StarFall Comics
A Division of Pullemouttayerhat Productions
A Wholly-Owned Subsidiary of StarFall Innovations
Proudly Presents:
Swamp Patrol
#4: Four Thefts and a Wedding
cover: Alley Cat, holding a wedding dress in front of a mirror.
"And again making headlines tonight is the cat burglar known as Alley Cat. This time, on the campus of Lehigh University, where authorities have reported the theft of several pieces high-tech equipment from a fifth-floor electronics laboratory. This isn't the first time Alley Cat struck this lab. In a previous heist, she stole several disks containing over three years worth of research. Other thefts by this cat burglar, who always manages to elude the police, include medicinal supplies from a convoy on I-78, compressed oxygen tanks from St. Luke's Hospital, and, most unusually, a wedding dress from an antique display in the Lehigh Valley Mall."
Frank Stolid reached out and cut the power to the television.
"That's it?" Pete asked. "Electronics, software, drugs, air tanks, and a wedding dress?"
"The police have nothing on her," Shelly stated, leaning back in her chair. "I should know. The police practically have their computers sending out invites to hackers."
"The question is," Brill asked, "is it worth looking into?"
"We're in this for the long run, right?" Ted grumbled, hobbling over to the refrigerator. "That means we look into *all* cases, especially if the police can't."
"Would you stop being so angry all the time?" Donna chastised him. "You're not the only freak in his room, you know."
"Don't remind me," he muttered.
"So what can we do?" Janice asked.
"All we can do right now is keep an eye out for her," Frank stated. "Shelly and I will be trying to find some pattern to her crimes."
"Brill, I've been thinking," Pete said, giving a manifold screw a final yank.
"Is that what all the smoke is? I thought you were working on an exhaust system."
Peter Norwahl gave his partner a dirty look.
"Looks like I was right," Brill laughed. "So, you were saying?"
"This gal..."
"The cat burglar?"
"Yeah. She's been hitting near the college. So she probably lives in that area, or hangs out around there."
"How do you figure?"
"Well, I-78 and the Mall are about the farthest points from the college area. The other spots she hit are almost directly lined up with each other..."
He stopped to think some more, then:
"If I'm right, she may hit the State Hospital next."
Just then, the radio went into a news break.
"The elusive Alley Cat has struck, again. The Queen City Airport, just off of I-78, reports several of the taxi mules' rear axels are missing. The thief was spotted by several passengers from the observation deck."
As the telltale music started for Rush Limbaugh, Pete and Brill returned to the Nissan Sentra they'd been working on.
"Looks like your theory's been shot down," Brill stated. "Now let's get back to work. That tourist said she wanted this thing done by four. It's gonna be another hour before we get any real work done, anyways. Rush said he had a timber update and an animal rights update in store."
Carter Stephens sat at his desk, in an office atop the "Daily Planet"1 building on Seventh street. He caressed a picture on his desk.
"Soon," he muttered. "Very soon, we'll be together. Forever."
Standing in the middle of a dimly light storage bay, Alley Cat reviewed her collection. Certainly, she may use her skills for freelance assignments, but that didn't stop her from picking up the things on her own shopping list. The storage facility was one of many in the area, and she had amassed a considerable fortune in antiques, jewels, and novelty items. She smiled as she wondered why she never sold any of these items.
Walking over to a crate, she pulled open a side panel, and ran a hand admiringly over an 18th century wedding dress.
Footnotes
There is a building in Allentown known informally as the "Daily Planet", named so because it was used as such in the filming of the B&W Superman TV series. For tourists, this is the PPL building at 7th and Tighlman Streets. This also happens to be Allentown's only skyscraper.