WWYD: Taking it to the street

[Stone]

You get an unoffical request by a detective to come to a address, but you requested to keep it very low key. When you arrive the normal crime scene vehicles are not there. Just one unmarked car and and morge vehicle. Once you get inside, the detective asks you to look around. You find a deceased person in their late 20's early 30's and a suicide note, but things in the house don't look right. You poke around and discover a hidden panel where a costume is hidden. Turns out the deceased is a well known street level hero. Your "special senses" or detective skills turns a hidden mark on the wall , "X". There is no sign of forced entry or no sign of a struggle. The detective tells you this is the third such case in the last week.

 

What do you do?

[Spidey88]

Re: WWYD: Taking it to the street

 

Hmmm...

 

Well, Phidippus's first question would be "why contact me?"

 

Not that he's ill-suited to the job, mind you - with a high INT score, a skill list including Criminology, Biology, KS: Supervillains, KS: VIPER, Electronics, Mechanics, extremely keen vision, and a reputation as an honorable, upstanding superhero, he'd fit the bill pretty well.

 

More specifically, the question would be: "Why would you contact me, Detective so-and-so? We've never met."

 

More curiousity than anything else. His scientific and technical skills aren't obvious to the average person on the street, and aren't reflected in his Rep.

 

Presumably it would be his super-keen vision (enhanced PER +4, telescopic +4, nightvision) that would pick up the faint "X" in the wall. If he hadn't done so already, he's ask Detective so-and-so if he could come back in a few minutes, after zipping back to base to grab some equipment, eg. forceps, camera, UV light, vials and plastic bags, and the all-important notepad.

 

First things first, inspect the body. Again, the super-vision would be invaluable for picking out things like odd debris, loose hairs, clothing fibers, etc. Next would be a thorough search of the building interior, top to bottom (literally, with Clinging involved), paying particular attention to the "x" and any particulates lodged in it. Was it scratched in? Cut? Burnt? Pressed? At all points (until given cause for suspicion), he'd try to keep Detective so-and-so in the loop. No sense acting like an uppity jerk, especially when the Detective may be his superior in the skills at hand (or at least offer some good advice).

 

After that, a comprehensive search of the building exterior, looking for things such as points of entry just to double-check (forced or otherwise, indicating potential relationship to the deceased, ie. friend that was let in or stranger that broke in), footprints (lack of which may possibly indicate certain superpowers, eg. flight or desolidification), and vehicle tracks.

 

With Detective so-and-so's permission, he'd then start combing the neighborhood looking for witnesses. If necessary to keep a lower profile, he'd go in his normal ID and disguise himself.

 

After as much evidence was collected as possible, he'd get back in touch with Detective so-and-so to see if he and his crew have uncovered anything, and also to report what he'd found.

 

Then would be the hard part. Research, research, research! Tests would of course be run on the samples collected, but they'd be of little use without a lot of background info. Computer databases, libraries, interviews with witnesses and friends/family would all be potential sources.

 

Important subjects to research would include:

 

- Connections between the three victims

- motives for all of their murders

- Background info on all people involved (starting with the Detective. Phidippus, like myself, reads a lot of comics - and the guy in charge of the case is often the killer.) Particular emphasis would be placed on the background of the dead heroes in question: just what might they have gotten into that someone thought they should die for?

- Are there any criminals (super or otherwise) who've recently escaped or been let free from jail, or been active in the area, who might fit the bill in terms of motive or M.O.? Any that would know his secret ID (if he had one)?

- Did the hero have teammates that might bear him a grudge? Did any of them know his secret ID (if he had one)? The lack of forced entry probably means a) the victim knew the killer, or the killer has some esoteric superpowers.

 

Cause of death would be totally subjective to the scenario in question of course - but would have a tremendous impact in the investigation (obviously).

 

One possible wierd method of helping eliminate suspects? Actually accusing them, and seeing if the old Danger Sense gives any odd buzzes. Hardly foolproof, but something to consider - as would doing the same sort of thing with his teammate, Ashley, around (who can "detect minds" in a discriminatory fashion and get specific impressions of certain aspects of character and emotional states, but can't exactly read them. He'd be great at penetrating disguises, at the very least).

 

Another important consideration: do the dead heroes have secret ID's, or public ones? This would definitely make a big difference in how Phidippus would go about solving the case. Secret ID? Effort would be made to uncover the deceased's true identity (as confidentially as possible - villains might still want revenge on family and friends) to inform his or her loved ones, and there's probably a higher chance of him conducting interviews with witnesses incognito.

 

If he has the option, Phidippus would probably try to get his work double-checked with associates in the superhero/law enforcement community; though if need be, he wouldn't necessarily fill them in on the whole case, eg. "Hey, Doc Silverback? Would you be able to run a metallurgical analysis on this little sliver? What it is, where it might have originated, etc."

 

Another thing to consider: even if Detective so-and-so doesn't want details of the case getting around, Phidippus would probably want to send out a warning to heroes he knew and trusted, at least: "watch your back and trust no one. Something screwy is going on." Figuring out who the next potential victim might be and protecting him/her is just as important as catching the killer! For that matter, Phidippus would make extra sure the base's security systems were fully functional - for all he know, he could be the next target!

[Checkmate]

Re: WWYD: Taking it to the street

 

Look for some guy named Adrian.

[Kevin Schultz]

Re: WWYD: Taking it to the street

 

Look for some guy named Adrian.

 

yeah. That "Good Morning, Vietnam" thing was all just a cover.

 

[Checkmate]

Re: WWYD: Taking it to the street

 

yeah. That "Good Morning, Vietnam" thing was all just a cover.

 

 

Err actually I was refering to Adrian Veidt, better known as Ozymandyus.

[Spidey88]

Re: WWYD: Taking it to the street

 

It's been ages since I read Watchmen - just going straight for Ozymandias would save a lot of time.

 

And ruin any chance of Phidippus sleeping well again...

[Grimble]

Re: WWYD: Taking it to the street

 

Jack "Crash" Parker: Being a super tough mutant brick who looks, pretty much normal, Jack would put on a new costume. The costume would comform to the "Norm" for the current street level vigilantes in the city. He'd take to carrying a couple guns and REALLY pull his punches.

 

He'd adopt a totally new identity. He'd have the detective and a few other contacts make the new identity "real" with a background and past life before coming to the city. Jack would rent an apartmant and keep his vigilantism a secret. Hoping to bait the culprit to attack him, he'd do patrols and interact with the other street level heroes of the city.

 

If he does get the murderer to attack him, it's all over. Jack is much more than a street level hero. He has a STR of 60, 40 rPD, 40 rED as well as many other minor powers. He doesn't need to sleep, so, although it would be boring. He'll spend 8 hours a day pretending to sleep and waiting for the culprit.

 

Hopefully, this would take less than a couple weeks. Even if the ploy doesn't work, Jack would get to know the lesser heroes of the city. Maybe he can put things together with detective work during his non-decoy periods.

 

Grimble