2013.07.23 - The Box Pt. 1

Bludhaven is the part of Gotham where things seem okay but really they aren't. Those in charge are almost completely corrupt, even the police, and having dealings with the mafia is nowhere near out of the question -- especially for the right amount of money. There's a few of the officers who are actually good people, but they have to keep their by-the-book or well-intentioned methods quiet to avoid being labelled as such. That would hinder their ability to act to help others. All over Gotham City, since last week -- and yet in a shorter period of time than a week -- six bodies have turned up. Each one has the telltale signs that would be associated with vampires in a movie or fantasy novel or video game. A pair of evenly spaced holes in the neck, and the bodies drained of all blood.

But no one believes in vampires in this day and age, so it must just be some kind of weird murderer using some method not-yet-understood, right? Right! But if it had been one of the good guy cops, that'd have been one thing. Sad, but perhaps not unexpected given what happens when 'good cops' cross the 'bad cops'. But it wasn't one of the 'good cops'. It was one of those who helps out the criminals who can pay him off to look the other way or cover for them.

Now he's dead. And while one man might not be a big deal to the mafia, the fact it was someone thoroughly in their pocket might be seen as an attack or challenge of sorts... Or, at the very least, as TROUBLE. Indiscriminate murders by weirdos are bad for business. Some amongst the mafia might know more about these killings than they are letting on, but no one else knows enough to think that. Really, all most people know at this point is this: Bleep is going down.

The site of the crime is an alleyway right next to the Bludhaven police precinct. The body was found fairly quickly, but the location is -- for a number of obvious reasons -- very strange and alarming due to the implication the murderer could do this in almost plain sight without anyone noticing.

It is an overcast early evening. It looks like it might rain later.

(Mood music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCXUOZ-RLUw)

The mafia does indeed dislike criminal enterprises which go against their interest, particularly when they attack an accomplice of theirs! A sleek black car pulls up, tires screeching as the brakes are applied, just outside of the police barricade. The kind of arrival that heralded those who are 'meant to be here'. The doors click open quietly and out steps four people from the four-door, tinted window sedan.

And they're all wearing matching suits, to boot! Along with ear pieces. In fact, they look like a conspiracy theorists wet dream made flesh.

The three men, and one woman, approach the police barricade, bulling their way through whatever late-night gawkers or reporters might be on scene. When challenged, the lead male, a taller, dark-haired fellow, reaches into a breast pocket and flips open an ID: FBI.

"Special Agent West, CASKU (A/N: Child Abduction/Serial Killer Unit). These are agents Nearman, Thaddeus, and Pearl. We're here to assist in any way we can with the investigation." Though the special agent manages to look and sound bored enough to indicate the opposite. "We'll just need to speak to one of the detectives to get brought up to speed."

While the Tomorrow Knight would like to day that he's been researching this case for a time now, he is actually a newcomer to this. Terry is perched high up on a looming gargoyle. His stealth systems are engaged, so it would be hard for anyone to notice the two white eyes staring down at the crime scene. He scans the crime scene, taking note of the details and the methods the police are using.

As the newcomers arrive, the Tomorrow Knight's gaze immediately shifts to them. He snaps small quiet pictures of their faces and badges for later identification. Quietly, slowly, Terry slinks down closer to listen in on the conversations.

Did someone call for a conspiracy theorist? When the Special Agents show up, Vic Sage beams like a kid in a candy store. He turns away from the barricade-guardng cop he was talking to under the guise of looking for an unguarded entry into the alley, and shoves his digital recorder toward West. "Agent West," he says, purposely leaving out 'Special', "the fact you are here surely means you have some information to share - or does the FBI has believe in vampires?" The old 'stroke authority's ego and make them cough up some info trick.

The death of a police officer is generally a pretty sad thing, and Spoiler, having no real contacts among the police or, for that matter, other vigilantes (possibly excepting the Punisher, who seems to like feeding her new and violent gizmos to assist her in her crusade), has no idea that she's essentially walking into the heart of a corrupt cop's murder investigation.

