Chapter Seven: Knowing Too Much
9:07 am, Precinct 92...
"So you say you were gone less than a half-hour, and he disappeared?" Capt. Stacy asked, scribbling the information that Rosie was giving him into a notebook with one hand, nibbling on a donut with the other.
"That's exactly it." Rosie said, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. "He just left. No warning, no anything, until he was already gone."
The Capt. wrote this down, and asked, "And you say he's most likely unstable?"
"I know he is." Rosie said sadly. "He's barely spoken to me the last week, he's hardly eaten anything, he locked himself in his room and refused to come out, and he signed the note under the alias of 'Doctor Octopus.' He never calls himself that. And now he's out to kill someone."
"It does sound like maybe he's been pushed over the edge." the captain said sadly. "I hate to see someone like that, especially a man of his intellect. Do you have any idea who the man responsible might be?"
I haven't a clue." Rosie replied. "I don't think Otto does, either. But he's going to try and find out."
"How?"
"Again, I have no idea." she said, wiping her eyes again. "I know he doesn't have any contacts in the criminal underworld, so that's not how. I can't see him going around town beating up informants in bars trying to find out, either. I wish I knew."
Without warning, there was a resounding crash, and both the captain and Rosie looked over to find a large desk lamp knocked to the floor and Carolyn Trainer standing there, a half-cocked smile on her face.
"Sorry. Accident." she said, kneeling down to pick the lamp up. But before she did, she discreetly placed a small device in the base of the lamp; that was the purpose of knocking it over, as it was no accident. This was the reason she had come along when Rosie was summoned down to the station to give an interview; she had put the device together last night out of spare radio parts; it would allow her to overhear anything said in this office, meaning any new developments in the search for Octavius.
Maybe it's criminal. she thought as she placed the lamp back on the table. But if we can find him first and talk him down, it will be worth it.
"Well, I suppose that's as much information as I'll need for now." the captain said as he walked towards the door, politely ushering them out. "I'll call if I get any new information."
"I know you will." Rosie said as the two of them walked out.
The two of them walked in silence for several moments until Rosie asked, "Do you know where he might be going to get the information he'll need? Or who it might be?"
"I haven't the slightest idea." Carolyn replied. "But I know that I'll be getting the information a lot faster than the captain will be giving it to us."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I know there are some things the captain won't tell us. So I hooked up a listening device in his office."
"You didn't!" Rosie said, shocked. Wasn't that criminal?
"Actually, remember when I 'accidentally' knocked the lamp over? Why do you think I did that?" Carolyn asked, looking at Rosie out of the corner of her eye.
Rosie couldn't help but be somewhat impressed by that.
So devious... yet somehow ingenious. she thought.
"And what if the captain finds it?"
"He won't know who put it there. It's a basic listening device used by many countries to listen in on confidential transmissions. Except that this particular device is modified to work by way of my technopathic powers. I can listen in directly, and the captain will never know."
Rosie did not respond to this. How did Carolyn even know how to rig up a device like that?
As long as it helps me to find him faster. she thought, sighing. We can't afford to let him kill someone else and wind up in prison.
Or worse, to be killed first.
xxx
Meanwhile, in the lair of the man who called himself the Scrier, he was sitting at his desk, drumming his fingers on the tabletop, waiting for one of his assassins to show up.
He's late, again! the Scrier thought, angry. Why did I hire such incompetent henchmen?
Finally, a man walked into the room. He had a frightening appearance; he stood at over six and a half feet tall, with bone white skin, and red eyes that could pierce an enemy's heart.
"You called?"
"Ah, yes. Mr. Lincoln." the Scrier said, nodding. "It's been a while since we've talked."
"A very long time." the albino said. "This is how you've forgotten that nobody calls me Mr. Lincoln. I am known as Tombstone, now."
"Of course. How could I forget?" the Scrier replied, apologetically. "Anyways, I've got a job for you."
"An assassination?" the man named Tombstone asked, an evil glint in his eyes.
"Naturally." The Scrier pulled out a file photo and laid it on the desk. The picture depicted a woman, one of a rather exotic look.
"Her name is Rosie Octavius." The Scrier said, taking a sip of his cognac. "She is actually the wife of the man I'm hunting down. He's been in hiding." He tapped the picture with his pen. "I want you to find and eliminate her. I need something to draw him out. And I've always believed in destroying an enemy completely; physically, and psychologically."
