Crime 'Line' - part 3

____"John, is that you?" Ryan asked the camera.
____"Shut up! Shut up!" the voice raged.
____Ryan ignored him. "Why? Why would you do this to us?"
____"Because I was supposed to be the star!" the voice cried out.
____"You were the star!" Ryan protested. "You were the regular! You had your name listed next to Clive's! What more do you want?"
____"I want respect!" the voice was becoming hysterical. "I want to be remembered! You and all the others on the show … everyone loves you! All these years, I've been nothing more than an object of derision. It's over now!"
____"Okay, okay," Ryan was desperate to calm the man down. "So you stole all our trademarks, and that's it. You have your revenge. It's over."
____"Not yet, it's not," the voice went on, becoming maddeningly calm. "I still have one more left."
____Ryan's eyes widened in fear. "Who? Who?!? Please, you've done enough!"
____"I will be the judge of that," was the chilling reply. Then, the voice was gone.

____Clive stared at the picture. "You know, I think I remember him. He was a stagehand on our show for the first couple of years."
____Wayne scrolled to the file's employment list. "You're right. Says he helped build the set, worked with lighting, made repairs … did just about everything."
____"A real jack-of-all-trades," Tony commented.
____"That's right," Clive said. "I remember now. He could fix anything. A real genius with tools and mechanics."
____"They say there's a fine line between genius and madness," Greg remarked.
____"He does seem familiar …" Richard mused.
____"But mostly, I remember … he always followed John around," said Clive. "We joked he was John's shadow."
____"That's right!" said Richard. "Now I recall! I remarked to him once that he looked like John. He looked at me like I'd knighted him."
____"His last day with us was John's last show," Clive continued. "He was more broken up about it than John was. He quit the show that night."
____Wayne scrolled the file. "He bounced from show to show, according to this." At the end of the file was a curious statement: EMPLOYMENT TERMINATED FOLLOWING PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION. "Now, look at this!"
____"Hmmm …" said Colin. "It happened four months ago. Is there any more info on it?"
____"Yeah, there's a link." Wayne clicked on it, and the evaluation came up. Everyone read what it had to say.
____" 'Subject is unstable … suffers from schizophrenia and paranoid delusions … violently angry at those he feels have hurt him in some way, swears revenge' … this guy sounds psychotic!" said Steve.
____"Look!" cried Colin. " 'Subject believes himself to be John Sessions.' I don't believe this!"
____" 'Recommend immediate hospitalization.' Only instead, they probably fired him so they wouldn't have to foot the hospital bill," Greg shook his head. "You guys are becoming more and more American all the time."
____"So if the guy thinks he's John, he'd be angry at us for taking John's place on the show?" Tony asked.
____"That's my guess," said Clive.
____"Then he was fired, and that was the last straw," Richard added.
____"And so he tries to ruin the show by taking something away from each of us," mused Wayne.
____"Only he hasn't gotten all of us - yet," Colin pointed out. Everyone turned and looked at Brad.
____"What?" cried Brad. "You think he's gonna come after me next?"
____"It would fit," Greg told him. "A man who won't rest until he's gotten revenge on all of us."
____"But what will he go after?" Brad asked. "I don't have any trademarks."
____"Hang on," said Wayne. "I'm still logged into the chat room."

FanOfWL: Thanks, you guys. Can I ask you one more question?
Dean: Of course, Fan!
FanOfWL: What are Brad Sherwood's trademarks?
Jessie: Making Ashley swoon! :-)
Sam: Yeah, being a studmuffin!
Nessa: His looks, for sure.

____"That's it!" Colin exclaimed. "Brad, he's gonna go after your looks!"
____"How could he possibly do that?" Brad asked. "Disfigure me?"
____"Maybe," said Clive. "It would explain why he saved you until last. That's the hardest thing to do."
____"Well, I feel SO comforted," Brad muttered. "So now what?"
____Colin thought for a minute. "You know, he took the glasses because Greg was asleep, he spiked the soda because Wayne drank out of it earlier…"
____"What, are you saying those were our fault?" Greg asked incredulously.
____"Of course not! What I'm saying is he finds opportunities and uses them."
____"So?" asked Steve.
____"So I say, we give him an opportunity," Colin replied. "We need to set a trap for him. Brad, are you willing to be bait?"
____Brad gulped. "If it'll help Ryan … OK. I'll do it. What will we do, exactly?"
____"I think I may have an idea," said Colin. "But we'll need extra help."
____"OK then," said Clive. "Let's get started."

