Spider Quinn 13 Aftermath and Investigations - Part 9

 

After finishing her shift, Quinn went up to the roof. But before she changed to SpiderGirl, she looked around at the town. ‘Did something change earlier?’ she wondered as she looked around. ‘Nothing out of the ordinary,’ she decided as she looked towards the Strawberry a second time. She then changed to SpiderGirl and listened for a while before swinging away. There was the usual discord that had been present for the past five days.

 

 

Towards midnight, Ninja Talon approached the Hecuba-Croft residence. She saw that Andrea’s light was still on through the dark curtains. ‘Good.’ She then went around to the backyard.

 

 

Andrea heard her door open. She saw a figure, looking like a ninja, there. “Ninja Talon?” she asked. “How did you get in here?”

 

“That’s me,” Ninja Talon answered. “I picked the back door lock.”

 

“Why are you here?”

 

“I would like you to hack into Oscorp for me.”

 

“Oscorp?” Andrea asked. She stood up. “Why would I do that, Brittany?”

 

“Brittany? Who’s Brittany?” Ninja Talon asked, her voice as low as it could go.

 

“I know it’s you, Brittany. Who else would know their way here in the night time?”

 

 

Brittany took off her mask. “How did you figure it out?” she asked.

 

“As I said, who else would know their way to this room at night? Not anyone else currently at Lawndale High. You came straight here; you didn’t open my parents’ door or those of any of the spare rooms by mistake.”

 

“Oops!”

 

“Don’t worry, your secret identity is safe with me and I’m not going to ask about SpiderGirl’s. But I am going to ask why you want me to hack into Oscorp!”

 

“Because SpiderGirl and I found out the extent of their footprint in Lawndale and because of what happened on Friday night.”

 

“Uh! Don’t remind me!” Andrea said with a wave of her hands. “I’m still jittery about that.”

 

“Sorry, but while we were able to find documents when we infiltrated an office, the computers were inaccessible.”

 

“They would be that way.”

 

“We did give copies of the documents to the Sun-Herald,” Brittany said. “But we need to find out more.”

 

“About what, beyond their footprint being large?”

 

“Where that glider craft is, that was used on Friday night.”

 

“So, far I’m just hearing a conspiracy theory,” Andrea said.

 

‘You could just check their website.”

 

“I will.”

 

 

Andrea accessed the website, slowly, letting Brittany sweat as she slowly typed. She clicked each link slowly. But when the map of Lawndale loaded her eyes widened. “You’re right,” she said. “That is a large presence.”

 

“See,” Brittany said.

 

“Then I will hack them. But not tonight, I need to prepare.”

 

“Tomorrow night?”

 

“Yes,” Andrea answered. “Tell SpiderGirl that.”

 

“Of course.”

 

 

Brittany hesitated. “You promise?”:

 

“You ask me for a promise?” Andrea asked.

 

“I know I broke a promise…”

 

“I promise I will keep your identity as Ninja Talon a secret. I will see you and SpiderGirl later.”

 

 

Daria took another look at her wall. She had added several more articles on SpiderGirl from mid November, along with her notes on her interviews of Elena and the two seniors after her and from the previous night’s foray with the Enigma. ‘There’s still a lot of space.’ She then heard a sound, as if someone had thrown a stone against one of her windows. She turned and it came again. She went and opened the window in question. She saw Sandi down on the patio outside the kitchen door. “Sandi?”

 

“Hi, Daria,” Sandi said. “Can I come up?”

 

“You could have called,” Daria said.

 

Sandi shrugged, “I thought I would surprise you,” she said.

 

“You can come up.”

 

 

Daria opened the hall window and Sandi climbed up the ivy into it. She went into Daria’s room. “This looks crazier than I thought,” she said.

 

Daria entered. “Why are you here, Sandi?” she asked as she closed the door.

 

She looked at the wall where Daria had put up various newspaper articles and notes. “I thought we could catch up on our investigations.”

 

“We could have done that tomorrow.”

 

“Maybe, but maybe I have possibly time sensitive information,” Sandi said.

 

“Like what?”

 

“Like the name of Osborn’s counsellor.”

 

Daria sighed and grabbed a notebook from the desk. “What is it?” she asked in a resigned tone.

 

“Verity Beresfield.”

 

 

Daria wrote the name down. “I’m not sure how this could be time sensitive.”

 

“it’s a hunch. Osborn could be dangerous,” Sandi said.

 

“But there isn’t any proof of that,” Daria said.

 

“I know. But I thought we could go on another wild goose chase.”

 

“At night?”

 

“I have my mother’s car in the laneway,” Sandi answered.

 

“But where are we going? This isn’t like Saturday.”

 

“High Hills Park at first.”

 

“I will come,” Daria decided.

