Chapter 2 Chapter 2 The suspect’s name is Elliot Smith…
[From Leopold at 1:02 PM]: Is your case over? What did the doctor say?
[From Leopold at 13:03 PM]: (Type in progress...)
[From Leopold at 1:05 PM]: I'm sorry I couldn't go with you, my friend. But you know, something unexpected happened at my father's company, and he called me over. Are you okay? I'm done here. I'm on my way back.
Elio didn't hear the buzzing of his phone. He buried his face in the sink, and gurgling bubbles rose from the water, gradually fading. When the last bubble surfaced, Elio suddenly raised his head from the water, coughing and choking on the water.
The screen of the mobile phone that was thrown aside went off.
Elio stared at himself in the mirror. The pale face in the mirror was dripping with water, and tiny wounds were oozing pink blood. He frowned, and the nausea came back, as if something was crawling up from his abdomen and struggling to break out of his throat.
"……vomit!"
Elio couldn't help but throw up again. This time he really cleared out his breakfast.
He washed his face again and tried to calm himself down. What had happened? Why had all this happened? Elio thought, he was just going to see the doctor normally, and then suddenly he was attacked and chased by security guards, and then...
He subconsciously blocked out what happened after that. In any case, he had now successfully escaped and ran back to the school apartment.
It's safe here, at least much safer than his hometown Gotham.
Known as "Blood Paradise," Bludhaven's public safety improved significantly after Nightwing's arrival, even achieving a staggering week-long record without a single murder. Furthermore, criminals typically preferred banks, jewelry stores, or abandoned botanical gardens, museums, and power stations, their chosen bases of crime, rather than wasting time visiting universities that offered nothing but knowledge.
Elio loved this place. This city also had more clear skies than Gotham, and on free weekends, people would even go to the beach for picnics instead of straying far from the port where contraband might be smuggled in... Elio finished college here and even received several job offers from major companies like Luther, Quinn, and Mitchell. He was on the verge of a normal, hopeful future.
Until someone's head explodes in front of him.
Elio bent over again. This time, nothing came out, only some greenish acid. He tried to calm himself, to think about what was happening, but his heart was still beating wildly, and the wounds from the dust and stones still hurt.
He couldn't calm down.
Elio took several deep breaths, grabbed a towel, wiped his face, and walked into the room. He dug out the iodine and poured it over the wound, gritting his teeth and saying nothing. Sweat dripped from his forehead. Elio's fingers trembled as he replaced the iodine and fumbled for the gauze and bandage. These were stored in the bottom compartment of the bedside table, but amidst the softness, Elio suddenly felt something hard and cold.
His fingers paused, then he pulled it out.
It was a pistol he brought from Gotham for self-defense.
Maybe it'll come in handy, Elio thought bitterly, loading it with bullets.
Suddenly, there were several unusual noises at the door. Elio's hand trembled and the bullet fell to the floor.
"I'm back, Elio," his roommate Leopold called out. "There's a letter for you. Where are you?"
Elio heard his roommate changing shoes and moving around. The bullet rolled under the bed. Elio reached out to touch it, and the dust irritated the tiny wound on his hand, causing another pain. His palms were sweaty from the tension, and he felt the bullet, but accidentally let it roll away.
"Elio? Why is the living room so messy?" Leopold sniffed. "And there's a strange smell."
One, two, three...
Elio frantically picked up the bullets and loaded his pistol.
"I left the letter on the coffee table," Leopold said. "Are you home? Your door is open."
Leopold put his shoes in the shoe cabinet. He saw Elio's red sneakers lying on the floor, so he stuffed them in the cabinet as well. When he pulled his hand back, he noticed a strange red liquid on his fingers.
Could it be...
Did Elio's sneakers fade? Leopold thought, I have to find a reason to buy him a better pair of shoes next time.
Elio had always been reluctant to accept his help and gifts. He'd only accepted the internship offer from Leopold's father after much persuasion, practically swearing he hadn't used his influence to get Elio in. He didn't even consider that his GPA and projects were so impressive, why would he need Leopold's words?
Although he did do that.
Leopold took Elio seriously as a friend, and he knew Elio was too. Although Elio was sometimes reluctant to share his past, Leopold could guess. A child raised in a Gotham orphanage must have experienced many hardships.
