The Heroes of Little Springs

"Eight huh?" He said, jotting the notes down. All he actually wrote was Timmy eight, but pretended to make it look like he was writing more as he wiggled his pencil in the motions.

He then lowered the pencil and pad, so he could look Mrs. Barsa. "Sounds to me like they went off somewhere." He said with a mischievous smile. "I was once a kid to, going where I wasn't supposed to." Although that still applied to him now, especially what he was doing right now.

"Did your boy ever tell you anything? Like his interests? Maybe he let a place slip. Anything that could connect the dots?"

"There wasn't really anything I could think of that might be helpful," Mrs. Barsa said, shaking her head. "But a journalist came by recently and was very interested in the school project Timmy said he was doing. It seemed like an important clue to her."

His spirits slightly dampened, but not showing, except for the slightest frown, Jet's expression and interest soon piqued right back up. "Do you still have that project here? Or any bit of it? Or remember what the project was about?" He asked, throwing one question after the other.

"Well, he hadn't started it yet," Mrs. Barsa replied, startled by Jet's sudden enthusiasm. "He just said it was about a local celebrity and he was doing his report on Ms. Gallard. I think he said she makes sculptures."

Wishing for a forward answer, he got done, and was slightly annoyed. "A local celebrity...and Ms. Gallard." He said with less enthusiasm, as he jotted those things down to.

"Do you happen to know where this Ms. Gallard lives?" He asked, hoping there was a chance this lady knew something better. What kind of mother doesn't know a thing about their children. Might as well ask the ceiling fan, it probably knew more.

"She lives over by the big estates," Mrs. Barsa said, pointing towards the general direction. "She's number 221."

"Thank you for your time Ma'am." Jet said, bidding his farewells, as he then zoomed off to 221, after making sure that Mrs. Barsa was no longer looking or near him.

Once he arrived at the door, he took the same charade he had before. Clearing his throat, he fixed his collar, and then knocked on the door.

Once Jet knocked on the door, a woman answered the door. However, it was clear based on the way she presented herself and her attire that she probably did not own the house.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Sorry for the interruption Ma'am," Jet said to be polite, even though that this wasn't in his nature or true dialect. "I'm Officer Smith, I was informed by Mrs. Barsa that a Mrs. Gallard may know a thing or two about the missing reports of lately." He simply responded, before pulling out a pencil and pad again.

"She says her boy was doing a project about cel...cele..." He trailed off as he tried to read his handwriting on the paper, turning it sideways even. "Sheesh, who wrote this chicken scratch...oh wait."

Quickly shaking and regaining himself, he looked at the lady again. "He was doing a report on local celebrities and the famed Mrs. Gallard, a sculpture came up."

"Well, I don't know how much help Ms. Gallard will be but you're welcome to come in if you want..." the maid said. She seemed a little confused by what was going on but opened the door for Jet to enter anyway.

The house was very large and very grand. Statues that clearly appeared to have been purchased at high prices decorated the hallways. Paintings of equal value hung along the walls. Many appeared to be classical in nature and were most likely either genuine or very expensive reproductions of famous works of art depicting Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.

While walking through the halls, a broken mirror was on the floor, tucked away under an antique piece of furniture. It was hard to notice and only someone who was looking for such things would be able to spot it.

The maid led Jet into a spacious tiled room. There was very little furniture and the overly large windows allowed the sun to bask in. However, the windows also appeared to have some sort of tint to them to protect the sculpture that was in the center of the room that a young woman sat next to.

Ms. Gallard was busy working on the sculpture, however, she appeared to work at a very slow pace. She wore sunglasses as she worked.

"Umm miss, there's an officer here to see you," the maid said they entered.

Jet hardly noticed anything and everything at the same time. He was amazed at the different types of stuff that filled the room. He was no art enthusiast at the least, but he knew this stuff was considered fancy and expensive.

As the maid introduced him, he stepped forward. "Good day Mrs. Gallard, I'm Officer Smith." He introduced himself so more. "I just wanted to ask a few questions about the recent disappearing of Mrs. Baras's child."

Readying his pad and pencil, he smiled. It's a good thing I always read those Captain Detective books, they were the best!...And helpful! "She says that her boy was researching you for a project."

"I'm afraid this is news to me," Ms. Gallard said. "I haven't heard of the missing boy. When did he go missing?"

