Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[Halcyon638]

“I saw the look on your face when I started just scratching the surface of deckbuilding strategies and decided I should bail,” Austin replied. “I’m great at roleplaying. Though I’m usually playing the naïve pool boy…That sounds like fun. Never actually played D&D before.”

In the parking lot near Monica and Gabi’s apartment, he said, “Just going to walk you ladies to the door and then I should take off. Got an early mandatory workout tomorrow.” He escorted them to the door, then gave Monica a kiss goodnight. Not long afterward, a yawning Gabi said her goodnights and wandered off to bed.

***

Monica finished checking her work and strode up to the front of her Engineering and Communication Design classroom. She was the second student to finish the quiz. Professor Finley looked at her with a gleam of amusement in his eyes. “It took you nearly twelve minutes. You’re slipping,” he said quietly in his Scottish accent. As she turned in the assignment and returned to her seat to pack up her things, he said, “Remember, you’ve still got thirty minutes, people,” in his Scottish accent.” He gave her a nod on her way out.

As she slung her backpack over her shoulder, she felt a sense of relief at the lack of pain. Her arm had healed up. Sunday and Monday night’s patrols being uneventful had helped. She was still a bit tired today, but not as tired as yesterday when she’d prepped for her job interview in the theater department (they told her she’d hear from them this week) and had to study later than usual for the assessment she’d just completed.

Having finished the quiz early, Monica found herself with time to grab a bite to eat before Melanie Howe’s course. When she arrived, there were still students from the previous class packing up or conversing before moving along, though the instructor seemed to be gone.

Porter arrived and they discussed their respective weekends. “Wow, I don’t know if I can compete with that,” he said as she mentioned the trip to the NFL game and the 90s party. “Nick and I hung out and watched some of the Alien movies. I went for a jog both days, though,” he said, a note of pride in his voice.

Before long, Melanie and her teaching assistants arrived. The day’s lecture and discussion were on social psychology, specifically Erving Goffman’s theory of self-presentation. “So, Goffman made a connection between social interactions and the kind of acting we associate with the theater. When we interact with other people, he argued that we put on a particular performance where we try to present ourselves in a certain way to create the desired impression. He also argued that we play a number of roles depending on who we’re interacting with and the social situation. What do you think of his assertions? Can any of you provide an example of what Goffman’s discussing?”

The class was a bit slow to respond today, suggesting there were a number of people who hadn’t done the reading or were too tired. “This is not an 8 A.M. class, and last time I checked, there were not reports of a gas leak in the building. Even my talkative people are quiet today.” She looked around the classroom before her eyes landed on Monica. “Monica? What do you think of Goffman’s assertions?

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica was at once uncomfortable being on the spot, but also sort of comforted that after Friday Melanie was acknowledging her existence at least. That was a positive sign. She gave an um and leaned forward "well..." she started, buying herself a second to think while showing she was engaged. "So I think he's onto something, but at the same time its way less conscious than he lets on. Like, we're not really aware of it. So Goffman posited that largely we do these things to avoid social embarrassment, which I think says more about Goffman than he might want to have said about himself." She ran her hand through her hair "but we all put on different faces. Like there's your work face, there's the face you show your boss and the face you show your co-workers. The face you show your boss is the 'I'm willing to work hard but not SO hard that you give me extra work' face. There's the face you show your friends and another you show your lover. I think that in part though, that's not a choice. I think that in some senses who we are in any particular moment is actually defined by the observer, right? Like, science tells us that the observer itself may influence the collapse of multiple realities, and I think that that holds true in some sense for how we interact with other people. We're not wearing a mask, we're genuinely different around them because we want different things and they have different importance to us. Also they want different things in us and see the appeal of different facets of us. So I don't know that its necessarily a mask. Like.... think of a three dimensional object. If you're looking at it from different angles it appears to be different, but its always the same. So like...If you're looking at me as a potential friend or a potential lover you might see different things, but you're still just looking at me, as I am. You're just looking from a different angle so you're seeing something different. I dunno."

 

[Halcyon638]

Melanie listened attentively as Monica spoke. “Those are excellent insights and great examples, Monica” she said, the hint of a smile appearing on her lips. “It also speaks to the two types of motivations that Goffman laid out for why we engage in this self-presentation. Firstly, we present ourselves in a certain why to match our own image of ourselves: for example, as a good friend, a good parent, and so on. Secondly, we present ourselves to match what our ‘audience’—and here we can go back to the theatrical terms Goffman used—to match what our audience expects or wants from us.”

Melanie then posed a follow-up question to continue the discussion. “You did a good job of explaining that,” Porter said. “Any time I try to talk in a class I end up sounding like an idiot.” As they made their way out of the classroom, Melanie was speaking with a male student who was going to miss two classes due to a family trip and needed to discuss an upcoming assignment during her office hours.

"Just please keep in mind that I do not grant extensions except in very rare situations," she told him as he checked his schedule on his phone.

“Sure, no problem. I'll get everything done on time." Shaking his head a bit, he said, "I’ve got class during your office hours tomorrow,” the guy told her.

“I’ll be in my office today from around 3:30 until 5:00.”

“Oh, great. I can get there at 4:00. Thank you, Dr. Howe.” It was 2:40 now. Monica had received a text from Hadley.

