Delectica: Part 5: Busted!

Five miles down River Gorge Road from the Inlandsville city center...

"Did you hear something?" Riddle asked.

"No. There's no one out here today. There's no car's in the lot above. I think that the rain clouds have scared everyone away." Moonstruck was coiling a climbing rope between her hand and elbow.

Over the millenia the river had carved a narrow gorge through the valley leaving wonderfully exposed granite surfaces for all the local rock climbing enthusiasts. Moonstruck and Riddle had come to a section of the gorge divided into two distinct layers. The top layer was easily accessible via hiking trails. By strategically tying to an anchor in the parking area above, one could "top rope" over a variety of routes demanding varying levels of skills. The top layer ended with a shelf 25 meters wide. Only experts ventured over the shelf. The cliffs below had few handholds and frequent overhangs.

"Maybe it was a wildcat..."

"Why would a cat hang out on such a precarious ledge? Geez, Riddle, why are you so nervous today?"

"I don't know. I guess it's all those stories in the news about 'Delectica' and 'MolecuLox Glue'... Scary stuff..." Riddle retraced the figure eight knot with the end of the climbing rope. She displayed her work to Moonstruck to verify that the knot was clean. Moonstruck pulled on the rope several times just to make sure that the harness was tightly secured around Riddle's narrow waist.

"Yep. It's scary. But do you think archvillains spend their off hours creeping around in the wilderness?" Moonstruck asked. "Besides... Don't you think it would be kind of sexy if you and I were stuck together forever?"

Moonstruck tugged hard on the rope causing Riddle to stumble up against her.

"Maybe Delectica would wrap us in climbing ropes..." Moonstruck started coiling the rope around their bodies so Riddle, who was giggling, couldn't step away. "...Then Delectica would cover us in MolecuLox Powder..." Moonstruck grabbed a handful of chalk from the bag on her harness and sprinkled it down between their bodies.

"Finally, she would spray us down with water..." Moonstruck squeezed her water bottle so a thin stream arced through the air and rained down on their heads. Riddle screeched under the cool water and laughed.

"Then," Moonstruck continued, "you'd be stuck with me forever and ever." And she kissed Riddle on the lips.

"You're already stuck with me forever and ever!" Riddle replied as she hugged her friend and returned her kiss...


A lab on Vine Street in Inlandsville...

"Have you been here all weekend?... And what's with the shit-eating grin?" Apprentice Seychelle tossed her raincoat on a hook in dramatic exasperation. The Professor was spending far too much time holed up in the lab, racking her brains trying to solve the MolecuLox crimes.

"I think I know...," the Professor said, taking extra time to create a sense of suspense, "...who Delectica is. Or... actually... who Delectica ARE."

"What did you figure out?"

"Well... I thought that the villain had to be someone local. Inlandsville is not THAT big. So, I approached the problem with brute force." The Professor was starting to pace and taking on a classroom-lecture-like tone. Chelle decided to sit and wait for the story to unfold. "I took all the notes that you had entered into the computer along with many gigabytes of town data that I conned the Chief Inspector and the Berger to give me. I put all the documents on the Beowulf cluster and used a self extracting map to find documents with similarities to your notes." Chelle was starting to yawn. "I searched all the similar documents. For a long time I found nothing. But then I saw this symbol."

The professor pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to Chelle. It was a circle with three equally spaced, curved spurs radiating from the rim, giving the viewer the impression that the circle was spinning counter-clockwise.

Chelle looked confused. "What is it?"

"It's the symbol used by the Northern Oh ranch located on the outskirts of Inlandsville." The Professor said smiling proudly.

"I don't get it."

"Well... As you know MolecuLox Glue was discovered by Dr. T.N.T. Pound... 'Dr. Dynamite'. What is dynamite?"

Chelle's eyes brightened for a moment. "Dynamite... TNT, that is, stands for 2,4,6-trinitro toluene."

"Exactly! The molecule that we call dynamite is a benzine ring with three equally spaced atoms of nitrogen." The Professor sketched the molecule on the paper next to the Northern Oh symbol to emphasize the similarities between it and the molecule.

"Great!" Chelle said, but she cast her eyes to the floor. "That's pretty flimsy, if you ask me."

"Yes. It is flimsy. But this other evidence is not. I looked at the bank records for the ranch. They have received payments from a number of suspect corporations from around the world. The payment amount in each transaction has varied, but if you add up all the payments from each individual corporation it always totals to the same number. $516,937.39!"

Chelle's eyes brightened again. "Exactly the amount of money that Dr. Pound's will paid out to the 246 lucky recipients."

"...And 'lucky' is not the best word for the recipients. I did a little search and found that none of the chosen recipients were actually living at the time the money was sent to them."

"So who is receiving the money?"