____Brad sat nervously in one of the chairs on the set. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Colin?" he asked. "Shouldn't we let the police handle this?"
____"If you want something done right, do it yourself," Greg replied from backstage.
____"It'll work, Brad," Colin told him. "We're prepared for every possibility. We've just got to catch him in the act. Just sit and read your book, and ignore your surroundings." He looked around. "Everybody in place?"
____"Ready!" everyone chorused.
____"Hey," said Steve, listening to a walkie-talkie, "security thinks they spotted him going into the building."
____"Tell them to let him go in," replied Colin. "Just tail him."
____The wait seemed interminable. Finally, there was a rattling noise from above. Colin looked up and saw Harris, in the Sessions wig, moving about on the maze of catwalks above the stage. He picked up his own walkie-talkie and quietly radioed, "Wayne, he's on the catwalk. It's your cue."
____Wayne walked slowly along the catwalk. He saw Harris look down at Brad, then pull out a small hammer. He reached for a klieg light suspended directly above Brad and swung at it, trying to break the glass lens.
____"Hey!" Wayne shouted. Harris spun around.
____"You!" Harris spat. "I see your voice healed. Now get away, before I do something permanent!"
____Wayne started clapping his hands and whistling. Harris stared at him. "What are you doing?" he asked.
____"Interesting question," Wayne smiled at him.
____"Don't distract me!" Harris yelled.
____"OK, I'll distract you!" Tony volunteered, coming up behind Harris. The perpetrator whirled around. Tony grinned at him. "Hello!"
____"Stay away from me," Harris growled. "You've ruined me once already!"
____"Not well enough," Wayne retorted. He and Tony both advanced on Harris.
____"No!" Harris lunged again for the light, grabbing it in another attempt to break the glass. The c-clamp broke, and the heavy light came off in Harris' arms. Startled, Harris let it slip from his grasp, and it plunged down towards the stage - and Brad.
____"Brad! Look out!" Wayne yelled at the top of his lungs, but it was too late. Wayne, Tony, and Harris all looked away as the light hit. When they looked back, they saw the impact had tipped the chair backwards. Under the smashed light was a tangled body.
____Wayne and Tony looked at Harris. "Murderer," hissed Tony.
____"No! It was an accident!" Harris yelled in terror. "I just wanted the glass to cut him! I didn't mean to kill him! I swear!"
____Wayne and Tony both rushed Harris. Panicked, Harris ducked around and managed to get away. He started running backwards. "Don't come after me!" he warned - then he crashed into someone. He turned around and saw Greg.
____"Hey there, Pookie!" Greg said. "Going somewhere?"
____Harris looked and saw Steve, Colin and Richard standing behind Greg, blocking the exit. He whirled around and saw Wayne and Tony barricading the other way.
____"It's over, Harris," Colin told him. "Let it go."
____Harris looked at Colin, his eyes wild with fear and insanity. "Graham Harris is dead! I am John Sessions!" He pulled a gun from his coat pocket and brandished it. Everyone stepped back. "I killed Sherwood, and I'll kill the rest of you! I swear it! Stiles too!" He aimed the gun at Tony and Wayne, who instinctively ducked to avoid it. Harris knocked them over and ran the other way down the catwalk. He stopped and turned. "None of you move or I'll start shooting! I swear to god!"
____Everyone stood still. Harris kept the gun aimed at them. Killing Brad had put him over the edge. "Nobody is leaving this studio alive!" he screamed.
____Suddenly, Harris was kicked from behind. He went sprawling onto the catwalk. The gun flew from his hand and slid over to the players. A pair of hands grabbed Harris' shoulders and pulled him up. He turned and found himself face-to-face with … Brad!
____"Sherwood!" he yelped. "It can't be! You're dead!"
____"There are advantages, buddy, to having an entire prop department staff at your disposal." Brad motioned for Harris to look over the railing. He did so, and saw Clive standing on the stage, waving … and holding up a lifelike Brad dummy. Then he saw police officers swarm onto the stage. Dumbstruck, Harris collapsed onto the catwalk.

