The Vampire Murders: 2/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"You know, Lois," Henderson said, "you have all the delicacy of a bull in a China shop."
"I'm a reporter," Lois said. "Did he?"
Henderson shrugged. "Yeah, he did."
"Drained of blood?"
Henderson grunted. "Yeah."
"So that's three," Lois said. "What's going on? Somebody playing vampire?"
"Maybe," Henderson said. "I don't want to draw any conclusions yet."
"Who found this one?" Clark asked.
"Early morning jogger. Guy looks like he's been dead several hours. We'll know more by this afternoon."
"Can you fax us over the report when the medical examiner has finished?" Clark asked. Lois didn't speak. She'd noticed that Henderson was much more likely to cooperate if Clark made the requests.
Henderson sighed gustily. "Sure. Why not?"
"Thanks, Bill, Clark said "We owe you one."
"Don't mention it," Henderson muttered.
**********
And now, Part 2:
"This is really weird," Lois said. They pushed their way through the revolving doors into the Daily Planet's lobby. "What's going on, do you think?"
"Well, the one victim we know anything about," Clark said, "worked for Cost Mart. I wonder if Bobby would know anything about him."
"He might. Jimmy might have something for us by now, too." Lois punched the call button for the Planet's elevator with unnecessary force. "But he was the second victim. Who was the first, and who was this last guy? Henderson wasn't very forthcoming, if you ask me."
Clark stuck his hands in his pockets. "We'll find out. First things first, though. What I want to know is why the murders were done in such a weird way. I don't think anyone seriously believes it could be a real vampire."
The elevator arrived and they entered. "You thought of the same thing, huh?" Lois said.
"I'm sure we were supposed to think of it," Clark said. He pushed the button for the third floor. "What I want to know is why."
"Me too. Halloween was over three weeks ago, so I think the ghoul factor is kind of stretching it."
"Oh, I don't know. How about that woman last week, who was keeping Lex Luthor's body for herself? That's pretty ghoulish."
Lois shivered. "Don't remind me. I'd rather deal with a vampire." She frowned. "You know, Lex's body disappeared right after that. You don't suppose --"
"I definitely don't," Clark said, with unnecessary emphasis.
"Me either," Lois said with equal firmness, resolutely banishing the hair-raising thought. Vampires were nothing but stories to scare children and the superstitious. There was no point in creeping herself out over this whole, very weird episode. There had to be a logical, rational explanation for the whole thing.
The elevator doors opened and they stepped out, to be greeted by the usual hubbub of the newsroom in the midmorning. It was so normal that the creepy idea that had been worming around in Lois's thoughts instantly receded. She and Clark would figure this out. Supernatural agencies weren't something that she needed to worry about. Something had killed those three victims in the park, and that something was almost certainly human. And given that, the perpetrator must have left some clues. She and Clark had only to figure out what they were.
"Jimmy!" she shouted.
The young computer expert was at his small desk, obviously concentrating on his computer screen and hadn't heard her. Lois disdained the ramp and took the short cut down the steps to the Pit, Clark on her heels.
"Jimmy!" she said again.
This time, he looked up. "Oh, hi," he said mildly. "I've been researching your murder victim."
"Any results?" Clark asked.
Jimmy shook his head. "Not a lot," he admitted. "The only information I can find on him is limited to the last year, and there isn't much of that. Social Security number, driver's license, address -- that kind of thing. He's worked at Cost Mart as a shelf stocker for the last four months. I'll keep hunting, though. Since he was murdered, we know he exists, so there's bound to be some stuff on him somewhere, if I can find it."
"Maybe he was using another name," Clark suggested.
"I thought of that," Jimmy admitted. "I'm looking for what I can find on that front, too. I'll let you know as soon as I find anything."
"Well," Lois said, "give us what you have and we'll start looking from that end. And there were two other victims -- no names yet. See what you can do about them, too."
Jimmy nodded. "You got it. If you find out more you might tell me. It'll help me with the searches. Oh, you've got a fax, CK. I left it on your desk."
"Thanks." Clark headed over to his desk. "Huh. That was fast."
"What was?" Lois peered over his shoulder, trying to see the printout.
"The medical examiner's report. Henderson must have put a rush on it."
"I'll say," Lois said. "He must have got the examiner on it before the body got to the morgue."
Clark was scowling at the report. "There's a note here from Henderson, too. The victim's name is Tom Baucus. Look who he worked for." He extended the paper.
Lois felt her eyebrows rising as she scanned the document. "Cost Mart. This can't be a coincidence."
"Well, it could be but it makes it less likely." Clark reached for the phone. "I'm going to call my contact and see if he can get me the info on the first victim."
"And I'm going to call Bobby," Lois said.
**********
Bobby Bigmouth was a lean, nondescript man with an unflappable demeanor and an expression that never changed. Somehow he always managed to project a faint air of gnawing hunger, even while wolfing down some massive sandwich or other substantial dish brought to him by Lois.
Bobby was in the serving line at the Fifth Street Mission when Clark and Lois came through the line. Their snitch helped himself to a generous bite of the tuna noodle casserole before spooning a serving onto the tray of one of the mission's clients.
"Hi, kids," he greeted them. "You got my snack?"
"Uh, yeah." Clark looked around doubtfully. "Actually, it's a pre-paid dinner at the Mandarin Palace. Just give Lois's name."