Walking is a strong word too, for that matter. The young woman has taken up position on a fire escape above the crime scene, and she's taking in everything around her. She's not sure where to start, really -- her MO generally involves beating up one of her dad's thugs until he talks or gets away from her. But she's certain she'll be able to figure out something if she pays close attention.

The FBI are allowed through, if only because they are clearly supposed to be there! While some of the police may give the agents looks, most of them are surprisingly cooperative and accepting of these new authority figures showing up. Maybe they're just on extra good behavior right now? Either way, one of the detectives steps forward, showing his own badge. "Detective Ferguson," he greets. "We found the body of Officer Elric over here at around 3 in the morning. Didn't look like he'd been dead for too long but with the state of the body--" he starts when some guy who was haranguing one of the other officers and getting snarled at to get lost suddenly comes over to bother the newly arrived FBI agents. Ferguson glowers unhappily and prepares to do some snarling of his own. "Vampires? You've been watching too many horror movies." One of the other officers nearby pipes up with, "Hey, maybe it's that guy who dresses like a bat. Bats drink blood, right? I'll bet it's the Batman!" Ferguson turns and snaps at the officer, "Shut up!"

The camouflaged hero on the rooftop would see that the chalk outline of where the body was, no real sign of a struggle, and no huge attempt to analyze the area. Maybe CSI have already been through here? But no dusting for fingerprints, no sign that shell casings were picked up, just the outline of a body laid out nice and straight like he just laid down and died. Some of the officers are crowded around that part of the alleyway, and picking up on their conversations with the advanced technology of the bat suit should make it clear they're plenty freaked out and yet not really sure what's going on. Clearly this is -- as far as they know -- a first time thing. The first of the bodies to be found in Bludhaven, the first of the murders to be a police officer.

Just as with the Tommorow Knight, Spoiler would probably be able to pick up on the clear fear and agitation. But there's something that might come across as slightly suspicious. It's not so much that they're agitated that a fellow officer has died, and more that they're worried about their own safety. Well, that's reasonable, right? Murders like this, almost in plain sight? No one sees or hears anything? But it's almost like they don't even care except as it relates to their own well-being. That's not normal behavior for police, is it?

Tomorrow Knight narrows his eyes and grumbles. These cops are real sloppy, he thinks to himself. He looks at them, hoping they can feel the judgement! He keeps looking, scanning for foot prints and any other methods of egress from the crime scene. He moves around the scene, looking for anything that could have been disturbed by the quick exit of someone or something. All the while, he continues looking and listening in on various conversations.

The apparent reporter shoving a recorder in his face barely gets a glance from West and his slicked-back hair, and his expression never changes from the stony mask that hid his thoughts. "We have no comment for the press at this time." After that, the lead agent ducks under the police tape, then turn and politely holds it up for his cohorts to do likewise. He suavely tries to lead Ferguson away from the perimeter and its miscreants by the age old walk n' talk. If Fergie wants to hear what West has to say, he has to follow along!

They head towards the body, deeper into the crime scene, judiciously avoiding kicking over any of those little marker things that the lab team has set up to denote evidence.

"Do we have a time of death? Had the Officer been meeting with any suspicious characters recently? Seem on edge?"

"Excuse me, boys, I'm going to go spend a little time with the body and the M-E." Agent Pearl saunters off towards the medical team, presuming they're still there, and the group of officers gathered around the outline if not, with a gait that would do a biker proud, offering the blandest smile ever smiled as she presents herself and quickly flashes her ID. "Any preliminaries on the C-O-D?"

Meanwhile, Nearman pipes up to the detective. "Any witnesses who might have seen anything? A man running away, perhaps?"

Vic turns to the officer who made the Batman crack and 'on the nose gesture' and makes a big show of writing 'Does Batman drink blood?' in his notebook. Inwardly he's laughing - wait until his alter-ego tells the Darknight Detective that one. But the whole thing is a variation on hide in play sight - if Vic isnt talking to them, he musn't really be here.

When West goes under the tape Vic frowns. He'll try one more trick before he gives up and goes the masked route. Leaning over to Furgeson before he turns away, Vic says, "Sorry about the vampire crack, detective." He hands Furgeson his card. "Before the feds take jurisdiction completely away from Bludhaven's Finest, what was it you were going to say your men noticed about the state of the body? I believe in credit where credit is due."

