"Oh, my," Melvin whispered, the color draining from his face.
"What’s wrong?"
Melvin suddenly seemed very fragile. "I think I might know something about all of this, after all…"
Morgan leaned forward with interest. It was at that moment that the sounds of gunfire rang out from Smithson’s apartment.
Eun knew that he was being wrongheaded but he couldn’t bring himself to change his opinion with regards to The Peregrine. The man was trouble with a capital T as far as Eun was concerned. He was still pondering this as Morgan shut the door to Melvin’s room and Eun began to knock on Smithson’s. There was no answer and Eun repeated the procedure, applying a bit more force to the knocking this time.
When Smithson still did not appear, Eun reached down and tried the doorknob. It was locked and Eun pondered for a moment what to do. He could enter Melvin’s room and try to cross over through the adjoining door, but he didn’t want to expose the old man to any danger if Smithson was the killer.
According to the clerk, both Smithson and Melvin were supposedly in their rooms but only one of them was answering — and while it would have made sense for the elderly Melvin to be hard of hearing, it defied logic for Smithson to be the same.
Eun took a step back and raised his right foot. He drove it hard against the door, repeating the blow twice more before the barrier cracked and swung open. Eun heard movement from within and he hurried inside, saying, "Mr. Smithson? Don’t be alarmed."
The first thing that Eun noticed was that the room was illuminated by a single lamp, which sat next to the bed. Lying on top of the sheets was Smithson, but any hopes that he might shed some light on the murders was smashed when Eun spotted the pool of crimson that lay beneath him. A bullet hole over his heart was the source from which the blood had flowed and Eun knew immediately that Smithson was dead and had been for at least an hour.
A rustle of fabric drew Eun’s attention away from the body. Standing in front of the open sliding glass door that led to the balcony was a dark figure. Eun remembered The Peregrine’s description of Devil Face and quickly realized that this man did not match that look at all. This man wore a white shirt covered by a gray vest, black tie, and an ebony jacket. Over all of this was slung a dark opera-style cape that was clasped about his neck. With black slacks and shoes, as well as leather gloves and a top hat, the figure looked like he might beon his way to a fancy ball. But the presence of an automatic in his right hand and a large domino-style mask made it quite clear to Eun that the man’s presence was a sinister one.
"I know how this looks," the man began, "but it’s not quite what you think."
Eun grinned and sprang toward the man, eager to redeem his earlier defeat against The Peregrine. He moved so quickly that the well-dressed man was unprepared for the first blow that came: Eun caught him flat on the side of the skull with a closed fist. The younger Korean followed with a knee to the man’s midsection that knocked the air from the man’s lungs.
Eun felt a sense of elation, realizing that he might be about to singlehandedly solve the entire case. If this man was the killer, then perhaps he was working with Devil Face — or, just as likely, The Peregrine had made up the whole thing and was working with this man.
The well-dressed man recovered faster than Eun would have thought possible. He raised his pistol and squeezed off two quick shots. The first whistled past the Korean’s ear and passed through the sheet rock behind him. The second stuck Eun in the left thigh and caused him to grit his teeth in pain.
Eun had taken bullets before and refused to give in. He was about to strike back when the masked man pistol-whipped him, cracking Eun’s lip and sending a spray of blood against the wall.
"I’m not the killer," the masked man said. "I came here for the same reasons you did: to talk to that man. I found him like that just minutes before you showed up."
"I don’t believe you," Eun hissed. "I’ve had it up to here with masked men telling me lies."
"Not sure what you’re talking about, friend, but I’m called The Dark Gentleman. And I’m working to clean up the cesspool that Sovereign City’s become."
At that moment, the adjoining door to Melvin’s room burst open. Morgan sprinted through, throwing himself into a rolling ball. He popped up next to the bed and, with barely a glance at the corpse in the bed, opened fire at The Dark Gentleman.
The masked man cried out in surprise, hurling himself backwards. He landed against the balcony railing and quickly twisted so that his legs were up and over it. He dropped out of sight, leaving Eun and Morgan to rush forward in hopes of catching a glimpse of his fate.
Down below, the city streets were empty. It was a three-story drop but there was no sign of The Dark Gentleman.
Morgan took note of his friend’s bleeding shoulder and mouth. "What the hell happened?"
"That guy in the mask that you just shot at — he calls himself The Dark Gentleman. I’m starting to think that those names on that girl’s body weren’t suspects… they were targets. Hansome missing, Melvin’s secretary killed… maybe these men know something and that’s why they’re being bumped off now."
"Something that’s tied to the murders of all those girls?"
Eun shrugged. He turned back toward the bed, where Melvin was now standing. The old man was staring at the body of his confidante. Melvin looked horrified and one liver-spotted hand came up to cover his own mouth, as if he wanted to stifle a scream.
"Mr. Melvin, we’re going to summon the police," Eun said. "Can you remain here and wait for them?"
Numbly, Melvin nodded. He turned away from the corpse and seemed to regain some of his strength now that he wasn’t faced with his secretary’s body. "He was a good man, almost like a son to me."
Morgan caught Eun by the sleeve. "How about making that call and then staying here with Melvin? I can go looking for that guy without you."
"No," Eun answered firmly. "I’m not being left behind."
"You’re hurt."
"I’m fine."
Morgan sighed and nodded. He was pretty sure that The Dark Gentleman hadn’t left them any kind of trail worth mentioning, but they had to make sure. He was about to step out into the hall with Eun when he remembered that Melvin had been about to say something to him before the shooting began. He hesitated a moment, gesturing for Eun to go on without him.
"Mr. Melvin… You were about to tell me that you might know something about these murders?"
Melvin didn’t bother looking at Morgan. He simply shook his head and whispered, "Nothing. I have nothing to say."
Chapter IV
Angels & Demons
"So that’s how he did it!" Samantha sat back with a satisfied grin on her face. Ever since The Peregrine had interrupted their meeting, she’d wondered how he’d managed to bypass the security at Assistance Unlimited headquarters. It had taken a bit of digging through the archival footage to figure out what security flaw the masked man had uncovered but now she had it: he’d broken into one of the abandoned storefronts facing the old hotel that Assistance Unlimited used as their base. From there, he’d managed to travel through one of the underground tunnels that linked every building on the street. Everyone knew that Lazarus Gray had bought the entire block for purposes of secrecy but very few knew that they were all linked together, essentially transforming it into one giant headquarters.