Sherlock Sam and the Comic Book Caper in New York

by A. J. Low

  Copyright © 2016 by Adan Jimenez and Felicia Low-Jimenez

  Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Epigram Books

  All rights reserved.

  Published in Singapore by Epigram Books.

  www.epigrambooks.sg

  Illustrations by Drewscape

  Book layout by Yong Wen Yeu

  National Library Board, Singapore

  Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  Name(s): Low, A. J.

  Title: Sherlock Sam and the comic book

  caper in New York / written by A. J. Low.

  Description: First Singapore edition.

  Singapore : Epigram Books, [2016]

  Identifier(s): OCN 947766900

  ISBN : 978-981-4615-90-7 (paperback)

  ISBN : 978-981-4655-09-5 (eBook)

  Subject(s): LCSH: 1. Theft—Juvenile fiction.

  2. New York (N.Y.)—Juvenile fiction.

  3. Child detectives—Singapore—Juvenile fiction.

  Classification: DDC S823—dc23

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First Edition

  “That-is-the-17th-Harley-Quinn-we-have-seen-today,” Watson said, after I had posed for a picture with the cosplayer.

  We were at the San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday, its first day, thanks to Inspector Lestrade. I had been helping her with cases since we worked together in Tokyo. The inspector would occasionally call and ask me random questions that oftentimes made very little sense. However, my answers usually helped her make a connection on a case she was working on, and she would go on to solve it. As a thank you, she had flown all of us out to San Diego using an Interpol jet!

  “I can’t help it if they all want to take pictures with the cutest Batman they’ve ever seen,” I said. I could almost hear Wendy’s eyes roll.

  And of course we dressed up. You can’t go to the world’s most famous pop culture convention and not cosplay. I was Batman, of course. Always be Batman. Wendy, my big sister, dressed up as the new Ms Marvel, a super awesome superhero. Eliza, her best friend, went as Squirrel Girl, complete with buck teeth and a bushy tail! Both her parents had helped her with the costume even though they weren’t together anymore.

  Watson, my grumpy robot, decided to dress up as a Dalek, though I had not approved of the choice. I didn’t need him getting any more evil robot ideas. Moran, my arch-enemy’s ex-robot, chose the more sensible Data, though his fantastic moustache still stood out even after we helped paint him yellow.

  Nazhar, my friend from Wendy’s class, couldn’t decide between the Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner Green Lanterns. He ultimately chose Guy Gardner because he had the cooler uniform, but he didn’t get Guy’s trademark bowl haircut like I had urged him to.

  Mom and Dad wanted to wear couple costumes, but couldn’t decide on which couple to go as. Finally, they decided to turn the couple costume idea on its head and they both dressed up as Harrison Ford: Dad went as Indiana Jones while Mom chose Han Solo as her costume.

  Jimmy, my best friend, chose to dress up as a somewhat obscure character. He went as Molly Hayes aka Princess Powerful, from the Runaways comic. When we asked him why he chose that character, he replied, “Because she’s 10 years old like me, but she still helps fight the bad guys with her friends!” It made sense to us.

  We couldn’t wait to see what Inspector Lestrade would be dressed as. After seeing her impressive costume changes in Tokyo, we just knew she would have something incredible up her sleeve—if her costume had sleeves at all that is! We hadn’t seen her yet, though. We were supposed to meet at Hall H for the unveiling of an amazing new technology by Dr Lynda Yeun. She had worked on the special effects for many of the new and hugely popular superhero movies. Some of the sophisticated CGI she helped develop were playing on the gigantic screens at the convention, complete with sound effects. It was fantastic! Everything Dr Yeun had worked on looked unbelievably real, especially the flying cars in some of the movies. I couldn’t wait to ask her about the maths and science behind all the movie magic!

  The reason why we got this opportunity was because Dad had met her previously at a meeting for engineers and scientists. So when she found out that we would be coming to the convention, she invited us to see her new top-secret tech. Normally, we wouldn’t be able to get into Hall H without queueing for hours—because that’s where they hold all the really big TV and movie events—but Dr Yeun got us special passes so we could bypass the line entirely. I was so excited!