“Hey there. Is there any chance Austin could help hook us up with some adult beverages for Sat? Don’t think the one bottle of scotch my dad keeps in the house is going to cut it.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica shrugged at Porter "I got a little lucky. Gabi was in full study mode Sunday before the game so so was I. It was nice and quiet and I just happened to actually read that bit" She laughed "Also I just. I dunno. I'm not shy. No matter what you say, said with confidence, people will at least pause a minute and say 'huh, is that? maybe?" before they go on. So really its about selling it. You just need to work on selling it, my good man. That's all."

When she got the text from Hadley, she hmmmed. Part of her knew this was standard sort of par for the course college behavior. When your friend fucks an upper classman he buys you booze. At the same time it all felt very tawdry and transactional and she didn't wanna do Austin like that, particularly as their relationship status was less "boyfriend" and more "its complicated." Fortunately, there was a bit of a compromise "Gabi and I still have most of the booze from game night. We used maybe a quarter of it so... there's like tons left" since they'd bought a gallon of the stuff and used maybe a bottle's worth. "you can have it for the party no problem"

It might be enough, might not, but it kept her out of having to lean on that connection, which made her feel good. Also making her feel good was a mid afternoon snack. She stopped at a hot dog truck and got one with ketchup and spicy mustard. She hmmmed, then headed towards the building where Melanie's office was, figuring she could catch her at the beginning of her office hours, and if she wasn't there yet she could do all her reading for class in the hallway.

 

[Halcyon638]

Porter nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I feel a little more confident in my English class and I feel okay talking there. At least a little bit,” he said with a grin. “Have a good one.”

Hadley texted a response. “That’s great—thanks! Also FYI and I’ll be sending this out to the group thread but I’m also going to be asking for help with clean up and/or evidence disposal on Sunday. There will be pizza and possible cupcakes for anyone who’s down for it. Just throwing it out there.” A few minutes later, she followed up with the group text asking for help. Gabi, Layla, and Porter offered to chip in.

Monica had started in on some class reading when she caught Melanie entering the hallway. “Thanks, Troy. I’ll see you on Thursday,” she said to one of her TAs. When she approached her office and saw Monica nearby, she smiled. “Hi, Monica,” she said, her tone indicating she was a bit surprised to see her. “Were you…waiting for me?” She began unlocking her office door. “Thanks for jumpstarting the discussion today. You seemed to have an excellent grasp on Goffman’s concepts.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nods "yeah I was. I know your office hours start at like 3:30 but I figured I could do the reading and such so I don't have to tonight. I took up a martial art in addition to a full class load and I work out at odd hours of the night so... Gotta get that work in where I can. The floor of the hall outside your office seemed as reasonable a spot as any to get things done without anyone bothering me." She shrugged her shoulders and folded herself into a chair "I dropped in because I was reading that some of the trails by the damn out in Cottersville are having a big fall thing encouraging hikers and I remembered you saying you wanted new trails to hike. I figured i'd drop in and let you know about it. And thanks. I mean we both know I'll never be the next Christine Ladd-Franklin or anything but you know. I like to do well in my classes so I do the reading"

She gave a little smile "Call me old fashioned, but out in Cottersville you're taught to put the work in, especially when it is not your best subject. Even when you come from a culture where the notion of talking about your feelings ad nauseum is ... well lets just say there's never been anyone in therapy in my family. Probably a lot of need for it, but you know..." She laughed and waved her hand "Not really people that discuss our innermost feelings."

 

[Halcyon638]

Melanie entered her office, placing her belongings down carefully. “If you wouldn’t mind shutting that door. It gets a bit noisy while classes are still in session.” She settled into the brown leather chair behind her desk, turning on her desk lamp as Monica discussed Cottersville. “Oh…,” she said, a look of surprise gracing her features. “Thanks so much. I was meaning to get outdoors this weekend but needed to get caught up on some work. Any recommendations for trails?”

“I think that’s a great attitude,” the professor said, a gleam in her eyes as Monica namechecked another famous psychologist and mentioned her work ethic. “Speaking of which…can I ask how you’re doing? I feel like we…opened up to one another a bit but I didn’t get a chance to…to follow up with you. I didn’t want to pry if you didn’t feel like talking about it, but…but I’m here to listen. About anything."

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sat for a long moment "We did have you know... a moment" She crossed her legs and looked over at Dr. Howe's degrees and such on the wall, considering for a long moment "I..." She shifted a little and looked back at the woman.

"My mother used to say that with certain rare exceptions, like the post world war era American art was crap. She was an art teacher. She said the reason it was crap is because Americans take all their pain and they talk endlessly about it to anyone who will listen" She picked at something on her jeans. "She said that that basically left them with nothing to create with. She said that Americans just had no real concept of suffering. The strong implication was that suffering was noble. That it was heroic. That the universe was something to struggle against and even in your pain that was some sort of glorious purpose... as long as you were taking that pain to create something. She said that super happy people didn't invent great things or make good art. That they just ate their three meals a day and fucked their wives and watched TV and did it all over again, and that that was ok but that greatness came from glorious purpose and glorious purpose didn't come about kvetching. I don't even know how she knew the word kvetching but man did she love it."

