Leaving the house in a hurry, Liam got to work. There was so much to do and collecting witness statements while they were still fresh in people’s minds, was preferable. After that was taken care of Liam could help the rest of the team with the dozen of other tasks a crime scene entailed.

The space around the house was like a zoo at feeding time. The lawn was crawling with officers, trying to keep order. They were only just keeping a semblance of it in the chaotic space.

The press had set up on the street just past the officers. Their trucks, with large satellite dishes on top, were feeding news of today’s events to the wider world. Behind them were crowds of people. Not the excited ones Liam had seen in the past, trying to get a glimpse of a Hero. The way these people huddled together, whispering and glancing around, spoke of their growing concern. They were desperate for answers, for a solid conclusion, something Liam couldn’t provide. Not yet anyway.

Spotting a Hero leaving the house, the press and crowd exploded. Questions came raining down as Liam hurried past. He couldn’t tell these people what they wanted to hear, who was committing the murders. All he could do was work towards finding that answer. With a few non-committal responses, Liam passed. Climbing into a police bus, used for interviews in the field.

Once inside an officer nodded at him before asking, “Here for the interviews?”

“Yeah, where to?”

“The person who called in the crime is on the left,” the officer said as she pointed to a small interview room. “Watch out she’s… a little interesting.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Liam said. For an officer to call a witness interesting was a bad sign in Liam’s book. It would take a lot to earn that comment and he was worrying about what he’d find even before the interview started. Squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath, Liam made his way into the room. Braced for the worst.

What he found left him relieved. It was a homely looking woman in her mid to late fifties. A tuft of gray roots showing under her deep brown hair. She smiled at him as Liam found a seat.

“Hi Ma’am. My name is Source, would you mind if I asked you a few questions,” Liam said.

“You’re the one I’ve seen on TV! The new Hero!” the woman exclaimed. Quite the energetic one Liam thought. Was that what the officer was warning him about? That was a little surprising, Liam assumed it would be something worse.

“Yes I am. Now before we start, I’d like your permission to record our conversation. May I?”

“Oh yes, yes, please do,” the woman said as she pulled out a little mirror and started checking her makeup. “How do I look? Will this end up on TV?”

“It’s not likely to be on TV. But depending on what you know, we could use it in a court case.”

“That’s almost as good right?”

“The video being used at court?”

“Yes.”

“Oh yeah, it’s almost the same level.” Liam said. He was starting to see why the officer had warned him. This woman cared more about herself than the man who’d just died. Who put on makeup for a police interview? Besides this amazing neighbor.

“Oh that’s so great, I’m almost a movie star. I can’t wait to tell my friends.”

A man had died and here she was talking about becoming famous. Wouldn’t her friends tell her how selfish that was? Liam could only hope that would happen, but he doubted it. If her friends were anything like her, there was no hope.

Instead of making a point of how she was acting Liam moved on. No reason to anger the person he was trying to interview. That would just make this entire process that much harder.

“I’m sure they would love to hear. Now can you give me your name and tell me about the call you made to the police?”

“My name is Annabeth,” the woman said as she flashed a toothy smile. “I called because I heard a scream and then a loud bang. You can’t be making that much noise in a nice neighborhood like this.”

“You realize that was Mr. Pullun being attacked?” Liam couldn’t help himself and had to ask.

“Yes it’s very tragic,” Annabeth said. Her expression changing in the blink of an eye, exaggerated puppy dog eyes stared at the Hero. Looking close Liam thought he saw a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

“Um yes. Did you notice anything else?”

“Not really. Just the scream and the bang.”

As fast as the anguished look had come, it was gone. In its place was the giddy excitement that Annabeth had shown at the start of the talk.

“Have you noticed anything strange in the neighborhood over the last few days?” Liam asked as he tried to keep the interview on course.

In a conspiratorial tone Annabeth leaned in and said, “Well the family two doors down got a new dog. The thing’s been pooping in my yard and they haven’t been picking it up! Can you believe the audacity of some people?”