  Until then, however, we basked in the glory that was Comic-Con. I had already met Noelle Stevenson, writer and artist of the really cool Lumberjanes and Nimona. We were now on our way to see Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, the Brazilian creators responsible for great books like Daytripper and Two Brothers. They also happened to be twins!

  “Their art is so great, Sam!” Wendy said. “I can’t wait to meet them.” It was possible she wanted to meet them more than I did.

  “It doesn’t hurt that they’re really cute too, right, Wendy?” Mom said, nudging Wendy.

  “What? No! Are they? I never even noticed the way their curly hair bounces on their heads or anything. Hey! What’s that completely unrelated thing over there?” Wendy pointed at a stall selling gaming dice.

  “Is something wrong with your internal temperature regulation, Miss Wendy?” Moran asked. “You have suddenly turned very red.”

  Mom laughed while Wendy hid under Eliza’s squirrel tail.

  I had no idea what was happening, but I did remember I needed new d20s.

  We saw a person dressed as a ninja. Not a ninja character from any cartoon, comic or movie, but a historical ninja. When Nazhar heard the person say that, he very nearly launched into his “ninjas never existed” speech, but Eliza interrupted him.

  “What about ghost ninjas?” she asked. Nazhar stopped before he started, his mouth hanging open.

  “Ninja hantu…” he whispered. “That changes everything…”

  We wandered around the convention floor, marvelling at all the amazing stands and costumes, posing for photographs and buying a few comics (we couldn’t buy too many as we were already having some trouble closing our luggage), until it was time to meet Inspector Lestrade and Dr Yeun at Hall H.

  When we arrived, we kept an eye out for the inspector. We had some fun guessing which elaborate costume she was hiding in. We thought she might have been a massive World of Warcraft orc, a TARDIS, an Optimus Prime, a Tali’Zorah or a Donatello, but they all passed us by.

  Mom and Dad spotted Inspector Lestrade first, and we were completely shocked. The inspector had not dressed up at all!

  “Hello, Inspector Lestrade,” I said. “Where is your Comic-Con costume? Are you waiting to put it on later?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked in her French accent. “I am wearing it. I am dressed as myself. Is it not completely inconspicuous?” She beamed.

  We didn’t know what to say. If ever her elaborate costumes could actually be inconspicuous, it would be at one of the largest gatherings of cosplayers in the world. But right now, she remained conspicuously inconspicuous. Officer Siva was right after all.

  Mom changed the subject. “Thank you for this trip, Inspector. It was very thoughtful of you.”

  “Yes,” Dad added, grinning. “And thanks to Interpol for letting us use one of their jets for a holiday!”

  “That is not entirely true,” Inspector Lestrade said, dragging her words out.

  My interest was piqued. �
�Is there a case for us to solve?” I asked.

  “I-knew-this-was-too-good-to-be-true,” Watson said. “I-should-have-stayed-at-home-in-my-robot-pyjamas.”

  “Non, non,” the inspector said. “There is no case for you, but there may be a case for me.” She asked us to huddle and continued in a whisper, “I’m sure you’ve heard of the superhero in New York, the one the newspapers have dubbed the Dark Defender.”

  I had heard of her. She had stopped quite a few muggings, carjackings and robberies since she first appeared a few months ago. But the extraordinary thing about her was that she did not seem to have any superhuman powers! She could be anyone! I thought she was very brave.

  “Quack,” Moran said.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Quack,” Jimmy repeated flashing his huge Jimmy-smile.

  “Dark, Jimmy,” Eliza said. “Not Duck.” She looked at Moran strangely, as did I.

  “Then I’ll be the Duck Defender, defending all duckies everywhere!” Jimmy replied, striking a pose. Moran quacked again.

  The inspector looked at the both of them and blinked before continuing. “Yes. Quack. Very good. What was I saying? Oh yes, well, this is the first major comic convention since she started fighting crime, and I had a hunch that she would appear. How could she resist the opportunity to dress up, yes?”