 

 

They left the house the same way Sandi had come in, with Daria leaving the window open by a crack. ‘I’m sure Quinn won’t notice.’

 

 

They arrived at High Hills Park just over five minutes later.

 

“Wiccans?” Daria asked, as she looked in the direction Sandi pointed in. “I knew that already.”

 

“But maybe we could interview them,” Sandi said.

 

“I doubt they would appreciate their midnight worship being interrupted,” Daria pointed out. “But we’ll see.”

 

 

“Tania?” Sandi asked, for the girl whom Daria had approached was Tania Ashworth.

 

“Sandi Griffin and Daria Morgendorffer,” Tania responded with slight annoyance. “Together, no less? Why are you here?”

 

“Because of what’s been going on in Lawndale the past few months, but more specifically this past week,” Daria answered.

 

“In the middle of the night?” Tania asked.

 

“I could ask the same of you and your fellow worshipers of nature,” Sandi said.

 

Tania laughed a little. “Thanks for not calling us devil worshippers. That has gotten old. But that’s still not accurate.”

 

“The opportunity came up,” Daria answered.

 

“Suffering from insomnia?” Tania asked.

 

“I could ask the same of you,” Daria responded.

 

“I guess,” Tania said.

 

“First, what do you think of SpiderGirl?” Daria asked.

 

“Or of the fact that Norman Osborn is now living here?” Sandi asked.

 

“SpiderGirl? She’s bringing hope, especially after Groundhog Day. As for Osborn, I’m not sure.”

 

“Tania!” one of the other Wiccan’s said.

 

“We could continue this tomorrow,” Tania said to Sandi and Daria.

 

“Sure,” Daria said. “At lunch.”

 

“See you then,” Tania said.

 

 

“Where to now?” Sandi asked Daria when they had returned to the car.

 

Daria took out the map of Lawndale showing the Oscorp properties in the town. “The one that is closest to here. Then I’ll suggest it to the fourth vigilante when we meet next.”

 

“There’s a story there,” Sandi said carefully. ‘A good idea.’

 

“Sure, I’ll tell it if you keep below the speed limit.”

 

“I can do that,” Sandi said. ‘I’ll see how much she may have guessed.’

 

 

Thus they began casing various Oscorp properties around town from the street.

 

 

An hour and half later, Ninja Talon met SpiderGirl at the Bridge. “I talked to Andrea,” the former said.

 

SpiderGirl could tell something is up. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I made a mistake.”

 

“Go on.”

 

“I went straight to her room and she guessed that I’m her old friend,” Ninja Talon said, clearly annoyed with herself. “I should have went to one of the spare rooms first. She promised to keep the secret, but I should have been more careful!”

 

“Oh. I could have made a similar one, If I had to talk to Stacy,” SpiderGirl said. She hugged the other heroine. “All mistakes can be learned from. Of course, I’m still thinking about what to do about Peterson.”

 

“Oh, yeah.”

 

“But what else did Andrea say?”

 

“She will hack Oscorp tomorrow night, as she said she’ll need to prepare.”

 

 

Sandi and Daria arrived at the Giant Strawberry again. “We’re looking again?” Sandi asked.

 

“Yes,” Daria said as she got out of the car.

 

 

SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon approached another Oscorp office. “They have probably increased security after last night,” the former pointed out.

 

“Then we probably need another way in.”

 

“The ventilation system.”

 

 

Up on the roof, SpiderGirl easily removed the grate from one of the HVAC vents. “This is something I haven’t done before, but it’s similar to something I have done recently,” she said.

 

“Oh?”

 

“I’m modifying the house, including an old laundry chute to the basement beneath my closet.”

 

“Oh! I just found a space beneath my bedroom floorboards,” Ninja Talon responded.

 

“I’m sure that works to, and I found a hidden area of the basement. I haven’t done anything with that yet. I’m putting in a hatch from the closet to the attic first.”

 

“Maybe I could do something like that.”

 

“Maybe,” SpiderGirl said as she entered the vent.

 

 

They crawled down to an office. SpiderGirl swung down first, there wasn’t an alarm. “It could still be silent,” she said as Ninja Talon followed her down.

 

The latter nodded as she went over to a filing cabinet.

 

 

They didn’t find much other than requisition orders, receipts and payslip details. “No evidence here,” Ninja Talon said.

 

“Then let’s get out of here.”

 

 

“So, you think Beresfield could be in danger?” Daria asked Sandi again as she looked through the telescope at High Hills Park again. It seemed that Tania’s group had left.

 

“Yes, but I have no idea where she could be staying,” Sandi admitted.

 

“And going to various motels or other places at random probably wouldn’t be a good idea.”

 

“Probably not.”

 

“I’ll bring it up with the fourth vigilante,” Daria decided as she turned from the telescope.