Monica sighed and looked up at the ceiling for a moment "She was like... She said that if we let suffering go to waste without creating something that it became pointless. That we'd endured it for nothing. Anyway... the tangent is to explain in part why it is so hard for me to talk about how I feel about anything. I want to. God I want to so fucking bad sometimes but ... That's just not who we are. In the royal sense. the Royal Bergensons. I don't... I'm not equipped to talk about how I feel. There's a set of tools that I'm just missing. I'm defective. I was almost worse... my parents only sent me to school because one of the neighbors convinced them I'd be noticeably weird if I was homeschooled. Not being noticed as being weird was also important. So I went to school. And I learned how to always give the impression of having my shit together and always like.. deflect with a joke." She looked back at Melanie "And that's the most I've said about myself to anyone but my room mate Gabi in six months. A wise older man recently told me that I should find someone to talk to. I ... understand the wisdom of that but I also understand the wisdom of not dumping all your shit on your friends and I'd like to be your friend and I'd like to not abuse that friendship by using you for free therapy but .. I dunno supposedly friends talk to each other or some shit. So. I dunno. I dunno .." she trailed off and laughed "I don't know that I know how to be normal. I don't know that I know where to start talking to someone about these things."

 

[Halcyon638]

Melanie wore a sympathetic look as Monica spoke. “What do you think about this…worldview of your mother’s? It sounds like maybe…part of you still agrees with her?”

She adjusted the bun in which her fiery hair was arranged. “It’s not uncommon to not be able to talk about your feelings, Monica. And it’s certainly not uncommon in rural communities—and many other communities. When I was practicing, I’d have many patients who felt some sort of shame or discomfort at meeting with me. This is something that society—well, your mother in your case, but she’s not separate from society—instills in us. Even with me—and I should absolutely know better…I halfway convinced myself I could be my own counselor. Because I know the theory, the concepts, etc.. And you saw how well that worked the other week,” she said, her lips slightly upturned in a grin.

When Monica mentioned the possibility of friendship, the professor said, “I would like that, too. I’d be happy to refer you to the counseling center, but…to be perfectly honest, they’re very understaffed and there’s so much demand. It can take a month or so before you get in unless you’re in crisis. So please—if I can help, let me help.”

“I do have to ask some standard questions up front,” she said, leaning forward in her chair a bit, “do you think about hurting yourself? Or someone else?” Stroking her chin softly, she added, “How do you think your grief is affecting you?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica hmmmed a moment and decided to answer semi-honestly "I do think about hurting people, but not in a specific I have a plan to hurt people sort of way. I don't think I said um." She inhales and then exhales "Tom wasn't hit by a car and he didn't like... lose a valiant fight to Leukemia or anything. Not to take anything away from the grief that other people might experience from those things which is the same. No there's an element of rage in my grief because my boyfriend was gunned down in the street by some punk for the cash in his wallet and the keys to his car, while he was going to pick up his drug addled younger brother from some party his friends ditched him at. So, my perfect life and my wonderful boyfriend were taken from me through a deliberate set of actions conceived of by a human who then put those actions into place. So... yes. I think about hurting someone. I think about hurting that fucking guy... but there's no way to know who that fucking guy is. The police have no leads and the car was found trashed with hobos living in it so... no useful prints or anything. Just one of those things you know? Anyway I uh... look I know that's kind of a serious thing to lay on anyone and you were probably not ready for that to be the answer. "

She leaned forward a little "As for my mother's stoicism I can't say its entirely escaped me. I mean, I agree that we have to take the terrible things that happen to us and make them meaningful by action. By being inspired to do something. Whether that's like, learn to play the guitar or write a one woman play or become president or whatever the fuck, you know? I mean. I can see the usefulness of her philosophy in that regard. Like you already suffered the hurt, so... its not like you can undo that. Might as well get something out of it you know? Might as well do something or feel something or make something. "

 

[Halcyon638]

A pained expression crept onto Melanie’s face. “I’m so sorry,” she said. As Monica talked about her mother’s philosophy, the older woman nodded. “While I think some aspects of what your mother taught you are…unhealthy, I do think that’s something positive to take away. Certainly you have to give yourself time to grieve. You don’t need to…rush out and win a marathon, or write a play, especially in the early stages of grief, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up if you don’t. But this idea of finding meaning in your loss…that can be a path forward.”

She took a deep breath. “Paige…I…she went missing two years ago. She went out for her painting class and I…I never saw her again. No one did.” She cast her eyes down at her desk. “There was a long time where I was just…angry at the world. We had this…perfect life. I know it wasn’t actually perfect, but to me, it was. And then…to have that taken away…” She paused, looking at Monica again, her eyes welling up once again as she fought to maintain composure. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…to make it about me. It’s just…what you said, it…it hit home.” She sniffled a bit and wiped her nose. "God. This is why I didn't make a very good therapist."

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica was, in no small part, relieved to not be talking about herself. "Oh my god that's awful." She had wondered if it was a death or a divorce. Not knowing where the person was and holding out hope they'd return had to be far worse than either. At least with Tom it was done. There was an ache and a loss and a sadness but there wasn't a lingering question. She moved the chair forward and reached out, touching Melanie's hand "I'm so sorry. That's awful. That's really awful." She assumed the woman was probably still all over Melanie's social media, and maybe she could make discreet inquiries, talk to Hadley's dad or something. The terrible truth was most adults who disappeared disappeared of their own volition though. Suicide or another family or something. Still, worth looking into. Maybe she could give someone the real closure of finding out the total truth. What was she doing this for if not to help people, after all. "I can't believe you're dealing with that. That... how do you get through it?"

