Early in the morning, New York was the same as before, with the sun still shining on the surface.
Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson, who had just worked all night, held a cup of coffee and yawned.
Ding-dong ~
The mailbox chimed with the sound of a new email arriving.
“More work...”
Coulson reluctantly opened his mailbox, preparing to see what new mission Director Fury had assigned.
“Mr. Phil Coulson, by the time you read this, I should already be dead. In the mist, I cannot clearly see the killer’s appearance, but I see the possibility of revenge in you. Therefore, here is the pre-paid reward.”
The mouse wheel scrolled down, and two images loaded.
In the first image, a dagger was plunged into Coulson’s chest, the chilling aura emanating from the blade freezing his body and soul.
The killer’s back was full of illusory colors, making identification difficult, yet a hint of mockery and disdain could be seen.
The surrounding environment, however, was very familiar, somewhat resembling the corridor of the Helicarrier currently under construction, with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s emblem nearby.
In the second image, Coulson lay on an operating table, surrounded by fully armed medical and research personnel.
A tube of red-and-green liquid was being injected into Coulson’s corpse. In the still image, Coulson’s fingers were slightly bent, as if he was reviving.
The moment he saw these two images, Coulson’s sleepiness vanished into thin air.
Regardless of whether the life-and-death elements in the images were real, the mere fact that the Helicarrier had been exposed was enough to completely sober Coulson.
He glanced at the email header again; the sender was Belmont White.
This name had never appeared in Coulson’s memory before, but from now on, he would remember it forever.
With this email, Coulson went to the technical department. After analysis, the email’s sending location was quickly pinpointed.
Queens Boulevard, Queens, New York.
After reporting to Director Fury, Coulson led a team of field Agents to the destination.
The area had already been cordoned off by Police, with officers on guard beside the caution tape at the entrance.
Coulson walked over quickly, and, facing the wary gaze of the officer, pulled out his ID from his pocket, “CIA, we are taking over here now.”
The officer showed no intention of moving aside; he was an NYPD officer and not under CIA jurisdiction.
Coulson had anticipated this possibility. He handed the phone to the officer; on the other end was a synthesized audio message from the NYPD Captain of that precinct.
After hearing the instruction from a superior, the officer stepped aside. Coulson led his team into the fortune teller’s shop and saw the scene.
Upon entering the small fortune teller’s shop, Coulson’s first impression was how clean it was. There were no signs of struggle or escape, and he didn’t even see any splattered blood.
The only thing worth noting was the severely decomposed body on the wall, which looked as if it had been nailed there by something.
“Captain, we’ve found someone attempting to peek at the scene.”
A team member’s voice came through the earpiece.
“Catch him.”
Coulson turned and walked out. Many killers attempt to return to the crime scene after killing their target; this is a pathological behavior.
In front of professional Agents, the fleeing Kricher was quickly pinned to the ground.
Coulson glanced at the ordinary man consumed by fear, then waved his hand, “Take him and the body inside back with us.”
...
S.H.I.E.L.D., Director’s office.
“According to preliminary investigations, the deceased is named Belmont White. His parents are deceased, and he worked as a fortune teller, enjoying a certain reputation among fortune-telling enthusiasts in Queens. His actions were rather eccentric, and the number of divinations he performed daily varied.
Based on the scene, surveillance footage, and witness statements from the surrounding area, it can be determined that the time of death was between 3 PM yesterday and 7 AM this morning...”
Coulson succinctly described the case to Director Fury, but as he spoke, Director Fury suddenly slid a document towards him.
Opening it, Coulson saw it was an urgent forensic report.
“Time of death... over seven days?! Cause of death, myocardial infarction?!”
Coulson couldn’t believe his eyes. The degree of decomposition of the body was indeed a bit too high, but death by myocardial infarction was too absurd.
That obvious laceration to the heart...
The forensic pathologist also provided a clear explanation for this: there was no muscle contraction at the heart and chest wound sites, no arterial spurt reaction, and no subcutaneous hematoma.
Additionally, the deceased had obvious coronary artery blockage, myocardial cell necrosis, and acute hypoxic damage to all organs. Comprehensively, the cause of death should be sudden cardiac arrest due to acute myocardial infarction.
As for the knife and wound that were not visible to the naked eye on the chest, they were likely inflicted post-mortem.
This series of conclusions was well-supported by evidence, logically sound, and without any flaws in analysis.
But... if White died seven days ago, then who was the person appearing in public and on camera during this time?
“Coulson, your next mission is to find the person disguised as the deceased and figure out who White got the Helicarrier-related information from,” Director Fury said, tapping the desk.
“Yes,” Coulson nodded in response.
After leaving the Director’s office, Coulson went directly to the interrogation room; Kricher, who appeared at the scene, might be a breakthrough.
Under the Agents’ ‘memory recovery technique,’ Kricher confessed to many things.
This included the incident in his youth where he killed a classmate he was jealous of and pushed the body into a lake, but he denied killing White.
Kricher confessed that because White exposed his secret, he did have the intention to kill, but he hadn’t had the chance to act yet.
His appearance outside the fortune teller’s shop today was actually to scout the location, but he was immediately caught by S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents.
Surveillance near Kricher’s home and the testimonies of his family and girlfriend also corroborated the truth of his statements.
The clue seemed to have abruptly ended here.
Coulson stood up. He decided that before the field Agents completed their investigation into the fake White’s associates, he would go examine White’s body.
The forensic report and the current intelligence had a severely disjointed feel.
In the morgue, Coulson pulled open a cold drawer and slid White’s body out.
Whether it was an illusion or not, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop slightly once the body was exposed to the air.
Looking down at the body, Coulson noticed a transparent, semi-gelatinous substance on White’s forehead.
What is this?
Coulson maintained a safe distance, observing for a long time, but couldn’t come to a conclusion.
After noting this anomaly, Coulson checked various features of the body against the forensic report.
Although he wasn’t a professional, he could understand simple things like the color depth of lividity, and the direction of scratches and lacerations on wounds.
After a thorough examination, Coulson could only applaud his own forensic team’s work ethic and meticulousness; he found no errors or omissions whatsoever.
Having obtained no new valuable information, Coulson could only push the body back into the cold drawer and leave the morgue.