A Jukebox at The Diner Prequel: "Year of The Cat" Twisted Metal - Part Two
A retelling of the detective series inspired by the short story "Miss Jackson"
Previously on Year of The Cat…
12 Hours Earlier
The best part of the phone call Jenny was nervously making was that when the desk agent at the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office answered and she asked for “Captain Ed” all she heard was “One moment” and George’s extension began to ring. She’d only met George a few times at the holiday gatherings at Shirley’s. It was worth a shot.
“This is George.”
“Hey it’s Jenny Portnoy, are you free for a happy hour drink?” This wasn’t a date call but it had all the nervousness of one. “I just have… some thoughts and I think you might be able to help. Don’t worry I don’t think it’s anything case-related that you can’t tell me. It’s about a PS2 game. Do you remember a game called “Twisted Metal”?
“Oh. Clowns. Ice cream trucks. Yeah. I remember. You think maybe one of them has a sweet tooth?”
“Oh my gosh, I didn’t even think about that! Can you meet me at the bar at The Hyatt?” Jenny was passing Stevie in the park. She reached into her purse to pull a guitar pick out but came up with the card and wrapper from a Big Top Candy Shop Pop.
“Woah. You may be on to something George.” Jenny found a pick and placed it at the base of Stevie’s statue.
“I can be there in an hour if traffic isn’t too bad Jenny.”
“Perfect, see you then.” Jenny hung up, took a picture of the Big Top Candy Shop pop wrapper, and sent it to the girls with a note.
“Meeting Captain Ed for a drink (to talk about video games!) but we might have stumbled onto a clue. Did The TGC (the teenage girl clown) steal candy from any robberies?”
Detectives Norberg and Rumack had left Bangers and were sitting down at their desks for the Sunday evening shift when Elaine got the text from Jenny.
“Hrm. Let’s pull up the surveillance footage from the “Clowns Family Robbersons”.
“The what!? Hahahaha. That’s awesome. Sure.” Shirley wiped tears of laughter from her eyes and pulled up the videos from “la Barbeque”.
“Jenny’s having drinks with George.” Elaine deadpanned this a little too well
“Hmmm.” Detective Rumack was rewinding the last video. “Wait, what!”
“She sent me a picture of a Big Top Candy Shop wrapper and a note saying she’s having drinks with George to discuss video games.”
When her phone rang, Detective Rumack was about to say something like “It’s about time those two got a personal life…”.
“Detective Rumack Yep. Thanks. Send it over.” She hung up the phone. “There’s some interesting security footage from the Festival Beach boat ramp.”
Jenny always loved how the music echoed throughout the Hyatt. Its open atrium gave everything a beautiful resonance. She was already on her third drink when George arrived.
“Gin and tonic please,” George said to the bartender. “Our medical strength hand sanitizer smells like gin, I’ve found if I have a G&T after work I don’t mind the smell so much. So, Jenny, how can I help you?”
“Finish that drink and take a walk with me, there’s something I want to show you, and I’ll explain along the way.” The pair headed east along the Colorado, under the South Congress bridge where the bats listened to Jenny as intently as George.
Jenny explained everything, from the moment she thought “The Squad!” had a nemesis, the hint, or taunt from Jake, how they happened to be at The Buzzmill, everything she knew. When she was done she stood at the bend of the river boardwalk by Lakeshore Park staring across at the Festival Beach boat ramp.
“...and that's probably where they came back ashore after kayaking across. Do they have a security camera over there?”
George was impressed. “Why don’t you text the detectives and have them find out?”
Shirley was about to tell Elaine what the call was about when a text arrived on her phone. She put up a finger to say “Hold please” and called Jenny.
“Jenny, since I’ve met you, I’ve noticed things I never knew were there before… birds singing, dew glistening on a newly formed leaf, stoplights. I just got that footage. Now enjoy your evening and your company.” Detective Rumack hung up and motioned over to Detective Norberg.
“There’s some interesting security footage from the Festival Beach boat ramp.”
A few hours later in Tonopah, Nevada a beat-up green and tan ‘71 Vista Cruiser pulled into The Clown Motel parking lot. Without saying much each went their separate ways. TGC went to a room up on the 2nd floor, the Dad went to the office while the mom and little girl went to the manager’s residence. A little dog came rushing out and the girl knelt to hug it. “Krusty! I missed you!”.
“Hi Boss, hope you had a great vacation!” a long-haired teenager in a Mr. Bungle t-shirt got up from the desk and handed Dad a massive set of keys.
“Thanks, Michael. You can go if you want, catch me up tomorrow morning when you get in ok?”
“Sure, just keep an eye on the guest in 237. He’s the kind of trouble Jessie might wander towards. Anyway, have a good night, good to have you back. See you in…”
The teenager was staring out the window. There was a procession of lights coming down the highway, enough of them to be noticeable in the desert sun of the afternoon.
The Nye County Sherrif’s Department had gotten a call from Detective Shirley Rumack in Austin, Texas asking if they knew the owner of a ‘71 Vista Cruiser registered to an address that matched a place called The Clown Motel. Sherrif Joe was more than happy to be accommodating. There was always “something” up at that place. Sure it was scary, but what did it say about the people who owned it and worked there? Indescribably uncomfortable. Who the fuck likes clowns that much?
The occupant of room 237 looked down on the commotion as he smoked his Lucky Strike. A swarm of Sheriffs and SWAT came speeding into the parking lot. Considering he had the paperwork on the nightstand releasing him from the county jail that morning, he figured he was safe. There were plenty of other places to stay, he had passed a few on the half-hour walk from the jail. This place just drew him in. It was good to know the chaos compass still worked. He went in back in the room, grabbed the ice bucket, whiskey bottle, and a plastic cup, and sat outside the door and watched a little girl cry holding her little barking Chiuaua as her parents were handcuffed and she was led to an unmarked car with a social worker, most likely. “Probably cross paths with that one someday.”
A teenage girl came out of a room a few doors down and smiled as she walked past him, down the stairs, and went behind the motel. He heard a small motor start and putter away. It sounded like a 2 stroke moped.
About 12 hours later, back in Austin, Texas, Jenny was staring at the door that just knocked.
“George!” Jenny opened the door and saw a man in a t-shirt and boxers sheepishly standing barefoot.
“I went out to sneak a cigarette and the door locked behind me. I didn’t want to knock too loud, but then the lightning and thunder…”
George was embarrassed but Jenny didn’t care, she’d even forgotten about her stubbed toe.
“And I was passed out.” Now Jenny was sheepish.
“Come in, I’ll make some coffee and eggs. Last night was fun, we should do that again if you’d like.”
“Sure,” George said with a sly grin. “Could we pick video games not related to cases next time?”
“Haha, sure. How about Looney Tunes Space Race!”