Dance to the death

It turns out that Van Veen was using his influence and access around the BBC for nothing more than access to stealing dance costumes. But why? Because he was outfitting his own dance team/elite assassination squad, which he was calling the Van Veen Va Vooms.

(L to R) Griselda, Queenie, Madelyn and Punchetta

His plan: recruit four of the world's sexiest dancers and turn them into killers. When we got him to confess (which, as always, was pretty easy; would-be super-villains love to confess), he said, in that weird way of his, "The daaaahncers, so beautiful, yes? Lovely to look aaaat, deadly to deeeal with. As skilled in the art of the daaaahnce as the art of the kiiiill." To his credit, he had done a fantastic job of recruiting, The Van Veen Va Vooms were:

• Madelyn - specializing in ballet and bladed weapons
• Queenie - specializing in ballroom and toxins
• Punchetta - specializing in jazz, tap and punching
• Griselda - specializing in the art of seduction

We managed to thwart them before they ever carried out their very first attempt, the proposed assassination of Emperor B'll B'll of the island nation of Quapandwa, which would have thrown that whole region there into turmoil. It was a close call; B'll B'll was quite taken with Griselda...naturally.

But the puzzling aspect of the whole case was why Hermannus Jantinus "Herman" van Veen would go through so much trouble to establish a reputation for himself and get in such good graces with the BBC and the worldwide dance community only to resort to petty theft when it came time to outfit his troupe. 

Turns out he had bad credit.

The Va Vooms themselves were successfully rehabilitated and now work as activity directors at Tick-Tock Estates, an assisted living facility in Glendale, Arizona.

• Madelyn - specializing in board games
• Queenie - specializing in arts and crafts
• Punchetta - specializing in bus trips
• Griselda - specializing in the art of seduction

There's No Dance Off With Your Pants Off

Well ... Legs & Co. ...

It was Flick Colby herself - former dance troupe member herself and instigator/manager of Legs & Co. - who contacted us in search of The Unbelievables' assistance. It was discovered many of Legs & Co. costumes were being pilfered by someone and Ms. Colby wondered if we could get to the bottom (and the tops) of the situation.)

We all packed bags in case the caper took more than an afternoon and arranged to meet Ms. Colby at the BBC studios where we exchanged pleasantries, met the girls and got down to the business at hand.

... mmmmmmmmmmmm ... Lulu ...

Lulu Cartwright was my favorite of the troupe and it's not a gross understatement to declare I was rather taken by her. Business being business, I kept professional and delved into my part of the mission with zeal so as not to be distracted by her.

It was apparent I wasn't the only one taken in by the wiles of Ms. Lulu Cartwright

as evidence would indicate courtesy of this photo

with Lulu tightly sandwiched between Jeff and Clark ...

The BBC Studios was a massive place with lots of nooks and crannies to pour over. Overall, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary to point our attentions in any particular direction.

That is ... until we met Hermannus Jantinus "Herman" van Veen.

Van Veen (center) with members of Ruby Flipper.

He looked suspect even then ...

Herman Van Veen was instrumental in several dance groups for the BBC and no more so than with Flick during her time with Ruby Flipper, one of the predecessors of Legs & Co.

The dude had a presence about him that just didn't jibe with us. Plus ... he talked funny, a tell-tale sign of funny business.

But ... how was Van Veen mixed up with the Legs & Co.'s missing accouterments?

Clark will present that tale ...