The CIA agent nodded, signaling his approval of how the LAPD was handling things.
He turned to Bella. "How did you crack the cipher, Miss Swan? Care to share the trick with us?"
It wasn't actually that hard. Bella pulled over the conference room's whiteboard and started writing rapidly.
"It's hard to analyze this serial killer's mindset because we have too little intelligence. But we can make an assumption: assuming this provocative cipher text indeed contains his true intent, then the words he uses will likely be limited to a specific few."
Bella wrote the word 'KILL' on the board.
"As long as he intends to kill, he basically can't avoid using this word. 'KILL' has a double 'L'. We look at the cipher for two identical adjacent symbols and assume this symbol represents 'L'. With this known character as a foundation, we can deduce the rest bit by bit. It becomes quite simple."
The CIA agent suddenly understood. Once the trick was explained, it really wasn't difficult. They had been overthinking it, looking for Greek letters, Morse code, naval semaphore, or divination symbols...
Bella left the LAPD headquarters and hailed a cab, heading straight for that filthy rich tycoon, Tony Stark.
I cracked the code and handed the leads to the police. Time for you to pay up, right?
This was Tony Stark's personal action, unrelated to Stark Industries, so she told the taxi driver to head to Stark's seaside mansion in Malibu.
Stark's mansion was practically an LA tourist attraction. Almost everyone knew where it was, so finding it wasn't hard. The hard part was getting in and finding the man himself.
Security blocked her at the gate, so she had to make a call.
Before long, the chubby bodyguard Happy Hogan—currently sporting slicked-back hair, a beard, and a "tough guy" look—ran out with a face full of curiosity.
Back in Phoenix, Bella had saved the bodyguard's number, though she'd never actually used it. She didn't know if he remembered her name, but looking at it now, the effect wasn't bad!
"Hi!" she waved from a distance.
The chubby bodyguard looked a bit goofy, but as Stark's absolute confidant responsible for all his daily security, a stupid person couldn't handle the job.
Tony Stark, who hadn't yet been smacked down by reality, had a face that just begged for a punch and a filthy mouth to match. He looked down on everyone and offended people daily. The line of people wanting to kill him could stretch from Los Angeles to New York, which only made his security all the more critical.
That day had been too chaotic, but thinking back afterward, Happy realized there was something off about Bella. She took three shots and was completely fine—was that a normal human? Plus, she was a beauty; hard to forget.
"What do you want?" he asked warily.
Bella flashed the deciphered text. "I'm here to collect the reward!"
The fat bodyguard's tone wasn't exactly polite, but thinking of the one hundred thousand dollars made Bella happy. First come, first served!
Again, since the line of people wanting to kill Stark could stretch to New York, Happy hadn't paid any attention to some Zodiac Killer.
If this murderer could kill Stark through layers of guards, paying attention wouldn't help. Conversely, if the killer wasn't that strong, maintaining normal and efficient security measures would suffice; there was no need to pay special attention to some baffling murderer.
Happy didn't understand the deciphered text Bella showed him. What does this mean?
"Your boss said it on TV! Don't even think about reneging!" Bella said with imposing momentum.
Happy wasn't sure if it was true or false, so he could only lead her into the mansion.
He had to ask the man himself about the bonus. He was a bodyguard, not a butler, and currently, there was no butler in the villa.
Stark's mansion was three times bigger than Bella's house, with several swimming pools alone. When they entered, the tycoon was swimming.
Tony Stark's physical fitness had always been decent. Swinging sledgehammers to remodel his house alone, and later even exchanging blows with the Winter Soldier bare-handed, was proof of that.
At this point in time, he was safe. He wasn't that superhero of the future yet, but he consciously engaged in physical exercise. If nothing else, if his body collapsed and he 'couldn't perform,' he wouldn't be in the mood to flirt no matter how beautiful the girl was.
Bella sat on a lounge chair to wait. Stark swam four or five laps before noticing the stranger.
He emerged from the water. Initially, his gaze was wary, but upon seeing Bella's appearance, he immediately switched to an expression he thought was very charming.
"Hi, do you swim? I can teach you! No tuition fees."
Bella smiled but didn't speak. Stark sized her up with a scrutinizing look, then waved to the fat bodyguard. When Happy came over, Tony whispered in his ear, "Is she your friend?"
"Of course not."
"Then she's my friend?"
"...Doesn't look like it either."
This answer confused Tony Stark. Not a friend, didn't look like a reporter, nor a prosecutor. Who is this woman?
Happy lowered his voice and explained Bella's purpose. Stark suddenly understood. He had indeed mentioned a reward; he just hadn't expected someone to come asking for money so quickly, and a beauty at that.
He was quite happy and wanted to go over and chat.
Happy grabbed his arm and whispered a reminder: "This woman sued Stark Industries. She won't be friendly towards you. Be careful."
Stark asked indifferently, "So she must have lost?"
Happy pursed his lips and lowered his voice further. "Regrettably, she won. Stark Industries paid a huge sum. The incident in Arizona last time, remember?"
Stark didn't remember it at all, but he wasn't the type to care about that kind of minor detail anyway.
He draped a towel over himself and sat on the lounge chair next to Bella.
"Let's get introduced. I'm Tony Stark."
What does this mean? Shouldn't he just sign the check?
Considering this was the man with the money, Bella could only shake his hand with a token amount of politeness. "Isabella Swan... Hmm, do you think I'm pretty?"
"Of course you're pretty. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." Although caught a bit off guard by the question, this level of compliment came naturally to Stark.
Bella shook her head and spoke bluntly. "You're lying. I don't feel a shred of sincerity. Mr. Tony Stark, you've worn your mask too long; your eyes have been blinded by lies and power. OK, cut the crap. Please pay me for my labor. Your bodyguard has already explained my purpose, right?"
Her dominance made Stark very uncomfortable. Ten thousand dollars or one hundred thousand dollars made no difference to him; what he cared about was attitude and a man's pride.