"Understood."
"There's also been a black-haired woman who's been in the picture lately as well, by the name of Carolyn Trainer." The Scrier added. "If she's there, kill her as well. I don't need extra witnesses in this."
Tombstone did not reply, but he nodded, a hint of a cruel smirk on his face.
"You will strike tonight. You're dismissed." The Scrier said, and Tombstone left the room.
I tried playing nice with you, Octavius. Now those you hold close will go the same route you are about to go.
xxx
But even as the Scrier is trying to draw his enemy out, Octavius was headed downtown, trying to find the man Brigham had given him the identity of. Even though he had been given a general location, actually finding the informant was proving to be difficult.
I'm looking for a man who calls himself Louie the Snitch. Octavius thought as he traversed the rooftops looking for him. That alias… it sounds like something out of a bad mob movie. But if he can give me any information-
The thought broke off as he finally caught sight of the man. He was looking for was standing in the alley below, and he looked for all the world like a rat; someone who would know quite a bit about the criminal underworld.
Taking care to stay out of Louie's sight, Octavius descended the building as quietly as possible, hoping to sneak up on the snitch before he could make a run for it.
Luck was with him; Louie did not hear Octavius walk up behind him until he found himself shoved face first into a wall, his arms pinned behind his back.
"What the fu-" Louie started, but Octavius grabbed him by the back of the head and slammed him into the wall. Not hard enough to knock him out, but hard enough to shut him up.
"Watch your mouth. If you knew who you were talking to, you'd show a little more respect than that." he said, in a low growl.
Louie tried to turn around to get a glimpse of his attacker, but Octavius shoved his head back into the wall.
"Don't try to look at me. I just want a little information, and I'm going to get it."
"Alright, man!" Louie said, shaking from fright. "That's what I specialize in! What do you wanna know?"
"I want to know any information you have on a man who calls himself the Scrier." Octavius said, still speaking in that low growl that was meant to intimidate the person he was speaking to. "And I mean anything you might know."
"Hell, I don't really know much about him!" Louie stammered. "All I know is that he's been around for about five years, dealing in a lot of illegal weapons shipments and, from time to time, ordering certain people assassinated to keep them quiet if they know too much. I heard he's been involved lately in the attempted assassination of a man by the name of Otto Octavius-"
"Yes, yes, I know that!" Octavius said, rolling his eyes. Obviously that fact was clear as day to him. "I mean, who is he? Do you know who he might be?"
"Now that, I can't tell you!" Louie said, trying to pull away. "He keeps his identity under close wraps!"
Octavius could tell that this particular snitch was telling the truth; he was too afraid to lie.
"I can tell you the name of someone who might know." Louie continued. "He deals sometimes with a man called the Tinkerer. This Tinkerer guy does a lot of mechanical work for people, and occasionally he'll take in cases from the criminal underworld. This Scrier is one of his frequent clients."
"Where is this Tinkerer?" Octavius asked.
Louie gave him the address and said, "Alright, that's all I know, man! Can you let me go now?"
Octavius released him, but when Louie turned around to get a look at him, he was nowhere in sight.
What the-? Louie thought, confused. Was I just attacked by a ghost, or what?
xxx
By now, night had fallen. Rosie was sitting by the police scanner, waiting for a squawk that sounded promising. Across the room, Carolyn was listening in on the connection she had rigged up in the captain's office earlier that day.
"Anything yet?" Rosie asked.
"If I'd heard anything, I'd have told you." Carolyn said. "I'm still trying to pick up something. I don't use these powers often... wait..."
"What is it?" Rosie asked.
"...I think I got something." Carolyn replied, holding up a hand to indicate that she was listening in on something.
Static, then, "...I'm almost there, boss. Another half block, and I'll have reached the lab."
More static, then, "...Good. As I told you earlier, in order to break an enemy, you have to destroy those closest to him, as well."
"...is that why you sent me after the doc's wife?"
"...Precisely. If Octavius thinks my vendetta is limited to him alone, he's about to get one hell of a wake-up call."
"Rosie, we need to get out of here now." Carolyn said, but even as she did, the window shattered, and an enormous albino man jumped through the window, a nine-millimeter pistol in hand.