“That sounds horrible. But did you see anything else around Mr. Pullun’s house?”

“No, they were fine. Though their kids did TP a house a few weeks back,” Annabeth said. Her eyes flashed wide open as she spoke, “Do you think the killing was revenge for that?”

Liam knew this interview wasn’t going anywhere, but he had a job to do and he’d see it through. It would surprise him that anything useful could come out of their talk. However, the scream was different from the last murder. That could tell them something, Liam just didn’t know what at the moment. However, that was the limit of her help.

“We can’t rule anything out, although I think something else was the cause.”

“Darn. I thought I had it.”

“It was a good guess and who knows, the case may swing back to it. Now what can you tell me about…”

The interview continued for the next quarter hour. With Liam asking questions, trying to pull anything else from the woman. Not an easy process and it was ultimately unsuccessful.

The worst part of the interview had to be when Annabeth asked for a second take answering a question. She’d stuttered and wouldn’t move on until she was able to do it again. The woman was that far gone.

After a good fifteen minutes the interview ended.

“Thank you so much for your time, Annabeth. I’ll be sure to contact you if we have additional questions.”

“Oh thank you dear. Before I leave, how do you think I did? Good, right?” She asked as she flipped her hair behind her ear.

It took Liam a moment to realize she was talking about the interview? To the end she was still under the delusion this was a casting call for some movie, not an investigation.

“You did great. Thanks for your time.” Lam said, trying to hurry her out of the room.

Describing the interview diplomatically, Liam would say it’d been constructive. He wasn’t able to confirm everything, but he got a little information. If he was talking to the team in private he’d describe it like it’d really been, a complete waste of time. How do you react to something like her? If the entire conversation hadn’t been recorded, Liam wasn’t sure he’d believed it had happened.

For the next few hours Liam worked his way through the rest of the neighbors. One after another he sat them down and discussed the Pullun family, if there were any strange events in the neighborhood over the last few weeks, and if they heard or saw anything around the time of the murder. There was a couple who lived on the other side of the Pullun house who’d heard a scream then bang around the same time as Annabeth. But they assumed it’d been a home repair or something else, like Mr. Pullun falling off a ladder, not something to call the police about. Their statements confirmed Annabeth’s timeline, but didn’t bring any new leads.

Every person Liam interviewed agreed on one thing. There were no odd events in the neighborhood. No one casing the Pullun home. No one new driving around the neighborhood. Nothing that drew any attention.

The neighbors also gave Liam a better sense of the family. They were well regarded. Mrs. Pullun often taking all the neighborhood kids to the pool, or on other outings. While Mr. Pullun was more secretive. Though no one had anything bad to say about him. He worked for a local pharmaceutical company, requiring long hours at the office.

All the time at the office didn’t seem to impact the couples relationship. The neighbors described the marriage as a loving one. With no one knowing of any issues between Mr. and Mrs. Pullun. In all they seemed like the ideal family and neighbors with no known enemies.

As Liam was working on summarizing what he’d learned an officer knocked on the small room’s door. Signaling to the officer, she poked her head in and said, “We have one more for you sir.”

“Send them in.”

Nodding, the officer waved for someone down the hall. Then moved aside, allowing a man to squeeze by.

“Thank you officer,” Liam said.

With a nod the officer left and Liam shifted his focus to the newcomer. A man wearing a long dark trench coat. His hands buried deep in the coat’s pockets. A brown hat covered most of his face. The only bright spot in the man’s drab wardrobe was a blue feather, sticking out of the side.

“I’d appreciate it if you turned off the camera. I get a little shy around them,” the man said. He kept his head low, refusing to look up at Liam.

“Of course. I apologize for that,” Liam said as he turned it off.

The camera sank back into his suit’s shoulder as if it’d never been there. The red recording light winking out as the camera disappeared. With the recorder gone, the other man looked up. His large brown eyes looking inquisitively at Liam in an otherwise forgetful face.

