Now that they had each selected their most likely suspects, it was time to move on to the next step. The reports had only revealed vague information that would come from any standard background check. Luckily, most of their suspects were famous, so they were able to find out more from a casual search online. The easiest to find online was the most famous of the group. Heroix's founder and CEO Gerald Moore.

  The problem became evident after they dug anywhere beyond the first page. As a famous figure, he was easy to find but hard to find any details about. No matter what link they clicked it gave them no more information than the summary on the main search. Gerald Moore was a local, born and raised, who revived his failing tool company by turning it into a superhero agency instead.

  There was no mention of the aggressive contracts or how he had made such a transformation. Summer did find the line of Heroix brand tools being sold at high prices as they were no longer in production. Had he really made such a drastic change to his company just because the name was conveniently suitable? Summer doubted he was MysteriousMaskz. Honestly, she doubted he even came up with the idea to create the superhero agency on his own. Then again, judging him based on the one flubbed interview she was able to find was a bit harsh.

  Next up was Claudia Jones. As the one who brought it up, Kai was the one who researched her. He wasn’t able to find much more than what they already knew either. None of them were eager to delve into the long list of available articles she had written for clues. Summer did glance over the titles after Kai brought them up. Some of the topics were similar to MysteriousMaskz’s old posts, one of them even dedicated to him.

  “It is a bit suspicious,” Summer agreed, “But I don’t think she is who we are looking for. It is too obvious.”

  “Actually, I found something unexpected,” Kayla brought up, “I was looking more into Amos Wyndart, the old CEO of SI. There is something strange about his history. The story I found online and the one mentioned in the background paperwork are different.”

  “Different how?” Derrick asked, leaning over to look.

  “The paperwork mentions classified government work,” Kayla explained, “but the summary online claims he was raised to take over SI by the previous CEO. In other words, he always worked or was related to SI.”

  “But the paperwork claims he spent time doing classified government work, and even working at plenty of smaller establishments,” Derrick noted, “He even attended three different colleges but it only mentions his degree from SI’s personal university online.”

  Summer checked. “Hold on. This report claims he never even attended that one,” she realized, “Why is it so inconsistent?”

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  “Someone is hiding something,” Levi guessed, “but it isn’t a facility. Unless he was working there as part of the staff.”

  “Definitely suspicious, but I don't think he is Maskz either,” Derrick told them, “I haven’t been having any luck finding much about the Gould family. The father came out of nowhere. He has no large company but he has a seemingly endless supply of money. His son isn’t even showing up in searches.”

  “Which is even more suspicious,” Summer agreed, “We know that Maskz is perfectly capable of hiding any information about himself he doesn’t want us to know.”

  “The background check does mention the hospital he is staying at, right? It is a place we could start,” Kayla suggested, checking the papers again.

  “If Ashton agrees to pursue it,” Kai pointed out, “Did anyone find anything more on Gilbert Rook?”

  There was silence as they each met each other's gaze. It looked like there was one other they couldn’t get any more information on. It was hard to say if they were truly suspicious or if their methods of research were just too clumsy.

  “We have to consider the possibility that MysteriousMaskz isn’t any of these people,” Derrick pointed out, “If Ned isn’t even the real Maskz, it would be effortless for him to cut off his tail so he would never even make it onto the list of suspects.”

  “Maybe,” Summer admitted, “but I think he is in here. He wants to be caught by Ashton, so he would make sure to leave him clues.”

  “In that case, let’s make plans to find out more about the most suspicious suspects,” Levi recommended, “When Ashton returns, we can present our plans to him so he doesn’t have to worry about making them himself.”

  “Who should we start with?” Summer asked.

  “Gilbert Rook,” Derrick decided, “Even if he isn’t who we are looking for, he is definitely something.”

  They all agreed and began planning how to find out more. The best access point they had was the Golden Club, and it was a place that would allow them to investigate more about the fake Maskz as well. After a lot more searching, they were finally able to find a single image of the Gilbert Rook. Summer couldn’t shake the feeling that he looked familiar somehow.

  That definitely seemed like the right place to start, but they made plans to look into Edmund Gould as well. The hospital would not be easy to slip into, and it would be difficult to pretend to be visiting Edmund since they had never actually met him before. Not only that, if Maskz didn’t actually lose his powers all of those searches from earlier would have definitely tipped him off. Even if he truly was powerless, he had the advantage of already knowing who all of them are.

  “We could try asking someone else to visit instead. Someone we trust,” Kayla suggested.

  “Who?” Summer asked, “MysteriousMaskz already knows everyone we know.”

  “Maybe everyone you know,” Kai considered, “but I don’t think he put that much consideration into all of us. Derrick, you are probably the one he knows and cares the least about. Do you have any ideas?”