Act 3: A Wrench in the Works
Bruce Storm pulled out a Palm Pilot. He opened up his to do list and checked off "Meet Victoria at Coffee Cove." Then he returned it to the pocket on the side of his pants. Shortly after that, he pulled out a shabby old pen from his backpack, and a piece of paper. His pen raced across the paper, writing word after word after word. Victoria Winters knew that writing genius could not be scheduled, or forced, so she didn't ask him to put them away. Instead, she waited patiently for him to stop, and eventually he did.
"Bruce," she said. Bruce put away his pen and paper. "Why do you always use that pen for writing? I mean, you put away your Palm Pilot and got out a pen and paper. To me, that seems like a little too much of a bother."
"I know, and it probably is," Bruce laughed. "But this pen," he said, pulling out his pen and showing it to her, "was what I wrote my first successful story with. I guess I sort of believe it's a good luck charm. It's the only thing I ever write with. I don't even carry a pencil with me. I must seem really silly."
"Not at all," Victoria said. She smiled at Bruce, and he smiled back. Then, Bruce leant over the table and kissed Victoria.
"So Fillmore, why exactly are we spying on them?" Ingrid asked. "They don't seem to be plotting any kind of mischief."
"Trust me," Fillmore said. "But we do need to approach this differently. Jake, do you think that you could pretend to be one of this guy's fans and go get an autograph?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Jake said. Then, he snuck back out the front door, turned around, and came back in, and walked over to Bruce Storm's table.
"Are you Bruce Storm?" he asked. Bruce nodded. "That's great! I've read all of your stuff! You're a great writer!"
"Thanks," Bruce said. "Which story do you like best?"
"Umm... All of them!" Jake said. "I haven't really picked yet. Say, do you think I could have an autograph? With your talent, it will probably be worth a fortune some day!"
"Sure," Bruce said. "What should I sign?"
"Oh, that's a tough one," said Jake. "I'm afraid I've got nothing for you to sign, or to sign with."
"No problem," said Bruce. "I've got both here."
Bruce pulled out a piece of paper, and picked up his pen. He signed his name quick and handed it to Jake.
"There you go," said Bruce.
"Thanks," Jake responded.
Fillmore handed Tehama the paper that Chase had given him, and the paper Bruce had just signed. Tehama took them and studied them closely.
"Well," asked Fillmore. "What do you think?"
"I'll need to look at this a bit closer," Tehama said. "Come back in about fifteen minutes or so."
"What would you say right now?" Fillmore asked.
"Right now," Tehama said, "I would say that they are the same handwriting. They've got the same left leaning slant, the same loop when writing a 't', the same curl on the 'c'; they're almost photo copies of each other."
"Thanks Tehama," Fillmore said. "That's enough info for me to go take our bully down."
"Fillmore," said Ingrid. "The force needs you. I heard Folsom say she was going to dismiss you if you acted during your vacation again. Please Fillmore, don't do anything stupid."
"She's right, Fillmore," Tehama said. "I haven't even done a proper identification."
"I know enough," said Fillmore. "All I need to do now is find him. Then, I'll just hold him until one of you can arrest him."
After he was done talking, Fillmore walked over to his computer. He opened up the student directory, found the file he was looking for, and opened it. He wrote down an address, and then left the office altogether.
"I hope Fillmore knows what he's doing," Ingrid said concerned. "So far, this looks like the reckless behavior Vallejo was worried about."
"Bad news," said Tehama. "The handwriting samples comparison turned out negative. Bruce Storm is not our Bully."
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Author's Notes: Sorry for doing such a short one, people. I'll see how long I can make the next chapter to make up for this. But I need to stop there. You'll see why. Anyway, I'm not going to get into the romance in this story, so I'll do it in my next story, which will be a sequel to this.
One other thing about my next story. It may, at first, seem like some sort of rip off of "From Berlin With Love" by Blackheart Syaoran, because that's the story that inspired it, but trust me, it will not be a rip off. The only similarity will be a German foreign exchange student.
Oh, and MCLesta, thank you for pointing out that lapse in Fillmore's character. You'll notice I've fixed it.