Spoiler has heard things about Bludhaven of course, but she is still pretty much the sunny teenaged girl she always was -- outside of relations with her father, of course. So she suspects people have overstated the nature of the Bludhaven police. But thinking the best of people doesn't get questions answered, so she slips down to ground level and waits quietly, patiently, for one of the cops to come close to her hiding spot -- the better to get them alone for questioning.

Foot prints? One could call them that. They don't really stand out, so they weren't marked off or anything. But there's a single print in some muck near the entrance to the alley. Thing is, it's not human. It's barely noticeable, but with the advanced scanning technology of the bat suit being used specifically to search for prints, that distinct, orderly outline would quickly appear in whatever HUD is being used. Whether it can be identified right now with an onboard computer or will have to be checked out later, the fact remains that it's a paw print -- specifically belonging to a large wolf. Wolves aren't exactly native to Gotham City, but the fact there's only the one print and no one reported seeing any over-sized wolves just makes the situation even more confusing. However... Scanning a bit higher, particularly when Spoiler drops down a bit from her fire escape observation point, would reveal there are claw marks scarring the walls of the alleyway. These ones don't seem to match any type of animal in anyone's database. Curiouser and curiouser!

Ferguson just glares at the seeming-reporter and says, "I wasn't saying anything to you. The FBI has our full cooperation." He then stomps off, moving to accompany West. Once he's out of earshot (or at least of normal people), he answers, "Like I was saying, we found the body around 3 in the morning. He'd been seen just a few hours before, alive and healthy." He does not answer the suspicious characters question, given what Ferguson and many other officers in Bludhaven get up to. He instead just continues straight on to the next. "Nah, Elric was actually pretty upbeat. Was getting ready to go on a vacation with his wife. No one had any reason to think anything was up. There were apparently other killings like this one all over the city. They might be unrelated, or they might not be. But as far as we know, nothing unusual was going on for Elric."

Pearl's questions are answered succinctly but informatively. There's no edging around the matter. The man died from massive blood loss in a very short time frame, through a pair of holes in his neck. If Elric fought, he didn't do it for long. No defensive wounds. His gun was still holstered.

Nearman gets told that no one saw anyone leaving or even realized anything had happened until a local homeless man came across the body and came running into the precinct in a panic. But, one thing IS revealed. "Residents of the building next to the precinct -- an apartment -- said they thought they heard something banging on the roof briefly. A couple loud thumps, then nothing."

Vic von Reporterson, meanwhile, though he didn't get an answer from Ferguson still gets talked to by the guy who started up before about Batman. He seems a bit disgruntled over having been dismissed like that. Might be a rookie, as he seems more pliable. "Well, maybe it wasn't the Batman... But it's still pretty freaky, damn it. The body is drained dry! I mean, who does that!? He looked like a damn mummy! ...Only, you know, without the bandages." Then he rubs his nose and sneezes as he looks towards Vic. "You don't have a dog or nothing with you, do you? I'm allergic to pets. If you've got one of those beasts with you, better get out of here!--Infact, better just get out of here in general!" Rookie cop Whiteaker makes shooing motions.

An FBI agent might be interested in finding out more about dodged questions, but West doesn't bat an eye at the casual evasion. He doesn't take notes or anything, neither does any of his team. They mosey about for a few more minutes, then Pearl thanks the officers and rejoins her quartet.

"Thanks, coppe-"

"Ahem, thank you, Officer Ferguson." West cuts off Nearman's thanks with his own with a slick half-smile and a cleared throat. "There's obviously nothing we can do to aid you here at the scene, so we'll get out of your hair. We'll dig around our information channels and see if we can find anything that would be of use to you."

Turning away with a little parting wave, the special agent gestures for the other members of the FBI to follow him back towards the tape, where he once more holds it up as they each duck under it, and then follows them. Before they're even back to the car he snaps a harsh look at Agent Nearman and is pulling out his cellphone, speed-dialing some number or another.