 

“Good idea.”

 

 

Lawndale Sun-Herald

Thursday, February 8, 2001

Is there actually a fourth vigilante?

By Melinda Parris

 

‘Melinda is just speculating!’ Linda thought as she grabbed the paper from the mailbox. ‘I much prefer Penelope’s articles!’

 

 

As she entered the kitchen, Quinn thought about what had happened the previous night. ‘I hope we can trust Andrea to keep the secret.’

 

“Quinn?” Daria asked.

 

“I was thinking about something,” Quinn responded. She looked at her sister. “You look tired.”

 

“A little insomnia,” Daria said.

 

“Or the fourth vigilante again?”

 

“Sandi actually.”

 

“Were you talking all night?” Quinn asked as she grabbed some cereal.

 

“Not all night. It was another wild goose chase.”

 

“Where did you go?”

 

“High Hills Park at first.” Daria answered “Did you know Tania Ashworth is a Wiccan?”

 

“Of course. She talks about it sometimes.”

 

“Sandi seemed surprised.”

 

“Ugh! She didn’t believe her,” Quinn said with annoyance.

 

“Well, she believes her now.”

 

“Where else did you go.”

 

“Looked at various Oscorp buildings from the street,” Daria answered. “Then the Strawberry.”

 

 

At the same time, Brittany was sparring with Ashley-Amber as practice. “I know you’re up to something,” Ashley-Amber said.

 

“Oh?”

 

“Sometimes I see that your room is empty.”

 

Brittany struck out and her stepmother parried the blow. “I’m doing stuff,” she responded enigmatically.

 

“Like?”

 

“Sometimes I can’t sleep and wander the neighborhood.”

 

“It’s still dangerous,” Ashley-Amber said, as she turned and then flipped Brittany. “Even if it’s a gated estate.”

 

“Oof! I know.”

 

“You’re not saying everything.”

 

“And investigating stuff,” Brittany said.

 

“Whatever it is, you can confide in me.”

 

‘Not after what happened with Andrea. Sorry, Ashley-Amber, I don’t want you to be in Oscorp’s firing line if things go badly. Or of any other villains.’

 

 

Sandi arrived at school and found Harry waiting for her. “Morning, Sandi.”

 

“How are things this morning?”

 

“Interesting. My father has suggested we have dinner with your family tomorrow night.”

 

‘That would be interesting,’ Sandi thought. “Really?”

 

“Yes. It seems that he wants to meet you.”

 

‘But is that a good thing? I hope he doesn’t think Harry and I are together,’ she thought. “I see.”

 

“What do you think?” Harry asked.

 

“It’s a good idea. I will tell Mother when I get home.”

 

 

Norman was annoyed. Another report of vigilantes in an office! “What happened?” he asked the security chief again.

 

“A silent alarm sounded last night in one of the Main Street offices. It was automatically set, as you ordered.”

 

“And?”

 

“And when the guards got there, there was no one. But he found evidence that someone may have gained ingress through the ventilation system,” the security chief said.

 

“Then, I want cameras watching the vents on the roof.”

 

“That will take time.”

 

Then there was an interruption. “Penelope Jericho from the Sun-Herald wanting to see you, sir.”

 

“Stall her!” Osborn said. He turned back the security chief. “Then get started right away.”

 

“She’s being insistent, sir.”

 

 

“He still doesn’t want to see you,” the assistant said.

 

“Of course he doesn’t,” Penelope said. ‘It wasn’t going to be that easy,’ she thought. “Then tell him I’ll have an article published about Oscorp without his input.”

 

“Sir, she says…”

 

 

“Let her in,” Norman said.

 

The security chief passed the journalist on the way out.

 

“What is this about an article on this corporation?”

 

“About this map on your website,” Penelope said as she handed over a print out of the map in question. “About how you have been stealthily purchasing property all over Lawndale for years.

 

“It’s all a matter of public record.”

 

“But the people of Lawndale may have a different opinion.”

 

“But I’m not giving you ammunition to persuade them. Good day Ms. Jericho,” Norman said

 

“I suggest you find out more about my record. You’ll find that I’m reliable.”

 

 

Jane found that Daria was sitting with Sandi and Harry. ‘Great!’ she thought as she sat next to Daria. “What’s up?” she asked.

 

“Tania Ashworth is joining us too,” Daria said.

 

“Why?” Jane asked. “She’s not a senior.”

 

Sandi then explained about the previous night.

 

“I see,” Jane said when Sandi was finished.

 

Tania then joined them. “Oh, Jane and Harry too?” she asked.

 

“Yes,” Daria said.

 

“That’s fine,” Tania responded. “What other questions did you have?”

 

“What do you think of this?” Sandi asked as she gave Tania a copy of the Oscorp map of Lawndale.

