Episode 1
Mace returned home from his extended vacation in Mexico. His mailbox was overflowing with junk mail, bills, and one large padded envelope. Inside the envelope, Mace found a note from a Frank Allers who wanted to hire him to investigate a 'sensitive matter.'
Episode 2
Mace opened the envelope from Allers. It contained newspaper clips, photos and an annual report, all of which focused on the Fun Toy Company and its CEO, Hammoun "Mike" Harmia. Fun Toy, a maker of toys and novelty items, had been accused, ten years ago, of discriminating against disabled people. As part of a court settlement, they agreed to create and sponsor an advocacy group for the disabled, the National Organized Trust for the Physically Challenged (NOTPC).
Episode 3
As Sylvia was slaughtering Mace and Tommy in a game of tennis, a man dressed in a jacket and tie walked onto the court. Tommy insisted that he play--on Sylvia's side. At first hesitant, he ended up delivering the winning shot, sending Tommy sprawling on the ground.
The man introduced himself as Frank Allers, the one who had sent Mace the packet of articles on the Fun Toy Company. Allers gave Mace $2000 and instructed him to dig up dirt on Hammoun Harmia, the President of FTC. Congressman Stan Nielsohn, in the park campaigning for his reelection, showed up at the court, at which point Allers quickly excused himself and left.
Episode 4
Mace went to the Hall of Records and the Library to dig up dirt on Harmia and Fun Toy, but came up empty-handed. He noticed a classified ad for a mechanical engineer position at Fun Toy. Hoping to learn more about the company, he went in and applied for the job . While filling out the application, Mace heard a female voice down the hall complaining loudly that her scheduled interview with Harmia had been canceled for the third time. Mace followed the woman into the parking lot where she introduced herself as Navy Blue, a reporter for the Daily Chronicle. Navy told Mace she was writing a story about Congressman Nielsohn's major supporters, but she revealed nothing else.
Episode 5
Allers came by Mace's office and became angry when Mace reported he hadn't found anything damaging on Harmia. Allers finally revealed to Mace the true purpose of his job: Allers works for Max Dorling, Congressman Stan Nielsohn's Democratic opponent. Allers hoped that a negative story about Harmia would bring down Nielsohn since Harmia is one of the Congressman's most visible supporters. After Allers left, Mace received an e-mail from 99 saying that she hadn't found anything notable about the NOTPC website, aside from its large database of members. Alvin stopped by and Mace showed him Harmia's photo in the Fun Toy annual report. Alvin called Mace at 6:18 the next morning to say that he remembered seeing Harmia in the past.
Episode 6
Alvin remembered seeing Harmia ten years ago, during an undercover police investigation. Alvin had gone to a rally for a group called "The Caul" that had been accused of conducting satanic rituals. One Caulist discovered Alvin was a cop and chased him away. During the chase, the man's mask had fallen off. Alvin now realized that man was Harmia. Mace mentioned the Caul to Tommy who had coincidentally stumbled across a website for "The Caul" while searching for sites about caulk. Mace checked out the site and read its rantings about purifying the gene pool in order to win the war against nature. He learned that The Caul planned to hold a rally, and he convinced Alvin to accompany him there.
Episode 7
Alvin and Mace spied on the Caul rally. They watched as the Caulists, wearing Saran Wrap masks, preached their philosophy and conducted bizarre rituals with a plastic tarp. Mace felt someone yank at his collar. The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back, sore, with a dog licking his face. Veronica Kon, the reporter for the Weekly Low Down, found him on the ground while walking her dog, Zippy, in the park. Mace wasn't badly hurt, but his attackers had smashed his camera. Alvin, lying twenty feet away under a tree, complained that his back hurt, and convinced Mace to take him to the hospital.
Episode 8
Mace and Alvin arrived at the emergency room. While waiting for the doctors to finish examining Alvin's back, Mace fell asleep in a chair. He woke up the next morning and immediately called Allers to report about the Caul rally. Allers seemed pleased with the information but told Mace he needed concrete proof of Harmia's involvement. Finally, Alvin emerged, walking, with the good news that his back was fine. Mace and Tommy went out for a drink at the Town House later that afternoon. They were surprised when Sylvia walked in, pounded back a double scotch on the rocks, and started crying. Sylvia turned around, showing Mace something slimy stuck to the back of her hair.