"Yeah, you're right," Vic says to the rookie. "Thanks." Stuffing his belongings into his pockets, the reporter blends back into the crowd. He walks into the aforementioned apartment building lobby and up the back stairwell, putting on gloves. Yellow smoke seeps out out from under the green-grey of his trenchcoat. When an upper floor window opens onto a fire escape overlooking the alley, the leg that emerges from it is clad in the midnight blue trousers and orange socks of The Question.

The rest of the indigo wearing vigilants follows the leg. As his faceless gaze is directed doen at the crime scene to catch up on the details, The Question puts his hands in his pockets.

"Allergic to pets," he mutters without a mouth. "Hrmm." He turns his lack of face up to the sky, looking to see what the phase of the moon is.

Tomorrow Knight sees the foot prints and takes a closer look. He notes size, location, and number. If there are more than one, he measures gait as well. Terry drops to the ground silently, doing his best to remain hidden and away from the police. He examines the claw marks as well, seeing if there are any matching patterns to the foot prints.

The sudden departure of the FBI is pretty sudden, and while a number of officers seem to be startled or even suspicious of it, Ferguson at least seems to have complete trust in the Federal Government! He just tells everyone else to focus on what they're doing rather snappily. Maybe he knows something, maybe he doesn't. But he is at least keeping people on task.

When the Questions steps out, he'd find the phase of the moon appears to just be a crescent moon. Nothing to support the particular theory he might be thinking of. But something else might. Those huge gouges in the wall alongside the fire escape... The same ones Tommorow Knight is checking out and likely spots the Question during that investigation... While they don't appear to match any specific animal, they are large and spaced such that it almost looks like a large, malformed hand was dragged through the stone. Further, there are strands of hair -- coarse brown and a few longer black ones -- in the claw marks.

There seems to only be the one paw print in the mud, from a rear foot. It's located right alongside a dumpster, and based on the size of its owner, it would have needed the dumpster to remain out of sight from the street if it were lying in wait. Such as to ambush the first person who passes by. A huge wolf, claw marks in the wall that have both wolf and an unidentified other creature's hair in it, a vampire-like method of killing, and the moon doesn't seem to be in the right phase for werewolves?

...There's probably a perfectly logical scientfiic explanation for all this.

The phone rings twice, then is apparently picked up by someone on the other end as Agent West begins speaking into it without waiting for a prompt or so much as a cordial greeting. "We're a few hours behind him." He says as he unlocks the car and opens the door. The other three agents pile back into the sedan, slamming the doors shut.

"Tell the boss, he's drawing a lot of attention. We're gonna need-"

Whatever else the agent might have said is cut off as he ducks into the driver's seat. The car starts, headlights shooting brightness into the night as the car begins to edge backward, turns around, and then drives off into the night.

"Didn't Bram Stoker's Dracula have the ability to turn into a wolf?" The Tomorrow Knight muses to himself. He carefully takes a sample of both hairs while leaving a small bit for the police to find on their own. He puts them away into a test tube on his belt and slinks back into the shadows.

The Question turns to the claw marks on the wall without moving the rest of his body. He gives the wall a long - what else? - blank look. He is not at all surprised that The Moment led him to clim out on the very fire escape where a clue was that he could find without a portable forensics lab.

Saying a silent mantra of thanks, the Zen detective takes a foil bag of airport peanuts out of his pocket. Ripping it open, he starts to bring the peanuts to his where is mouth and stops. Oops. Tossing the nuts back through the open window, the Faceless Flatfoot puts the strange hairs in the empty bag and shoves it deep in his inside pocket. All the while he looks and listens at the strange behavior of the FBI and the police.

The Question looks up again at the roofs. He raises a gloved hand to the brim of his hat in salute. He can;t see any other vigilantes, but you don'rt need an uncanny awareness to know they must be there.

The yellow smoke envelops The Question again. When it clears, he's gone.

Blocks away in his car, Vic Sage thinks about the case. Why did he do the vanishing trick when it's 'obvious' he just climbed back in the window. The answer is the same as the one to 'Why is this case so weird?'

It's Gotham.