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Sometime in 2007.....

The school psychiatrist had been a busy man, and although intelligent he did not have all the facts.  It would have been easy to miss, Or he missed it deliberately?  The thought stopped him.  He'd picked the lock on the filing cabinet and was looking over her records.  She'd come to see him a few times at the request of the family doctor.  Always so concerned with grief and what it will do to people.  This was the last place he could check something without having to talk to her.  And he didn't want to talk to her.  This was a violation of his strict policy on neutrality but this was the one thing he'd made an exception for and he was going to see it through.  Besides, she might remember talking to him. As exciting as breaking and entering was he'd much rather there be someone to do this sort of thing for him in the future.

He read the notes, and contemplated the information she had shared in confidence with the good Dr. Strange.  And then it dawned on him that there were parts missing.  Deliberate.  Which means there is something foul.  He carefully placed the files back, locking the cabinet again and slipped out of the school.


Sometime in 2009.....

ACQUITTED! Donald Howell, son of the former mayor of Oak Park was declared not guilty.  The jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning the surprise verdict.  The Prosecution demanded the jury be examined for signs of mental tampering, and the judge refused.  This brought into question the judge as well and the case may drag on for some months.  Federal investigators are looking into the case but it's expected that it might be months before any solid answers are made public.


***
If he were the type to be amused by irony he'd laugh but this was nothing to laugh about.  Timing was critical, and everything had to look like it occurred naturally.  The news story broke a couple of days ago, and although he was rushing to put his plan into play it had been formulating in his head since he'd decided he was going to take action.  He waited from his car, watching the house.  Like clockwork mom and dad left.  They were pretending to be normal, but there was no way they could be.  The man responsible for the death of their son was going to get away with it and all the other horrible things he'd done.  Horrible things?  You're sounding like her now.  He plugged the voice changer into the disposable phone and dialed the number.  It rang twice, "Hello?"

"Shelia, it's a shame that he's going to get away with murdering your brother.  Trying to throw the blame off on others, hiding behind false names and using people.  He's a monster and should be stopped.  And you have the power to stop him, don't you?"

"Who...who is this?"

"You keep it a secret, but you have the power to stop him.  Rory had the same power, only it killed him.  You've had it for some time now, it's what takes you from your bed at night into the city, where you fight injustice and punish the wicked.  It's the power he used to cause your brother's death.  It's only fair he get to experience the fruit of his labors.  Don't you think?"

The line clicks off.  He taps a few buttons on his laptop, and waits.

***
Shelia hangs up the phone.  The black spot in her vision growing.  She's grinding her teeth, and her muscles are shaking.  "Sonofabitch!"  she screams, grabbing the phone she hits *69 to get the number where the call came from.  she scribbles it down, and then dials it.  The phone rings three times.

"Ambassador Hotel, how can I help you?"  the woman's voice was pleasant and friendly.

"Donald Howell please, Junior."  she makes sure to add the suffix, wouldn't want to get the wrong one.

There is a moment and the line clicks, and another ring tone greets her.  The phone rings several times, and she hangs up.  "He's there, snug and laughing it up."  she slams the phone down and walks out the sliding glass door to the backyard.  She screams, but it's soundless.  Her mouth opens and she screams with all her might, but no sound comes out, instead an inky darkness emerges from her and then like a swarm of angry insects turns back to devour her.  a moment later Sheila Burns is gone, and in her place is a tall man dressed in black, a wide brimmed hat concealing his face.  It's how he's come to be known by the criminals in Chicago.  The Black Hat.  With a glance towards the sky he flies into the night, towards the Ambassador Hotel and the man who murdered her brother.

***

He steps out of his car and walks to the house.  As he crosses the street he slips his gloves on.  At the door he pulls the paper booties over his shoes, and then opens the door.  The notepad where Shelia had scribbled the number went into his bag. 

He set his laptop down and opened it, getting everything ready.  He lifted the phone carefully and dialed the number.  The phone rang a few times before it was answered.  "Gino's Pizza what can I get for you tonight?"

He tapped a key.  "Can I have a medium Hawaiian and a 2-liter of coke please, for delivery."  Shelia's voice came from the laptop.

"We have your address as 2718 Faircrest, is that right?"

He tapped another key. "Yep, that's us."  Shelia's recorded voice replied.

"We're a little backed up tonight with a big order.  Probably firty-five minutes." 