"Th-we don't exactly know when, but Mrs. Barsa, the mother believes it to had been two nights ago, around eight." Jet explained, but then noticed this was going nowhere.

"Did Timmy Barsa have any contact with you before that time? His mother he was doing a project on local celebrities, which was you." Jet asked, hoping for a better answer.

"I haven't heard from anyone on a school project," she said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry I couldn't be any help to you." It was clear that though Ms. Gallard was trying to be polite, she really was not interested in offering any assistance to Jet.

Jet held his paper and pencil each in one hand, still, and disappointed that he received even less from this person. "Thank you for your time ma'am." Is all he said as he left.

Through the windows in Ms. Gallard's room, one could see a very large collection of statues throughout the yard. As the maid led Jet out of the room and towards the front door, more statues that may have been overlooked before were noticeable as they were now facing a balcony above.

One of the statues resting by this balcony was of a very realistic young woman. She was positioned in a way where she appeared to be pointing a bow and arrow at a target. The arrow looked as though it had fire wrapped around it. Her hair was wild and her clothes suggested she wore 'earthy' tones. And if one were to look closely, they would see she appeared to be wearing a mask.

Jet observed these interesting statues. There were still just too many to take in for him, but he gave each and every one of them at least five seconds or more of a glance. Something still didn't seem right about the lady though.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but she blew him off too quickly. Captain Detective always said if someone was too eager to help or not at all, there was something amiss. He thought, pulling out his comic book and finding the exact quote in one panel from and then another where he made a shocking revelation.

With a frown, he would be back later for some more private investigation time. He would just have to wait for the night to come. That's what Captain Detective did anyway.

After Jet was led out of the house, the maid continued with her usual business. She worked for a few more hours before finally leaving for the evening.

Eventually, the night settled in. The statues guarded the estate, watching anything that entered or exited the property. But the statues weren't the only things keeping on the estate as deep in the shadows, something lurked.

Being on a stakeout for a few hours, Jet had left earlier to retrieve and redress himself in his costume. He even brought a nice thermos of hot coffee. Twisting the cap off, he chugged some in again, before putting it down for good this time. It was the moment to begin his investigation.

The maid was gone and that one artist lady or whatever wouldn't be much of a problem now as she was probably asleep. Concealing his super speed for now, he walked through the pathway leading to the front doors, before peering into one of the house's windows.

The house appeared to be quiet and, for the most part, abandoned with the exception of Ms. Gollard who was asleep in her room.

Seeing that the coast was clear, where he was, inside and outside. Jet slowly and silently pushed open the window, before entering the building. He tiptoed through the room.

Numerous statues were on display, their figures and curves casting quite well and creepily from the moonlight. It felt quite odd being in their presence, but he attempted to keep his mind on the objective at hand, searching for clues. But where was he to start?

Most of the statues inside appeared to represent characters from mythology. However, the ones that had been outside appeared to be sculptures of creatures (including people) from various time periods including more contemporary figures.

The mirror underneath the piece of furniture was shining in the moonlight and it appeared as though the statue from above the balcony was eagerly staring at it.

All of the statues around Jet, inside, and outside, were of different forms. Some of them shared quite strange designs, which caused Jet to wonder why the lady would sculpt such odd figures.

The glimmering of the moonlight slightly blinded Jet's eyes, before he shielded them. Pulling away, he noticed where the source was coming from, and advanced the shiny object underneath the piece of furniture.

He slowly knelt and picked up the mirror, before inspecting it from all sides thoroughly. It seemed to be cracked and discarded in a strange place. For someone with such a fancy and organized room, it was out of place. His first clue he thought, perhaps there was a struggle, indicated by the damage done by this mirror.

Though he was again at square one, with nothing else to lead him. Absentmindedly walking, while attempting to take in his clue or find other pieces, Jet followed his steps until he made it to the statue near the balcony.

The statue was undeniably realistic. Its clothes resembled some of the Greek god's attire however they appeared to have a more modern look. The statue even wore a mask to hide its identity as it shot a bow and arrow towards an unknown target.

There was something about this statue that was clearly identical to a certain masked hero Jet knew.

This statue, that Jet gazed upon looked quite strikingly familiar. Whoever made it was of great talent. The little boy did great in choosing her for his project. Upon closer inspection, it came clear who the sculpture was modeled after.

With a frown, he stared at it slightly irritated. "What gives? I'm not enough of a hero?"