 

[Halcyon638]

As Monica touched her hand, Melanie’s green eyes locked on hers. “It’s…thank you,” she said. “Truthfully…some days I don’t. Get through it. Even this long after…there are some very difficult days.” She wiped her nose again. The seeds of a smile began to appear on her face. “But there are more good days than bad now. I owe a lot of it to good friends, my sister. And an excellent therapist and medication and all of those things. In my experience, there’s not one magic bullet. For a while, I tried to immerse myself in my work alone, and that was…that was my default move, and it was not working.”

She adjusted her position in her chair now. “It sounds like you’re afraid of burdening your friend or loved ones. You’re being considerate, and I understand not wanting to overburden someone you care about, but if you have a good relationship, they’ll feel comfortable letting you know if it’s too much for them. There are many cases where family members or friends feel a little hurt not having someone they care about share how much they’re actually hurting. But it’s good that you’re starting with me.”

There was more noise in the hall suggesting that a nearby class was letting out. “So what do you do to try to work through your grief? What helps make—”

There was a knock on the office door. “Professor Howe?”

Melanie walked toward the door. As she did, she put a reassuring hand on Monica’s shoulder. “Sorry. One moment.”

She opened the door briefly. Monica heard her classmate say, “Hi. Is now a good time?”

“Just give me another minute or two, Joseph.”

“Oh, sure.”

The professor closed the door. “Where does the time go?” She reached over to a pad of pink sticky notes and began scrawling on it. “I’m sorry to cut things short.” Melanie lowered her voice. “I want you to have this. This is my cell phone number. You can call me any time, day or night. And thank you for the, uh…the information about the hiking trails. Nature is another way that I…cope.”

Her skin flushed slightly. “This is…I wouldn’t usually ask this, but…I don’t suppose…you’re going to be going back there this weekend or next? I have a group of friends I usually hike with and we’ve been trying to figure out a time that works for all of us, but everyone’s so busy. We…you and I could meet up there or…it’s…a 3-hour drive? I’d be happy to pick you up from campus if you’d like.”

She looked away from Monica now and put her hand to her forehead. "I'm sorry. That was...I just thought..."

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica smiled as the woman seemed embarrassed. "It was fine Melanie, and I understand. This weekend actually I have stuff. Why don't I see if maybe a few people want to go hiking next weekend and we can make a group thing of it." She felt like that would both let Melanie recover a little from her embarrassment and also keep some boundaries. Particularly given the nature of their existing relationship. There was also an element there of her starting to think of this as a "case" for her amateur crimefighting. Paige had just disappeared. Adults didn't just disappear. They either left, and left crumbs, or they died. Or they were being trafficked or were part of witness protection or something. This was a puzzle to be solved. If she could give Melanie the love of her life back... great. If she could just find out what happened and let her move on, also great. Her attraction to the pretty professor was definitely going to be taking a back seat to her ... lust for justice? something. Curiousity. whatever it was.

She took the number "I'll let you know sometime this week. I'd love to get back home and I'm sure Gabi's parents would like to see her, so maybe she and I will head out that way and then meet you there and we can all drive back together or something." Maybe she'd drag Porter, though... miles and miles of hiking was probably beyond his endurance at this point. She'd have to see.

She made her excuses, then headed home. Before Gabi got back she started trolling Paige's social media presence. She needed to find everything she could about her. Schools, degrees, job. All of that was necessary. Also there was a phone call to make. She turned on her burner and called Hadley's dad, leaving a message when she got his voicemail.

"Looking into something for a friend of a friend. not high priority but would appreciate anything you can tell me. Missing person case. Paige Howe. Not a personal friend so... no big deal if there's nothing you can do." Though it was a big deal, she didn't necessarily want him connecting her to Melanie and wanted to make it seem like there was only a tenuous connection there.

 

[Halcyon638]

Melanie nodded at Monica’s suggestion. “Yes, that’s…of course. I…you can certainly bring your friends. I was…I didn’t even think…” Her facial expression and tone changed, as if she’d flipped a switch back to “professor mode.” “Don’t worry about…about getting back to me right away. I think I got a bit too excited at the notion of getting back outside.” She coughed once.

It didn’t take long for Monica’s search to turn up information on Paige Howe. Picture after picture showed a lovely, smiling woman with a petite frame and short, straight blonde hair. In many of the photos, she was pulling Melanie in close for a photo, placing a kiss on her cheek or tousling her red hair. A few pictures showed them on top of a mountain or posing in front of what looked like ancient Greek or Roman architecture. When Monica found some news articles, she learned that Paige had been 33 when she’d gone missing two years prior, but she looked no older than her late twenties.

Despite the ample crime in Prospect City, a missing, pretty white lady still garnered disproportional attention, so there were numerous articles about her disappearance. A lifelong Prospect City resident, she had been a manager at a chain bookstore after moving back to the city after attending Boston College.

Monica was still sifting through her online research and hanging up the burner phone when the phone chimed. Text messages from the detective that had apparently been sent the night before began popping up.