Leopold went over to help Elio close the door he had forgotten to close when he heard a knocking noise coming from Elio's room.
"Elio?" he asked, pushing the door open.
It was Elio. He was sitting on the floor in front of the bedside table, rubbing the back of his head with a grimace.
Leopold stared at him, shocked. "You just got back from Syria?"
"How is that possible?" Elio muttered.
"Then where did you get all these injuries?" Leopold put his hands on his hips. "You went to see a doctor, right? Don't tell me you had a fight with the doctor."
Elio muttered something under his breath, his hands hidden behind his back, but Leopold didn't catch it. The door was unlocked a few more times, and the other two roommates came in, chatting and laughing, and turned on the TV.
"Breaking news," the TV announced, "A mentally ill patient injured someone at Abstergo Hospital today. So far, over a dozen people have been injured, three of whom are seriously injured and need medical treatment, and one has died on the spot..."
"Which hospital?" the roommates were discussing in the living room. "Isn't it the same hospital Elio went to today?"
"Oh my god. Is he back? We need to give him a call."
Leopold suddenly understood why Elio looked so distressed. At least, he thought he did. But as he turned to Elio, about to offer some caring words, his eyes were caught by the mirror on the wardrobe.
There he saw Elio holding a trembling gun in his hidden hand.
"The suspect's name is Elliot Smith. It's reported that he's a student at Bludhaven University..."
·
"We're going to Bludhaven University?"
Officer Grayson, who had just returned from duty, hadn't even had time to take a sip of coffee before he was driven out of the police station and back into his car. His colleague got in the driver's seat and handed him the document.
"Yes. A college student had a sudden mental illness, killed someone in the hospital, and then ran away. Judging from the surveillance footage on the road, he might have run back to school, tsk tsk."
Siren blared, the police car headed towards Bludhaven University. Officer Grayson flipped through the case file, his gaze lingering for a moment on the address marked "Abstergo Hospital."
"Is there any surveillance footage of him injuring someone in the hospital?"
"We didn't have time to call. But the deceased had already been brought in," the colleague said, turning the steering wheel. "You didn't see the scene. Someone even vomited all over the floor."
"I remember the security there were all retired military personnel armed with guns," Officer Grayson said thoughtfully. "Did they just let him get away like that?"
"Who knows? Maybe they were just being lazy." The colleague glanced at him. "What do you think is wrong?"
Officer Grayson smiled, but before he could say anything, his colleague glared again. "How many times have I told you, Dick? Fasten your seatbelt! Don't think you don't need this safety line just because you're Flying Grayson."
Dick Grayson stuck out his tongue and obediently fastened his seatbelt. "That's all in the past," he said briskly. "I just forgot."
"This is the nineteenth time you've 'accidentally' forgotten this month."
The police car drove into Bludhaven University. The university students who saw them were talking about it. One even boldly asked loudly, "Officer! Is it true that Elio hurt someone?"
Grayson, who had just gotten off the bus, was stunned for a moment and didn't answer immediately. Another student immediately shouted, "That can't be true! Elio is a very nice person!"
"Please don't interfere with our duties." His colleague got out of the car and waved at them dismissively.
Instead of retreating, the students became even more excited. Only two or three hours after the incident, they rushed to make a banner that read "Elio is innocent."
"If you think he is innocent, we must take him away and prove his innocence," said a police officer.
"You won't kill him, will you?" the student asked.
"Unless we encounter resistance," the officer said.
Grayson whispered to his colleague, "Our suspect seems to be quite popular."
"The more dangerous the criminal, the more popular he is," his colleague whispered. "Never underestimate your enemy."
"And never accuse an innocent citizen without evidence. You taught me that." Grayson winked at him. "So, that surveillance footage. Did Abstergo give it to us?"
Obviously not, otherwise his colleague wouldn't have fallen silent. But the experienced officer seemed to be staring at a certain place for a little longer. Grayson turned his head in confusion and saw a figure wearing a hooded sweatshirt walking in the opposite direction among the crowd.
He turned around and glanced at the square where the police officers were from a distance, and happened to meet Grayson's eyes.
Grayson has good eyesight, "That's..."
He gave a puzzled look, then his expression changed.
That's their suspect, Elliot Smith!
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