Episode 9
Between sobs, Sylvia told Mace and Tommy someone had thrown a blob of slime at her when she arrived home from work that afternoon. She then took out a note that had been left at her door. It was a message warning Mace to stay away from the Caul. Tommy suggested Sylvia move in with Mace, for her own safety. Sylvia loved the idea, and Mace reluctantly agreed. The next morning, when Mace visited the Barca Lounge, 99 reported a interesting finding: The Caul's executive board would be holding a meeting over the Internet the following Monday. Unfortunately, she was too busy to help Mace eavesdrop on it and warned him not try on his own. Later, Tommy came by to unclog Mace's drain and said he could help Mace hack into the meeting.
Episode 10
Mace tailed Harmia into a diner where Harmia met with a printer named Sam concerning a brochure. Harmia noticed a mistake in the brochure, got angry, and stormed out of the diner. Mace tripped Sam and snagged one of the brochures which turned out to be about a sweepstakes. Later, Mace read that NOTPC and Harmia had officially endorsed Nielsohn's campaign. The next morning, Tommy showed up, insisting he could help Mace break into the Caul Board meeting held over the Internet. They eavesdropped as the Caul Board members, each wearing a plastic wrap mask, discussed embedding a sterilization serum in a sweepstakes mailing. Mace wanted evidence of the meeting so Tommy took a screen capture, at which point the Board discovered they had an intruder and quickly disbanded.
Episode 11
Mace accused Tommy of blowing their cover at the Caul board meeting by taking a screen capture. As Mace tried to discern the masked faces in the screen capture, 99 contacted him and offered to help eavesdrop on the end of the meeting. He told her he'd been there already and e-mailed her the screen capture. He then called Allers to update him on his discoveries. Dorling's campaign manager, Gib Jones, took the call and informed Mace that Allers had been fired. When Mace explained that he had proof of Harmia's involvement with the Caul, but that Harmia couldn't be recognized behind his mask, Jones advised Mace to get some psychiatric help, and fired him from the case. Sylvia phoned to tell Mace she planned to stay over at a girlfriend's that night. Meanwhile, in an effort to stop the Caul from conducting their evil sweepstakes, Mace reported the plot to his friend Frith at the LAPD Mail Fraud division.
Episode 12
An article in The Chronicle explained that Allers was fired for falsely accusing Congressman Nielsohn of frequenting a topless bar. Mace received a mysterious e-mail that read, "You'll find something you're missing at http://204.140.244.7 /%63%61%75%6c /%6e%6f%74%65.htm." Mace visited the site and found a picture of Sylvia tied up in a chair and gagged. A message told Mace to stay out of way of the Caul and that Sylvia would be released when the Caul sweepstakes had ended. To make sure it wasn't a hoax, Mace called Maxwells and found out Sylvia had not shown up for work that morning. Mace then phoned Frith at the LAPD. Frith said that his superior had squelched the investigation into the Caul because "the Caul doesn't exist." Mace went to the Barca Lounge and asked 99 for her help in locating Sylvia.
Episode 13
Mace and 99 waited in the Barca Lounge for the next message from Sylvia's kidnappers. A jerky video appeared of Sylvia reading a repared note. When she started to deviate from the note, a man in a clown mask covered her mouth and told Mace to come back in 48 hours for another message. Unfortunately, 99's equipment was unable to pinpoint the kidnappers' location. 99 later sent Mace a computer-enhanced screen capture from the Caul board meeting. With the faces unmasked, Mace had a clear picture of Harmia, but had to enlist the help of Allers to identify the others. Allers recognized his former boss, Dorling's campaign manager, Gib Jones, among the others. Allers talked to Dorling who wanted to keep the photos confidential, and was unwilling to help Mace. Angry, Mace called Jones, and threatened to tell the press about the pictures. Jones agreed to meet with Mace to strike a deal.
