And when Strange turned around and people saw the even darker stains under the hem of his dark suit jacket, the silence in the hall was deafening. No one knew why the two people who, just half an hour ago, had only said they were going to a normal wedding, came back covered in blood.
"There was an accident." Natasha casually holstered that small spy pistol. The blood was like turpentine dissolving the painting of her beautiful exterior, exposing the sharp joints and spikes beneath.
"What kind of accident?" Greed asked in great confusion. "Don't tell me you just happened to find an Alien spy? Or a fugitive S.H.I.E.L.D. is hunting?"
"When I kill, I don't make this big a scene." Natasha glanced out the window.
"Someone's chasing you?!" Stark sprang to his feet. He walked to the door; before he could push it open, he vaguely heard the sound of police cars.
"The police are probably not here to uphold justice." Steve stood up and directly grabbed his Shield from beside him. Coulson hurried to the front to stop them.
"Don't be impulsive. We still don't know what's going on, we can't rashly get into conflict with the police, or it'll hurt The Avengers' image. Ma'am, can you tell us what exactly happened?"
"Someone died. I didn't kill them. But someone wants to pin it on me."
Natasha tugged at the straps of her dress as she walked to the far back of the living room. Everyone tactfully turned their backs. The female Agent yanked off the bloodstained strappy dress she was wearing. Strange reached out and pulled off the Cloak, tossing it back toward Natasha without even looking. The moment the Cloak wrapped around her, it turned into a fitted red robe.
"Do they know you?" Greed asked again. "You didn't happen to run into some old acquaintance, did you?"
"No," Natasha said. "Back then, every time I showed my face it was under disguise. There's no way they'd recognize me. And they really didn't recognize me—they just took me for an easy mark."
"I get it," Bucky said. "The female companion of a surgeon doesn't really count as Upper-class—she looks like the easiest to bully. Whatever happened, if they frame you and just get you into the station, the killer is automatically you."
"How did the person die?" The moment Arrogant spoke, the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. The sirens were getting closer and closer, like some kind of looming drumbeat of danger.
"Strangled." Natasha said, "The bride's sister Manas was found hanging from a tree in the estate's backyard."
"Where'd the blood come from?"
"Someone suggested they should first restrain me. I used a dinner knife to slice open his femoral artery." Natasha said as she took off her high heels, put on a pair of disposable slippers, used the disinfecting wipes Bucky handed over to wipe her fingers, then pointed toward the bathroom at Greed. Greed went over and fetched her a towel, and she started wiping down her calves.
"I was right next to him and got splattered with blood too." Strange took off his suit jacket, grabbed the dress Natasha had taken off, and tossed them both into the fireplace in the side sitting room off the hall, then snapped his fingers at the flames. With a whoosh, a Heat Wave rushed out; the ultra-high temperature Magic Flame devoured everything, not even leaving ash behind.
"And then the two of you just ran out?" Steve asked.
"If we didn't run, were we supposed to stay and wait for them to call the police?" Natasha said. "You could tell they were panicking too—this definitely wasn't in their plans. But the people at the reception seemed to think this Death absolutely couldn't be investigated closely. They were desperate to find a scapegoat, and I wasn't about to let them get their way."
"That proves this wasn't an accident or a suicide, but that there's another killer who can't be exposed, or some secret tied up in it." Hawkeye said. "You did the right thing. If you'd stayed and the police were in bed with them, you'd be in deep trouble."
The footsteps of the police were already clearly audible. Stark glanced out the window, then said, "Not many came, and they didn't bring guns. Looks like they're wary. You guys go to the back first. If I can't handle it, then you come out."
"Be careful, these people are all Madmen." Steve said that, but still led the others toward the backyard. Stark, Strange, and Natasha stayed behind.
The estate's door was knocked. Stark went over and opened it. Before the police could speak, he struck first: "What the hell are you people pulling?! Kidnapping my friends while I'm gone?! Whose brilliant idea was it this time, Maxin, or that bastard Aphus?"
The police, seeing it was him, hurriedly put away the guns in their hands. Hearing Stark speak so rudely, their faces changed as well. The chief at the front was just about to say something when Stark cut him off again: "You throw this whole wedding just to lure me into a trap. If Strange and the others hadn't reacted fast, you'd be asking me for ransom by now, wouldn't you?!"
"I refuse to believe the laws of the Federation and New Jersey State can't do anything about you. My legal team is already on their way. If you can't give me a reasonable Explanation, I'll strip those uniforms right off you!"
The chief's expression was stiff. He had just turned back, about to say something to his subordinates, when Stark, like he'd been triggered, quickly retreated two steps and pressed a hand to his chest. The Nano Armor rapidly deployed; he stepped back a couple more paces and planted himself in front of Strange.
"You'd better not be dumb enough to even think about pulling a gun. I'm Iron Man!"
"Hold on." His overreaction actually left the chief a bit at a loss. The chief held out a hand and said, "Calm down, Mr. Stark. We absolutely have no intention of attacking you. We're here to investigate a case."
