Following the mysterious lady's advice, Cassandra went straight home. She found her mother Bella wasn't home yet, perhaps giving the young girl a chance to come up with an excuse for her leaving Mrs. Kat's unescorted. Cassandra was simply bursting to tell someone about her strange encounters today, but to her dismay all her father seemed to be interested in was his early evening cocktail. In fact, it looked like he had already had several early evening cocktails. Unable to communicate with him, Cassandra gave up and slinked off to her bedroom.
Through the haze of the alcohol, Mortimer was dimly aware the phone was ringing. He stumbled over to the irritating noise and managed to knock the handset off the receiver.
"Who is it," he shouted louder than he intended."It's Ginia Kat," the old lady stated primly.
"Kat? Is that the old broad who smells like cat urine and wears that rag on her head?"Ginia decided to ignore the man's poor manners. "I'm calling about Cassandra."
"Who? Oh. Oh yeah, my daughter. What about her? Has she been in the graveyard again?""I don't know. I don't know where she is right now. She was supposed to be here with me but she disappeared. That's not all. She set a fire in my living room! Luckily I was able to put it out but there's still damage."
Mortimer ran a hand over his sweaty face. He had already lost the thread of the conversation. "Fire? Cassandra's on fire?""NO," Ginia yelled over the line. "Cassandra set the fire! She could have burned my house down!"
"She started a fire? Are you sure it wasn't one of your friggin' cats?" Mortimer wheezed in laughter at his joke.Ginia didn't find it funny. "Look, I consider Bella a friend of mine so as a favor to her I won't be reporting this incident to the authorities. But I'm worried about Cassandra. The child needs professional help. This could be the start of a life of crime."
Somewhere between the rum and SimSoda it struck Mortimer that he should be deeply offended. "Are you callin' my li'l Cassie a juven--, a juv-- a - a hoodlum? I'll have you know, you old hag, she's the sweetest li'l baby in the WHOOOOOOOOOOLE wi' wor'. At least she ain't got a shed fulla cats with cat hair and hairballs and cat litter and dead mice and STINKS! She don't stink! You hear me you shriveled up prune? You stink!"Ginia was so enraged she could barely splutter out a response. "That does it. I wasn't going to turn Cassandra in to the authorities because of my respect and love I have for her mother, but after talking to you I'm going to call SimVille human services right now! Cassandra already has emotional problems, she doesn't need to be exposed to an alcoholic! I hope they take her away from you, you drunk!"
"I AM NOT A DRUNK," Mortimer yelled into the receiver. "If you weren't such a dried up shrunken head, I'd come over there and sock you in the mouth!""Are you threatening me," Ginia gasped. "That does it! I'm going to contact my lawyer. It's bad enough your daughter tried to burn my house down, now you're threatening bodily harm to me! You'll go to jail for this, Mortimer Goth. You hear me? You'll go to jail!"
Bella Goth, fresh from her horror over on Sim Lane, burst into the SimVille Orphanage.
"Father! Father!" Bella cried, breathless from running over. She was stopped cold as she realized she had interrupted a service. "Oh, I'm so sorry! If I had known..."Father O'Sim quickly closed the antique-looking book, almost as if he feared she would be able to see what was written on the yellowed parchment. "Bella, my child, it's alright. I know you wouldn't have interrupted us if it wasn't an emergency. You look like you've been through an ordeal!" He lowered his voice and whispered, "Have you had another argument with your husband?"
"No, it has nothing to do with Mortimer. Father, what exactly did Ginia Kat tell you this afternoon?"O'Sim laughed. "Oh, that. It was something about demons moving into the neighborhood. She told me to break out the holy water and perform an exorcism. Don't worry, Bella. I didn't. Ahem Considering the source I think you can understand when I say I didn't take her very seriously."
She put a hand to her thumping chest. "Thank goodness. Um, Father, did you happen to go by 4 Sim Lane just to check it out?""No, I didn't have time today. I had to get back to the orphanage and have dinner prepared for the children." He didn't mention that Satan had ordered him not to go near the house.
