Sherlock Sam and the Comic Book Caper in New York

by A. J. Low

  Julie took a step back and said, “I was occupied with the children, Helen. And I assumed you were calling about the proposed changes to the engine, which could wait until tomorrow.”

  “Well you assumed wrong. Again,” Dr Loughlin snapped. “Dr Yeun wanted me to join you and her new friends so that you wouldn’t miss anything. She made it an order. Trust me, I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

  Julie sighed deeply. She gave us an apologetic look and said, “Since Helen is here now and can apparently do a much better job than I can, I’ll leave you in her good hands. I actually have a class I’m teaching in half an hour and I need to get my notes ready.”

  She nodded at Dr Loughlin and briskly walked away.

  Dr Loughlin rolled her eyes and muttered, “Always so dramatic.” She then turned to look at us and said, “So what exactly are we doing?”

  After we explained, Dr Loughlin frowned and said, “I can’t believe that you would think that the Dark Defender is the culprit. If she really took the car, she must have a good reason for it.”

  That made me suspicious.

  “What could the reason be?” I asked, careful to keep my tone light.

  “Who knows? But despite what Julie has been saying, the Dark Defender has been doing nothing but good in this city.”

  We had reached a four-storey building where we were able to climb up all the way to the rooftop (seriously, I do not understand this city’s aversion to lifts!) where Laura, the photographer, had managed to get a shot of the Dark Defender from an opposite building just a few days ago.

  The roof was concrete, with a few fans and exhaust ports, but nothing that looked like a clue. I had hoped to at least find a footprint or something, but we didn’t find anything so we started the long trek back down.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Dr Loughlin said, leaning closer to me. “What if it was Julie, and she had an accomplice?”

  “What do you mean?” I replied, starting to breathe heavily from all the physical exertion I had been made to endure.

  “You heard her, she told Dr Loh about the unveiling without informing either Dr Yeun or myself about it beforehand,” Dr Loughlin continued. “What if they cooked up some scheme to steal the car together? AND!” She suddenly shouted startling all of us as well as a flock of pigeons that had gathered on the street just outside the building we had just emerged from. “AND! The Dark Defender found out about their plans and stole the car first for safe keeping!”

  “But if the Dark Defender did that then why didn’t she just return it to Dr Yeun?” Wendy asked.

  Dr Loughlin frowned, clearly thinking. So was I. It seemed an outlandish plot, but even the most outlandish plots oftentimes had a ring of truth to them. As a detective, it was imperative I pay attention to all possible reasons. It was difficult to pay attention as I started wheezing, however. I looked around and no one else looked winded. Eliza was positively glowing even.

  “Because she doesn’t have enough proof yet,” Dr Loughlin said, snapping her fingers. “She’s still investigating the crime. Once she has sufficient evidence to incriminate Julie and Dr Loh, that’s when the Dark Defender will reveal the reason behind her actions.”

  We all stared at Dr Loughlin as we stood outside the building.

  “That…actually makes sense,” Dad said, looking at Mom.

  “Did I solve the case?” Dr Loughlin asked, grinning. She suddenly looked quite cheeky.

  “Wow, if you did, that would be amazing,” Wendy replied. “Then maybe you and your mother would get along better.”

  “Ha! My mother sees Julie more as her daughter than she does me,” Dr Loughlin replied, putting her hands on her hips. “I think she’d probably be the one to pay Julie’s legal fees to get her out of jail and come up with a whole bunch of excuses for her actions. I’m not the Golden Sibling, you see.”

  Wendy glanced at me then back at Dr Loughlin and smiled slightly. She said softly, “I think I understand what you mean.”

  I saw Mom look at Wendy when she said that.

  “Well, it’s been fun, kids, but I gotta go,” Dr Loughlin said. “I have boxing lessons soon and I don’t think there’s much point in just walking around randomly looking at places the Dark Defender has been to, frankly.”

  Dr Loughlin waved goodbye and jogged away.

  I didn’t want to admit it but the doctor had a point. I had hoped to find at least a clue or something useful, but we found nothing. It was getting dark out, so we decided to eat some dinner. Not that I insisted or anything. But we had just engaged in a lot of physical activity and a good detective needed to keep his strength up. I heard sandwiches were an excellent way to do that.