  Mom’s brow furrowed. “That’s a pretty wild hunch, Inspector. The United States is a very big country, and we’re entirely on the wrong side of it to really expect her to show up.”

  New York City was in the northeast corner of the US, while San Diego was in the southwest. A person would have to fly seven hours to get from one city to the other.

  “I didn’t say it was a very good hunch, but I’ve learned to trust my instincts,” Inspector Lestrade said, looking at me with a small smile.

  “Then it’s very nice of Interpol to let us use one of their jets because of one of your hunches,” Dad said, patting the inspector on her shoulder.

  “Well, that’s not entirely true either.”

  Mom and Dad paused and waited for her to explain further, but all the inspector did was hum a jaunty tune. Mom’s eyes narrowed.

  “Jimmy, why does Moran keep quacking?” I asked.

  “It’s his new power, Sherlock!” Jimmy replied. “Isn’t it awesome? Watson helped me install it!”

  If I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn my robot grinned at me. But that was impossible, wasn’t it?

  “And what is the point of Moran’s new... power?” I asked.

  “He can talk to duckies!” Jimmy replied.

  “Quack,” Moran confirmed.

  “This is all your doing,” I said to my robot.

  “I-do-not-understand-what-you-mean,” Watson replied.

  “I quite enjoy this new ability, Master Sherlock,” Moran added.

  “But it’s not useful at all,” I complained.

  “Not everything needs to be useful, Sherlock!” Jimmy said. “Sometimes things can just be fun!”

  I had to agree with that. But then I wondered what other “fun” abilities Watson had given Moran, and himself. I guess I would have to wait and see. I gave my robot another glare for good measure.

  “Is he going to quack every single time we say Dark Defender?” Wendy asked.

  “No-it-is-a-random-algorithm,” Watson replied.

  “What does that mean?” Eliza asked.

  “It means Moran will quack whenever he feels like it,” I answered. I knew exactly how devious my robot could be.

  “Hello, Mr Tan!”

  Dad and Mom both spun around to look at the source of the greeting.

  A slender woman in a lab coat walked towards us. She had long, black hair that was streaked with silver and almost reached her waist. When she got closer, I noticed she was a few centimetres taller than Mom and she looked very fit.

  “Hello, Dr Yeun!” Dad said, lifting his arm up in greeting. “This is my wife Kathryn, and our children Samuel, Wendy and Watson. These are their friends Eliza, Nazhar, Jimmy and Moran, and this is Inspector Geneviève Lestrade with Interpol. She’s a good friend!”

  “What a lovely family!” Dr Yeun smiled. She gave the inspector a quizzical look, but didn’t make any further comment. “Please, follow me. I want you to have the best seats in the house,” she said.

  As we walked behind her, I overheard her conversation with Dad.

  “Michael, I’ve been reading about your research into teleport technology, and it is incredibly exciting,” Dr Yeun said.

  “Thank you, Lynda, but as you know, I’ve made some incorrect calculations regarding the quantum pairings. I’ve been having some trouble correcting them as I don’t quite understand the mechanics behind it.” Dad looked a little sheepish.

  “Nonsense, Michael. We can’t be expected to be experts in every field and mistakes are just chances for us to learn,” Dr Yeun said. “Perhaps I can connect you with my assistant Julie. She is doing some brilliant work in quantum computing, and she might be able to help you. She’s in New York at the moment, so I can’t formally introduce you, but let’s set up a call when you get back to Singapore.”

  “That would be great! Thank you so much, Lynda!”

  “Not at all,” Dr Yeun said. “But perhaps one day we can talk about how you built your amazing robots.”

  “Actually that was mostly my son,” Dad said with a proud look in my direction. “All I did was, er, name him. Accidentally. Oh and the taller robot was built by a fiendish mastermind! But Sam sent him packing. Literally.”

  Dr Yeun looked startled and I saw Mom smother a laugh.