"That's what we need to find out from the Northern Oh ranch. Currently, it's owned by two women: Zill Zillsdottor and Candshaw Crunge. Let's go get the Chief Inspector and pay a visit to the Northern Oh ranch."


One hour later...

Somewhere on the outskirts of Inlandsville... (more precisely, the Northern Oh ranch...)

Two police cars and the Professor's hybrid made their way up the long driveway to the ranch house. The Chief and a deputy stepped out of one car and motioned for the Professor and Apprentice Chelle to accompany them. "Stick close to us and Keep an eye out for anything strange." The other two blackshirts waited outside.

A young woman with sandy brown hair answered the door. She immediately looked concerned, frightened even, but she quickly collected herself. "Yes, I am Zill. Unfortunately, Candshaw is out right now."

"Yes, ma'am," the Chief said in her most official tone. "We need you to come down the the station to answer some questions."

"Regarding?" Zill asked.

"The estate of Dr. T.N.T. Pound."

"Uh sure..." Zill looked behind her into the house. "Do you mind if I change into some clean clothes? Why don't you all come inside to wait."

"Don't mind if we do." The Chief swaggered though the front door.

Zill left the four to wait in a Greek style living room with marble floors. Ornate stone columns decorated the main doorways in the room. The cylindrical base of each column evolved into the form of an exquisitely carved female form. Delicate arms and a beautifully detailed waist rose from the cylinder developing into full breasts. But just past the shoulders the sculpture reverted to a simple Ionic column that continued up to the ceiling. More feminine forms were carved into the walls, depicting thin, nubile torsos from thigh to neck - receding into the walls above and below. The deputy looked closely and started to touch one of the polished white surfaces.

"Deputy!" Chief admonished. "Dirty hands!"

The deputy looked at her hand for a moment and stepped back.

The Professor nudged Chelle and directed her attention out a window. Two vehicles were parked in well worn spaces under a large Oak tree. There were no other well worn spaces. The Professor was about to speak when the Chief's radio crackled to life.

"Uh... Chief... We need you to look at something out here." It was one of the two blackshirts who remained outside.

The Chief looked annoyed. "What is it!?" she whispered into the radio.

"Uh... You need to see for yourself."

The Chief looked at the Professor. "I'll be back." She walked out of the room.

The deputy turned back to one of the wall carvings and ran a finger along the polished stone. "Very detailed...," she said with an odd grin on her face. "The model must have been cold... or excited..."

Suddenly, the Chief walked hastily back into the the room. Her face was white and she was mumbling something about scarecrows. She pointed in the direction that Zill had gone. "Deputy! Break down that door!"

Moments later the door splintered into pieces and the Chief and her deputy spilled into the adjoining room with their guns drawn. "Oh! For god's sake! What the hell are you doing?"

The Professor and Apprentice Chelle looked into the bedroom. They saw Zill and Candshaw standing naked engaged in an extremely intimate embrace. Breast to breast - their arms wrapped tightly around one another, their lips, delicately pressed in a kiss.

The Chief lowered her gun and stepped toward the pair. "You two have a lot of explaining to do." She started to reach toward them.

"Chief! Stop!" the Professor screamed. "They are covered in Moleculox Glue!"



Seven hours later...

Chelle looked with pity at Stoney and Raquel. Their hair was long and wild and wet with the day's rain. They seemed to be in excellent health. Regardless of the fact that they had been standing, buried to mid-thigh in a corn field for over two years. Chelle walked up the hill.

"We've got our villains! Delectica is no more! We've solved two thirds of our outstanding missing persons cases today," the Chief was explaining to the Professor. "Every woman has been found in excellent health, yet in various states of immobility or modification. We found detailed diagrams pinpointing each victim's location. Let's hope that Zill and Candshaw kept complete records. I'm still unsure how we will communicate with them. Their mouths are glued together. Their hands are tightly, permanently sealed to one another... Why would they do such a thing?"

"That is the question," the Professor stated, pinching her lips in deep thought. "Did they not wish to explain their actions, or, possibly, were they afraid of the consequences if they were able to speak?"

"Chief, Dispatch." The Chief's radio interupted.

"uh... yeah...," the Chief spoke into the mic.

"We've just received three items of interest."

"Roger."

"We just received a call that the current Miss Inlandsville has disappeared."

"What!?" the police Chief yelled.

"She was to be the guest of honor," the dispatcher continued, "at the Coal Powerco Feast tonight, but when they introduced her, she was gone. They found her tiara and her evening dress, her high heels, even her undergarments... but no Miss Inlandsville. It's like she spontaneously combusted."

"You mean to tell me," the Chief shouted into the radio, "that someone stole a naked beauty queen from a room full of people. Diabolical!"

