by A. J. Low
Mom gave me a look that clearly said that it wasn’t going to happen. But a boy can dream.
We emerged from the lift and I thought I saw Dr Helen Loughlin turn the corner. I rushed forward and called out, “Dr Loughlin!”
The figure stopped and took a step back. It wasn’t Dr Loughlin, but Dr Yeun instead.
She smiled slightly and said, “Hello, Sherlock. It’s good to see you again. Also, Helen would be so mad if she found out you thought I was her.”
Dr Yeun had her long hair tied up in a sleek bun that was very close to her head and given that she was about the same height and build as her daughter, it was understandable why I had made the mistake. I had only caught a fleeting glimpse of her after all.
Then it hit me.
I turned to look at Eliza and grabbed her shoulders. I had to reach up because she was taller than me. “ELIZA!”
“What? What are you doing? Stop being weird,” Eliza asked, looking at me oddly. She pushed my hands off her shoulders and took a step back. In her defence, I was shouting right in her face.
“No, I mean, I’m not being weird, I mean I know what she meant! The Dark Defender!”
Moran quacked.
“Why does he keep quacking?” Dr Yeun asked.
“Because Sherlock said ‘duck’,” Jimmy replied, as if that made all the sense in the world.
The doctor looked like she was going to reply but thought better of it.
I impatiently said, “That’s what the superhero meant when she told Eliza ‘Tell your friend, it wasn’t me.’”
“What do you mean, Sam?” Wendy asked. She looked confused. So did Dr Yeun. I knew she had been apprised of what had happened by Inspector Lestrade.
“There are two of them!” I shouted. A couple of heads poked out from offices nearby. It wasn’t often that children were allowed in this top-secret facility. Dr Yeun grimaced and hurried us into her secure office before we continued.
“Explain, young man,” the doctor said.
“We’ve been operating on the assumption that there is only one Dark Defender,” I said, ignoring Moran’s quack. “But what if there were two?”
“You mean a copycat?” Nazhar asked.
I nodded, excited. “An impostor.”
“But…why would someone do that?” Dr Yeun asked, shaking her head.
“I don’t know why yet, but the fact that I mistook you for your daughter made me think that it’s entirely possible. All the person would need was a similar costume! And we know that her costume is one of the most popular costumes in places like the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Shop these days,” I said.
“I suppose it is possible,” Inspector Lestrade said slowly. “But who is it? Or shall I say, who are they?”
“And are they working together?” Eliza asked.
“I’m not entirely sure, Eliza,” I replied. “But I wouldn’t think so. I think the impostor was the one that stole Dr Yeun’s Hover Car.”
“Because before that, the Dark Defender was on the side of good,” Dr Yeun said. “Is there no way to stop that robot from quacking, young man?” She looked straight at Jimmy who sheepishly shrugged.
Suddenly, something caught my eye.
“Is that your daughter, Dr Yeun?” I asked. I pointed to a framed photograph that the doctor had on one of the display tables she had at the side of her office. Along with several awards and certificates, she had a photograph of a young girl in a gymnast outfit receiving a medal. The little girl looked about nine or ten years old and she was beaming at the photographer.
“Yes, that’s Helen,” Dr Yeun replied. Her expression softened. “She was such a driven child, even then. She won quite a few regional and state medals for gymnastics before she decided that she was more interested in taking apart her father’s radio than in doing cartwheels.”
So in addition to boxing, Dr Loughlin was also a trained gymnast—leaping from building to building and tumbling would be second nature for her.
“Do you think I could take a look at Julie’s work station, Dr Yeun?” I asked.
“I don’t see an issue, but as this is a secure area, may I ask why?” she replied.
“Sometimes you learn the most about people when they least expect you to,” I said. “And I promise that I will not open any top secret files.”
Dr Yeun gave me a long assessing look before she nodded.
“It’s down the hall,” she said.
Inspector Lestrade and I were the only two people allowed into Julie’s office along with Dr Yeun, because, as she had said, there were sensitive materials in that office. I was very proud that I had gained her trust.
