Two hours later, Rob and Maria, having both taken a nap after their bout, join Danny in the library; they find him surrounded by several assorted books, half of which are open at seemingly unrelated pages.
"How's the research going?" Rob greets.
"Promise you won't get angry or frustrated," Danny replies tartly.
"I promise," Rob assures. "Maria and I had a chat-"
"He tried to kill me," Maria interjects.
"Not exactly reassuring," Danny remarks.
"I didn't try to kill anyone," Rob sighs. "I just… look, I'm sorry for how I was before. I wasn't thinking straight, and I was letting my emotions get the better of me."
Danny meets Rob's gaze; he can see the honesty and openness. "Apology accepted. Just remember, we're all friends."
"I know, and I'm grateful," Rob acknowledges. "So, how's the research going?"
"Not well," Danny sighs. "I've been searching for any meaning behind the name 'Ryu', and… well, I've not found much. Just a couple of historical figures, although the sources are so old their veracity is in doubt. Even if they are accurate though, they're not relevant."
"So nothing," Rob summarises. "Hopefully in half an hour we'll get something from the armoury."
"There is one thing that puzzles me," Danny continues. "Why did the kidnappers leave evidence?"
Rob thinks for a moment. "That's a really good question," he admits.
"Maybe the kidnappers were in a hurry?" Maria asks.
"I was away for several hours," Rob explains.
"Plenty of time to remove the evidence," Danny adds.
"I know I never leave anything behind when sniping," Rob continues. "But then I use my shuriken rifle; it doesn't use gunpowder, so there's no shell casings to recover. And the part that acts like a sabot remains on the rifle."
"Whereas the dart was fired by gunpowder," Danny informs.
"And any sniper that uses such rounds knows to recover the casings," Rob finishes.
"Which means they're either sloppy, or they want to be found," Danny concludes.
"That… doesn't really help," Maria sighs.
"Not yet," Danny agrees, "but it's still worth thinking about; sometimes it's the smallest detail that proves to be the most important."
Rob checks the time. "We should probably think about heading back to the armoury soon."
"We should get something to eat first," Maria suggests. "Oh, and go get the big guy."
"Good idea," Danny agrees. "We go get Xander, then something to eat; by the time we've done that, it'll be time to return to the armoury."
"Oh, and tell Hanna's parents," Maria reminds.
Rob and Danny freeze, stunned silent that they'd forgotten to inform Mike and Kathy.
"Ah, yes," Rob mumbles. "Erm…"
"Don't worry, I'll inform them," Danny volunteers.