Three hours later, in an interrogation room at the New York Police Department.
Chief John looked at the autopsy report in his hands with a splitting headache.
Outside the station, reporters with cameras and long lenses had already crowded around, all desperate to know about the body.
If the dead woman really was Stormfront, the superhero under Vought, this would without question be explosive news.
"Chief, Ms. Mallory from the CIA wants to see you." A young officer pushed the door open and spoke to John.
"Alright. I will be right there." John glanced at the Black man still being questioned, cleared his throat, and said, "It looks like they know very little about Stormfront's death. There is no need to keep pressing. Asking any further would only waste time."
He straightened the files in his hands, then followed the young officer out of the interrogation room.
Soon, led by the officer, he met Mallory, who was wearing a brown trench coat and carrying a handbag.
"Welcome, Ms. Mallory. Thank you for coming to offer guidance. It has been half a year. You still look as radiant as ever." John smiled and shook Mallory's hand.
Although the CIA and the NYPD both belonged to the United States government in essence, one was an independent intelligence agency and the other a department under the New York City government.
The two had no overlap. In other words, the CIA had no authority to interfere with the NYPD. Situations like this were actually quite common.
That also explained why, when Billy had been caught by the NYPD for stealing a yacht and asked Mallory for help, she had refused.
"Thank you." Mallory smiled faintly. After a bit of small talk, her expression suddenly turned serious. "Let us get to the point. You should know why I came to see you."
"Of course."
John gave a bitter smile and handed over the files in his hands. "According to the autopsy report, the deceased has been confirmed as Stormfront, the superhero under the Vought Group. She had multiple wounds. Her right leg was almost severed at the root, and the wound on her right arm was torn open. That, however, was not what killed her."
John raised a finger and pointed at his own eyes.
"Her eyes were burned out by some kind of high-temperature substance, and her brain was burned to charcoal along with them. At the same time, we found two holes in the back of her head. That should be the real cause of death."
"A very familiar method of attack." Mallory flipped through the materials in her hands, which included several high-definition photos of the wounds on Stormfront's body. "You should have already guessed the killer's identity."
The bitterness on John's face deepened.
"I think this matter should be handed over to the Office of Superhuman Affairs."
He recognized the burn marks left by lasers as well as anyone. To be honest, the only person with both the strength and the method to kill Stormfront that way was probably the national hero, Homelander.
But he was extremely wary of the Vought Group. This case was a hot potato in his hands, and John would have been only too glad to dump it on someone else.
Just then.
Two officers brought a young man in front of John.
"Chief, this guy says he saw Homelander and Stormfront fighting inside a restaurant with his own eyes, and that they flew out of the restaurant one after the other."
"Does anyone else know about this?" John's face was grave.
One of the officers nodded. "There were a lot of witnesses at the time. Street cameras confirmed it as well."
"I understand. Take him to the interrogation room first."
John then looked at Mallory.
"Do you think I should summon Homelander?"
"Let us handle this case."
Hearing that Mallory wanted to take this hot potato, a smile immediately appeared on John's face. "That is true. When it comes to superhuman crime, the CIA has more experience than we do."
When Ivan returned to Vought Tower, he saw that the staff inside were basically all whispering among themselves. With his hearing, he could easily catch the content of their conversations.
"I really never thought Homelander would go so far as to kill Stormfront. They always looked like they got along well. How could something like this suddenly happen?"
"I figure they might have had a falling-out, so Homelander lost his temper in humiliation and killed Stormfront on impulse. To be honest, this kind of thing is pretty common. A neighbor of a friend of one of my uncles..."
Clearly, as they talked, the topic drifted off on its own.
"Oh my God, Mr. Greevs, you are finally back. President Edgar is looking for you." The moment Ashley saw Ivan, she ran straight up to him, her expression anxious.
"It seems that while I was away, something happened that I do not know about." Ivan frowned slightly.
"Mr. Edgar is waiting for you in the conference room. I will explain as we walk."
Ashley's expression made it clear the matter was urgent. She was already in a complete panic.
"Just now, several major outlets reported Stormfront's death and pointed out that the one who killed her was none other than Homelander. At the time of the incident, many eyewitnesses saw Stormfront attack Homelander first. Then the two of them flew up into the sky together and vanished without a trace." In the elevator, Ashley spoke after she had organized her words.
"Homelander would actually do something like that. No wonder I saw so many people talking just now." Ivan was a little surprised.
"But the truth is, Homelander never left Vought Tower at the time of the incident. I can be sure of that, because I was in the superhero conference room with President Edgar and Maeve and the others. How could he suddenly appear somewhere else and kill Stormfront? That makes no sense at all." At first, when Ashley heard the news, she thought it was a rumor someone had spread, until she opened her phone and saw the flood of reports.
She still thought it might just be a misunderstanding, until she saw a stretch of surveillance footage. In the footage, Homelander and Stormfront walked into a restaurant together, and half an hour later Stormfront, her face full of terror, smashed through the glass and vanished from the camera.
"I think I understand what you are trying to say. You mean the one who killed Stormfront was not Homelander, but someone else, and that person can also disguise himself as Homelander."
"Exactly."
Ding.
The elevator stopped. Ivan walked out with steady steps.
"If that is the case, it should be easy to resolve. We only need to produce evidence that Homelander never left Vought Tower at the time of the incident."
"It is not that simple." Ashley pushed open the conference room door for Ivan.
Inside the conference room sat the heads of Vought's public relations, publicity, legal, and other departments.
Edgar, as always, sat at the head of the table.
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69