Julie’s desk was extremely neat and she had all her documents clearly labelled and tucked away carefully in piles on her desk. I saw that she had multiple Post-it pads as well. Nazhar would have loved her office. There wasn’t all that much personal stuff in her office except for a photograph of her with two kids who looked like they were maybe about five or six years old—a boy and a girl—it seemed to be taken during Halloween or a fancy dress party or something as both kids were dressed up as superheroes. Julie was dressed up as a scientist, complete with the crazy white wig and lab coat. They were all grinning into the camera. Another photograph showed them in taekwondo uniforms. Julie had a black belt and the two kids had yellow belts. They looked sweaty but happy.
“What do you notice, Sherlock Sam?” Inspector Lestrade asked.
“Something. Or maybe nothing,” I replied. I wasn’t sure myself. “We should head back to your office, Dr Yeun. I have some ideas I’d like to run by you, and I think we need the privacy.”
We all trooped back to the doctor’s office and she took a seat behind her desk. The rest of the Supper Club, as well as my parents, and Inspector Lestrade sat on the available couches.
“Dr Loh is the most obvious suspect,” I said. “And despite what she claims, she clearly isn’t happy teaching teenagers instead of engaging in high level research. Plus, Julie admitted to informing her about the launch.”
“I would write her off as a suspect precisely because she’s so obvious,” Dr Yeun said with a smirk. “What scientist would be so incompetent as to not see the inevitable conclusion that everyone would draw?”
“An evil one?” Jimmy helpfully asked.
“I then thought the photographer, Laura, who also works at Midtown Comics, might have a dual identity. Retail worker and photographer by day, superhero by night.”
“And Mr Halson also said she was still in San Diego at the Comic Con, Sherlock,” Nazhar reminded me. “So if you think that there are two Dark Defenders, she could have been the one at the con.”
“But Mr Halson also said she wasn’t currently in New York though,” Wendy said.
“Or-she-might-only-be-pretending-she-is-not-in-New-York-so-she-does-not-have-to-leave-the-house-and-can-stay-home-and-read-comics,” Watson added.
“That’s true, and raising the profile of the Dark Defender by pretending to be her and committing the theft might mean her photographs would be in greater demand,” Eliza added.
“That’s all true,” I said. “And then there’s Dr Yeun.”
“You think I stole my own Hover Car, young man?” the doctor asked, sitting up straighter in her chair, her eyebrows raised archly. “How is that possible when I was right next to you when she appeared in San Diego?”
“But you could still be the Dark Defender that saved my life,” Eliza said, looking carefully at Dr Yeun. “You’re about the same height and build…right, Samuel?”
“She could have been, Eliza, but Inspector Lestrade had confirmed with the Doctor’s security people that she was in her office a couple of hours ago. So there was no way she could be in two places at the same time. Unless Dr Yeun has developed cloning technology as well.”
Dad nodded. Then suddenly he sat up and asked, “Wait, you haven’t actually developed a way to clone humans, right?”
Dr Yeun continued to look at me for a while longer before rel
axing back in her chair. “I suppose I should be glad that you think someone my age could be leaping from building to building. And no. I haven’t, Michael. Yet.” She had a slight smile on her face when she said that.
“So that leaves the two people who look a lot like you,” I said.
Dr Yeun immediately sat up again.
“You can’t mean Helen,” she said. She did not sound pleased.
“And Julie,” I replied. “I noticed the first time we visited that all of you are about the same height and build. You have different hairstyles, but we’ve never seen what the Dark Defender looks like under her hood.”
“Why would Julie or Helen want to steal the Hover Car?” Dr Yeun exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “Inspector Lestrade, tell me you do not believe this young man’s foolishness.”
The inspector looked at me, then at my parents. She turned back to Dr Yeun and said, “In all the time I have worked with Sherlock Sam, he has never said or done anything that wasn’t for a good reason, Doctor. I would hear him out.”
Dr Yeun leaned forward on her desk and stared straight at me. “If you think having a similar build is reason enough to suspect either Julie or Helen, then I can parade hundreds, thousands, millions more people, women AND men, with similar builds. Would they be suspects as well?”
