by Leona Fox
“And when will the crusade end?”
“You know he won't end unless he's stopped.”
“What do you really think about this?” Andy asked. The question took Ellen by surprise.
“I've heard opinions from just about everyone else in this town, but you have remained suspiciously quiet. It's not like you to not share your opinion on a subject. Do you think that what he's doing is right?” Ellen took a moment to contemplate her thoughts as she knew that she wouldn't be able to get away from this without answering Andy's question.
“I'm not sure if right is the correct word. Legally, he's in the wrong. There's no doubt about that, and I still worry about his safety and the safety of others.”
“But...” Andy said.
“But...I understand why he's doing it. I can see why people admire him for what he's doing and, in a way, I admire him as well. He had a goal and he's doing everything he can to work toward it. I'm not saying I condone his actions, but I'm not sure I can entirely condemn them either. There are better ways he could have gone about it, but I find it hard to vilify a man who is just trying to help people.”
Andy nodded and Ellen could tell that wasn't exactly the answer he wanted to hear, but whatever disagreement they would have would pass over time.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I guess,” he said grumpily. “I'd better get back; I have a lot of work to do.”
“I'll see you later,” she said, feeling hollow as she felt she had let him down. But just before he left he turned around and told her he loved her, and her mind was set at ease again.
Ellen knew she had to work quickly because Andy was right, the longer this went on the greater the chance somebody would get hurt. It was difficult to know where to begin looking for the man behind the mask. She didn't quite fancy going through every male resident of East Pender in the hope that she would recognize him, but there was one place she never had been to before that could prove profitable.
The main streets of East Pender ran around in a wide circle and had all manner of quirky stores dotted around them. Ellen was familiar with many of them, but some of them simply didn't pique her interest, and the comic book store was one of them. She had walked past it many times. It was a wide shop with windows filled with comic books and action figures. Had the store been there when she was a little girl she would have begged her parents to take her in, for she would have been seduced by the bright colors and striking poses. Yet now she was filled with trepidation as she was not sure what to expect when she entered.
For some reason she had assumed the store would be dark, and was surprised when she opened the door and walked into a bright, open room. To her left was the counter where a long-haired man nodded to her. He had pockmarked skin and a tight T-shirt hung over his rotund frame. It was at least a size too small. Before her stood tables, upon which sat what must have been hundreds of comics. There were reading areas, and a few people were sitting on beanbags and chairs. Some of them were in their mid-thirties, while others were younger. She noticed she was the only woman in the store.
Tentatively stepping into the store she flicked through the comics, trying to find The Phenom. She only looked through with one eye, though. The other she kept on the people in the store, and noticed that some of them eyed her suspiciously. There were some men who shared the physique of the man at the counter, and they easily were discounted as possible Phenoms. But some were prime candidates, although she could not simply walk up to them and ask them. She hoped that one of them would stand up and walk across the store so she could compare their gait and posture with what she had seen of The Phenom in person, but they all remained sitting. There were two teenage boys sitting together. One leaned over and whispered to the other, but Ellen could not hear what he said.
“I suppose this must be an exciting time for you all, to see one of your heroes come to life,” she said, breaking the silence in the store as she plucked out an issue of The Phenom. The bright lettering and bold colors made the images leap off the page, and the cover promised a thrilling ride.
One of them snorted. “He ain't The Phenom, just a pretender. You think any normal man could be like The Phenom? It's just not possible.”
“There's no originality these days, that's the problem,” another added.
“Nobody can think for themselves. They all have to steal from other people. What's worse is that The Phenom hasn't been good since Chris Ferguson was writing it. He really got the character like no other.”
“Are you kidding me? That arc where his dad came back to life was awful. Nobody can stay dead in comics. I'm sick and tired of everyone being brought back.”
“His mom died,” one of the teenage boys said.
“No way, she came back!”
“That was a dream.”
“That's what everyone thinks, but there are subtle clues throughout the issues that would suggest otherwise. Let me show you,” he said.
Ellen watched with interest as the man rose, but her hopes of identifying the man as The Phenom fell as he limped over toward her. He flicked through the mass of comics expertly, pulling out the issue he was seeking. He took it back over and resumed his conversation while Ellen's eyes ran over the rest of the motley crew in the store. The debate began to get heated as the two sides offered their opposing viewpoints, arms gesticulating wildly in the air as they tried convincing each other of the truth. The store clerk had an amused look on his face and Ellen wondered how often he had heard the same arguments ring out. Eventually she spoke again, and asked them if any of them knew who The Phenom was, or if they had any information to give her. None of them were able to tell her anything she didn't know already.
On a whim, she bought a few issues of The Phenom and, later that night, she read them while in bed. She appreciated the intricate artwork and how the images and words blended together to create a story.