  “I-like-to-think-we-were-already-amazing-and-our-creators-simply-gave-our-amazingness-a-form,” Watson said. He stopped and looked at Moran, who nodded and added, “Indeed, Master Watson. We are perfection personified.”

  I just shook my head. Moran might live with Jimmy and his family, but he and Watson spent a lot of time together when we were in school and I could definitely see signs that my robot was exerting his influence on the taller robot.

  Dr Yeun led us to our seats, right at the front of the hall. Before we sat down, she gathered us close together.

  “I’m about to unveil a technology very few people are aware of,” she said with a glint in her eye.

  “Is it another breakthrough in computer-generated graphics?” Wendy asked. “Your CGI is already the greatest and most realistic in the world, avoiding the uncanny valley entirely. It’s a level of realism artists have been striving for since we first started painting on cave walls.”

  “Art nerd,” Eliza said, smirking at Wendy.

  “It’s also the most sophisticated imaging programme in existence,” I said. “Able to understand human speech to change aspects of a design without needing manual input, and without requiring a user to know even the most basic of programming languages. They can simply say ‘red hair’ and the programme gives an avatar red hair just like that.”

  “Science nerd,” Eliza said, aiming her good-natured smirk at my direction this time. She had been smiling a lot more this trip. I hope that meant that she was feeling better about her parents’ recent divorce.

  “And-it-makes-science-fiction-action-sequences-look-very-cool,” Watson said.

  Dr Yeun smiled. “I like your children very much, Michael. May I keep them as cheerleaders?”

  “Their art and science supply requests would bankrupt you,” Mom joked.

  “And-that-is-not-even-counting-Sherlock’s-food-bills,” Watson said.

  Dr Yeun laughed. I glared at Watson. “But to answer your question, no, it’s not related to CGI at all. It’s something I think you’re going to find even cooler. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get ready for the presentation.”

  She left and we all sat in our seats. The hall was packed, without a single empty seat, and everyone seemed super excited to be there. The lights dimmed and then turned off completely before a spotlight hit a green sedan car in the centre of the stage.

>   “My name is Dr Lynda Yeun, and I have helped to create some of the amazing movie magic that you love.” It was Dr Yeun’s crisp and clear voice over the sound system, but it sounded pre-recorded. The actual Dr Yeun was probably getting ready for her big entrance. The screen behind the green car ran a few action sequences from the superhero movies Dr Yeun had worked on, and the crowd erupted in wild cheers.

  “That magic has mostly been made using the most sophisticated computer-generated graphics in history, but not always. At Yeun Technologies we have developed something new.”

  The crowd abruptly hushed as the car turned itself on. I assumed it was being remote controlled, which was not a new technology, but perhaps Dr Yeun had done something new with it?

  Suddenly, the crowd cheered again, louder than before, so it was difficult for me to hear Dr Yeun’s pre-recorded voice when it restarted.

  “We have developed the world’s first Hover Car.”

  I finally saw why the crowd had begun cheering before Dr Yeun’s announcement. The Dark Defender was on stage! She even appeared on the large TV screen! From where we were sitting, all I could see was that she was lean and looked lightly muscled in her full-black bodysuit. Her outfit also had a hood that was completely pulled over her head, shadowing her face. I caught a glimpse of a mask that obscured her eyes and nose. I also noticed that she was wearing functional black gloves and dark combat boots that were streaked with dirt. Inspector Lestrade’s hunch had been correct. I wondered how Dr Yeun had managed to get her to be part of the show.

  The crowd was cheering madly as the Dark Defender leapt into the car in a single bound.

  “The car has already been used in a few movies and TV shows, though we swore the cast and crews to secrecy until today.” Dr Yeun’s prerecorded voice continued its narration in a calm manner. It struck me as odd because it was completely not in line with what was happening on stage.

  Right then, the car took flight. It lifted off the stage and flew over us. The crowd went mad! I couldn’t believe my eyes. An actual flying car! I turned to look at the Supper Club and my parents, and everyone looked utterly stunned. Inspector Lestrade had her hands covering her mouth in shock.