Sherlocking again? Just another Tuesday

Tuesday October 28

Jason saw Raven, Megan and Rose waiting for him as he walked up to the entrance to the school. Jason smiled at Raven. Rose whispered something and Raven blushed. Jason walked up and looked for either Helen or Karen. He didn’t see either so he gave Raven a kiss on the lips.

“So I got to ask Romero,” Rose said when Jason broke the kiss, “What was that stuff about Monty Python and Witches I was reading about last night?”

“You haven’t hung out at Wayne Manor,” Megan snickered.

“What?” Rose asked.

“Alfred is British,” Jason said, “And he puts on either current British TV, or recordings of old British TV to watch while he does his thing.”

“Monty Python are old British Comedians that are plaid all the time in Wayne Manor,” Raven rolled her eyes.

“So the witch thing was from a show?” Rose asked.

“Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” Megan said, “One of the movies the team made.”

“I will see if I can find one of the dozens of copies for you,” Jason said.

“Lets go before we are late for class,” Megan said.

Jason and Raven noticed Megan taking Rose’s hand.

*

“Nurse!” Joker screamed, “Can I get a new doctor, this one is dead!”

Doctor Crane just glared at his patient.

“That’s not funny,” the ICU nurse said as she checked the instruments next to Joker, “In fact that is just mean.”

“I am being serious, Doc Crane looks like a zombie on Shambling Death,” Joker said.

“I knew letting him watch the TV was a mistake,” Harley sighed as she entered the room, “Sorry I had a message to respond to.”

“Don’t let him bite you Doc Quin Medicine Woman!” Joker shouted.

“Now that is just mean Patient J,” Harley said, “Doctor Crane can I speak with you in private for a moment?”

Crane and Quinzelle exited the room and stopped in the hallway. Quinzelle turned to Crane and looked him in the eyes.

“As much as it galls me to admit this,” Harley said, “Patient J is right, you look like a zombie. Are you ok? Do you want to take a nap? I can cover for you and give you a recording of the talk with the patient.”

“That would be irresponsible of me…” Crane tried to dismiss the idea.

“Crane, Quinzelle,” a woman’s voice spoke up.

It was Doctor Joan Leland, a fellow doctor.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I wrote your peer review Doctor Crane,” Joan said, “The only fault I put in there was that you are working yourself to death… Go take a nap.”

Crane was about to say something but thought better of it, instead he put his hand on Joan’s shoulder and walked back to his office. A ding from Harley’s jacket caused her to pull out her phone and read a message. A smile crossed her face as she quick typed a reply and then set her phone to silent and closed her phone.

“A lover’s note?” Joan asked wryly.

“Not exactly,” Harley said, “An observation from a friend of mine who started working at another facility here in Gotham.”

“A spicy observation?” Joan asked.

“Observations on his employers overly romantic incident,” Harley said, “Now, game face. Let’s see what is going wrong with Patient J today.”

“What isn’t wrong,” Joan rolled her eyes.

“Did you put Crane down?” Joker asked.

“No,” Joan said proudly, “Doctor Crane was called to deal with an emergency appointment, I will be taking his place.”

“Who was the emergency?” Joker asked, “Dracula?”

*

Kara walked into the offices. This wasn’t Wayne industries, but she was just as welcome.

“Hay Kara,” Kate smiled as Kara walked to her office door, “You here because Bruce sent you?”

“No,” Kara said, “I am here looking for answers for my course work on Real Estate law.”

Kate chuckled.

“Real Estate Law is over my head,” Kate said, “That’s why I have a legal department.”

“Well seriously,” Kara rolled her eyes, “Here is my homework.”

Kara handed a sheet of a paper to Kate. Kate read the paper and chuckled.

“You actually are here for college work. Wow,” Kate chuckled.

Kate took off the red blazer and took a seat at her desk. She brought up her computer.

“Can I ask you a side question?” Kara asked.

“What’s up?” Kate smiled.

“Have you put Valley under surveillance?” Kara asked.