"Yes, and we have a scribbled message here for the Professor." The Professor's right eyebrow raised a centimeter. Chelle stepped up a little closer. "Let me see if I can read it," dispatch continued. "It doesn't really make much sense."

"Go on!" the Chief encouraged.

"It say's, 'What's green and floats in the ocean?...'" and after a pause... "'kelp'. I think that's what it says... 'Kelp'."

The Chief brought a knuckle to her mouth and turned her head to the side. "What's green and floats in the ocean? Kelp. A riddle! Hmmm..."

The voice over the radio continued: "Yes. And finally, we received a box that contained two pairs of rock-climbing shoes, two athletic bras, two pair of spandex shorts, various climbing equipment and a note addressed to you, Chief. This note says 'Drive to the river gorge climbing lot.'"

The Chief clenched her teeth together. "Drive to the river gorge climbing lot. Another riddle! Hmmmm..."

Chelle cast a sidewards glance towards the Professor.

"Right! Chief," the Professor was rolling her eyes in annoyance, "you should probably go investigate the parking lot down the river gorge road. Apprentice Chelle, come with me. I have a hunch. Delectica is still out there."

Chelle followed the Professor towards the hybrid. She looked up to the gray, evening clouds. "It's starting to rain again," she commented mostly to herself.


Seven hours and forty-five minutes earlier...

Five miles down River Gorge Road from the Inlandsville city center...

"I am Delectica!"

The moods of Moonstruck and Riddle had quickly shifted from playful abandon to sheer terror. They were engaged in a simple kiss, tangled together in their climbing ropes when a black figure dropped from nowhere, landing gracefully next to them. Moonstruck quickly started to unwrap the rope that held her close to Riddle, but stopped when she saw the gun. The creature before them was tall and exquisitely feminine. She was encased in skin tight latex from head to toe. The only openings in the suit revealed two cold gray eyes. The creature spoke. Her voice was calm, satiny.

"I am Delectica!"

"Don't shoot!" Moonstruck pleaded.

Compressed air erupted around the gun twice. Moonstruck looked in disbelief at the red dart sticking in her shoulder. It's partner was embedded in Riddle's abdomen. "Ow?" Their bodies collaped to the ground.


Four hours later...

Moonstruck awoke. When she found she could not move, she remembered the creature and opened her eyes to assess her situation. She felt like she was floating in a web of rope. Her back was arched. Her arms and legs were stretched down and away from her torso. There was a gentle tug on her nipples. A cool breeze blew up between her legs punctuating her growing realization that, but for the ropes, she was completely naked, exposed. She saw Riddle's face inches from her own, framed in rope, disheveled hair, and gray skies. She saw Riddle's arms, pulled back and away, a mirror image of her own predicament.

Riddle's eyes opened and quickly glazed with terror. Riddle's body convulsed in her bondage. Moonstruck felt their bodies slowly sway in the air. "Riddle! It's ok. We're ok. What do you see?"

"The rocks and the river," Riddle's voice was shaking. "We're hanging a hundred meters over the rapids!"

"It is quite a nice view from here, don't you think?" Moonstruck and Riddle looked from the corners of their eyes at Delectica, who hung by a single rope in the air next to them. "Don't worry. You won't fall. Japanese rope bondage. It is a captivating art form. Your bodies are held so tightly in a web of rope. You've probably found that you can't move in any direction. Yet, it's like you are wrapped in a hammock. There is no place on your bodies where the ropes are so tight that blood flow is constricted. You can safely remain bound for a long, long time. You are suspended from above by a number of ropes. I've also suspended a 200 kilo weight below you to keep the symmetry. You know... it's good to keep the ropes taught above and below."

Moonstruck could feel the vibrations of Riddle's struggles in the many cords that ran between their bodies.

"I've been planning your display for quite some time. I'm going to call it 'Forbidden Love'. The two lovers are inches apart. Their eyes are locked on one another. Yet they are unable to ever touch. Well... actually, you've probably noticed that you are touching slightly in two places. I placed a small dollup of Moleculox Glue on each nipple and pressed your chests together. After the glue cured I set up the ropes so there is the slightest tension on your breasts. You will know that your lover is close by, even when your eyes are closed."

Delectica looked down the gorge, oblivious to the pleas from the two young women. "Hmm... looks like rain is coming up the valley." Sure enough Riddle felt light drops begin to tickle the naked skin of her back side. "Your ropes are soft, but they are coated in Moleculox powder. When you add water the powder turns to glue. Accordingly, the ropes will become like steel, stiffening, while bonding tightly to your skin. Well, I better go. I have a party to crash. See you!"

Delectica gracefully ascended the rope away from the frightened girls. As she climbed over the cliff's edge she yelled down, "You'll make quite the roadside attraction!"

The rain began to fall in earnest.

To be concluded in Part Six...