"Investigate a case? What case? Your people tried to use the wedding as an excuse to detain my friend and get back at me, and this so‑called case is nothing but some frame‑up you cooked up. You're not fooling me!"
The police were all very helpless, but they'd long heard that Stark had a weird temper and was hard to deal with. The chief could only be patient and say, "No, this isn't some trap. Someone died at the wedding, and the host of the banquet asked everyone not to leave and to wait for the police to come investigate. And your friend's date, in a fit of agitation, stabbed a guest. We have to look into that. Please cooperate, all right?"
"What right does the host of the banquet have to order everyone to stay? You think this is an 18th‑century England detective novel? When you don't know if the killer is going to strike again, evacuating the guests is the smartest move. It's obvious he's targeting me!"
Stark had a full-on "not listening, not listening, I'm not listening" face, acting out a persecutory delusion episode with great flair. For a moment the police couldn't tell if he was just being difficult or actually having some sort of episode.
But what he said was, in fact, airtight. That whole "a murder happens so everyone has to be locked down on site while police and Detectives take statements one by one" setup only appears in detective novels. In the real world, if a suspected homicide is discovered in a public place, everyone's first choice is to organize an evacuation.
You have to understand that at these gatherings of the elite, everyone is rich, powerful, and prominent. One death is already terrifying; if you don't hurry up and move them to a safe place—or at least get them outside the area you're responsible for—and then a few more bodies drop on your turf, your career is basically over.
Also, these banquets always have a guest list, invitations, and sign‑ins. Who showed up and who didn't is clearly recorded; it's not hard to investigate. So letting people leave first and then tracking them down one by one during follow‑up investigations is the correct play. Detaining everyone on site is basically asking for trouble, and no billionaire with assets in the tens of billions is going to obediently stay put at a crime scene with a killer on the loose. The second anyone says they have to stay, these rich folks will be the first to object.
So whatever the police say about "securing the scene" just doesn't fly—at least, it's not enough to fool Stark.
The chief's forehead was visibly beading with sweat, but he still said, "That Doctor's date stabbed a guest…"
"Because they were trying to kidnap her!" Strange stepped forward and said. "They weren't just verbally rude, they were about to get physical. They were clearly all in on it together. We will not accept any charges other than self‑defense."
"We can discuss all that later. Right now I hope you'll cooperate and come down to the station with us."
"That's not happening," Stark said. "For all I know, you're in on it with them. They obviously wanted to hang on to her until the police arrived and then dump the whole case on her. I'm not letting you get away with it."
"If you refuse to cooperate with the investigation now, it counts as resisting arrest," the chief emphasized. "We're allowed to use force. I know you're Iron Man, and we can't beat you. But are you sure you want to resist law enforcement like this?"
The chief was clearly stressing that Iron Man using his special Strength to resist arrest would absolutely be a scandal. Public opinion of Iron Man was, at best, mixed. Some people liked him, some were neutral, and some outright hated him.
Under those circumstances, if Iron Man ever had a scandal, more people would assume the worst—that he must be using his high‑tech gear and billionaire status to push around ordinary police. And if the police union had someone step forward and make a couple of snide comments, his reputation would tank even further.
"Is that so?" Another voice sounded from beyond the door. Steve walked in holding his Shield, looked at the chief, and said, "No need to use public opinion as a threat, because I'm also not planning to let you take this lady away. Are you going to tell everyone that Captain America violently resisted arrest?"
The moment Captain America walked out, the chief felt his blood run cold. This was the one guy in All America who simply did not respond to public pressure. Whenever anyone gets into a conflict with Captain America and it goes public, everyone automatically assumes the other guy is at fault, and that Cap is just speaking up for justice and enforcing the law impartially. That's the market value of Captain America's name.
Captain America's reputation in the Central Universe was even better, because they'd never publicly fought a Civil War. Captain America even became the navigator of the Star ship, and to highlight America's contribution to Star ship construction and cosmos exploration, the military and the Federal Government went all‑in on praising him, practically sculpting him into a Saint. That left the public with an extremely positive impression of him and made him the only celebrity who was basically immune to public opinion.
"I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding," the chief said, wiping his sweat. "We absolutely have no intention of using excessive force; we really just want the Doctor and his date to describe what happened at the scene…"
"Then they can describe it here," Steve said. "I promise you my friends will tell the truth. But for their safety, I'm not letting them go to the station."
The chief looked like he still wanted to argue, but Steve went on: "Since you're treating this as a homicide, the killer is still at large in Hampton. If you don't hurry up and go after the real culprit and another incident happens, that'll be entirely because the police didn't do their job—meaning it'll all be on you."
The chief opened his mouth. Stark sharply picked up on the fact that the man didn't look the least bit tense. Sure enough, he knew the case; he knew there wasn't actually any killer.
If they truly believed this was an accidental homicide and didn't know who the killer was, then for the sake of the chairs they were sitting in and the salaries they used to feed their families, there's no way they'd be this leisurely, wasting time bickering with them here.
Stark was just stepping forward to speak when he saw the chief staring fixedly at a certain spot in the room. The man's face slowly turned pale; his whole body began to tremble, as if he was so terrified he couldn't even get a word out.