Little Bird's Vengeance Chapter 44 Red, Black, Blue
Red Robin split his focus between Spiderman and the eavesdropping bugs. The bugs were picking up the police forensics team's conclusions, and Spiderman was providing background information.
"His name was Sam. Short for Samson, I think, or maybe Samuel. He was a Sophomore. Good at geology; not especially athletic but held his own. I didn't really know him." Spiderman stared at the corpse, then shuddered and looked away.
"Right," Red Robin said, half-absently. The cops had determined that the victim had been mutilated after death; the fatal wound was a stab wound in the chest. "Can you access the school's computer records?"
"I don't know. I've never tried," Spiderman shrugged. "I could give it a go."
"Can you cause a distraction?" Red Robin asked. "I could do with a closer look at the body."
"Sure." Spiderman hopped off the roof. A few minutes later, there was a crash. One of the cops ran out of the Sports Hall.
"It's Spiderman!" he yelled. The rest of the cops followed. Red Robin looked up at the wild goose chase going on just a few hundred metres away, then jimmied opened one of the windows and slipped through.
Spiderman ducked and weaved again, firing a line of webbing and swinging up. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his new partner sliding back onto the roof. Time to lose the pursuers.
He ducked into the science corridor and, before the cops could catch sight of him, slipped into one of the storerooms. He stilled, and waited. There were the sounds of footsteps and slight curses, and then silence. A few minutes more, and he emerged, sneaking down the corridor and out again.
Red Robin was waiting on the rooftop just above the entrance. "Shall we find some computers now?" he suggested.
"Yeah. The offices are this way. What did you learn?" Spiderman asked, dropping down and entering the building.
"He didn't struggle; the wound that killed him was clean. No ragged edges." Red Robin entered the office and sat at one of the computers. "But there was the scent of chloroform around his nose and mouth, so it was most likely planned. There were blood droplets on the floor that indicate the star was carved after he was nailed to the wall. The message wasn't blood; it was paint, by the way. Writing in blood is a lot harder than it seems. The consistency is too fluid, until it clots, when it becomes too thick."
"Know that from experience?" Spiderman asked.
"My…mentor, he once ran a sample through DNA PCR five times before realising it wasn't actually blood." Red Robin smiled slightly wistfully. "He wanted to work out why they used the substitute, so he experimented. Drove us nuts trying to get it off the wall afterwards."
"Seriously? That's dedication," Spiderman whistled.
"Nothing but the best," Red Robin said absently. "I'm in. Samson Rosenburg. Fairly normal attendance pattern for a motivated student; nearly always present but several consecutive days off each winter consistent with annual colds. Pretty good grades, second alternate on the basketball squad, no officials reprimands. Home address…okay, I'm done."
"That's it?" Spiderman asked. He'd have thought Red Robin would spend more time in the computer system.
"I can get more data from Stark's system, and I don't know how long we've got here," Red Robin answered. "Let's move."
Spiderman followed easily as Red Robin left the school.
Red Robin retrieved his borrowed bike and told Jarvis-the-GPS the address for Samson Rosenburg's home. Spiderman had chosen to crouch on the back of the bike rather than follow from the air. "When do you have to be anywhere?"
"What do you mean?" Spiderman asked.
"I'm guessing someone's going to expect you home at some point," Red Robin explained. Spidey was still at school; therefore living with parents or guardians. They'd probably know the school was closed and would expect Spidey to either be with friends or at home, and would need to see him.
"I've got another few hours," Spidey said hastily. "It's fine."
"Fair enough." He didn't push it any further; he had a search pattern to lay out. "Was anything happening last night that Sam might have been at?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
"Alright, we'll move out from his house in a standard spiral search pattern. We're looking for a quantity of blood, most likely on the ground, possibly on a wall."
"Got it."
They arrived, and took to the roofs. Red Robin started at the north point and Spidey at the south point, both moving clockwise. It was strange to be working in daylight, but the irregularity was inconsequential next to the task. He jumped, and landed on the next roof, scanned the surroundings, and moved on.
Spiderman stood up and gestured Red Robin over. The search pattern had shifted slightly as Red Robin moved faster, so they were now quite close to each other. Red Robin noticed the gesture and came over.
"Yeah, that's what I was after," he murmured, and dropped down to a sheltered backyard with bloodstains on the outside of the fence. He pulled a small kit out of his belt and opened it up. He took samples of the blood, and examined the ground, taking a few soil samples. "Done," he said, straightening up."
"That's it?" Spiderman said, surprised. He'd have thought there would be more work.
"That's all I can do at the scene," Red Robin explained. "I'll have to head back to the Tower and start forensic analysis."
"Uh, right," Spiderman said. "See you?"
"Of course. I'll be back at the school around midnight if you want to meet me," Red Robin offered. "Oh, and if you're willing to share some personal data, I can probably get you an internship of some variety in Stark Tower. It'll be a cover, and depending on you skill set could be something pretty minor, but…"
Spiderman blinked. That would be even better than Oscorp, especially if he did some actual work. But he'd have to give away his identity… "Can I think about it?"
"Of course. I know I'm asking you to make a big leap of faith," Red Robin said softly. He seemed to understand the issue, and that was comforting. But not necessarily enough to take the offer.
"Sure. See you tonight," Spiderman nodded, and watched as Red Robin left.
AN: Apologies for lateness. I got hit by writer's block last week, and it took a while to shake it off.
The incident with the blood-paint is completely made-up by me. I don't actually know how easy it would be to paint with blood.
Also this week, a new character in Flashback, and the start of my new Harry Potter/Doctor Who crossover Time, Space, Magic.
Next week: The next installments of Flashback and Black and Red, and the first chapter of the exciting Avengers/Star Trek TOS crossover Trek of the Avengers
Love all you wonderful readers, so will you please review?
Until next time,
Katara