  “There was an interesting looking sandwich place a couple of streets up,” I said.

  “Ugh, more sandwiches,” Eliza said. “I would love some mee goreng right about now.”

  “But New York deli sandwiches are the best sandwiches in the world,” I said.

  “My guidebook agrees,” Nazhar added.

  “But maybe we can get some burgers instead?” Wendy asked. “There’s supposed to be two really good burger chains in New York, Shake Shack and Five Guys.”

  “That’s a really good idea!” I said. “Let’s go to both!” I had read about both Shake Shack and Five Guys and had wanted to try them for ages.

  “Sandwiches are healthier,” Mom said. “Maybe we’ll just drop by another deli and get you tuna sandwiches.”

  “We can get tuna sandwiches back home!” I protested. “We should eat food we can’t find in Singapore.” Also, I was not a big fan of tuna sandwiches in general.

  “We can’t find burgers in Singapore?” Eliza asked.

  “Not these burgers!” I said.

  “There’s an amazing Afghani place on St. Mark’s,” Nazhar said. “It’s called Khyber Pass and they’re supposed to have some great mantoo.”

  Wow, that sounded really good too. How to decide?!

  As we were trying to decide where to eat, Jimmy suddenly shouted, “DUCK!!!”

  Dad, Mom, Eliza, Nazhar, Wendy, Watson and I immediately crouched down and covered our heads with our hands to protect them from whatever Jimmy must have seen coming at us. Were we being attacked? I saw Dad reach for his phone and was about to call Inspector Lestrade when Moran suddenly started quacking like a duck.

  “Quack. Quack. Quack. Quack,” Moran said from his position next to Jimmy.

  We all stared at the dignified robot now emanating quacking sounds.

  “What on earth is happening?” Mom asked. She stood up cautiously. She was looking up at the sky presumably for falling objects.

  “I MEAN THE DUCK DEFENDER, SHERLOCK! THE DUCK DEFENDER! I SEE HER!” Jimmy yelled, pointing at some low-rise buildings that were not too far from where we were. Moran continued to quack in a dignified manner next to him.

  The rest of us stood up and looked, and sure enough, there she was, the Duck, I mean, the Dark Defender!

  We quickly followed the Dark Defender on foot. We tracked her movements on the rooftops from the pavement below, occasionally losing her as she crossed a building, only to pick up her trail again further down the street. Moran’s thermal vision was quite helpful in that regard, though he occasionally mistook a flock of pigeons for a person.

  It was getting harder and harder to see her as night fell, but she was heading in a westerly direction, towards the West Village, where Yeun Technologies was located.

  Was she planning another theft?

  Following her was clearly the right decision. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest (that was only partially due to the physical exertion of the chase)—we’ve followed suspects before, but never a superhero! Or was she now a super villain? Still, I privately mourned my multiple dinners. I had been planning on convincing Mom to let us eat at the two burger places and the Afghani restaurant, but that would have to wait, it seemed.

  Most of the buildings in the West Village were lower in height so it was a bit easier to see her, but s
he moved very quickly. I was not keeping up very well, especially after walking most of the day and going up and down so many floors. Eliza and Wendy seemed completely fine. Nazhar was wiping his brow a lot, but he seemed okay too. Jimmy never ran out of energy, so I knew he was fine. Watson had been eating recycled batteries and Moran had been charging up every chance he got, so I knew they were okay too. In fact, the only person who seemed as tired as me was Dad, but Mom was helping him keep up.

  I almost asked Watson for some help, but then remembered who he was and that he had sworn he would never carry me again. I thought of asking him to use his jet engines to fly up to keep better track of the Dark Defender so the rest of us could stop running, but I realised that a flying robot would probably draw the Dark Defender’s attention. Even if Watson camouflaged himself, she could probably still hear the pop of his engines and that would make her suspicious. I had no recourse. I had to keep on moving. And breathing. Breathing was important; essential even.

  “She’s gone up there, in a garden of some kind,” Mom said, pointing.