"Okay," Bobby said amiably. "I'll drop by there right after my shift is over."
"Great," Lois said. "Now that we've taken care of the important stuff, how about some information?"
Bobby took another bite of casserole, followed by a swig of milk from a half gallon carton sitting beside the serving container. "Sure." He looked over his shoulder. "Fred, canya take over for me a minute?"
A lean Asian man took Bobby's place. "Five minutes," he said, glancing at his watch.
"Sure thing." Bobby beckoned to Lois and Clark. "Come on outside. I'm gonna get some air."
Lois didn't think much of the "air" since Bobby's chosen spot was beside a large garbage bin. She sniffed and wrinkled her nose but said nothing. If their snitch was on a time schedule, he wouldn't be late when there was food back in the mission dining room. Instead, she came directly to the point. "You've heard about the murders in Centennial Park? There was a body found there last night, and a second one this morning."
"And one three days ago," Clark added. "Can you tell us anything?"
"Yeah." For the first time, Bobby looked a little uncomfortable. "The last two guys were newcomers. They worked over at Cost Mart on the night shift. One of them was a security guard, and the other one stocked shelves. Kept to themselves, pretty much. I saw 'em a couple of times at Clemantina's All Nite Diner, after their shifts."
"Newcomers?" Lois asked.
"Uh huh. Hadn't seen 'em before about six months ago."
"How about the first victim?" Clark asked. "Can you tell us anything about him?"
"Yeah" Bobby said. "His name was Mannie. Homeless guy, never caused any trouble. Friend of mine. He slept outside in the summer and fall, then when it started to get cold he'd go over to the shelter. Kinda quiet. The night before he was killed --" Bobby stopped, looking even more uncomfortable.
"What?" Lois asked. "Did he get into some kind of trouble?"
Bobby shook his head. "No. He came into the shelter at a dead run. Said something was chasing him."
Lois felt a faint tingle of alarm run over her scalp. "Did he say who?"
"Not who," Bobby corrected her. "What. I help out there sometimes. I was there when he came in. He was outta breath, and scared. Said some kinda flying thing had come at him outta the dark."
"A flying thing?" Clark said, frowning. "A bat?"
"No." Bobby shifted nervously and looked at his watch. It was a very nice watch, Lois saw. "Look, I gotta get back."
"Did he say what it was?" Lois asked. "Superman?"
"No," Bobby said. "He wasn't scared of Superman. He said this thing was black, the size of a man, and it came from above him. He ran and got inside the shelter." He turned and started back toward the mission, then he hesitated a second, half-turning back to look directly at Lois. "I don't know what it was. But I think it got him the next night. Or something did. If you go looking for it, better be careful." He disappeared through the door without another word.
Lois and Clark looked after him, speechless, and then at each other.
"What on Earth --" Lois said.
Clark was fiddling with his glasses, still looking after Bobby. After a moment, he shoved his glasses firmly into place and stuck his hands into his pockets. "I didn't think Bobby was superstitious," he said.
"What do you mean?"
"Did you notice what he was wearing around his neck?"
Lois hadn't. "What?"
"A gold chain. I got just a short look, but I think he was wearing a gold crucifix."
"Bobby?" Lois stared at her partner. "You don't think he really thinks it was actually a vampire? This is 1994!"
Clark didn't answer. "I guess the whole thing spooked him, especially since his friend was killed the next night," he said slowly. After several seconds he shook his head. "Let's get back to the office," he said. "Maybe Jimmy'll have something more for us by now."
**********
Jimmy wasn't in evidence when they walked back into the newsroom, but there were several papers lying on Clark's desk, on top of the fax from Henderson, weighed down by Clark's coffee cup. Lois pulled them unceremoniously out from under the cup. The container nearly upset and Clark caught it quickly. "What have we got?"
"This must be the stuff from your contact," Lois said, scanning the paper. "It says the first victim was Manfred Chesterton, and lists his official address as the homeless shelter. Age, weight, apparently had a drinking problem. Spent the night in the drunk tank last month. No connection mentioned to Cost Mart." She raised her eyebrows slightly. "Apparently he was a former aerospace engineer, fired from NASA five years ago."
"Any information about how he died?"
Lois shook her head. "No signs of trauma on the body," she said, still reading from the paper. "No overt cause of death but blood loss, and two small punctures over the left carotid artery." She handed the paper to Clark. "I can't see some guy standing there letting his murderer drain him of blood without putting up some kind of fight. That guy last night, de Mint, had been hit over the head, remember. The medical examiner must have missed something."
"Maybe we need to talk to Henderson again," Clark said. "He might know more than he's saying. Anything more on the third victim?"
Lois had been looking. "No. Name, age, driver's license, Social Security number, address. Just like the one last night. No history past about a year ago."
"Something's fishy here," Clark said. "Two murder victims with no history to speak of and a homeless man. Where's the connection?"
"The only one I can see," Lois said, "is Cost Mart. Which one did they work at?" She shuffled the papers again, looking for the information. "Looks like the new one, over by Old Town. I guess we need to go over there, next."
"They aren't going to talk to us," Clark pointed out.
"Sure they will," Lois said. She stood up and reached for her jacket. "If they want to look innocent, the last thing they should do is refuse to talk to the press. Let's go."
**********
tbc