“But would they know about me?” I asked. “The Dark Defender we met at the High Line, the one who saved Eliza knew that my name was Sherlock Sam. And she knew I was a detective.”
Dr Yeun sighed heavily and stood up. She walked over to a hidden drawer in her wall and pulled out a large, black folder. She opened it up and gestured for all of us to come over.
“Look at these,” she said, standing with her arms crossed across her chest.
It was a folder full of newspaper clippings about my cases in Singapore, Penang and the most recent one in Japan. The papers were from all over the world. I even saw a thumb drive, which I was sure had video footage of us in Tokyo. Dr Yeun was nothing if not thorough in her research.
“You’re actually a lot more famous than you think, young man,” she said.
For once in my life, I had nothing to say.
We had gone to our apartment after meeting with Dr Yeun. I couldn’t believe this was only the second night we were sleeping there.
The next morning I woke up early while everyone else was still sleeping. Something had been nagging at my brain the whole night, giving me weird dreams about multiple Dark Defenders running all over Manhattan, stopping thieves and then stealing from the intended victims themselves. Sometimes, these rescues/muggings took place out of Manhattan, even though the Dark Defender hadn’t actually been spotted outside—
“Wait a minute,” I said.
I quietly walked over to Nazhar’s bag and pulled out the map where he had marked all the recorded appearances of the Dark Defender. I heard him say “Ninja hantu…” in his sleep.
I looked through the map and quietly said “A-ha.” Then, much more loudly, “Wake up, everybody! We’ve got a case to close!”
The Supper Club grumbled the whole subway ride over. Nazhar was the loudest, but unlike the rest, who were complaining about being woken up so early, he was complaining about my inability to fold maps properly. We rode the G train from our apartment in Brooklyn to Long Island City in Queens. The G train was the only train in the New York subway system that didn’t go into Manhattan.
We got off at the 21st Street station. When we climbed the steps, everybody squinted at the sun as if they had never seen light before.
“It’s not that early,” I said. “You guys love exaggerating.”
“Says-the-boy-who-has-to-have-another-hot-dog-after-the-four-he-has-already-had-lest-he-die-of-hunger,” Watson said.
I waved his comment away. “Nazhar, where did that blogger say he saw the Dark Defender again?”
“On the corner of 11th Street and 46th Avenue,” Nazhar said.
We had discounted the sighting earlier in our investigation because there had been photographic proof that the Dark Defender was in Manhattan at the same time, but now that we suspected there was a Dark Defender impostor, this sighting, so far out of the Dark Defender’s usual patrol areas, seemed much more important.
“We have to be a bit careful,” Nazhar said.
“Yes, I know,” I replied. “This person could be dangerous.”
“No, I mean walking around,” Nazhar said. “This area is not as grid-like as most of Manhattan, though it’s not as bad as the West Village, so we should be fine as long as we don’t let Uncle Mike lead.”
“I can read maps, you know,” Dad replied. Mom snickered.
We walked over to 11th Street and 46th Avenue, which turned out to be only two blocks away.
“Take a look around and give a shout if you see anything of note,” I said. The area was pretty run down, with a lot of buildings either being torn down or built up. Nazhar had told us on the way here that Long Island City used to be a warehouse district, but was now being renovated for more residential buildings. There were very few people around on a regular day, even less on a Sunday.
“Sam, come see this,” Wendy said. “I think I found something.”
I walked over and saw what she was referring to. There was a shiny new lock and chain on an otherwise decrepit gate. I was extremely proud of my sister—she was becoming an excellent detective in her own right! Beyond the decrepit gate was a building slated for demolition. I could see through the smashed windows
“Did you see any other new locks?” I asked. Wendy shook her head. I scanned our surroundings and didn’t see any other locks, much less new ones. The Supper Club was still searching other areas.
“Well, let’s keep this in mind this until we—”
I stopped speaking when I heard a computer terminal hum to life. It was coming from the condemned building. I quickly gathered the rest of the Supper Club and asked them if they heard the humming too.