“We need to talk. Urgent.”

“Give me a call before you go out. Extremely Urgent!”

Patrol last night hadn’t yielded any threats, but just as Monica was considering returning the call, the phone rang. “Hey,” Hadley’s father said. “You’re okay? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you since yesterday.”

“I just got your voice message and I’ll do that, no problem,” he said, a tone of relief setting in, “but I have to warn you about something. So, there’s this guy who goes by the name of the Imperial. That’s almost literally all we know about him—or her, I guess—but everything points to them being one of the new power players in Prospect City. We’ve got some of the most hardened career criminals who practically piss themselves even thinking about spilling anything on the guy.”

“Anyway, apparently he was behind the heist at First Line last week, and word on the street is you stopping it set him back a shit ton of money, which he didn’t take lying down.” The detective paused. “There are whispers that he’s…going to come at you somehow. I mean, not him, most likely, but someone who works for him.”

“So…I figure I can’t stop you from going out there, and you’ve probably got…someone who cares about you who’s already tried to talk you out of this whole deal and failed. But just be extra careful, okay? And you could maybe help lower my blood pressure if you’d check the burner a few more times a day at least. Just saying.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica chuckles "I can't tell anyone I'm doing this. The minute I do some sort of Supervillain will go after them. Some guy with a name like... the Imperial. I do appreciate the heads up. Frankly, the fact that this was as organized as it was and someone that dangerous wanted that weapon well... It makes me twice as glad I was there. I hate to think what a guy like that is going to do with something like that. I mean... Won't lie. Was tempted to walk off with it myself. Could fight a lot of crime in that thing." She kept up her stupid batman/Elizabeth Holmes voice for the call. "As for having the phone on more well. There's this whole... not a search fourth amendment cell phone location thing. So I only turn it on when I'm away from home or my job. Figuring out I'm at the 7-11 8 hours a day would pretty much tell anyone who I am so... hope you understand. So this Imperial guy he's like, what the boss of bosses? He's Don Vito or whatever?"
She hmmed. In case he had drones out or something she was going to have to be more circumspect about not summoning the sliver to her apartment building.

"This is sub-optimal, detective Knapp but I suppose it was inevitable you know? and here everyone was worried I'd just piss off someone run of the mill like the Russians. So... have you found his inside man at First Line? You don't just guess there's like, a super suit in there. Someone had to have sold that information to his people. If you can't tell me you can't tell me that's fine but you know. If you need someone who doesn't have to follow the fifth amendment... just sayin."

 

[Halcyon638]

When Monica mentioned considering taking the battle armor, Hadley’s dad responded, “Nah, I like your current look. Though I think trust you with it more than I trust First Line.” A dog barked in the background. “Well, as long as you know I’m not going to try to track you. I get it. I had to talk to my neighbor’s son about the best way to make sure all my communications are encrypted and all that crap. I’m pretty sure he’s convinced I’m into some really gross porn.”

The dog’s bark turned to a low whine. “Yeah, that’s about right,” he said in regards to her description of the Imperial. “He’s somehow managed to muscle in on the turf of most of the gangs in town and they’re barely fighting back. Our intel’s still lacking on this, but I’m doing what I can. All I can tell you for now is he allegedly has ties to a legit nightclub called Blue Sofia. Upscale place. The kind you can’t get a decent beer to save your life.”

“Yeah, I guess if you’re pissing off the people at the top, you’re doing something right,” the cop said as the dog panted into the phone. He laughed briefly at her question about First Line. “Sorry. As much as you helped dig me out of a hole with the top brass here, I’m still too much of a pain in the ass to put on any cases involving that much money. Word is the feds might be brought in, jurisdiction be damned, and they’ll set me on fire before they’ll talk to me. Although…the lady working the case right now used to have a thing for me, so I’ll see if I remember how to put on the Knapp charm.”

Gabi arrived not long after Monica hung up on Hadley’s father. Her friend went straight into the kitchen to start on dinner. Turning back to her research, she found that nearly all of the articles about Paige Howe’s disappearance covered the same ground: she was leaving her painting course at a local studio space at 8:00 on June 10th, 2020, and was never seen again. Police weren’t able to identify a single suspect or person of interest. A few of the articles referred to vague marital problems between her and Melanie. One photo that came up showed Paige a few years before the murder. Her hair was longer, and between the length, style, and color, didn’t look all that dissimilar from Monica’s.

Finally, Monica came across a result that offered more than the articles she’d found thus far. It was a blog post commenting on an episode of a true crime podcast called The MurderCast. From what Monica could tell, the hosts had formulated a theory that Paige had been having an affair with a man based on two neighbors reporting having seen a man outside her house on at least two separate occasions. The commenter wrote, “My guess is either this rando dude ended up killing her (maybe because she wouldn’t leave her wife???) or maybe the wife did it (or hired some dude. She’s definitely sus.”

A comment below said: “Based on what exactly?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica hmmmed. She wrote down what she knew, to help herself think through things.

1) Melanie has a type.
2) TV says its always the wife.
3) Man around. See if can get a description.
4) Two ways to approach. She's dead, you're looking for a body.... she's alive you're looking for a person.
5) have to proceed as if looking for a person, or at some point you could be looking for a body.
6) maybe look into the arts program. See if anyone there knew about someone taking an interest in her.
7) Art studio is near the house. Should be able to scope the route home, see if there's somewhere that someone could be grabbed.