Early the next morning a mailman was on his route, whistling merrily as he stared up at the bright blue sky. There was a spring in his step when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a huddled form propped up in between two buildings. Like the rest of East Pender, he had been inspired by The Phenom and wanted to do all he could to help this poor soul. So he went up and asked if they were okay.
When he got closer he saw a scarlet stain seeping out onto the pavement and a ghastly image filled his mind. Gulping, he reached out a trembling hand and nudged the person. Now that he was closer, the mailman could see the person was wrapped in a purple cape. The Phenom did not respond, so the mailman poked him again, this time a little harder. The Phenom's body fell to the ground. The mailman leaped back and shrieked as The Phenom stared at him through soulless eyes. Blood seeped through the purple and black material and stained The Phenom's hands, which had been resting against his stomach. The mailman backed away. His call had alerted others, who now gathered around him and looked at the body of the fallen hero.
Chapter 5
Ellen, Andy, and Iris stood over the body of the young man, and it was a stretch even to call him a young man given the youth that bloomed on his face. All of them were somber and a heavy silence hung over them. Each of them thought they should have done more to prevent this, although it was Andy who bore the heaviest burden of all. There were moments when he was visibly shaking.
After the mailman had found the body people had begun phoning the emergency services. Although she had not been there, Ellen had read the reports of the responding officers. Apparently, there had been a few people who had wanted to unmask him, but others prevented them from doing so out of respect to The Phenom's privacy. It was, they said, the least they could do. So the body had been covered and taken to the morgue until it could be stripped of its costume away from prying eyes. So far Andy, Iris, and Ellen were the only ones aside from the mortician to see the man under the mask, and in that first moment when they had laid eyes upon him they had all gasped, for he was just a boy.
His stomach had been punctured by a knife. T
here were multiple holes in his body where the attacker had stabbed him over and over again. There were no other bruises, though; at least, none from that night. There were other bruises on his body, but they were turning yellow, remnants of his previous nights' triumphs. Even though the three of them all had differing opinions about The Phenom they all lamented his loss. Especially Ellen, for she was the only one of the three of them to recognize the boy. He had been in the comic book store, mere feet away from her.
It was difficult not to cry because this was a death that was so preventable. Now that they had the face unmasked they searched through images of the kids enrolled in the local high schools. It didn't take long for them to identify the body as Stanley Smith.
“If he just had listened to us...come and talked to us...” Andy said.
“I don't think there's anything that would have made him come in,” Iris said. “It's such a shame. He's too young to die.”
“Why did he have to put on that damn costume?” Andy said thickly.
“Because he wanted to make a difference. He wanted to make the world a better place,” Ellen replied, unable to take her eyes off the corpse.
She had seen dead bodies before, but somehow this was different. She only had seen him the previous day, sitting in the comic book store, and had spoken with him only a few nights previously while he had been in costume. The costume now was wrapped up as evidence beside the body, unable to protect The Phenom as he had been able to protect East Pender. The costume had failed him and, Ellen thought, so had they. They had accused The Phenom, Stanley, of being complacent, but they were guilty of an even greater sin: negligence. They had been aware of the dangers but they had not done enough to deal with them. Now an innocent boy had died, all because he wanted to be a hero. The question of his identity had been answered in the most horrible way possible, and now the question was who wanted him dead?
“Iris, I want you to stay here and look at all the comments in the newspaper about The Phenom. Look for any signs that anyone may have taken their dislike of him too far. He had a lot of fans in town but not everyone loved him One of them may have done this. Also, put the word out that we're looking for a knife, but don't release his name just yet. Not until we've spoken to his mother,” Andy said, inhaling deeply and pushing aside his grim feelings of doubt and guilt.
There would be time for recrimination when this all was over, but right now they had a dead boy laying in front of them and it was their job to find out who killed him. In some ways they may have failed him in life, but they were not going to fail him in death.
“Was I wrong this whole time?” Andy asked as they drove to Stanley's house.
“That's a question only you can answer, but I don't think you did anything wrong. The sad fact is we both knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later. We just didn't manage to get there in time to explain to him the real dangers of what he was doing. But it was still his decision to put on that costume and fight crime. You can't save people from themselves.”
“I know, but he's just a kid, dammit. Just a kid...” and that was the last thing they said as they drove through East Pender, passing through the streets The Phenom had patrolled.
Everywhere they looked there were sad faces. Word spread quickly through the town and everyone knew the news. Stanley's house was tucked away in a small suburb, not too far from the area in which he patrolled. When Andy and Ellen stepped out of the car there wasn't anyone else around, so his secret was still safe.
“Do you think she had any idea her son was The Phenom?” Andy asked as they made their way up the narrow path and knocked on the door.
“I guess we'll find out, although I can't imagine any parent would let their child run out in the streets like that,” Ellen said.