“Thanks,” the man said as he fidgeted from one foot to the other.

“Please sit down and we can get started,” Liam said as he motioned to the seat in front of him. With an easy nod the man took it.

“Let’s start with where you were earlier today?” Liam said, sure this would be another unproductive meeting.

“I could, but I think I have more interesting information for you,” the man said with a half cocked grin.

“Then please let’s start with that.”

If the man had new information that would be great. Starting with that would allow Liam to follow up where needed. And if the new information brought a good lead, it would make this entire interview process worthwhile.

“There were cameras pointed at the first murder victims apartment. They didn’t capture anything,” the man said.

That got Liam’s attention. The cameras weren’t exactly public knowledge, but it was one of the many rumors going around the city. The videos from the gas station were one of the main reasons the police thought it was a Cowl who committed the murder.

“I must say, finding the body in the wall was quite startling. And even stranger was how everything else in the room was left undisturbed. So either someone snuck in, or the victim invited them in. But with the cameras outside it seems like the first option makes more sense.”

“How do you know all that,” Liam asked, steel in his voice.

Liam’s hand crept over to grip the staff where it was laying against the wall. Something was going on here and he didn’t like it.

“Nothing on a computer can be trusted. Do you know how many hackers are online these days?” The man said with a dismissive wave. Not even giving Liam’s staff a moment’s look.

“Are you one of them?”

“A hacker? Me? Heavens no, I don’t have time to learn how to do that. There are much easier ways to get information.”

“Then where did you find pictures of Mr. Dean’s murder?” Liam asked.

The police took hundreds of pictures of the crime scene. Did this man get his hands on them? It was the only thing that made sense.

“How I know doesn’t matter,” the man said as he stared down Liam. “Now what I want to know is how this most recent killing relates to the first?”

“It’s still too early to tell,” Liam said. A cold sweat climbing up his spine as he talked to this man. The rest of the team needed to be here.

“Tell me if you know who committed the murders,” the man commanded.

“Well I don’t know, that’s why we’re investigating.”

The man stared at Liam with a look similar to the one Liam had seen on the face of the detective. As if he could read everything going on in Liam’s brain. After what felt like a minute, but couldn’t have been more than a few seconds, he nodded.

Fidgeting a little at the intense gaze Liam said, “Can you tell me where you found the pictures? It’d help us keep that kind of information from being compromised.”

Without answering Liam’s question, the man continued on, “What surprised me the most was how similar the first case was to this one. When I saw the scene today it looked so similar to the other. Except this guy was thrown much harder. Went right through the wall, or maybe the walls are weaker in this building? Not my first thought given how the rest of the place was built.”

There shouldn’t be a picture of Mr. Pullun’s murder online. It hadn’t even been five hours since it took place. Who would have been able to take pictures and post them online that fast Liam asked himself.

The official pictures were still being taken and would be uploaded at the police station later tonight so that was ruled out. It was possible an officer took some personal pictures. But they would’ve had to have been a pro to take them with all the other officers around. And then uploading them just to have it all be hacked. That was a huge stretch. That left the Heroes taking personal pictures of the scene and then those pictures being compromised. None of the team was stupid enough to do that and Liam’s own footage was all stored in the suit until it could be downloaded back at the base. Something he made sure had to be through a physical connection. So one of the Heroes being the weak link was ruled out.

There was only one sensible reason for the man to know all this information. He hadn’t seen any pictures. He’d been to the actual crime scene.

There’d been officers on the scene from minutes after the attack. The body has never left alone. If he’d seen it what did that mean? The chill on Liam’s spine spread to the rest of his body. He needed to know this man’s name and get the team here now.

“Some very interesting ideas you have there Mr.?” Liam asked. Doing his best to hide his racing thoughts.

“You can call me Mr. Hat, all my friends do,” the man, Mr. Hat said, “Now I believe you will call the rest of your team. Unfortunately, you’ve already tried three times and couldn’t get ahold of them. You should go find them. You can leave me in the capable hands of an officer until you get back.”

