"So... what do I do now?"
Adem sighed again, pocketing his company-issue cellphone, shaking his head slightly. He smiled a bit - not an irritated smile per se. In fact, as per usual, it was difficult to determine exactly what Adem Different was thinking.
Adem shot a glance to Edmund Gaunt and, for the slimmest of moments, Icarus could swear that the two were communicating telepathically, swapping all sorts of means stories and uncomplementary slurs about him, his mother, and his favorite athletic team. Both men turned toward Icarus, their expressions utterly unreadable.
"What?" the pilot said, shrugging a bit.
"Were you given an assignment by Dr. Paragon?" Gaunt asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh, yeah..." Icarus said, leaning against a wall. "I was told to look over library files on the history of serial killers with Max Headroom here." Icarus took the disc he had Jym in out of his pocket and tossed it at Gaunt, who effortlessly snatched it out of the air.
"Jym," the Shadow Chancellor offered.
"Whatever, Perry," Icarus shrugged, his typical smirk spreading across his smug features.
"And what conclusions did your 'research' lead you to?" Different asked, attempting to get Icarus back on task.
"That serial killers are some seriously screwed up people!" Icarus yelled. "Heck, most of these guys eat their victims! How screwed up is that?"
Edmund shook his head slightly. "Is there anything you discovered that might help us in this case?" he asked, gesturing around the room.
"Not unless the body's been mutilated, dismembered, or partially digested by our killer..." Icarus said, turning to Ian McGregor, who was on the ground inspecting the body.
Suddenly, McGregor stopped and raised his head, blinking rapidly. "Okay, you can stop boring holes into the back o' my head now," he called out.
"Dr. McGregor?" Different asked. "Has Ms. Sigfried been mutilated, dismembered, or eaten in any way?"
"Not by my reckoning," Ian said sardonically, shooting a faux-sexy look at the pilot. "But you may want to get a second opinion."
"Uh... sure," Icarus said, not sure how to process McGregor really.
"It appears that your presence here is unnecessary, then, Mr. Sidewinder," Gaunt said. For a half a second, Icarus could've sworn the Shadow Chancellor was smiling. But, after blinking, he wasn't sure he'd seen anything of the sort. "I suggest you take Jym back to headquarters and awair further instruction." Gaunt tossed Jym back to the pilot. The disc hit Icarus' palm, bouncing off, only to be caught in his other hand.
"Screw that!" the pilot said indignantly. "I'm as much a member of this team as either of you! I have every right to be here!"
"However, your skills are not required for this endeavour, Icarus," Adem said, nodding cordially, his eyebrows furrowed.
"And his are?" Icarus said, gesturing toward Ozzy who stood in the corner, looking at Nurse Piper's backside as the nurse bent over Ms. Sigfried.
Ozzy suddenly got the feeling he was being watched. "Huh?" he said, looking up quickly from Icarus to Gaunt to Different and back again as fast as he could.
"Never mind, Ozzy," Adem answered. "Please return to admiring Miss Piper's posterior."
Ruby's head shot up, whipping over to where Baxter stood as she stared daggers at the boxer.
Ozzy laughed nervously. "Oh, Adem... whatta kidder!"
"Not at all," Adem said, cocking his head to the side. "You were in a perfect position to be looking at Nurse Piper's behind and, given that I see very few flaws in the overall design, I can only assume you were looking at it with admiration. Furthermore--"
"That's enough, Adem!" Ozzy interjected, quickly making his way to the porch. "If anyone needs me, I'll be outside trying to find a way to hang myself..."
As Ozzy exited, the room resumed the quiet of examination as the inhabitants of the room ignored Icarus and returned to its studious nature. Icarus slipped into a chair in the corner and, within a few moments, found himself singing absent-mindedly.
"Bang bang... he shot me down... bang bang... he hid the clown... bang bang... that something sound... bang bang... my baby shot me down..."
Gaunt looked over, a bit annoyed. "Do you mind?" he asked.
"Not at all," Icarus said with a smile as he resumed his singing. "I was five and he was six... somethin' 'bout horses made of sticks..."
Adem cleared his throat, glancing over at Icarus who in turn stopped singing... but continued humming the Nancy Sinatra song as best as he could remember it.
"Must you?" Ian finally asked, turning to Icarus. "Usually I do the whole 'annoying song' thing... Don't even think it, Piper!" Ian pointed a stern finger at Ruby.
"Why, Dr. McGregor!" Piper answered with feigned surprise. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Sorry," Icarus answered insincerely, "but you know how those songs get stuck in your head and you can't do anything about it?"
Ian nodded. "Tell me about it."
"Well, I was just looking around the room, saw that blood mural over there," he said, pointing at the words 'BANG BANG' written on the wall, "and it reminded me of that song..."
Different, Gaunt, and McGregor all followed Icarus' finger and looked at the wall as if seeing the words written in blood for the first time.
Adem uttered a thoughtful groan while the other two men remained silent.
"Kind of like that movie," Icarus offered. "Y'know... with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman? Where Kevin Spacey cuts off that guy's hand and writes 'HELP ME' on the wall behind the painting?"
Gaunt turned to Icarus, unamused. "I... must have missed that one," he said.
"Ooh!" Ozzy chimed in from the porch, peeking his head in. "Or that one with Denzel where Maximus kills those people and writes... uh... something on the wall. I forget what..."
"We get the point," Adem said. "The killer must have watched movies..."
{{Or he didn't watch movies and thought he was being original, but since he didn't watch movies, he didn't know that what he was doing was completely unoriginal altogether.}}
"Jym, don't encourage them," Adem said, looking down at his wrist.
{{My apologies,}} Jym answered. {{I don't know what came over me.}}
"So, I'm guessing whasserface was shot then?" Icarus asked.
"Not at all," Ian said. "In fact, the fractures on her cranium as well as the cracks in the ceramics and the wall suggest that her head was rammed repeatedly into the floor and wall."
"So..." Icarus said, elongating the vowel in 'so', "what exactly does 'BANG BANG' mean?"
Different and McGregor exchanged inquisitve and pensive looks. Gaunt continued looking at the writing... or rather through the writing, as though looking at it with different eyes than anyone else was capable of.
"A clue?" Adem asked.
"Y'think?" Ian answered, kneeling back down beside the body, continuing his investigation.
Different merely took two steps back and began turning in a slow circle, taking in the whole of the scene once again.
"So..." Icarus began again, "can I stay?"
Different shot him a sidelong glance. "Just don't touch anything, Icarus."
Icarus smiled, leaning back in his chair.
"Bang band... he shot me down... bang bang..."