Episode 14
Mace and 99 received a new message from the kidnappers. As Sylvia started to read another prepared note, someone put a hand over the camera, said "It's Mendel," and cut off the transmission. 99's high-tech equipment still could not determine the kidnappers' location. Mace went to Gib Jones' house where he discovered the place ransacked and Jones dead, an apparent suicide. Mace returned home and found a message directing him to go to a phone booth. There, an anonymous caller accused him of leaking information about the Caul to Navy Blue at The Chronicle, and threatened that if Mace didn't squelch the story Sylvia would be hurt. Mace called Navy. She agreed to try to hold the story for an extra day in exchage for a copy of the transcript from the Caul board meeting.
Episode 15
After reading an article in The Chronicle about Gib Jones' death, Mace went to the Barca Lounge where 99 had made an interesting discovery. She had noticed a ceramic gargoyle in the background of the kidnappers' last message that, when enlarged, closely resembled a gargoyle she happened to own. 99 told Mace the sculpture came from a gallery called Earthen Art Works. Posing as a professor of Psycho - Ethno - Anthropology, Mace went to the gallery and asked questions about the gargoyle. Linda, the store owner, recognized the gargoyle, and gave Mace the address of the people who bought it. Mace left the gallery and recruited Alvin to join him on a surprise visit to the kidnappers' house.
Episode 16
Mace and Alvin went to the kidnappers' house disguised as gardeners. Peering in a window of the garage, Mace saw Sylvia and two kidnappers. After Alvin picked the lock, he and Mace drew their guns and flung open the garage door. The startled kidnappers jumped up from the card game they were playing with Sylvia and surrendered. Sylvia hugged Mace, happy to be free. Back at home, Mace called Navy Blue at The Chronicle and told her he would give her all the information she'd need to run the story about the Caul board meeting.
Episode 17
Sylvia went out one morning and returned with bagels and The Chronicle. She showed Mace Navy Blue's article exposing Harmia's association with the Caul and the group's sweepstakes plot. A sidebar mentioned that two members of the Caul board, code-named 'Mendel' and 'Watson' were still unidentified. The name Mendel jogged Mace's memory. He raced over to his office and plowed through the packet of information Allers had given him at the beginning of the case. Finally, Mace found an article from the Oberlin Ohio Observer dated April 13, 1962. It featured a photograph of the local police arresting Harmia and two others, one of whom wore a sweatshirt with 'MENDEL' written on the back.
Episode 18
Mace contacted the Oberlin, Ohio police in an attempt to determine the identity of the "MENDEL" depicted in the Oberlin Observer article. They directed him to their on-line archives. When Mace accessed the arrest report, the names and mugshots did not correspond to the persons described in the article. Mace sent the results of his search to 99. She became suspicious immediately, and agreed to examine the material further. Navy called Mace, thanked him for his help, and invited him to a masquerade ball sponsored by Nielsohn's favorite charity. The next morning, Sylvia urgently called Mace into the bedroom to see something happening on TV.
Episode 19
Sylvia and Mace watched Congressman Nielsohn's televised press conference. Nielsohn denounced Harmia, promised to freeze any money his campaign received from Harmia and Fun Toy, and vowed to conduct a full investigation into the Caul sweepstakes. Sylvia began discussing her frustration with being cooped up in Mace's apartment when the phone rang. It was Marvin, summoning Mace to the Barca Lounge. There, 99 told him that the mug shots in the Oberlin police records had been digitally altered to conceal the identities of the original criminals. Just as she was about to show Mace the original photos which she had recovered, 99 disappeared.
Episode 20
After temporarily losing contact with 99 due to a technical glitch, Mace reestablished the connection and viewed the mug shots she'd recovered from the Oberlin archives. The photos clearly showed Nielsohn and Harmia. Mace recruited Alvin to go with him to a masquerade ball for Nielsohn's favorite charity. There, Mace unexpectedly ran into Sylvia who was working for the caterer. Mace interrupted Nielsohn's grandiose speech, announcing to the crowd that Nielsohn was Mendel, and offering the photos as proof. As Nielsohn denied the charges, a bedgraggled Harmia, who had just resigned from Fun Toy, burst in and confirmed the accusations. Nielsohn stormed out. Navy Blue, the reporter for The Daily Chronicle rushed up to Mace, anxious to interview him for her story.