"Which one of you is Rosie Octavius?" he asked, an evil smile on his face.
The two women were silent before Rosie said, "I am her. Why?"
"Because you're Tombstone's next victim." he said, cocking the pistol and aiming it at her.
"You fire one shot at her, and I'll put a bullet in your brain!" Carolyn snarled, pulling out a pistol of her own; a .45, certainly capable of taking him down, if need be. Rosie ran for the door, Carolyn following behind.
"Get back here!" Tombstone shouted, giving chase.
"Oh, sure, come back to you, because getting shot sounds so much like the better option!." Carolyn said sarcastically, looking behind her at the albino.
At that, Tombstone fired off a warning shot and said, "STOP! I'm warning you! The more you run, the harder this is going to get on both of you!"
The two of them did not stop, of course, until they realized...
...they had run directly into a dead end, effectively cornering themselves.
"No!" Rosie said, terrified, as Carolyn leveled her pistol at the albino.
"You think I'm afraid of you, Trainer?" Tombstone said, a cocky tone to his voice.
"Never asked you to be afraid of me." Carolyn said as she cocked the pistol. "I'm telling you that it's advisable to be afraid of me. As soon as I figure out how the hell you know my name, maybe I'll decide whether or not to kill you."
"HA!" Tombstone shouted, laughing. "Now I'll just have to kill you both."
"As fast as you can pull that trigger, I'll have you on your back dead!" Carolyn snarled, and Rosie could not help but wonder how she was staying so calm. She herself was terrified, but Carolyn seemed to be in control of the situation. "I am not afraid to pull this trigger! Even if you kill us both, you still have the dishonor of dying as well!"
Tombstone merely cocked an eyebrow and said, "That's a chance I'll have to take then."
At that, he aimed the pistol at Rosie and pulled the trigger. Rosie was too paralyzed by fear to move out of the way...
Fortunately, by the time she registered that the shots had been fired, Carolyn had already shoved her out of the way of the bullets.
Unfortunately, this put Carolyn directly in the path of the shots fired. She was hit by two of them, and she fell to the ground, unmoving.
"Oh my God..." Rosie whispered, horrified. Why did she do that? Carolyn must have known she would not be able to dodge the shots; why did she give up her own life to save Rosie's?
At that moment, an unholy rage overtook her, and she snatched up Carolyn's pistol and said, "GET AWAY FROM ME, GODDAMNIT! I will not hesitate to use this gun!"
Tombstone was shocked by Rosie's sudden bravado, but he shrugged it off.
"She was a non-entity in all of this." he said, indicating Carolyn with his pistol. "But now you can join her in death."
But just as he was about to pull the trigger, a squawk came over his two-way.
"Tombstone, return to base immediately. There is something else I need you for."
"But boss, the wife is still alive!" he said in protest.
"Forget her for now."
Tombstone sighed and said, "I will be back for you." He ran off and disappeared into the night.
Rosie stood there a moment more before kneeling down beside Carolyn. Placing the pistol beside her, she whispered, "Thank you... but why?" She stood up and walked back into the lab, placing a call to the police.
"Precinct Ninety-Two, Capt. Stacy speaking."
"Captain, there's been a situation."
A sigh on the other line. "Is this about Otto, again?"
"No, something else." Rosie said. "There's been an incident."
"What happened?" The Capt. asked.
"Someone was sent after me." she replied. "About five minutes ago, he broke into the lab, looking for me. His name was Tombstone, but I think that was an alias. He's gone now, but... he's claimed a life."
"Oh, no..." he said, and he could hear the sadness in his voice at the thought of another life lost. "And you say this was outside the lab?"
"Yes."
"We'll be over there in a minute. You can tell me everything there." he said, before hanging up.
Rosie put the phone down and walked back outside. What she saw surprised her. She expected to find Carolyn still on the ground where she had fallen, but strangely enough, she was gone. So was her pistol. There was a trail of blood leading off into a sidestreet, but when Rosie looked, no one was back there.
Probably Tombstone, coming back to hide the evidence. she thought sadly.
She was then startled by the sound of gunshots coming from a nearby street.
And that's probably Tombstone claiming another victim. she thought, shaking her head in disgust. She leaned against the wall, waiting for the police to show up.