“Not inside his apartment,” Kate said, “But the tracking software watches him when every he moves throw the building. Building security cameras are there to keep an eye on everyone.”

“Anything creepy?” Kara asked.

“Well Azrael hasn’t shown up for him,” Kate said, “Now lets see, question one, what was the first piece of land that you bought…”

*

The sun wasn’t down out in the suburbs, but in the heart of the city, it was already past sunset with the artificial mountains of the built-up skyline. Detective Bullock watched the Crime Scene Forensic Unit searching for a pistol.

“Nothing,” the CSU guy said.

“Shit,” Bullock swear, “I need to call the Commish.”

*

James Gordon sat at the desk, the officers had been escorted right to his office and video he was watching ended with a shot of him looking into the camera to turn it off and downloading the files.

“What do you think?” Gordon asked.

Harvey Dent blinked. He took a deep breath and thought before answering.

“Well, from the video, he was shot by an invisible man,” Harvey said.

Gordon winced.

“Start the video over again,” Harvey said.

*

The file started with a GPS and title card as the camera came on.

“Check out the preppy in the blue jacket,” the second officer stated.

“Yeah, he is acting weird as hell,” the officer with the camera said, “Want to bet he is high?”

“Let’s just ask if he is ok,” the second officer said.

The camera moved throw the crowd towards the young man in the blue jacket. The image of the man got clearer as they moved closer. Average height, weight, light tan for a latino, dark hair with blonde hair dye on the ends of the hair.

“Excuse me,” The officer wearing the camera said, “You ok man?”

The young man didn’t respond just started walking away.

“Sir?” The second officer said, “We just want to talk to you.”

The guy dashed into an alley way between two buildings. The point of view of the camera rushed throw the crowd towards the edge of the alley. The department issue pistols came into view in front of the officer’s chest mounted camera.

“On three,” The second officer said, “One, Two… Three”

The Camera went around the corner and showed the short alleyway. It was only a few yards deep and there was a dumpster on the right. The alley ended with a brick wall about a yard past the dumpster. The young man was just past the dumpster and had his hands out to the side but the dumpster was obscuring the man’s right hand.

“We just want to talk, show us your hands,” the Second Officers said, “Lets all be nice and calm…”

The young man started raising his hands, but a shot rang out and the left side of his head erupted with blood as a bullet exited the brain cavity.

“Shit!” The second Officer shouted, “Dispatch, Dispatch, this is Foot Patrol Seven Five. Shots fired, need medical, two five hundred Lincoln Street, standby…”

The Camera moved forward with the pistol in front of it as the officer wearing the camera checked for the shooter.

“Out where we can see you!” The Officer wearing the camera shouted.

The camera rounded the side of the dumpster and there was no one there.

“Out of the dumpster!” The second officer shouted.

The first officer yanked open the lid, but there was nothing in the dumpster, save for a puddle of something putrid in the corner.

*

“Bullok is down there with Forensics looking for a pistol in case it was accident from dropping a pistol. Waiting on Medical Examiner’s report,” Gordon reviewed the facts.

“And Paramedics called it as soon as they arrived and the hospital also declared the individual dead on arrival,” Dent noted dryly.

A ding on the phone made Gordon check the message.

“No firearm, just one brass for a .25 Automatic Colt Pistol Cartridge.

Another ding meant another message for Gordon.

“Victim identified as Councilman Hill’s nephew, Ian. And they found a baggie with Cocaine in his pocket at the hospital,” Gordon sighed, “Shit.”

“What did the medical examiner say so far?” Dent asked.

“Dead on arrival,” Gordon said, “So far they have a small caliber bullet wound to the head.”

Gordon stopped for a second and looked at his computer. Gordon closed the video files and copied them to a folder named “Gargoyle food.” Gordon didn’t a lot, but he knew that this folder had appeared on his desktop and no many how times he tried to delete it, it reappeared. Hopefully in the morning it would be solved.