She tapped her chin. She had to work on the theory that Paige either willingly, or unwillingly, ran off with some man. Maybe the man that was sniffing around. If Mel killed her she'd never find out. Besides, the woman seemed too broken up after the fact. She further had to assume the leave wasn't voluntary. Otherwise her parents would know where she was, most likely. If the cops HAD found her, it would be in the file as well so... if she's just avoiding Mel she might get the address from the cops, and go just convince her faking her death was bullshit. So really she had to approach this as an abduction.

She cured up the podcast for after dinner, figuring if she listened to it she might find a description of the man, or some names of people to follow up with. That done, she wandered into the kitchen and hugged Gabi from behind, wrapping her up for a second "Smells good. What is it and is there enough for two? cause i'm starving. STARVING"

 

[Halcyon638]

As Monica hugged her, Gabi dipped a wooden spoon into the dish in front of her. “Taste,” she instructed her. It was a cream-based, garlic and white wine sauce with impressive flavoring. She smiled at Monica’s reaction, then took a taste as well. “Ooh, that did come out pretty good. Sit down, carino. I’ll serve you up.”

She placed a pile of angel hair pasta and a cooked chicken breast on Monica’s plate. “So, how'd your engineering quiz go? I was thinking we totally have to hit a Target or something to get some Halloween decorations. What do you think?”

After catching up with Monica a bit, Gabi sat at their table studying while Monica did dishes and listened to the podcast. The podcast was primarily about mega-famous crimes (the main focus of the episode was about the robbery that inspired the movie Heat, so apparently it wasn’t entirely murder-centric despite the title). Apparently, the two hosts were based in Prospect City, hence their interest in the disappearance, which they covered as almost an aside near the end.

The hosts were mostly respectful, taking pains to point out that it was quite possible Paige Howe was alive and wishing her and her family well. They mostly recapped the details Monica was already becoming uncomfortably familiar with, though they provided more history on the couple. Paige and Melanie Howe had met in 2011, when Paige was 24 and Melanie was 32. Melanie was in her second year as a newly hired Assistant Professor at Prospect U, while Melanie worked in HR at a local PR firm. They painted more of a picture of Paige, a former collegiate soccer player who loved reading, travel, and Korean food, seemingly the creative, impulsive counterpart to her more organized, logical wife, even after Paige ended up being promoted to manager at a chain bookstore, Better Books. They had married in a small town in California in 2014 surrounded by friends and family, and honeymooned in Italy.

Eventually, the hosts discussed the suspicious man. One neighbor reported seeing a bald or balding man with a tan or light brown complexion leaving sometime after 10:00 one night, and another reported seeing the man wearing a baseball cap leaving on another night sometime between 11 and midnight, but couldn’t speak to his hair or skin tone. Both agreed that he was short or at least below average height.

The hosts didn’t have much to add, aside from noting the reported marital difficulties. They specifically cited a friend of the couple, Kelsey Abramowitz, who stated that the couple had argued almost constantly in the past few years, allegedly about Monica being too devoted to her work. The hosts did speculate (while being careful with their phrasing as to avoid possible legal action, it seemed) that perhaps there was a connection between the suspicious man and their arguments.

Finally, there was a brief discussion of the case of Amy Clemens, a 20-year-old blonde server who had gone missing about 5 weeks before Paige had, and there was some conjecture that the cases were connected. Clemens was found dead about a week and a half after Paige went missing, the victim of 27 stab wounds. However, any ties between the cases were dismissed after Clemens’s boyfriend Darius Griffiths Jr., pleaded guilty to the murder and had an airtight alibi for the night Paige disappeared, though he later claimed he was innocent and convinced to take a plea rather than face the possibility of a life sentence.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica took more notes. She assumed that the police already investigated the link between the missing blond women, but maybe not. Resources were stretched thin and so they might not have made the connection. Something to inquire about. Hopefully Knapp came through with the whole file. She might track down Kelsey Abramowitz, but there was a risk there as she had to approach most of these people as "the masked woman" or she risked Melanie losing her shit on her. This had to be handled with something of a delicate hand. She couldn't be seen to be investigating to closely in her civilian guise, but also some people might not want to talk with a masked superhero. Though maybe the notoriety of it would help. This Kelsey woman might be able to shed some light on the identity of the mysterious man. She also, to the textent possible, looked over Paige's social media pages, looking for comments about her disappearance, particularly from men. She then looked at the social media pages of those men, trying to see if any of them might meet the description of the guy. She compiled a list of the likely suspects so she could compare it, later, to whatever she saw in the file or heard from other witnesses.

While it was possible Melanie killed her wife in a fit of jealous rage, it didn't seem likely. She was the less involved of the pair, and she seemed genuinely still devastated. She had to approach this as if Paige were still alive and captured.

A thought occurred to her, and she tried looking to see if there was still any social media presence for Amy Clemens, if her pages were public, and ... hopefully... if there was anyone who commented on her page that was in common with Paige. That might give her another lead, something to connect the two women that a bunch of Gen X or Boomer cops might not have thought to check.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica managed to find a public Instagram account that appeared to be Paige’s. It seemed to provide an overview of the overall trajectory of her marriage, as it began in 2017 with many pictures of her and Melanie, then mostly photos of nature and their two cats in the last year or so leading up to her disappearance.