“It doesn’t quite sound like it’s coming from the building, though,” Mom said. “Maybe more like it’s coming from…below?”
“I think it’s time to call Inspector Lestrade, Dad,” Wendy said. I nodded in agreement, and Dad made the call.
While we weren’t paying attention, the lock popped open. I saw Watson’s steampunk hand quickly change back into his regular hand.
“Look-at-that,” he said. “It-must-have-been-open-already. We-should-go-check-out-the-sound.”
My robot had been uncharacteristically helpful during this case, but I wasn’t about to question my good fortune, so I said nothing.
I looked at my parents. “What do you think, Dad, Mom?” I asked.
Mom and Dad looked at each other, then at the building.
“It’s condemned for a reason, right?” Dad asked.
“Probably, but it looks sturdy enough,” Mom said.
“Inspector Lestrade will be here soon,” Dad said.
“But if who we think is here is actually here, it might be too late,” Mom said.
Dad seemed to think it over for a second. “Okay, let’s go.”
I cheered internally.
We opened the gate, which squeaked much too loudly for my comfort.
We went into the building and listened for the computer hum, which was much louder inside, and definitely coming from underground. We hunted for some kind of trapdoor (Jimmy was searching for a “Jimmy port”, which was the same thing, really), and Moran found one in the back corner. Dad lifted it, and we all went down the dark staircase.
Moran took the lead as he could see best with his thermal vision, and we followed him down. There was light at the bottom of the steps that got brighter as we approached it. The computer hum got louder as well. Once we reached the bottom, we saw a large workshop with many computers, all humming together. In the middle of all the equipment was the stolen Hover Car.
“I knew it,” I whispered.
We heard some clanking nearby. I craned my neck to see the Dark Defender loo
king through some tools.
“Dark Defender!” I shouted. I half-anticipated to hear a quack coming from Moran but he remained silent. I guess he understood that this wasn’t a time to be fooling around.
The Dark Defender whirled around to look at me. “What is—?”
“Did you follow the same clues we did?” I asked.
“I—clues? Yes, of course, I did,” she said. Her voice distorter was either not working, or she didn’t have it with her. Her voice sounded familiar, but nothing I could place straight away.
“That’s great,” I said, “though I am a little jealous you got here before I did.”
“Why would you be jealous?” the Dark Defender asked. “I’m an adult and you’re just a child. Children are never as smart as adults.”
“But, I’m a consulting detective, you know that.”
“I do? I mean, of course I do.”
I was starting to suspect I was not talking to who I thought I was talking to.
“What’s my name, Dark Defender?” I asked.
“Oh, I know this,” she said, tapping her chin. “What did you say it was when last we met?”
“You’re not the real Dark Defender!” I shouted.
The Dark Defender impostor stopped tapping her chin, then said, “I really dislike children.”
She picked up a large, heavy wrench, but before she could do anything, another Dark Defender burst through the ceiling, raining wood and stone all over the Hover Car! She landed on the impostor, and the two Dark Defenders grappled on the ground. I lost track of which was which as one slammed the other into the stationary Hover Car. We retreated a bit back towards the staircase, but kept an eye on the fight. The two Dark Defenders fought using mostly hand-to-hand combat, landing quick punches and kicks on each other while they leapt all over the room.
One Dark Defender kicked the other in the midsection. The kicked Defender tripped over a wire and landed flat on her back.
“Enough of this,” she said, with no distortion. She pulled out a gun and aimed it at the real Dark Defender.
I froze.
Luckily, Jimmy did not.
“Thunder duck,” he whispered, and Moran let out the loudest ‘quack’ I had ever heard in my life. I had to cover my ears, as did everybody else in the Supper Club. The impostor covered her ears as well, which meant she was no longer pointing her gun at the real Dark Defender. She took the chance to punch the impostor in the face, and wrestle the gun away. The true Dark Defender grabbed some nearby power cords, ripping them out of the wall sockets, and tied up the impostor.
