David didn't react much when he heard the name.
Having spent most of his life in the Clockwork Psychiatric Hospital, he knew very little about the outside world. He rarely watched the news, so this was the first time he'd heard of it.
Beth, however, was different.
As a former New York City resident, every time she passed through Manhattan, she'd see that eye-catching building—the headquarters of Stark Industries.
Plus, the company's boss was a superhero who once saved New York and had a very flashy personality. By now, almost everyone in North America knew about it.
She couldn't have avoided hearing the name even if she wanted to.
And the woman in front of her—Miss Pepper—was actually the partner of Iron Man?
Beth looked at Pepper with a surprised expression.
Even though she already knew that Raymond and David both had powers regular people couldn't understand...
Iron Man was a household name, a true superhero and billionaire who showed up on the news all the time. He gave off a totally different impression.
"Why would the lady from Stark Industries come here?" Beth wondered.
With Iron Man's power, wealth, and connections, most of the world's problems were nothing to him. People usually came to detective agencies when they were desperate. Beth couldn't imagine what would bring someone like Pepper here in person.
"Detective Raymond, you're really funny. I'm not some lady of the company..." Pepper smiled and shook her head.
But she didn't seem surprised that Raymond recognized her.
Which made sense. She was a public figure—anyone who kept up with current events could likely recognize her.
"Maybe not now, but you will be one day. I trust Mr. Stark's judgment," Raymond said with a smile. "So, Miss Pepper, what can I help you with today?"
"I'm looking for someone."
"Happy Hogan, our head of security at Stark Industries."
"You mean Mr. Hogan, who used to be Mr. Stark's bodyguard?" Raymond raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"That's right," Pepper nodded, showing a hint of emotion for the first time. "I didn't expect Detective Raymond to know so much about Stark Industries. It looks like I've come to the right place..."
Pepper wasn't surprised that Raymond recognized her—she had appeared on camera and in the news with Tony often. It wasn't unusual that people could recognize her.
But Happy was different.
He was Tony's former bodyguard and driver, and now the head of security at Stark Industries. Neither of those were high-profile roles.
The media usually didn't focus on the bodyguards of big names. It lacked news value, and targeting them could seem disrespectful or unethical.
So not many people outside of Stark Industries actually knew who Happy was.
Pepper hadn't expected this detective from Washington D.C. to know about him.
His professionalism alone made her feel this trip was already worth it.
"Can you tell me the details?" Raymond asked.
"Yes," Pepper nodded and began to explain everything from the beginning.
She came to Washington on behalf of Stark Industries to talk business with the North American government. Since Happy didn't have much to do those days, he brought a few bodyguards and personally came along to protect her.
But on the second day after they arrived, Happy suddenly disappeared.
His phone couldn't be reached, his tracking chip stopped working—it was like he vanished into thin air.
When Pepper realized this, she immediately called the police and informed Tony, who was still in New York.
Tony got very angry when he heard the news. He believed someone had taken Happy on purpose to target him, so he rushed to D.C. and used all his resources to investigate.
Even S.H.I.E.L.D. got involved to help with the search.
But 48 hours had passed, and there were still no leads.
Neither Tony nor S.H.I.E.L.D. had found anything useful.
Pepper felt very guilty. Tony told her it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't help blaming herself.
Happy had only come because he was protecting her, and now he was missing.
Still, guilt didn't change anything, and she couldn't do much to help.
Wanting to check the progress, she reached out to Vincent—the head of the Communications Division at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, whom she knew from past business—to ask about the investigation.
The answer was the same: no progress.
But before leaving, Vincent told her about this place. He said it might give her a surprise.
Pepper could tell he wasn't very confident either, but she still came, hoping for a miracle.
After all, she had nothing else to do, and if there was even a tiny chance of finding Happy, she didn't want to miss it.
"A kidnapping, huh…" Raymond rubbed his chin, thinking.
"That's what everyone thinks," Pepper said with a frown, "but no one's contacted us for ransom or anything. So it doesn't really feel like a normal kidnapping."
"It's not a big problem," Raymond nodded.
"Not a big problem?" Pepper looked confused.
"I mean it's not a big problem to find him," Raymond said naturally. "I'll take the case, but the price…"
"Money's not an issue."
Pepper waved it off, but then looked at him a bit doubtfully and asked, "It's not that I don't trust you, Detective Raymond, but you haven't even asked about what happened before Happy went missing, or checked any clues. How can you be so sure you'll find him?"
"Everyone has their own field of skill. I said it's not a problem, and I have my reasons. Even if I explained them, you wouldn't understand, so there's no need to waste words," Raymond said casually.
After hearing that, Pepper couldn't help but think he seemed unreliable—like a con artist.
But since it was Vincent who recommended him, and given his status, she figured he wouldn't send her to a scammer. So she let it go and asked, "Should I pay a deposit now, or...?"
"No need. Pay me when I find him. If I can't, I won't take a single cent," Raymond said.
That line cleared up all of Pepper's doubts.
After all, no scammer would ever say something like that.
"Could he really be confident?" she thought, starting to feel a bit of hope.