Decoder Ring Theatre

Two impossibly rare jewels, each the twin of the other and locked in an ancient curse... kept as far apart as possible for years. But now one of the Eyes of Doom has fallen prey to a master thief, and the second is under the protection of a certain masked mystery man. Is it their own terrible destiny that draws these artifacts together, or is it something still more sinister? Can even the Red Panda hope to escape the power of... The Eyes of the Idol?

Sun, sand, the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean... What could be more relaxing than an extended tropical vacation? With pleasure craft mysteriously disappearing from the waters around a sinister and seemingly deserted island, just about everything. Can even our vacationing man of mystery and his fearless fighting female resist... The Song of the Siren?

Our mysterious masked marvel has spent many years protecting the citizens of Toronto from the worst of the worst. A man makes a lot of enemies that way, and every one of them has had long days and nights in a prison cell to consider their next move. Can even the Red Panda be prepared for... A Dish Best Served Cold?

Life isn't always easy for a Police Detective. Especially with Chief O'Mally breathing down his neck about a kidnapping ring. But at least Andy Parker's second job, as a trusted agent of The Red Panda will allow him to pawn off a nice, impossible robbery on the Terrific Twosome of Toronto. Or at least it would... if the two worst cases in town weren't one and the same!

They say a man meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it. Which means that whatever you do, and whatever the result might be, your fortune cookie can smile at you and say "see? I told you so." For some folks that road may lead to a destiny of great importance or heroic meaning. For others, it might lead to a face-down posture in a puddle somewhere. I suppose no one can tell. Except the cookie, and it ain't talkin'.

A certain hack writer who shall remain Shakespeare is of the opinion that the quality of mercy is not strained. He obviously doesn't ride the bus past the stylish world headquarters of Justice and Dixon all that often, 'cause around here both the quality and quantity of mercy are strained beyond any reasonable breaking point, and old friends are no exception.

A client who seems a little too eager to pony up his retainer, the feds sniffing around like the wolf at the door and witnesses who keep blossoming into corpses. It's almost enough to make a certain police Lieutenant seem like a welcome sight. Almost.

When a snoop-and-peep that paid turned into a murder case that almost certainly didn't, it meant one thing: Jack suddenly got interested. For the Girl Detective, it's just one more reason to strangle the big lug... but even a clock that's stopped is right twice a day... isn't it?

It has been remarked more than once that there's always a calm just before the storm. Certified meteorological phenomenon or old wives saw, it was still true as often as it wasn't. And if that storm was destined to wash away Marilou Arden, it looked like it just might take a certain pair of gumshoes with her.

It is a season not to be trusted, my friends. It can dress up sadness as nostalgia, tackiness as whimsy and grey-green slush as "Christmas snow"... but it didn't seem like all the holiday spirit in the world was going to do the little man in the red suit and even redder puddle of his own blood much good, now was it?