He tapped another key.  "Ok, thanks."  And then he hung up the phone.

He left some cash on the counter, the same amount she always gave the driver for her usual order, and slipped out the door, making sure to lock it behind him.

***

The Black Hat touched down in the back yard and released it's hold, the oily blackness being sucked back into Shelia with an inhale.  She was shaking slightly and the sound of the doorbell drew her attention.  She walked to the door, opening it.  She recognized the delivery boy, and then glanced back at the counter.  There was the money, she must have ordered pizza.  She always ordered pizza on mom and dad's bowling night.  She dashed to the counter, grabbing the money and gave it to the boy, taking her pizza and soda.  He thanked her for the tip and then left.  And like that the world was perfectly normal.

***

NEWS UPDATE...Donald Howell Junior, recently acquitted of criminal charges as the head of the Vandross crime conspiracy was found dead in his hotel room last night, the victim of a drug overdose.  Howell had apparently taken the new street version of the famed Superman drug that had captured headlines last year and suffered a massive heart attack.  Police are investigating the possibility of this being homicide, but Detective Kevin Kiernan of the Chicago PCD indicated there was no reason to believe this was anything but an accidental overdose.  They are awaiting a detailed report from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

***

Donald Howell sat in his hotel room looking at the divorce papers.  If he didn' sign them he knew she'd expose him for what he was.  He'd broken the deal they had by mentoring their son.  The fact that she was mentoring their daughter in being a hero only came years after he had already committed his act of betrayal, so that wasn't a valid argument to try to dissuade her. 

The sound of someone coming in the room drew him out of his fugue.  "Who's there?" The tall young man who comes into view is only vaguely recognized.  "Who are you?"

"I knew your son.  We went to high school together.  I offer my condolences to your wife and daughters."

Howell's brow furrows.  "I don't remember seeing you at the funeral.  you and don must not have been close.  what the devil do you want?"

"Funny you should mention the devil.  I've come to make you pay for the damage you helped you son do.  the things you then helped him slip out from under.  You're going to confess to being Emile Vandross, and then take the fall for that."

Howell laughs, the scotch he'd been drinking since the funeral making his voice hoarse.  "And just how the hell do you plan to do that?"

The young man takes a phone from his pocket.  Howell's eyes widen some at seeing it.  "I took the liberty of taking this from your pocket at the funeral.  You don't remember seeing me because I was dressed as a woman.  I have a new found respect for women who choose to wear high heels."  He opens the phone slowly.  "Your son killed a boy to get a camera from him, a camera that let him alter people's memories.  But a big old box camera draws attention.  Don had someone reverse engineer the camera and put the parts into a modern cell phone shell.  Since it uses non-visible light, no one would ever be the wiser.  God is in the details though, and I realized this must have been the device when I saw you with it while Don was in jail.  Manipulating the jury, the judge, and anyone that you needed to so that your son could get away with all his crimes.  I suppose if I were a father I might do the same thing."  Howell made a flinch and the young man pressed the button, and the older man settled back into the chair.  "This is what you're going to do...."

***

NEWS UPDATE...Donald Howell Senior, former Mayor of Oak Park surrendered himself to police today and gave a detailed confession about his involvement in the Vandross crime conspiracy.  Unconfirmed reports indicate Howell used his son as a face man for the organization, guiding his every step in setting up and running the criminal conspiracy.

***
Sometime in early 2010....

NEWS UPDATE...The jury found Sheila Burns not guilty by reason of reduced mental capacity for her actions as The Black Hat.  Compelling testimony by psychiatrists and professionals in the magic community were able to sway the jury.  Burns has been hospitalized and agents from the NSA will be conducting an exorcism in the next few days to purge the young woman of the monster she has been unaware of carrying since the death of her brother three years ago.  She fell victim to the same magical circumstances that caused her brother to undergo a transformation in school which resulted in his death.  Most compelling was evidence that the then school psychologist Hugo Strange, who made the news in 2008, had known about the girl's condition and omitted it from his notes, thus delaying her treatment for years.  The Burns family were happy to have their daughter getting the help she needed, and gave a public thank you to the anonymous benefactor that had paid the Chicago based firm of Baker & McKenzie to represent Sheila.  Sheila Burns is expected to make a full recovery, still largely unaware of the things she did as the vigilante The Black Hat.