*

“Well Sherlock?” Jason turned to Bruce.

Bruce stopped the video and turned to Kara.

“Why are you looking at me?” Kara asked.

“What is your assessment?” Bruce asked calmly.

“I want to say that he dropped a gun and it went off…” Kara said.

“Jason,” Bruce smiled, “I want you to get some epoxy clay and a bamboo skewer.”

“What?”

“They were running metal detectors in that alley all afternoon,” Kara noted.

“No, simple magnets,” Bruce said, “Alfred do we have one of those Zamak Ring of Fire pistols in twenty-five auto?”

“No, not at all,” Alfred said, “Would you like to borrow my little friend?”

Kara raised and eyebrow as Alfred pulled out a little pistol that was extremely small.

“Put your Baby Browning away,” Bruce rolled his eyes, “Kara get a Raven MP-25 from the forensic lab.”

Kara went and saw the drawer with the right label from the forensic labs and unlocked the cabinet. She picked up the pistol and walked back to Bruce.

“I feel like I can break this with my hands,” Kara said.

“Not too hard for the Girl of Steel,” Dick noted.

“This is cheap,” Kara said, “I mean… Ok Jason can break anything, Barbara could break this with her bare hands.”

Bruce reached under the desk of the computer terminal and pulled out a magnet and held it over the tiny pistol. Nothing happened.

“The barrel and springs aren’t enough for the magnet to latch on to throw the zinc alloy. So it the forensics labs using magnets wouldn’t be able to pick it up,” Bruce said, “On top of that…”

Bruce picked up the pistol and pulled back the slide, and pointed at the firing pin sticking out.

“No drop safety and the firing pin is the ejector,” Bruce said.

“So the dude dropped it, it went off and that sent it flying?” Jason asked.

“Dick will make a distraction,” Bruce said, “You drop down and stick the bamboo with the epoxy into that crack in the foundation and zip back up.”

*

Batgirl was perched on the edge of the building across from the crime scene. She didn’t need her super vision to see the cops or the “Crime Scene” tape across the entrance to the alley. Dick and Barbara were being the distraction… Not Nightwing and Oracle, but Dick and Barbara. Barbara was in a nice party dress storming down the sidewalk and Dick was chasing behind her. He caught up to her right in front of the cops and started fighting. The cops got in between the two and moved them apart. Batgirl smiled.

“Go for it Robin,” Batgirl said.

Batgirl watched as the little menace dropped into the alley and completed the task given to him. Then just as quickly the Boy Wonder was zipping up back to the roof tops. Batgirl kept watching as Dick and Barbara kept fighting for a little bit. The two officers got them to calm down and then was asking a few questions and then got them to make up. The pair walked off together… The pair of officers turned back and talked among themselves. Eventually one of them looked in the alleyway. Kara rolled her eyes. The little shit had left a box of donuts in the back of the alley in plain sight for officers. One of the officers went for his radio while the other grabbed his pistol and ducked under the crime scene tape. The officer bent over behind the dumpster and came back up with a yellow stick and a on the end was a shiny metallic section of a pistol.

*

Batgirl looked across the street into the apartment of Jean-Paul Valley. JP had already laid down to sleep.

“Hay kitten,” Selina purred as she strutted up behind Kara.

“Hay Miss Kitty,” Kara smiled.

“Checking out a Tomcat?” Selina asked.

“He is Azrael’s son,” Kara said.

“Azrael?” Selina asked, “You mean the flaming angel of death?”

“Yeah. That’s the one,” Kara half smiled at Selina.

“If he is coming to dinner tomorrow, I am putting my money on a Shepard Costume,” Selina said as she pulled back her cowl.

“He isn’t invited, it is a bit early to give him Night Walk application forms yet,” Kara shrugged.

“Azrael? Can’t see Bruce giving him a Night Walk Permit in his city,” Selina scratched her head.

“One of the four legs get fleas?” Kara asked.

“No, Maven got a new shampoo,” Selina said, “She really likes you.”

