Shadow Justice

5: Meeting in the Shadows

The first thing J'onn was aware of upon arriving in the appointed location in Starling City was the arrow in the face. Flash actually squeaked and waved his hands frantically.

"Woah! Arrow! It's okay! It's okay! It's us. You told us to be here, remember? J'onn? Flash? Yeah? Come on, buddy. Don't shoot!"

The green and black leather clad archer slowly lowered his bow. "Can't be too careful," the African American said, his voice altered by the electronic voice changer. Dark eyes studied the newcomers suspiciously as he pushed his hood up just enough for the two Justice League members to see his face

"Hey, you're not-"

"I am!" John interrupted, preventing Flash from finishing that sentence. "I have been on several occasions. Saved the idiot's life most of those times too, I might add."

"John Diggle, I presume," J'onn said calmly.

The Green Arrow look-a-like nodded, stepping back and pulling his hood back down, hiding his face. "The police have given us permission to look at the crime scene and will give us a good thirty yard perimeter of protection from reporters and such for three hours starting half an hour ago. I suggest we hurry."

With that, John Diggle holstered his borrowed bow and raced down the alleyway, keeping to the shadows as best he could. He was not used to portraying Arrow in daylight. Then again, Arrow rarely came out in daylight. But something told John, Oliver would still be able to pull it off with ease. The ex-army Ranger was by no means lacking in skills but some things could not be trained. They had to be learned the old fashioned way, through experience.

He nodded to a uniformed police officer who nodded back warily as he walked past, J'onn and Flash on his tail. Together they approached the scene. The park was deceptively serene and if one ignored the bright red splotches that had yet to be scrubbed clean, lovely. Flash stepped up to John's side and placed a hand on his shoulder sympathetically.

"Dude, I'm so sorry man," he said.

There was nothing else to say and while John was just as pissed with the Justice League's inactivity as Oliver, he understood the concept of a chain of command. Didn't mean he liked it, though. Originally, even he had assumed the crimes were not supernatural. He regretted not trusting Oliver's gut instinct that night. But there was no use worrying about the past. Right now, they had a crime to solve and a culprit to catch. John dearly looked forward to watching the sick bastard responsible for this suffer.

"The police are finished with the scene so we are free to do what we like with it," Arrow-John said. He grimaced when a light rain began falling. He hurriedly stepped up to the Oregon alder tree in the middle of the yellow crime scene tape. "This is where the first woman was found, body intact except for the broken arm." He walked three paces to the right and pointed to the two largest patches of blood on the grass by his boots. "These are where the other two victims were found, their torsos anyway. The police found a severed but mostly intact hand a good three yards that way." He pointed to the left where a large lake was nestled about five yards away. "Again, the cause of death varied. The first victim, identified as Martha Thomas, died of as yet unknown causes just like the other victims like her. The other two died of either trauma from being eaten by some wild animal the likes of which I've never seen or heard of before and drowning due to a ripped trachea and excessive bleeding from the carotid artery. Guy literally drowned in his own blood. They both suffered extensively before death."

J'onn silently took in the information. "And no one heard anything?"

John shook his head. "No, nothing. There were at least ten people in this area of the park at the time and no one saw or heard a thing," he said, shaking his head in frustration. "Whatever this thing is, it can silence screams. I guarantee these people screamed before the end. It was dark when they died, but still someone should have seen something, heard something."