Bruce Storm pulled out a Palm Pilot. He opened up his to do list and checked off "Meet Victoria at Coffee Cove." Then he returned it to the pocket on the side of his pants. Shortly after that, he pulled out a shabby old pen from his backpack, and a piece of paper. His pen raced across the paper, writing word after word after word. Victoria Winters knew that writing genius could not be scheduled, or forced, so she didn't ask him to put them away. Instead, she waited patiently for him to stop, and eventually he did.
"Bruce," she said. Bruce put away his pen and paper. "Why do you always use that pen for writing? I mean, you put away your Palm Pilot and got out a pen and paper. To me, that seems like a little too much of a bother."
"I know, and it probably is," Bruce laughed. "But this pen," he said, pulling out his pen and showing it to her, "was what I wrote my first successful story with. I guess I sort of believe it's a good luck charm. It's the only thing I ever write with. I don't even carry a pencil with me. I must seem really silly."
"Not at all," Victoria said. She smiled at Bruce, and he smiled back. Then, Bruce leant over the table and kissed Victoria.
"So Fillmore, why exactly are we spying on them?" Ingrid asked. "They don't seem to be plotting any kind of mischief."
"Trust me," Fillmore said. "But we do need to approach this differently. Jake, do you think that you could pretend to be one of this guy's fans and go get an autograph?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Jake said. Then, he snuck back out the front door, turned around, and came back in, and walked over to Bruce Storm's table.
"Are you Bruce Storm?" he asked. Bruce nodded. "That's great! I've read all of your stuff! You're a great writer!"
"Thanks," Bruce said. "Which story do you like best?"
"Umm... All of them!" Jake said. "I haven't really picked yet. Say, do you think I could have an autograph? With your talent, it will probably be worth a fortune some day!"
"Sure," Bruce said. "What should I sign?"
"Oh, that's a tough one," said Jake. "I'm afraid I've got nothing for you to sign, or to sign with."
"No problem," said Bruce. "I've got both here."
Bruce pulled out a piece of paper, and picked up his pen. He signed his name quick and handed it to Jake.
"There you go," said Bruce.
"Thanks," Jake responded.
Fillmore handed Tehama the paper that Chase had given him, and the paper Bruce had just signed. Tehama took them and studied them closely.
"Well," asked Fillmore. "What do you think?"
"I'll need to look at this a bit closer," Tehama said. "Come back in about fifteen minutes or so."
"What would you say right now?" Fillmore asked.
"Right now," Tehama said, "I would say that they are the same handwriting. They've got the same left leaning slant, the same loop when writing a 't', the same curl on the 'c'; they're almost photo copies of each other."
"Thanks Tehama," Fillmore said. "That's enough info for me to go take our bully down."
"Fillmore," said Ingrid. "The force needs you. I heard Folsom say she was going to dismiss you if you acted during your vacation again. Please Fillmore, don't do anything stupid."
"She's right, Fillmore," Tehama said. "I haven't even done a proper identification."
"I know enough," said Fillmore. "All I need to do now is find him. Then, I'll just hold him until one of you can arrest him."
After he was done talking, Fillmore walked over to his computer. He opened up the student directory, found the file he was looking for, and opened it. He wrote down an address, and then left the office altogether.
"I hope Fillmore knows what he's doing," Ingrid said concerned. "So far, this looks like the reckless behavior Vallejo was worried about."
"Bad news," said Tehama. "The handwriting samples comparison turned out negative. Bruce Storm is not our Bully."
---------------------------
Author's Notes: Sorry for doing such a short one, people. I'll see how long I can make the next chapter to make up for this. But I need to stop there. You'll see why. Anyway, I'm not going to get into the romance in this story, so I'll do it in my next story, which will be a sequel to this.
One other thing about my next story. It may, at first, seem like some sort of rip off of "From Berlin With Love" by Blackheart Syaoran, because that's the story that inspired it, but trust me, it will not be a rip off. The only similarity will be a German foreign exchange student.
Oh, and MCLesta, thank you for pointing out that lapse in Fillmore's character. You'll notice I've fixed it.