Revenge of the Adventurer! 5.

Galliard was the first to speak once the voice of the person calling himself 'The Adventurer' had faded.
"I... I... It's a sick prank! A joke!"
I didn't think so. As I suspected, someone was annoyed at Galliard's version of the character. And that person was willing to kill. Of course my mind first went to John Barton, creator of the character. But then there was Norman Walker. The Adventurer had been his most important role, a role that had been his life before he was horribly disfigured. Walker had made Barton's character live on the small screen and on the big screen. To see that character twisted by Galliard would have angered him, perhaps driven him to murder.
"You've got to take it seriously," Scruff warned.
"She's right," I backed up my sister. "If it's for real, someone else may die."
"I'm not going to abandon this film just because some lunatic threatens to kill people!" Galliard raged. He was stubborn, I thought, perhaps too stubborn for his own good -and for the good of others.
"Yes, but at least get police protection," I urged. "Tell the police. Send them the message. Perhaps they can do something with it."
"You're right," he agreed. Privately I knew the police had little chance of finding the killer. The voice had been heavily disguised, the file had probably been sent from an internet cafe.
"But if the killer's pretending to be the Adventurer," Scruff objected, "why's he killing people?"
"You're thinking of the character Norman Walker played," Galliard explained. "He had to be toned down quite a bit from Mr. Barton's original character. THAT Adventurer sometimes killed evil criminals. In the mind of whoever's behind this killing I'm an evil criminal, and so I'm worthy of death. The Adventurer used to warn ciminals of how he would destroy them, and then he got through all their defences anyway! In the books he used a telephone or a recorded message mailed to the criminal. But this 'Adventurer' is using modern technology."
It sounds bad," I agreed. "Look, I can't agree to fund a film when this sort of thing's going on around it..."
"Miss Hill.."
"When this business is sorted out, I might. I'm still interested."
"I'll keep you informed," Galliard promised me. "Thank you for not giving up on us completely."
This was turning into quite an adventure for ME, I thought as we left. Out in the car Scruff turned to me, concern in her blue eyes.
"Sis, do you think that threat was real?"
"Completely. Can you use the computer in the car to trace that e-mail back?"
"Of course I can! Why?"
"It might be interesting to find out where it was sent from."
"It'll come from an internet cafe."

"I KNOW. But where?"
Scruff began he work. Minutes later I heard her squeak in surprise.
"Sis!"
"Where was it?"
"Carshalton!"
Where Mr. Barton lived, I thought. He definitely deserved a visit!