“That tidbit about your lynx was no real mystery,” Kara chuckled, “I like her too, she is fun when she opens up, great in bed.”

Selina pulled her cowl back on and shook her head. She smiled and went back into her Catwoman persona. Letting out a meow, Catwoman got started to do backflips away from Batgirl.

“Ta-Ta For now Bat-Kitty,” Catwoman smiled as she jumped back and down off the roof top.

*

Wednesday Morning, October 30

Kara had only woken up two times during the night because of the dream. Not nearly as bad as some of the other PTSD cases in the manor, but still. Dick was already awake and making noise. As Kara made her way to the kitchen there was the chimes of the doorbell.

“I got it,” Dick said jumping past Kara.

Kara watched him serf down the banister and do summersaults right up to the door and opened it.

“Dick Grayson?” One of the cops said, “You are under arrest, Gordon’s orders.”

“Oh my,” Alfred said as he walked into the main hall, “A Romeo arrest?”

“Something like that,” the female officer said, “Come on kid, you will be out before lunch.”

“What?” Dick shouted.

“Remember, don’t drop the soap,” Jason said as he walked past the scene.

“Are you sure you aren’t supposed to arrest that asshole?” Dick asked as the cops put the handcuffs on him.

“He is next week,” the male officer said, “let’s go.”

Kara watched as the cops hauled Dick off. Bruce came down the stairs dressed in most of the suit holding his tie and blazer in his hand.

“Dick got arrested,” Kara said.

“Romeo arrest?” Bruce asked.

“That is what the police admitted to,” Alfred said.

“He will be fine,” Bruce said, “Haven’t had that happen in a while.”

“Last time was Talia,” Alfred noted.

“I need coffee,” Bruce rolled his eyes.

“You aren’t concerned?” Kara asked.

“No,” Bruce said, “A Romeo Arrest is when police detain someone dating one of their daughters, normally because the guy is a shit bag, or broke the daughter’s heart. It is meant to intimidate the guy. They release him after an hour or two in the station because they don’t have any real charges.”

“Gordon knows all about the sex coven you people are in,” Jason said as he picked up a glass of juice.

“Right,” Bruce said, “But last night Dick and Barbara had a fight in public in front of two cops as a distraction for you.”

“Am I going to get a Romeo arrest?” Jason asked.

“Naw, they would just take you in back and put you down,” Kara rubbed Jason’s head, “That’s what they do to the red headed step children when they misbehave.”

“I wish,” Alfred rolled his eyes.

A message came in on Bruce’s company phone. Bruce read it.

“Kara what were you planning for tomorrow night?” Bruce asked.

“Clubbing in costume?” Kara answered with an unsure tone.

“I got a charity event tomorrow in NYC that is right up your alley,” Bruce said, “Adult so you can wear what-ever fetish outfit you want.”

“Like does every day anyways?” Jason asked.

“Alfred can I borrow your little friend?” Kara asked, “I need to pistol whip the boy.”

“Absolutely not,” Alfred said as he prepared a plate of fried egg sandwiches for Bruce, “Propper manors is to use a compact or service pistol for pistol whipping.”

“Like Bruce lets Alfred keep a Glock in the manor,” Jason snickered.

“No,” Bruce said, “Alfred has his Hi-Power.”

Alfred reached in a drawer and put a metal Browning Hi-Power on the counter.

“For Queen and Country,” Alfred said before putting it away.

“Alfred is packing!” Jason spat.

“The writ predates me being the master of the house,” Bruce said, “And only my wife would be able to amend it.”

“Wait,” Jason asked, “Martha Wayne is why Alfred is packing?”

“Doctor Wayne, like Master Bruce was never a fan of firearms,” Alfred said, “But I was hired by Miss Martha Kane and specifically charged to protect what she held most dear after her marriage to Doctor Wayne.”

(One of many Official DC depictions of Alfred with a firearm https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/2/27/Batman_Eternal_Vol_1_21.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140904194419 )