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[quote=@Sep]Steve reached to his back pocket and pulled out a small smartphone. He still couldn't get over the fact that this tiny device had more computing power than anything that had existed back when he had gotten the serum. The level of progress made by the world was staggering. He scrolled through the phone as he spoke. [color=#b496f1]"Everything I have is on here, which isn't a lot. All I know is he was investigating reports of Hydra deploying the Winter Soldier out of Sokovia. I've sent Romanoff to see if she can dig up more on that end."[/color] 

Pulling up the photos he handed the phone over to Bruce. [color=#b496f1]"As first on the scene we handled all the crime scene photos, before Waller muscled her way in and convinced the UN that since it happened on [i]US[/i] soil that ARGUS should handle the investigation."[/color]

He pulled out his old notepad, flicking through the pages until he found the notes he was looking for. [color=#b496f1]"From what we gathered on the scene, and this is all unconfirmed as we never got to keep the physical evidence. We estimated that there were three shooters, other than Fury. Scuff marks and a blood trail indicated they went north from the car however no other traffic cameras in the area seemed to witness anything untoward."[/color] Steve pointed to with his free hand to the phone. [color=#b496f1]"All these notes are in there, I just prefer old fashioned pen and paper."[/color][/quote]

[I][B][color=6276a9]Something's off...[/color][/B][/I]

Scanning over each detail of the photos presented by Rogers as carefully as he could, The Batman's immediate reaction to the crime scene was that it was as if looking at a jigsaw puzzle that had undergone a complete reconstruction - with a single piece replaced. There was a detail staring at The Dark Knight almost instantaneously, subliminally pinpointing his attention towards everything else and enhancing what fit the scene so that his mind could do the work of determining what didn't. It was one of about a hundred different methods of deduction - take the subject of analysis, work backward to ascertain the problem, then find the solution within the problem itself - that he had been taught many years before by some of the keenest deductive minds on the planet. 

The interior of Fury's vehicle had been riddled with high-impact armor-piercing rounds. The ballistics attached to the document running counter to the image file had confirmed as much, but what likely wasn't in the accident report was that the rounds were fired at a specific angle. Batman had seen this specific pattern at work before - it was a million-to-one shot that only a series of highly-trained marksmen could pull off [i]once[/i], let alone in succession with multiple shooters all converging on the scene at the same time. There had been an attempt to hide it in the manner that the windshield had been blown apart. It had been shattered from the outside, but the glass hadn't been completely destroyed. 

Hardly surprising, given that Nick Fury held access to the most advanced espionage defenses in the world - there was a secondary bulletproof pane of glass behind the outer windshield, likely activated during the skirmish. But what was surprising to The Dark Knight was that the trajectory of the break in the bulletproof pane suggested that it had been broken from within. And while it would be easy to suggest that this was a result of a violent struggle within the vehicle itself, as an old war dog like Fury would never go quietly without a substantial reason, Batman suspected something else once he noticed a certain detail hidden just beyond the broken glass and bullet holes. That subliminal message that had been rattling around in the forefront of his mind. 

Without missing a beat, The Batman held up the phone so that he could illustrate.

[b][color=6276a9]"The blood spatter. Take a look at the pattern on the dashboard."[/color][/b]

Director Rogers squinted, staring for a moment before indicating that nothing seemed out of place.

[b][color=6276a9]"That's a pattern common within a certain type of vehicular homicide. Which would ordinarily suggest that Fury was murdered by an enemy convoy, except..."[/color][/b]

Batman's gaze narrowed. [b][color=6276a9]"Why would there have been both a gunfight and a struggle to incapacitate Fury if he'd already been murdered?"[/color][/b]

Taking that into consideration, Rogers was handed the phone back as The Dark Knight elaborated.

[color=6276a9][b]"There's enough blood to suggest a fatal crash, and yet the supposed victim was pelted with rounds that would pierce a tank. Except that if you look closely, each individual bullet entered at an angle. They weren't shooting [i]at[/i] Nick, Captain. They were shooting [i]around[/i] him. Carefully coordinated with instruction to make it look as bleak as possible."[/b][/color]

Pointing to a specific part of the photo that Rogers was currently going over, Batman made sure to direct his eyes towards the shattered glass.

[b][color=6276a9]"The outer-pane of glass was taken out by ballistics. That's indisputable. What's odd is the inner-pane, which was shattered from inside the vehicle. Wouldn't make any sense for an attacking convoy to break it down that thoroughly, even by accident. Which means that it wasn't used to break into the vehicle. It was used to hide something. A detail small enough to escape Waller's eye, but large enough for you and I to find."[/color][/b]

Registering a look of pure confusion, the old man was clearly waiting for a more concrete answer than that. Batman folded his arms over his chest, knowing that what he was about to say would likely change the course of the investigation - but also knowing that it was, in all likelihood, the truth.

[b][color=6276a9]"The inconsistency with the blood spatter. The angle of the bullets. Obvious misdirection by themselves, but visually indistinct when hidden behind a sheen of shattered protective glass. A trick that only a few would know... likely, they would be on the level of an ex-spy with a record as long as Fury's."[/color][/b]

Finally, conclusively, Batman's tone grew colder.

[color=6276a9][b]"You and I both know that there [i]aren't[/i] any living spies with a record as long as Fury's. Which can only mean one thing."[/b][/color]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/t3XJ0wm.png[/img]

[b][color=6276a9]"Nick orchestrated this himself."[/color][/b]