Bella rubbed her hands together nervously. "Father, this may sound crazy, but Ginia may have something. After she told me how her welcoming had gone, I was going to go over to the house and straighten out any problems she may have caused. But just as I arrived I was suddenly surrounded by snakes! Dozens and dozens of poisonous snakes!"O'Sim sensed the work of his Dark Master and sought to create a cover story. "Well, Bella, keep in mind we're basically in a rural area. There's still wildlife around here, especially over on Sim Lane."
"But Father, so many?""Snakes are cold-blooded creatures. They have to warm themselves in the sun. What better place than the black tarmac that's absorbed the sunshine all day long? Sounds to me you were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Bella's heartbeat began to slow back down to normal. "Oh Father, you're probably right. It was all just a big coincidence. It had nothing to do with 'demons'."Although it did.
After spending all day brainstorming on how he could get Cassandra Goth and her extraordinary DNA, Frankenstein came to the conclusion that suing the girl's parents would not help his cause. That night at dinner he decided to do a 180."Say, Dr. Amore," he said between bites. "You didn't perchance see Janice Twain today, did you?"
"Indeed I did. Went over to her office first thing this morning. She should be filing the papers at court tomorrow.""Oh, that's too bad." Amore stopped chewing and looked at his colleague in surprise. Frankenstein continued: "After I had a chance to calm down I started to have second thoughts."
Dr. Freudjung clanked her silverware loudly against her plate. "Thank goodness. Perhaps you've seen things my way and realize there's no real evidence that Cassandra was the one who started the fire in our kitchen.""Oh, I still think she's a little firebug," Frankenstein countered. "My doubts concern taking on the powerful Goth clan. They're one of, if not the, scions of this town. Once it becomes public knowledge we're suing them, other rich and powerful families may turn against us in solidarity with one of their own."
Dr. Amore had to admit Frankenstein had a valid point. "So what are you saying? That we shouldn't sue for damages?""Perhaps there's a...quieter way to go about this. Something that doesn't involve lawyers and judges and press coverage."
Freudjung couldn't contain herself any longer. "But what about an innocent girl?!?""I assure you, that's all I'm thinking about is the little girl."
Frankenstein's bride said nothing, keeping her misgivings to herself.
That evening at dinner, Janice Twain's husband Cameron brings up the subject of her visitor.
"So what was the popular Dr. Amore doing at your office this afternoon? Is he being sued again?""No, actually he's the one who wants to do the suing. He claims that Cassandra Goth started a fire at the medical center causing extensive damages. And he expects to get a lucrative settlement."
"Hmmm." Cameron chewed slowly as the wheels in his mind spun quickly. "Cassandra Goth. That's Mortimer Goth's daughter, isn't it?""Yes."
"Mortimer Goth as in Goth Enterprises.""That's right."
Cameron smiled lopsidedly. "I don't suppose the company's stockholders would like to hear that the heiress to the Goth fortune is a deliquent firestarter. It would be bad for the reputation of the business."Janice felt a trickle of dread cascade down her back. "Cameron, honey, what are you getting at?"
"Oh, nothing. I'm just thinking that Madam Tang would be interested in this tidbit of information.""Cameron, no. Don't tell your boss. Please."
"But Janice, this could help me out. If I can get into the good graces of Madam Tang, I could get a promotion. You want me to be a success at Tang Unlimited, don't you?""Y-yes, but--"
"But what? This won't hurt you. After all, it'll be public knowledge once you file the papers, so it's not like your feeding me inside information. ""Cameron, I'm not even sure if I'm going to take the case."
"Why not? Is it because Mortimer Goth used to be your boyfriend back in high school?"There was a fraction of a second's pause before Janice replied, "No."
"You'll take the case," he said knowingly. "You'll take it and you'll win, because you're the best lawyer in SimVille."
Later that evening Janice pulls out an old, dusty high school yearbook.
