Product Description
The crime of the century appears to have been committed in Gotham City, the week before Christmas 2010, when Sunday goes missing. The Native American psychic agent has just five days to save Christmas. He receives assistance from the spirit of a famous dead detective, as he works his way through a maze of deception to discover the truth. This is a tongue in cheek mystery.
Chapter 1 – Breaking news of the break out
“We apologise to viewers for breaking into our programming schedule to bring you this newsflash. There has been a breakout from Gotham City Asylum, home to the city’s criminally insane masterminds. The Japer and the date-distorting Temporal Trickster have escaped.”
A large photo of the Japer appeared on a screen behind the young, attractive, female newsreader. Her pretty smiling face failed to convey the gravity of the news and was in stark contrast the sinister smiling face behind her. Ratings were more important to the News Channel than facts, so a pretty face and an attractive smile were the marketers’ solution for attracting a high proportion of male viewers – the lack of gravitas was their fault, not hers.
It was thirteen minutes past midnight on Sunday December 19th, 2010, so the newsreader thought, but things are never quite as they appear to be and this was especially true at the time of this newsflash.
“The Japer is six foot tall and looks like a clown, as you can see from the photo, but do not be fooled by the constant grin on his face or his floppy, red shoes, causing him to walk in an exaggerated manner. He is one of the most dangerous criminal masterminds in the city and he is at large, once again. He specialises in crimes enabling him to get his laughs at the expense of others, playing his first practical joke on figures of authority at the age of twelve, when he super-glued school staff to their chairs at morning assembly. His crimes have become more fiendish, in deed and in scale, over time.
The Temporal Trickster is incapable of being caught clearly on camera, due to a temporal phasing phenomenon. Her five feet, five inch tall figure flickers, with a featureless face and short-cropped blonde hair fusing into the background. She specialises in time related crimes, delivering easy money.
The police believe she was responsible for the introduction of recorded messages on premium rate phone lines and that this is a recording of her voice.” A recorded message played.
“We are experiencing unexpected levels of demand and apologise for any delay. Please remain on the line. An adviser will be with you very shortly, as your call is very important to us.”
The last phrase was the only truth contained within this message, as all callers were being billed at premium rates, while they were deliberately kept waiting.
The newscaster resumed, “Voice recognition technology has been unable to match the Temporal Trickster’s voice to this recording, as it also fluctuates in and out of time. Until now, the police and the callers are the only ones to have been charged in connection with this scam. That’s the end of the newsflash. We will now return you to the program you were...I’m sorry I’m just receiving some more breaking news.”
She reached for a piece of paper from an unseen hand and the blood seemed to drain from her face. The marketing department would be pleased with the unplanned drama the young presenter generated, as she was clearly shocked. They would be pleased despite it having the effect of wiping the smile off her face.
“A statement has been issued by the Mayor asking the public to remain calm – Sunday is missing, possibly kidnapped. If you’ll just bear with me for a moment…” the tone of her voice did, for once, convey the serious nature of the news.
A moment later she announced, “As a result of the disappearance of Sunday, it is now fifteen minutes past midnight, on Monday December the 20th, 2010. We now only have five shopping days before Christmas Day."
Chapter 1 – Breaking news of the break out
“We apologise to viewers for breaking into our programming schedule to bring you this newsflash. There has been a breakout from Gotham City Asylum, home to the city’s criminally insane masterminds. The Japer and the date-distorting Temporal Trickster have escaped.”
A large photo of the Japer appeared on a screen behind the young, attractive, female newsreader. Her pretty smiling face failed to convey the gravity of the news and was in stark contrast the sinister smiling face behind her. Ratings were more important to the News Channel than facts, so a pretty face and an attractive smile were the marketers’ solution for attracting a high proportion of male viewers – the lack of gravitas was their fault, not hers.
It was thirteen minutes past midnight on Sunday December 19th, 2010, so the newsreader thought, but things are never quite as they appear to be and this was especially true at the time of this newsflash.
“The Japer is six foot tall and looks like a clown, as you can see from the photo, but do not be fooled by the constant grin on his face or his floppy, red shoes, causing him to walk in an exaggerated manner. He is one of the most dangerous criminal masterminds in the city and he is at large, once again. He specialises in crimes enabling him to get his laughs at the expense of others, playing his first practical joke on figures of authority at the age of twelve, when he super-glued school staff to their chairs at morning assembly. His crimes have become more fiendish, in deed and in scale, over time.
The Temporal Trickster is incapable of being caught clearly on camera, due to a temporal phasing phenomenon. Her five feet, five inch tall figure flickers, with a featureless face and short-cropped blonde hair fusing into the background. She specialises in time related crimes, delivering easy money.
The police believe she was responsible for the introduction of recorded messages on premium rate phone lines and that this is a recording of her voice.” A recorded message played.
“We are experiencing unexpected levels of demand and apologise for any delay. Please remain on the line. An adviser will be with you very shortly, as your call is very important to us.”
The last phrase was the only truth contained within this message, as all callers were being billed at premium rates, while they were deliberately kept waiting.
The newscaster resumed, “Voice recognition technology has been unable to match the Temporal Trickster’s voice to this recording, as it also fluctuates in and out of time. Until now, the police and the callers are the only ones to have been charged in connection with this scam. That’s the end of the newsflash. We will now return you to the program you were...I’m sorry I’m just receiving some more breaking news.”
She reached for a piece of paper from an unseen hand and the blood seemed to drain from her face. The marketing department would be pleased with the unplanned drama the young presenter generated, as she was clearly shocked. They would be pleased despite it having the effect of wiping the smile off her face.
“A statement has been issued by the Mayor asking the public to remain calm – Sunday is missing, possibly kidnapped. If you’ll just bear with me for a moment…” the tone of her voice did, for once, convey the serious nature of the news.
A moment later she announced, “As a result of the disappearance of Sunday, it is now fifteen minutes past midnight, on Monday December the 20th, 2010. We now only have five shopping days before Christmas Day."