Listening to Mr. Hat, Liam turned off his radio. The thing wasn’t working anyway. He hadn’t had a bug in any of his gadgets in almost a month and now, at such a critical time, the radio failed. Without it how was he going to call for the team? He needed backup to take this guy in. Thinking quickly Liam came up with the only idea that made sense.

“All right, Mr. Hat, would you be so kind as to give a written statement to an officer?” Liam asked as he opened the door and waved an officer over. As the Officer came over Liam realized it was Zach, the same officer who overheard the Heroes arguing, “Zach here is one of our best. Zach if you would please help this gentleman fill out a written statement. I’ll be back in a minute to finish the interview.”

Hearing Liam, the officer puffed out his chest before his eyes widened a fraction. Good, the man got the message.

“It would be my pleasure,” Zach said. Taking the chair Liam just vacated and pulling it farther back.

“Wonderful, I’ll be back in a minute so please don’t leave before we have a chance to talk again,” Liam told Mr. Hat.

“That would be lovely.” Mr. Hat said, a bright smile creeping across his face. “Though you won’t remember me once you leave. There are so many other more important things at a crime scene like this.”

“Yes there are, but I’d hate to leave you waiting.”

“That’s kind of you.”

Taking that as an opportunity to leave, Liam went in search of the team. When he got back to the base he had to find out why his radio wasn’t working.

Entering the yard he walked with a purpose while keeping his pace measured. Last thing he needed was to tip off the crowd or press that something wasn’t right. That could lead to a full blown panic.

Liam turned his camera back on as he walked away. He wasn’t able to capture a picture of the man, but he still flagged this part of his recording as important. Being able to come back to it when he returned to the base.

A light from a passing car flashed into Liam’s eyes. His visor reacted and dimmed, keeping most of the glare out, but the light got Liam thinking about H-Bar’s improvements. Wait, wasn’t he focused on something else? Liam’s mind grasped for what it was, but like trying to capture water in his hands the thought was gone. It wasn’t important Liam decided, or he would have remembered.

Back to the lights. Right now the lights radiated in all directions. That meant H-Bar had to gather the energy coming out of the lights first before he could manipulate it. What if Liam could speed that process up? Having the lights emit in a concentrated beam instead of going everywhere. They would have to do tests, but Liam could see this helping H-Bar greatly. The thought of more tests excited Liam and knowing it might bug H-Bar a little until he saw the advantage in the new idea was a bonus. This would be quite fun for him.

Activating his power, Liam directed his thoughts towards this new light. With hundreds of ideas zipping around Liam’s mind he started to explore them. Some of the simplest ones seemed like his best bet. One of those that caught Liam’s attention was adding mirrors around the light to focus it into a beam. It would be easy to make and should be as effective as some of the more complicated ones.

A voice broke Liam out of his thoughts. “Done with the interviews?” Ullr asked.

Was he done Liam wondered? He remembered going through several interviews, but couldn’t remember finishing them or leaving and heading back to the house. That’s strange Liam thought. He couldn’t let his mind wonder like that when he was in the field. He’d even slipped up and used his power, a serious no no.

Looking back at where the interviews were being conducted, Liam saw several officers escorting the witnesses away. A clear sign they’d finished giving their statements. Zach was also there, trying to keep everything under control. The young man was giving his best effort. It was a good thing Liam had helped such a dedicated officer with something as simple as a signature.

Seeing the neighbors being ushered away Liam remembered just how unproductive his talks with them had been. Not one person knew anything new about the crime. Though he couldn’t rightly complain about it. Sometimes you had to work for the breakthrough in a case. And the person who had to go through all the work might as well be the newest guy on the team.

Turning back to Ullr Liam said. “Nothing much. Only what we heard from the detective.”

“That’s unfortunate, but not unexpected.”

With the two Heroes deep in conversation a figure moved away from the scene. Pushing past people as he weaved through the crowd. With his hat pulled low, he walked away, everyone forgot the figure before he’d even left the scene.