  “She’s gone up even higher?” I gasped. Why couldn’t she just stay on ground level?!

  “It’s the High Line,” Nazhar said, flipping through his guidebook. “They’re old freight train tracks that got converted into a public park, with gardens, historical markers and even a few art installations, one of which was made with LEGOs! It stretches from here in the West Village all the way up to 34th Street near the West Side Highway.”

  “I’m going to call Inspector Lestrade,” Dad said. “But I think we should keep following her, see where she goes.” Mom nodded her agreement, and Dad dialled the inspector’s number.

  We climbed up the staircase to the High Line proper as quietly as we could (I tried to gasp as softly as my lungs would allow), trying not to alert her. When we saw her again, she was standing by the railing, looking down at something. She was covered head to toe in her black costume. I couldn’t see a single bit of the person underneath, not hair nor face nor any bit of skin to help me remove any of the millions of New Yorkers from the suspect pool.

  I crept forward quietly to see what she was looking at, and saw the building Yeun Technologies occupied.

  Was she really planning another theft from the same company?

  Just then, Dad’s phone beeped quite loudly. Everyone shushed him, and he said, “Sorry, Inspector Lestrade called back!”

  I turned towards the Dark Defender. I tried looking at her eyes, but I couldn’t see anything past her reflective lenses. She tensed, but didn’t move.

  “We just want to talk,” I said.

  “Then talk,” she said. Her voice was camouflaged by a distorter. I had hoped her voice would give me some clue, but anybody could purchase a distorter from an electronics shop.

  “Why did you steal the Hover Car?” I asked.

  The Dark Defender looked away. “Why do you think?”

  “Money for new costumes?” Jimmy said.

  “We don’t know your motive, but we know it was you,” Nazhar said.

  “And yet, there’s been no mention of a theft in the news,” she said. “Just stories of a successful product launch that I apparently helped with.”

  “You weren’t supposed to be there,” Eliza said.

  “No, I wasn’t.” She looked out at Yeun Technologies again.

  “You’re not even going to admit it?” Wendy asked.

  “You’ve already admitted it for me,” the Dark Defender said.

  Something was off. She hadn’t admitted to anything, and yet, she hadn’t denied anything either. The conversation was going nowhere, but at least it was giving Watson and Moran time to get into position.

  “We can’t admit anything for you,” I said. “Only you can admit to something you’ve done.”

  “And yet, here you are, hunting me down.” The Dark Defender looked at me again. “Or are your robots simply positioning themselves for a hug, Sherlock Sam?”

  She leapt up a second before Watson’s arm came shooting out for her. Moran turned on his rocket skates and dashed towards her. I saw her throw something at Watson’s arm and Moran’s foot in mid-leap, hitting them both exactly where she had aimed.

  “I-cannot-retract-my-arm,” Watson said. “I-do-not-know-what-she-has-done.”

  “Likewise, my foot seems immobile,” Moran said. “It looks like you’ll have to continue without us, Master Sherlock. QUACK.”

  The Dark Defender ran away from us.

  “Jimmy and I will stay with Watson and Moran!” Mom shouted. “Everybody else, go catch that thief!”

  Dad, Wendy, Eliza, Nazhar and I ran after the Dark Defender. Over benches, through vegetation and sometimes across a few small jumps. She stayed on the High Line throughout the chase.

  After a few minutes, Wendy and Eliza had pulled well ahead, gaining on the Dark Defender, while Dad and I lagged far behind. Nazhar was in between us, trying in vain to keep up with the girls.

  “You’ll never catch me,” the Dark Defender shouted. “Just give up.”

  That made me run just a little bit faster, but she was right. I would never catch her. Wendy and Eliza, on the other hand, had a chance.

  Then Nazhar tripped and hit the ground hard. “Ow!” he cried. The Dark Defender stopped for just a second to look behind her, and Eliza took the chance to act.

  She rushed towards the Dark Defender. The Defender exclaimed in surprise, and leapt up and over Eliza. Eliza landed on the hard concrete and rolled towards the edge of the High Line and the street three stories below.

