Morgan was seated in the briefing room of Assistance Unlimited’s expansive headquarters. It was an old hotel that had been retrofitted to their purposes but some of the rooms retained the feeling of impermanence, as if no one was truly meant to call this place home. It was a building designed for fleeting visits.
Lazarus was standing in front of a flannel board upon which photos of the various suspects, along with the known victims of the killer, had been hung. "Morgan, you said that Phillips was at home at the time of the killing?"
"Apparently so. He returned home after the party at Groseclose’s and found a car in front of his house with a flat tire. He helped get them patched up — he even produced the name and address of the man he helped."
"And you checked into that?"
"I did. Mr. Thomas Murphy of 1455 Hancock Street. Verifies everything Phillips said. Maybe a little too perfectly, to be honest. They both remember every detail in a way that doesn’t usually happen."
Eun Jiwon, the young Korean member of the team, was seated between Morgan and Samantha. He leaned forward, staring hard at his employer’s impassive face. "I know Mr. Phillips, Chief. He’s a Grade A goon, just dressed up in a business suit. I don’t know if he could kill a woman, but I know he’s got a temper."
"You mean you knew him before all this began?" Samantha asked.
Eun nodded. He was a handsome young man but after an awkward initial series of flirtations, Samantha had realized they weren’t really attracted to each other. In fact, Eun didn’t care for women sexually at all, though it took some time before he trusted everyone enough to confirm that. "When I first moved to Sovereign with my parents, they had to jump through hoops to get Phillips to sign off on the permits they needed to build their store. It was pretty obvious that he didn’t care for immigrants."
Lazarus turned to the board, staring at the images of the men there: Groseclose, Davies, Melvin, Phillips, and Hansome were all men highly respected in their fields. He knew that sometimes respectability was just a veneer that hid a sociopath’s true nature, but he found it hard to believe any of these men were capable enough to have pulled off a series of murders like this. In the case of Phillips, he hadn’t even moved to the city when the first of them began.
"Whoever did this is skilled with a blade," he said aloud, tapping his chin. "They also know enough about police work to know how to cover their tracks, washing away all the evidence that might implicate them."
"I don’t think it’s Hansome," Morgan stated. "The guy’s way too nervous to have pulled this off. The guy folds under the least bit of pressure."
"Funny thing to say about a lawyer," Eun said. "They lie for a living, don’t they?"
"Not the good ones," Lazarus replied. "But I agree with Morgan. I think we can cross Hansome off our list, at least in terms of being the killer. Nothing in his background suggests that he would be capable of this. Having said that, he might be still be involved as an accomplice somehow."
"Well," Samantha said, leaning forward with interest, "if it’s not Hansome and it’s not Phillips — since he wasn’t in town when the murders began — that only leaves a couple of them as suspects, especially if you still believe that Max Davies isn’t one of them. We’re just left with Melvin and Groseclose."
"That’s not quite true."
All eyes turned to the doorway, where The Peregrine stood, his body outlined in silhouette. He moved into view, his blood splattered form drawing a gasp from Samantha.
Eun moved around the table, intending to attack this intruder, but Morgan caught him by the sleeve. "Hold off," the older man warned. "I think I’ve heard of this guy."
The Peregrine nodded at Morgan before fixing his eyes on Lazarus. "Sorry for not knocking on my way in."
"How did you get past our locks and security devices?"
"What can I say? I’m amazing." The Peregrine flashed a crooked grin. "But I wanted to let you know that Hansome is missing. He was just kidnapped out from under my nose by a masked man calling himself Devil Face. I’m willing to bet that Devil Face is our killer… and he was far too fit and youthful seeming to be either Groseclose or Melvin."
"Then we’re back to square one," Samantha said with an air of disappointment.
"You’re forgetting about Smithson," The Peregrine answered, sliding his weary form into one of the spare seats at the table. "Young and fit, if I recall correctly. Maybe he’s doing the dirty work on his employer’s behalf. Or maybe he’s flying solo on this."
"Do you have any proof that it’s Smithson?" Samantha inquired.
"No. He’s just the only one not on that list." The Peregrine noticed that Eun remained tense and he gave what he hoped would be a reassuring smile. "I’m not your enemy. I’m here for the same reasons you are: to help the innocent."
Eun sneered. "Only you choose to do it while hiding behind a mask."
"I have reasons for hiding my identity."
"All I know," Eun continued, "is that you’re wanted on charges of murder, assault, and resisting arrest." The young Korean glanced at Lazarus, his entire body tense. "Tell me why we aren’t arresting him, Lazarus. Please."
The Peregrine struck quickly, spinning the legs of his chair so that his body was now turned toward Eun. He drove the heel of one shoe hard into the younger man’s stomach but Eun recovered quickly, having been trained in the martial arts since childhood. He grabbed hold of The Peregrine’s ankle and drove an elbow down hard against it, nearly shattering the delicate bones.
The Peregrine gritted his teeth but continued with his planned moves. He had anticipated Eun’s reaction and knew that it was a gamble to expose his ankle to such an attack, but it left Eun completely exposed up top. The Peregrine reached into an inner pocket sewn into his jacket and produced a small capsule that snapped open between his fingers. A fine brown mist exploded into the air and The Peregrine leaned forward, blowing the mist straight into Eun’s face. The Korean dropped his hold on the vigilante’s foot and began coughing, his eyes watering so badly that he was virtually blind.
By now, Morgan and Samantha were on their feet. Morgan was reaching for his gun when The Peregrine held up a hand. "I didn’t come here to fight. I can give Eun an antidote for the dust I just sprayed him with — or he can wait an hour for it to clear up on its own. I just wanted to show you that there are multiple reasons for not trying to bring me in."
Lazarus spoke up, having made no move to interfere during this entire exchange. Though the battle had taken only a few seconds, Lazarus was fast enough that he could have intervened. "I assume reason number one is that you’re innocent of all charges."
"I only kill people who deserve it and who leave me no other choice." The Peregrine retrieved a second capsule and shoved it into Eun’s hand. "Crack this open and wave it under your eyes and nose," he directed.
Morgan, still glaring daggers at The Peregrine, released his hold on his pistol, leaving it holstered at his waist. "And what’s reason number two?"
"I would have thought that would have been obvious," The Peregrine stated, a bit of arrogance creeping into his voice. "None of you are capable of taking me down."
Samantha crossed her arms over her chest. "If you’re so high-and-mighty, why do you need us at all, then? Is this Devil Face really so tough that you can’t handle him yourself?"
The Peregrine hesitated before lowering his shoulders. "I’m sorry. None of this is coming out the way I’d intended. I really do try to help people: that’s why I’m here in Sovereign and that’s why I went to visit Hansome earlier tonight. I wanted access to the private files he held on his clients. Like all of you, I assumed that one of the men whose names were in that packet was the murderer. But I don’t think that’s the case any longer. I can’t guarantee that it’s Smithson, but I think it bears looking into."