"Murder?"
"I'm afraid so."
The demeanor of Red Hood turned serious. Just then, the elevator stopped. Both of them looked up, only to find that instead of the third floor they were heading to, the display on the elevator door showed they were on the basement floor.
"We must have missed the elevator stopping upstairs." Red Hood spoke as he spread the carpet while Red Robin tried to re-stick the picture frame onto the elevator wall, but failed. Thus, he had to lay it on the floor, leaning it against the wall behind him.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, a Caucasian male dressed in a doctor's uniform stood outside. Nearly bald, with a few strands of silver hair indicating his age, his hands in the pockets of his white coat and a calm demeanor while walking. Still, he was momentarily taken aback when he saw the two young men in the elevator.
"Who are you?" The male doctor looked them up and down, his gaze becoming somewhat wary, then tilted his head and asked, "What are you doing here? Why are you dressed like this?"
"We are members of the Vanguard Art Organization. We are here to investigate the daily lives of mental patients. You see, we just dropped the promotional picture when we were too engrossed in inspecting the elevator." Red Robin lied without blinking an eye.
"The Vanguard Organization?" The male doctor showed a hint of disgust. He pulled back his foot which had just stepped into the elevator, stood outside the elevator door, and said to them, "You'd better hang that picture back promptly. If Mrs. Miller were to see it, she wouldn't let you off."
"Don't worry, we will, sir." Red Robin smiled, watching the elevator doors slowly closing.
But just as the man's face disappeared from the elevator, Red Robin froze for a moment, then started to tremble.
"What's wrong?" Red Hood asked, watching him.
Red Robin grabbed his arm forcefully, enough to make Red Hood somewhat uncomfortable. Red Hood looked at him in confusion. When Red Robin met his eyes, he spoke in a trembling voice.
"In the crack between the elevator door and the floor…"
"What?"
Red Hood was completely confused by what his partner was saying.
Red Hood and Red Robin didn't share the same personality. Red Hood was more accustomed to being in a dominant position, occupying the center of any space regardless of the environment. On the other hand, Red Robin had a detective-like personality. He liked to stand in corners to ensure he wouldn't miss any details.
So, their positions in the elevator were different, too. Red Hood kept standing in the middle of the elevator, face-to-face with the male doctor when the door opened. Red Robin stood behind Red Hood, at an angle to the elevator door.
Red Hood didn't know what Red Robin had seen, but Red Robin frantically began pressing the button for the closest floor, the second floor. Red Hood grabbed his wrist and asked, "What are you doing? Aren't we going to the third floor?"
"Stop the elevator!" Red Robin said loudly.
Red Hood found himself unable to stop him, so he let him press the elevator button. A few seconds later, the elevator stopped, and Red Robin, with his trembling hand, pressed the door opening button.
Red Hood waited with his arms crossed in the middle of the elevator, wanting to see what Red Robin was up to. As soon as the elevator door opened, Red Hood hurried out, he looked around and saw nothing outside the door.
Just as he was about to speak, Red Robin took a deep breath, closed his eyes in pain, and bit his lip saying, "Look… at the crevice between the elevator door and the wall…"
Red Hood straddled the elevator door, standing half-outside, and looked at the edge of the door. The instant his gaze focused, he covered his mouth - the gap between the elevator and the wall was filled with a woman's long hair.
Red Hood slowly lifted his head, turned around, and glanced at the elevator door frame. Red Robin clenched his fists and said, "Someone stuffed hair in there."
"This isn't any form of performance art." Red Hood sounded slightly steadier than Red Robin, but he was clearly still on edge.
The reason he made such a statement was that he saw large patches of long hair intermingled with scalps treated with a special agent, some so close that the hair follicles could be seen.
"What are you waiting for? Get out here now!" Red Hood darted into the elevator and yanked Red Robin out, gritting his teeth as he spat, "It must be another lunatic behind this! I am going to take him out!"
As the elevator doors gradually closed, they found themselves on the second floor, not their intended destination. Therefore, Red Robin cleared his mind before saying, "We need to find the stairs, I don't want to stay with that mound of hair."
"I agree." As Red Hood turned and began walking forward, he surveyed the situation of the second-floor corridor and noticed a sign hanging at the corridor corner that read "Special Care Ward".
"Hey, hey! Look, there's a light on in that room, and it looks like someone's sitting outside." Red Robin was peering tentatively inside, and gave Red Hood's arm a tug.
They tiptoed over and silently reached the door, where they were virtually instantly noticed by the person sitting there.
The door was pushed open, and a man dressed in a security guard's uniform, holding a newspaper, looked them up and down, asking, "Who are you? Why aren't you sleeping at this late hour? What are you doing here?"
Upon identifying the man as a security guard, Red Robin realized that their usual Vanguard Art Organization member excuse wouldn't work on him, so he explained, "I'm a friend of one of the patients here, I was visiting him today, but then suddenly got hit with a bad spell of diarrhea. By the time I came out of the restroom, the hospital was closed, and we were stuck here. Do you know how to get out?"
The security guard gave them a thorough once-over and asked, "Your friend is one of the hospital's patients, what's his name?"
"Oh, I can't tell you that. My friend is having a hard time accepting his mental illness, I'm afraid it might trigger him."
"Alright then." The man in the security guard uniform shrugged and said, "I do have a map here, but it's hanging on the wall, would you like to come in and take a look?"
Red Hood was about to step inside but was abruptly stopped by Red Robin, who looked into the security guard's bloodshot eyes and said, "It must be tough working night shifts, right? It's late now, we won't bother you, you should go get some sleep."
Once he finished speaking, he jerked Red Hood's arm again. Red Hood glanced back at him irritably only to catch sight of Red Robin gesturing the Batman Family's general warning signal with his hand out of the security guard's line of sight.
However, Red Hood ignored Red Robin's warning, partially entered the room and asked, "Thanks, where's the map? We'll leave once we've seen it, we won't delay you for too long."
Red Hood's hand had reached the weapon at his waist. The security guard's gaze fell on his muscular arm, contemplating, almost as if he were comparing the size difference between them. He leaned against the door hinge, seemingly not wanting Red Hood to barge in that easily.
While the two reached a standoff, high-heeled footstep sounds suddenly echoed from afar. Upon hearing them, the security guard's face immediately bore a hint of panic. He abruptly straightened up, pushing Red Hood out. With a loud "bang", the door went shut, and the room's lights went out.
Caught off guard by the sudden push, Red Hood stumbled back and bumped into Red Robin, taking both of them a few seconds to regain their balance.
Once they finally snapped back to reality, a silhouette emerged from the darkness at the end of the corridor. Amidst their heavy breaths, a mature lady wearing a skirt and high heels appeared.
The lady looked the two youths up and down, raising an eyebrow at their peculiar attire before asking, "Who are you?"
"We…"
"I am the head nurse here, you may call me Mrs. Miller. Whether you are doctors or patients, you should be asleep now."
"We are not…"
"It doesn't matter who you are, it's time to sleep!"
As a breeze lightly caressed the air, Red Robin caught a whiff of a faint smell of blood drifting over from the end of the corridor.