  Wendy, who had been right behind Eliza when she had jumped, ran right past the Defender, who seemed stunned, and dove to save our friend. She grasped Eliza’s arm just as she rolled underneath the guardrail. Wendy grabbed onto the guardrail to keep from going down as well.

  “No!” Dad shouted, in a burst of speed, he surged ahead of me. I found myself running faster than I ever had in my life. But we had quite a distance to cross and I wasn’t sure we were going to make it on time!

  The Dark Defender rushed to Wendy and Eliza’s aid, grabbing Eliza’s other arm as she dangled over the traffic six metres below.

  With Wendy’s help, the Dark Defender pulled Eliza back onto the High Line and sat down heavily next to the two girls while we ran towards them. Eliza and Wendy looked too stunned to notice her presence. I finally reached Nazhar and helped him up from where he had tripped while Dad continued to race towards Wendy and Eliza. Before he got there, the Dark Defender suddenly leaned closer to the two girls before she rose up and jumped over the guardrail and into the city. Nazhar and I watched her disappear across the rooftops.

  Dad finally reached Wendy and Eliza and pulled them both into a big hug before checking to make sure that they were okay. Eliza was stretching her arms, but didn’t seem otherwise hurt. It had been more shock than anything else. It was the same for Wendy.

  “Are you okay?” Nazhar asked once they had walked back to us.

  “Yah, I’m okay.” She looked at Wendy, who gave her the biggest grin ever. My sister was a hero.

  I was immensely curious as to why the Dark Defender had stuck around despite the fact that Dad was racing towards them. “Did the Dark Defender say anything?”

  Eliza turned to look at me. “She said ‘Tell your friend, it wasn’t me.’”

  We walked back to where we had left Mom, Jimmy, Watson and Moran. The two robots could move their appendages again. The Dark Defender had tagged them with localised EMP emitters, so only Watson’s arm and Moran’s leg had been affected. Dad took the two emitters and remarked on how difficult it is to make EMPs that small.

  Mom hugged Eliza tightly once we had told her what had happened, she then hugged Wendy just as tightly.

  “What you did was really brave, Wendy. But if you ever do something as dangerous as that again, I’ll toss you over myself,” Mom told my sister who beamed then frowned because Mom was both hugging and glaring at her at the same time.

  Mom noticed Nazh
ar.

  “Oh dear, Nazhar. What happened to your knee?” Mom asked.

  I looked at Nazhar’s legs and realised that his right knee was bleeding. Moran immediately pulled out a First Aid kit from where he usually kept scones. Dad and Jimmy helped clean and patch up Nazhar’s wound. Fortunately, it wasn’t too bad. He grinned and said that he didn’t even realise he had been bleeding. I was extremely grateful that everyone was okay. I still had nightmares about what had happened to Wendy on that fateful night during the Case of the Missing Classmate in MacRitchie.

  “Inspector Lestrade has asked to meet at Yeun Technologies,” Dad said, looking at his phone. “But maybe we should just go back to the apartment, and catch our breaths? I think Eliza might—”

  “No, it’s okay, Uncle. I’m fine,” Eliza said. “Inspector Lestrade might have important news that she can only tell us in person. Right, Samuel?”

  I nodded, grateful for how brave and strong all the members of the Supper Club were being.

  A male hot dog vendor in his 60s called out to us in a suspiciously French-sounding accent when we arrived outside Yeun Technologies. Sure enough, it was Inspector Lestrade in disguise! I thought this was her best costume yet because her cart actually had hot dogs in them! Plus, she also had mustard and relish!

  “Where do you get inspiration for your costumes, Inspector?” Wendy asked.

  “Ah. From life, Wendy. I get inspiration from life,” the inspector replied, nodding serenely.

  “Could I have another hot dog, Inspector?” I asked, chewing on my first hot dog.

  However, before she could comply (or Mom could stop her), a security guard at the entrance of Yeun Technologies made her leave her cart behind for security reasons. Inspector Lestrade looked like she wanted to pull her Interpol credentials out, but she must have realised that it would draw too much attention to herself and quietly complied.

  “No worries, Sherlock Sam,” she said, as I turned to look mournfully at the hot dog cart. “I will make you 10 more hot dogs once this case is over. With extra relish and mustard!”