The moment Bruce set eyes on the raven-haired woman, a pair of red eyes appeared behind him. A face identical to his own hovered by his ear warning, "You should be alert, this woman is trouble."
Instantaneously, space congealed again, two versions of Bruce, each with different eye colours, watched the black-haired woman named Talya from opposite sides.
Then, they began to express their views in turn.
"Her hair is too meticulously styled, it's layered into three levels. The first layer comprises of tight curls, the second is formed by big waves, and the third is straight at the base. It makes her hair look voluminous but not messy. To achieve this hairstyle, it will take at least three hours."
"Her hands are well-groomed with no traces of physical training. Her wrists are slender, her jewelry is tastefully selected, but her nails pose a significant problem. The protective layer of the gel polish she uses is matte."
As the blue-eyed Bruce looked at his grey-eyed counterpart, the latter began to speak.
"Humans are phototropic; everyone admires radiant things. It is the rigid stereotype of aesthetics that pushes women tow chase dazzling jewelry and decorations. When it comes to nail art, an unnecessary ritual for survival that doesn't offer any added benefits, women tend to gravitate towards the extravagant, bright, and elaborate."
Blue-eyed Bruce once again interjected, "The protective film used by most nail salons enhances nail brightness; matte textures are rare. Thus, this could very well be a custom order."
Immediately, the two Bruces shifted their gaze to Talya's feet. Talya wore sandals, revealing only two toes, but the gel polish on her toenails was the same.
"There is nothing reflective about her," mentioned the blue-eyed Bruce, "That's highly unusual."
"Female assassins are different from males. They don't require extensive physical training as they don't necessarily use extreme violence to kill their targets. Their beauty, seduction, or apparent frailty are their best weapons."
"At the same time, seizing opportunities, quickly taking action, and maintaining sufficient concealment are also indispensable pursuits of female assassins."
Bruce turned his gaze away from Talya and looked at William. Once again, two more copies of himself materialized.
"William is a considerably serious and meticulous individual, subtly obsessive about cleanliness. He showcases a typical scholar's personality. As such, his suit will always be immaculate, and he will never be without sharp sleeve cuffs and suspenders."
As Grey-eyed Bruce concluded, Blue-eyed Bruce pointed to a wrinkle in William's suit near his waist and said, "This is neither due to a crease in the shirt nor a flaw in the ironing of the suit; he has a knife tucked behind him."
In an instant, Bruce drew back his gaze and revealed a smile. He gently touched Talya's hand, "Hello, beautiful lady. Thankfully, I didn't have to meet you at the police station."
His tone was still extraordinarily flocculent, fitting perfectly with his Playboy image. No doubt, Talya was an enchanting beauty. Bruce squints as if he were spellbound by her beauty.
Suddenly, like a man waking up from a dream, he declared, "Jimmy just told me that Professor Rodriguez's public interrogation is about to begin. I must hurry over there."
Conferring this, he quickly walked through the hallway and scurried down the stairs. Watching him race down, Talya calmly brushed back her raven hair and scoffed.
William's face gradually darkened. He gazed at Talya and said, "What we are doing is extremely risky."
"Don't worry, one bait and two big fish." Talya slowly squinted her eyes and said in a low voice, "We will succeed."
Elsewhere, Bruce sprinted downstairs in apparent haste, but in reality, he circled around the bottom floor and climbed another set of stairs to return.
This time, he didn't stop at the floor where he encountered Talya; instead, he followed the direction they came from, found a staircase, and moved up a level.
Standing at the end of the dim corridor, when Bruce's hand rested on the wall, his eyes sparked with blue, grey, and red lights. These lights spread from the fingertips, forming a coloured web that covered the entire hallway before disappearing just as fast.
"Found it."
The moment the resonating voice echoed, the heavy thuds of shoe heels on icy floors rang out concurrently like a symphonic concerto.
Bruce quickly arrived at the door of an office on the right side of the corridor. Without hesitation, he entered the room, finding it empty with curtains swaying gently with the wind.
Bruce quickly moved to the curtain and gently pushed one side aside, revealing a corpse lying askew on the balcony. A bullet hole gaped at its chest — it was the black detective, Jimmy Andres.
With no trace of shock or hesitation, Bruce quickly disrobed his suit jacket and shirt, placing them far from the corpse.
Next, his bare upper body carried Jimmy's corpse, quickly exiting the office to the storage room at the end of the corridor. He laid Jimmy's body flat on the floor, took off Jimmy's jacket, and wrapped it around his chest to staunch the bleeding.