bull in a china shop,” Joe answered throwing a rebuking look at Patsy. “Last night a patrol found Jason, your father’s student. Apparently he did make it back to States but I’m sorry honey, it appears the poor kid was murdered.”
Kate’s hand shot to her mouth as she tried to catch her breath, the shock of the news hitting her like a physical blow. Joe took her hand, trying to comfort her and lead her back to the couch to sit down.
“With everything that happened to Dad, I completely forgot about poor Jason. How could
I forget about him?” Kate quietly said to herself. “Kate, it wasn’t just you. We all lost track of the ball and let it fly by on this one with everything that has been happening,” Joe said rubbing Kate’s shoulder in support.
“We actually think Jason’s murder is connected to your father’s case. The killer used the same M.O. as the guys who killed your dad. Even in Capstone City, murder by nearly breaking a guy in half is not a normal thing,” Patsy said.
Joe simply shook his head at Patsy. The last thing Kate needed was to be reminded of how her father had been killed. “Poor Jason…He was always so good to Dad…”
“Did you know him really well honey?” Joe asked.
“Sort of… he was always really pleasant when I saw him in Dad’s office. We would talk every now and then about hobbies and stuff. He was a good kid, Joe. He didn’t deserve that…” Kate replied.
“They never do…” Patsy grumbled. “Poor kid left out there in those fields with only the clothes on his back and an empty wallet. They did find a weird journal tucked away in the lining of his jacket though.”
“Weird? Why was it weird?” Kate asked Patsy, his statement snapping her back from her grief.
“It was full of gibberish, just crazy numbers over and over again,” Patsy answered. “We were surprised that whoever left him there left it with him, but they probably found it as worthless as we have.”
“Numbers…numbers…” Kate murmured to herself standing up to walk over and stare out of the large front window, now completely lost in her thoughts.
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