One of Paige’s final posts leading up to her disappearance had been turned into a tribute. The photo showed Paige in front of a bookcase with the caption:

“Finally finished the season-long project of re-alphabetizing our shared book collection. Fiction and non-fiction by author’s last name. There were intense debates re: whether to categorize by genres and where the hell poetry fits in. I got my way (I always do!) but took Mel out to dinner as a consolation prize.”

The first comment was from Melanie: “The most heated debate was whether to classify Freud as fiction or non-fiction or to dump him straight into the trash. I argued for trash.” Overall, the comments section had roughly 70 comments, 50 of so which seemed to be expressing concern about her disappearance and well wishes. Monica was surprised to recognize one name: Alex Townes, her Intro. to Film Professor. He was of average height, though, with hair (albeit short) and light complected. Going through his profile revealed that he indeed had hair around the time of Paige’s disappearance, though his skin did look somewhat tanned in the photos as there were a few beach pics of him in the weeks leading up to the 10th of June.

It took quite a while to go through the male-sounding names in the comments and look at their Instagram (and other profiles) to obtain a list. By the time Monica had sifted through the comments, she had a list of 3 bald or balding guys who seemed vaguely on the short side judging from their other posts, along with corresponding info from their social media presences:

John Adler: early 40s, travel writer

Jason Giovanni: mid 30s, personal trainer

Ernesto Campos: mid 30s, systems analyst

Amy Clemens surprisingly only had a lightly used Twitter account public. Monica did find an obituary posted on a relative’s page that provided more context for her: She had been working as a server at an upscale restaurant but one day planned to return to college to become a veterinarian, and her hobby included dancing, karaoke, and spending time with her family’s pets. After scanning the comments, Monica didn’t see any matches in terms of names. One of her family members and someone named Alyssa Griffiths, presumably related to Amy’s boyfriend, had gotten into a heated argument about the man’s innocence that had ended in Amy’s family member hurling ugly, racialized insults at Darius, a Black man.

Monica was about to close the tab on the website for the newspaper in which her electronic obituary had been posted when she saw a comment that stood out. Among the 7 people who had ended up commenting on the news site itself rather than her relative’s page, someone under the username Father12 had written:

“Amy wielded her beauty like a blunt instrument. Crudely, yet effectively. And who can blame her?” The comment was the final such entry on the article and had been posted about a week after the rest of the comments had died down.

By the time Monica came up for air, it was quarter to eleven. She could hear Gabi talking on the phone, seemingly to her father. Monica still had a sizeable amount of homework for tomorrow’s classes.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica, probably because she didn't care for him, downloaded a few pics of Alex Townes as well as the balding men. Alex could have disguised himself, or they just could have been wrong. Or he could know Melanie and Monica was just being a bitch because she thought he was a creep.

Father12 didn't leave much to go on, so she decided to work on seeing if any of the suspects had children or were priests or had been priests. That could wait till tomorrow though. Chances were Amy was killed by a customer. Still she had to put all this aside. She had class in the morning and coffee with Austin as well. It was important to grab as much time with him as she could before basketball season. Whatever they were, he deserved some attention. NO patrol tonight. She listened to Gabi for a moment to see if everything was ok, then hit the books. Around 1 she looked over at the clock and groaned. She hoped there were no strange dreams tonight because she needed the fucking sleep for sure.

The next morning, before class she set up an email account using a dark-web site. She would get Knapp's email and communicate that way, which would be easier to keep herself hidden on and would let her get electronic files and scans of documents if needed. She also emailed the podcast people, to express her interest in searching for the truth of Amy's killing. She asked for whatever information they might have had that didn't make it to the podcast. She said she was intrigued by the possibility it was the same person who killed or abducted Paige Howe.

After class, she sat with Austin over coffee, chatting and trying to keep her mind off the project, but it was hard. This had really peaked her interest. After lunch she mailed Knapp, and texted him from the burner that she'd prefer to use the email address unless it was a real emergency. She could check it every few hours without giving any location data and it seemed the best way to go.

 

[Halcyon638]

After class that day, Monica received a text from her father asking him to give her a call. “Hey there,” he said. “I just got something in the mail that said two weekends from this upcoming one is Parents’ Weekend? Did you want me to come by? Also, I tried to do some digging about this First Line company and the armor. Wasn’t much at their website so but I found a news story that mentioned a couple of their researchers and googled them. Didn’t find anything in their background that seemed off, so I doubt those two at least were Centauri. If I had a list of their employees it might be possible but I did a little prodding and their encryption’s out of this world. No pun intended.”

That evening, Monica also received an email from Dr. Hoshi in the theatre department offering her the work-study stagehand job. It would run each weekday from 3:00 – 5:00.

Returning to Paige’s disappearance, Monica found that at least one of the 3 bald men on her list had children: Jason Giovanni. It didn’t seem like Alex Townes did from what she could find. Hadley’s father emailed her later that night.

“Here’s that info you requested,” he said. “I gave it a once over and I don’t know that there’s much here, though. Closest thing we have to anyone even remotely resembling a suspect is the wife based on the general shittiness of their marriage, but nothing otherwise points to her. Also, no updates on the Imperial or First Line yet. Just a heads up that I will be out of town from around Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, so try not to get into anything too deep while I’m gone.”