____"I can't believe it," Dan stood on the set, shaking his head. "I'm very impressed with all of you."
____"Hey," grinned Brad, "This was nothing compared to doing Hoedowns!"
____Harris stood handcuffed between two officers. A sergeant went up to him. "Let's make this easy on all of us, Mr. Harris," he said, "Where is Ryan Stiles?"
____"No … no!" Harris cried. "There is no Graham Harris. I am John Sessions!"
____Colin marched up to Harris and pulled the wig off his head. Harris' blond hair was revealed. Without the wig, Harris seemed to lose all his conviction. He slumped in the officers' arms. Colin got right into Harris' face.
____"I will ask you this one time," Colin said in measured tones. "Where is Ryan?"
____"At my house," Harris whispered.
____The sergeant looked at the officers. "Take Mr. Harris to the station," he told them. "I will go get Mr. Stiles."
____"Not without us, you won't!" Greg exclaimed.
____The sergeant looked at him, then at all the other players and Dan. "OK," he said. "Let's go."

____Harris' house was located on the far outskirts of London, quite isolated. The police van sped up to it, and the sergeant and all the players leapt out. The sergeant took a ring of keys he'd confiscated from Harris and opened the front door. Everyone rushed in … and stopped. The place was a veritable shrine to Sessions. Movie poster blow-ups and copies of his videos were everywhere. Interspersed with this were posters and videos from the other player's projects - slashed or otherwise destroyed. A stack of Steve's shirts was on the couch.
____Everyone fanned out. "Ryan? Ryan?" they all called as loud as they could, but there was no answer.
____Steve found the missing buzzer on a table. "Hey Clive, your buzzer!" He pressed the button, but only heard two clicks. He frowned. "That was an odd sound."

____"That was an odd sound." The familiar voice came over the speaker. Ryan ran to the camera, hardly daring to hope. "Steve! Steve, is that you?" he shouted.

____When Steve pushed the button, a small black-and-white TV flickered on. Then everyone heard a yell, "Steve! Steve, is that you?" They looked at the TV and saw Ryan trapped in a small room, looking up at the camera. Colin ran over to the TV. "Ryan! Can you hear us?"
____"Yeah. Yeah, I can hear you!" Ryan cried. "Can you see me?"
____"We can! Do you know where you are?" Tony asked.
____"I have no idea!" Ryan replied.
____"Listen, Ryan," said Greg, "Can you bang on the door? We'll follow the noise."
____"OK." Ryan started hitting and kicking the door with all his might. The sound didn't carry to the room the players were in.
____"Split up, everyone," Wayne encouraged. They all started searching the house.
____Tony opened a door and found it led down to the cellar. And a faint thumping noise was emanating from there. "Hey! I think I've found him!" he called. Everyone raced downstairs. They found the door to the room. It was held in place with three thick metal bars, which were padlocked. The sergeant tried key after key until he found one that fit the locks. He swiftly unlocked them, and the door swung open. Ryan was standing behind it. All the players swarmed him, relieved their friend was safe.
____"What took you guys so long?" he demanded, grinning.
____"Well, if you're gonna be like that, we can leave you in here," Greg joked.
____Everyone looked around the room. "What the …" Colin whispered. "This is amazing."
____Greg looked at the dummies. "Hey! My glasses!" He ran and retrieved them.
____Dan looked around the room. "He must have stolen the plans from the studio to build this. Incredible."
____"Let's get out of here," Ryan begged. "I need food and an actual bed to sleep in."
____"Yes, quite right," said Dan. "You need your rest. We still have a taping scheduled for tomorrow!"
____Everyone groaned. Ryan shook his head. "I love an ending where everything is back to normal."

THE END

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