The Amazing Spider-Man 4

Chapter 15

Whatever it was that Eddie had found, the man's enthusiasm for whatever he'd discovered was evident in how fast he was walking as he and Peter headed back to his desk. It wasn't normal for Peter to have put in much effort to keep up with somebody, but he found himself having to actually try at least a little to keep pace with the man. As a result, it didn't take long for them to get back to Eddie's work area.

"So," Peter's coworker said, grabbing a piece of paper with some notes scribbled on it, "I got a call from an anonymous source who said they used to work at Oscorp."

"Anonymous source?" Peter questioned.

"Yeah," Eddie replied. "Apparently, this individual used to work for none other than Alistair Smythe when he was there. Does the name ring a bell to you at all?"

"No, not really," Peter answered. This was surprising to him; assuming Eddie's anonymous source wasn't just feeding him a bunch of garbage just to get some attention, he would've thought that the name would be somewhere in the recesses of his brain, since he prided himself on keeping up with recent scientific and technological advancements, as well as the names associated with them. Granted, Oscorp had been a huge company before it's downfall, so it was entirely feasible that someone important to the company would still fly relatively under the radar.

"I did some digging on the guy," Eddie continued. "It turns out that he oversaw the electrical and power divisions before the company went under. However, there was a specific designation within that division that this guy says Smythe tended to spend the most time in: robotics."

"Well, that would certainly make sense," Peter said.

"Yeah," Eddie concurred, "and get this: my source told me that the machines the cops have impounded after Spider-Man was through with them were apparently similar to some designs the guy had for various prototypes he was planning on pitching to the Oscorp board. Supposedly, his hope was that they could work a deal to sell them to the military, making him rich in the process of course."

"Okay," Peter said, "but have you been able to track down anything more recent on this guy? Oscorp went under years ago; assuming this is our guy, where would he get the resources to even be able to build something like those things?"

"That's the thing," Eddie explained, moving to his computer. "After I got the call, I did some digging on our friend Mr. Smythe, and do you know what I found?"

Peter just shook his head, waiting for the answer.

"Nothing," the man said. "No current job, no memberships anywhere, nothing. I did however at least manage to get an address for an apartment in the Upper East Side."

Eddie then looked at Peter with a knowing expression, and the latter knew exactly what was coming next.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

----

Sure enough, roughly a half hour later, Peter and Eddie found themselves at the door to the apartment building that one Alistair Smythe supposedly resided in, specifically number 628. They buzzed in and were eventually let into the building, immediately proceeding to the elevator. Before Peter knew it, they were on the floor heading towards the apartment in question, and with any luck, some answers on who one of the nut jobs trying to kill him these days was.

Reaching up, Eddie knocked on the door three times, the two of them then patiently waiting. After a few moments of no response, Eddie tried again, ringing the doorbell this time as well. Still, there was no answer.

"Well, it is the middle of the day," Peter explained. "Maybe he has a job after all."

"Yeah, maybe," Eddie added, clearly eyeing something else. Peter followed the man's line of sight to realize that he was looking at Smythe's mailbox outside his door, which was unusually full.