The door opened, and behind it stood a woman with a shock of red hair tied back in a ponytail. Her face was peppered with light freckles and she was so thin a strong gust of wind surely would have blown her away. As Ellen was standing in front of her, she could see the resemblance between the woman and her son. They had the same green eyes and red hair but, of course, this woman's face was more animated than her son's ever would be again.
“Mrs. Smith, would you mind if we came in for a chat? It's about your son,” Andy said, flashing his badge, as it was still procedure, even though almost everyone in East Pender knew who he was.
“What's he done? And, please, call me Susan,” she said as she welcomed Andy and Ellen into her home, leading them through to the front room.
As they walked through the house they saw the place was filled with pictures of Stanley, as well as pictures of the two of them together. There was no sign of any pictures of his father. They passed the dining room, and as Ellen cast her eyes over the doorway she caught a glimpse of a trophy cabinet standing behind the table, filled with golden trophies.
“What are there?” she asked, pausing.
“Oh, those are all of Stanley's judo and karate trophies. He's been going since he was little. His um...well, his father took him when he was little and Stanley just kept it up through all these years. He's a very determined boy,” she said.
They continued into the front room where they took a seat on a soft, flowery couch. Andy leaned forward and placed his hands in his lap. This was by far the worst part of his job, and Ellen empathized with him every time he had to do it.
“Mrs. Smith, sorry, Susan, have you been reading the news lately? Have you read about The Phenom?”
“Oh yes, who hasn't heard of him?” Susan said, chuckling softly.
Andy and Ellen glanced at each other. Susan then looked at them strangely, suspecting there was to be some dark news forthcoming.
“I don't know if you're aware of this, but The Phenom was found dead this morning. It seems he was stabbed last night. We decided to keep his identity secret until we could talk to his relatives. I'm sorry, Susan, but Stanley was The Phenom.”
“No, that...that's not possible,” she said, her hand covering her mouth.
Ellen had seen too many people react to news like this, so she turned her head away. In some ways the worst thing about this was not delivering the news, but that they had to try making Susan give them information instead of letting her grieve in private.
“Were you aware of his activities?” Andy asked.
“No, of course not. I never would have let him go out there. Oh...oh no. All those nights. How did I not know? If I just had stayed awake later, or listened for him. I'm sure there was one night when I heard him coming back, but I just brushed it off, and went back to sleep. I should have known. He was under my roof this whole time and I never knew.
“I even asked him about it, you know? We were having dinner. It was after the first night and he was in all the papers. I knew he liked all those comics and things. I asked him if he ever would do anything like that, and he said he wouldn't, but he was glad that somebody was because the world needs more heroes. He was talking about himself. He was my own son, and I didn't see it,” she said, her voice trembling.
“Nobody is to blame here,” Ellen said softly, “he seemed like a very determined person and he helped a lot of people. Right now we need to help him and try to figure out who was responsible for his death.”
“Were you not surprised when he wasn't at home this morning?” Andy asked, trying to keep his voice even as he didn't want to outright accuse Susan, but at the moment practically anyone was a suspect, even Stanley's own mother.
“He said he was staying at his friend's. They did it all the time. I didn't think anything of it.”
“And this friend's name?”
“Adam...Adam Batson. If anyone knew that my son was doing this, it would be him. They shared everything with each other,” she said before her head sank into her hands and she started babbling incoherently.
“Is there anyone else who you think could have done this to your son?” Andy asked, but Susan was too shocked by grief to answer. Ellen shook her head and rose to offer
a comforting hand, but she wasn't sure if Susan even was aware of her presence.
“May we go and look through his things?” she asked. Susan nodded and the two of them walked up to Stanley's room.
“I can't imagine what she must be going through right now,” Ellen said in a low voice.
They walked up the narrow staircase and found Stanley's bedroom. The wallpaper was blue. The door and the frame around the window was painted red. The walls were covered with posters of The Phenom and other heroes, and comics were loosely scattered around the room as well. There were also drawings. Ellen picked up a few of them. They evidently had been heavily influenced by comic artwork, but the talent was impressive.
“I'll get Iris to look at this,” Andy said as he lifted a laptop from under a pile of clothes.
They searched around for a little while longer, but they didn't find anything. So they descended the stairs and went back into the lounge, where Susan was sobbing into a tissue.
“We'll keep things discreet if you would rather people not know that Stanley was The Phenom. I'm going to give you the number of a counselor in case you feel the need to talk. I know it may not make things any better right now, but your son was a hero,” Andy said. Ellen looked surprised as they walked out of the house.
“I'm not entirely heartless,” Andy said as he slammed the car door behind him.
* * *
Since Iris had joined the police force she had become Andy's first call whenever it came to anything technological, especially in cases like these, where discretion was of paramount importance. He left the laptop with her and charged her with finding out anything she could about Stanley while he and Ellen paid Adam a visit.