 

“That is more buildings than I thought would be,” Tania responded. “What is your father up to?” she asked Harry.

 

“He doesn’t confide in me about his business practices,” Harry admitted. “He says that I’m still too young.”

 

“Oh,” Tania said.

 

“And about the other vigilantes,” Daria said. “Like Ninja Talon.”

 

“And the Shadow,” Jane added, wondering how Tania would answer about her alter ego.

 

“And the fourth one,” Sandi added.

 

‘That too,’ Jane thought. ‘I’m not going to case the Ashworths’, at least not without talking to Trent first. A Wiccan who worships at midnight? It’s not much of a stretch that she could become the fourth vigilante, without much suspicion.’

 

 

Tania paused. There wasn’t much she could say. “I have seen SpiderGirl. But I have only seen Ninja Talon and the Shadow on TV and that was on Groundhog Day. It seems they are elusive. I wasn’t in the Mall that day either.”

 

“What about the fourth?” Daria asked.

 

“Still just a rumor as far as I know,” Tania answered.

 

“I see,” Daria said.

 

“How long have you been wandering about at night?” Tania asked.

 

“Since last Friday,” Daria answered.

 

“So, the attack was the last straw?” Tania asked.

 

Daria nodded. “Thanks for your time.”

 

 

“Maybe the other Wiccans could help,” Sandi suggested.

 

“I could ask,” Tania said. “But many may be reticent.”

 

‘Should I tell Daria about Osborn’s invitation now?’ Sandi wondered. She looked to Harry. ‘I guess so.’ “There’s something else,”

 

“What?” Daria asked.

 

“Osborn wants to meet my family for dinner tomorrow,” Sandi answered.

 

“He does. It was a surprise to me too.” Harry added.

 

“It could just be curiosity,” Jane considered.

 

“Or it could be more,” Daria said.

 

“True,” Sandi said. “I will be alert.”

 

 

‘Maybe the Shadow could be there too,’ Jane wondered. ‘Another thing to think about.’

 

 

After school, Sandi found that her mother was home early. “Mother?”

 

“I’m fine,” her mother said. “It’s just that there is more Oscorp advertising.”

 

“On that topic, Harry says that his father wants us to have dinner with them tomorrow night.”

 

“Tomorrow night? That is short notice! I’ll see what your father has to say first.”

 

But Sandi knew that her father would go along with whatever her mother said. ‘It’s likely that she just wants to think about it.’

 

 

Jane got home from the pizza place, where Daria and Ted had interviewed another senior. She found Trent in the kitchen. “How was school?”

 

“Interesting, mostly at lunch.”

 

“Interesting, how?”

 

“Daria and the fourth vigilante, a Wiccan student and Norman Osborn wanting to meet the Griffins,” Jane said.

 

“Osborn and the Griffins?”

 

“Yes, exactly as I said. It seems Norman is curious about Sandi. But what else is the Wiccan student.”

 

“What about the Wiccan student?” Trent asked.

 

“Yes, Tania Ashworth. She could be the fourth vigilante.”

 

“Ashworth? I knew an Ashworth when I was at school. I’m pretty sure. But are you sure you aren’t jumping to conclusions like you did with Daria?”

 

“Maybe,” Jane considered. “But I’m not casing her house.”

 

“Good.”

 

“I’ll be casing High Hills Park.”

 

“Wouldn’t that be difficult?” Trent asked.

 

“I’d get there while the Wiccans are doing their rituals.”

 

 

The Griffins had their dinner early.

 

“…So what do you think?” Linda asked.

 

“Seems like a good idea, Honey,” Tom said.

 

“Tomorrow?” Sam asked.

 

“Yes, tomorrow,” Linda said. “I’ll call him as soon as we finish eating.”

 

 

“A Linda Griffin for you, sir,” Bernard said.

 

“Thanks,” Norman responded. “I was expecting her call.”

 

Norman took the handset from Bernard and dismissed him. “Hello, Norman Osborn here.”

 

“Linda Griffin. My daughter said that your son says you want a dinner with us tomorrow night?”

 

“That’s right. I’d like to get to know his new friend and her family.”

 

“I see,” Linda said, with a tone of slight scepticism. “Any other reason?”

 

“None,” Norman said. “What time would be good for you?”

 

“6:30. That would give us time to get ready, while not being too late.”

 

“Then I’ll see you then.”

 

 

Sandi was ready again. ‘I hope what happened last night won’t happen again.’ She looked at the next girl in the yearbook after Tiffany. “Veronica Boden,” she considered. She had long brown hair in two braids, much like Stacy’s. ‘But that’s where her similarity ends.’ She grabbed the energy drink.

 

“Findu mann sem heiter: Veronica Boden!”

 

She found Veronica at her house, close to the High School.