Deus Ex Human Revolution: Shadow's Showdown

Chapter 44: The Two Criminals.

Detroit. Crime scene.

Half an hour after Jenny's call, a police van with a team of technicians and a coroner arrived at the tape-protected crime scene. Five men got out of it. Three of them were in white protective uniforms and goggles and two were dressed in police uniforms and polyamide jackets.

"Hello. Detective Gavin Reed, we're taking over the case," greeted the officer guarding the scene in an official tone.

"Officer Chris Miller, I've been ordered to..."

"The order has been changed. You can call your boss if you want, but I doubt he'll be happy," Reed's tone was firm and icy.

"Of course not!" replied Miller saluting. "I report the transfer of the case and request permission to..."

Gavin merely nodded carelessly, dismissing the policeman, who was surprised by the decision but had to obey the senior officer's order. The head of the group gave the appropriate instructions and all three began to check the area first. In the meantime, the coroner, following standard procedures, determined whether everyone was dead. It was necessary in order to issue death certificates. Moments later, one of the three technicians returned to the car to retrieve a large metal toolbox and a model XAE180 - Bumblebee drone, which he launched. The bumblebee-like machine slowly rose into the air glowing blue light on the scene. The group leader was skeptical about these inventions, so those in uniforms carried out their own visual inspections. They were very meticulous in what they did, scanning every nook and cranny for traces of blood, looking under bags, moving cardboard boxes, and metal rubbish cans.

"A male corpse was found. Caucasian race, age about 40, diagonal stab wound to the neck, and numerous bruises and scratches. Cause of death - exsanguination. Wanted by police for robbery, murder, and intimidation," the drone announced in a robotic voice.

One technician viewed the corpse and collected samples. A second took a series of photographs of the scene and the corpse and wound. The third outlined the corpse with chalk and marked it with a number written on a square piece of paper.

"Murder weapon was found. Tri-edge nano-dagger," he said moments later. "Fingerprints confirmed. Scanning in progress."

The machine hovered in the air, flapping its wings. A quiet buzzing could be heard from within it. The chief wrote everything down in a notebook gathering his evidence. The weapon was taken away, put into a plastic string bag, and described.

"No data. Prints do not match anyone in the database. Closer examination required," they heard, after which the drone flew deeper into the alley.

"The location and angle of the blow indicate the person was not very tall. Look here," one of the technicians pointed to a spot near the corpse. "Looks like the mark of a high-heeled shoe. It could have been a woman."

The commander nodded thoughtfully and noted the observation. "Hurry up, the boss doesn't like to wait. Finish this farce and keep searching," he ordered.

One of the three went to switch off the drone, the others began to clean up. Each corpse was placed in a separate black plastic bag. All evidence was collected and the crime scene was cleaned up so thoroughly that no available preparation or technology could detect anything. The team moved deeper into the alley, where the hissing lamp continued to flicker again and again.

"We have a small problem," one of the three announced, and you could hear the fear in his voice.

"The word 'problem' is not in my dictionary!" growled the boss in exasperation and followed his subordinate.