As Monica looked through the files, she found that much of it painted a lurid and uncomfortable portrait of the women’s marriage. According to Kelsey Abramowitz and some of the couple’s other friends, they were constantly fighting about Melanie being too devoted to her work, not valuing Paige’s work because she wasn’t an academic, and Melanie not getting treatment for her mental health issues. An account from a friend named Joanna Cartwright-Moore maintained that Paige once said to her “it’s a good thing we don’t believe in owning guns or both of us would be dead by now.”

There was a social media chat log between Abramowitz and Paige as well:

“Kelsey: What’s wrong?

Paige: Nothing. At least nothing I can say without sounding like a broken record.

Kelsey: I’m sorry. Can I do anything?

Paige: No. No one can. She can’t, apparently. She can’t change no matter how much I beg and plead and tell her that I can’t fucking go on like this. Who knows. Maybe she’ll change when I’m gone.

Kelsey: Gone? What do you mean?

Paige: Nothing I’m just venting. Sorry. Thanks for listening.”

The report noted that aside from such statements, there was no evidence to suggest Paige had been diagnosed with depression or suicidal tendencies beforehand. It also noted no evidence of the type of behavior one might expect from a person wanting to disappear and go elsewhere, such as suspicious banking activity.

The report also contained a brief mention of the Amy Clemens case, noting that they had interviewed Darius Griffiths about Paige’s disappearance but that he had been with friends at a bar the entire night of June 10th, 2020. Once he pleaded guilty to Clemens’s murder, that line of investigation was dropped.

The only real physical evidence identified were two cigarette butts that Melanie found. She initially had assumed Paige had started smoking and didn’t think anything else of them, but then alerted the police after her wife went missing. Labs confirmed that the DNA samples from the items belonged to an unidentified male. The report also contained the testimony of both neighbors who had spotted the man.

By that night, Monica hadn’t yet received a reply from the MurderCast hosts.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica took the job, though that did cut into her ability to talk to Melanie during her office hours. Still she had her number and she could always call her if she felt the need. She was beginning to be unsure how wise it was to involve herself at all with the woman, but if she could find Paige alive maybe things would turn around for her. Besides finding Paige alive had to be a goal. Either the woman was super fucked up and just disappeared instead of being an adult and getting a divorce, or she was in some kind of serious trouble. Either way, people deserved to know.

She emailed Knapp "taking the weekend off. I have stuff of my own. Don't worry about me detective. Sometimes a girl needs to take a break herself." After emailing Knapp, she got it into her head that she could get a DNA sample from Townes and maybe find out if he smoked by doing his podcast. She shot him an email saying she'd freed up some time to watch some movies and if he was still interested he should give her the movies he wanted to talk about. She could then get the DNA off for comparison to Knapp. Either way she could rule someone in or out.

She sat down and wrote a letter to Darius. She had to write it in her own name, because prison was funny like that. Still, she wrote and said she'd heard the story on the true crime podcast and she had some questions if he didn't mind answering. She asked if there was anyone at work, like a customer especially, who had bothered his girlfriend or seemed unusually interested. She said she was researching the case and how it might tie into other abductions for her own webseries. It was bullshit, but if she got the man out of prison then she doubted he'd care about the ruse.

She emailed her father back, saying he should come up, and she might actually come home for a night not this weekend but the next. She wasn't sure yet, but she and a friend or two might go hiking and if they did, she might come home Friday night and then head back with her friend on Saturday.

Finally, she sent out a text asking if anyone wanted to go hiking next weekend, out by her and Gabi's home. She needed to keep contact with Melanie, but also at this point probably needed a buffer. She had to consider the possibility Melanie had done something to Paige, even if that possibility was remote. She didn't believe it, but she had to be as objective as possible.

 

[Halcyon638]

Dr. Hoshi emailed Monica back about the position: “Can you start on Monday? You’ll need to fill out some paperwork at the financial office.”

Monica also received a reply from Alex Townes not long after she’d emailed him: “Excellent! Are you still interested in discussing Ace in the Hole and Nightcrawler? I have both movies on Blu-Ray but I know you don’t have a player. I’d be happy to reimburse you if you wanted to rent both movies over streaming, or I can let you borrow my player as well. There isn’t really a tight schedule for this podcast, so you can let me know when you’ve had a chance to watch both and we can work around your schedule. Generally how this works is I’ll send you some potential discussion topics before you watch (though you can feel free to choose your own) and then we have a preliminary informal chat about the movies/episode before we actually record it.

You made some excellent contributions to our discussion today as usual and look forward to discussing these films with you!”

Lastly, as Monica was making her way through a chapter in her psychology textbook, she received replies from Nick and Hadley saying they would be up for a hike. A moment later, she heard a knock on her bedroom door. “Heyyy,” Gabi said. “You’re really hitting those books the last few days. That’s why you’re coming straight in here, right? I didn’t do anything to make you mad, did I?” She smiled, indicating she wasn’t serious. “I like the hiking idea! Not sure how I feel about spending quality time with the parents two weekends in a row, though,” she said, referencing Parent’s Weekend. “Kinda wondering if…maybe I can stay with you guys?”