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Last Edit: Mar 9, 2011 14:54:55 GMT -5 by harlequin
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Post by vicki on Mar 9, 2011 13:27:54 GMT -5
Vicki Vale is currently dressed in her journalistic best as she enters Pamela Isley's home, wearing a simple, yet sharp, navy blue women's work-suit. She'd been fairly busy since Bruce Wayne's rainforest gala, researching into the mysterious identity of the Batman and occasionally covering other pieces that came up, but for the most part Gotham had been almost disturbingly quiet, compared to what she'd come to expect from the town. After the recent news about the botanist whose had been attacked in her own home by the Ventriloquist, only to be saved by the Batman, she had contacted the woman in question and requested an interview for the Gazette. She vaguely remembered the other woman from the ball as well, though their contact there had been somewhat limited for various reasons; even so, she offers up a professionally friendly face.
"Thank you for having me, Dr. Isley," the reporter greets the redhead genially as she moves to sit in a chair opposite her, starting to rummage through her bag to find her necessary tools of the trade. She pulls out a notepad and pen, and then a small audio recorder, which she sets on the low coffee table between them and immediately turns on.
"Why don't we just start things off by having you tell me about what happened?" she inquires while tapping her pen against the spiraled edge of her notebook, allowing the person who was actually present during the event to relate her own personal account of the happenings.
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Post by Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy on Mar 9, 2011 14:51:59 GMT -5
It had seemed like the police had hardly finished their investigation when the media began theirs. The attention of the police had been expected. The attention of Batman had been unexpected, but was manageable. The attention of the media was unexpected in degree and irritating. Was there not something more interesting going on in Gotham? No matter; it's easy enough to agree to one minor exclusive so that her life can return to normal. What's telling her story to one more person to get the last of the heat off?
She's wearing a plain (for her) pale green wrap dress that somehow manages to pass for casual wear as she greets the reporter. "Oh, you're very welcome," Pamela lies with a gracious smile. The living room is large and open to the rest of the house, giving the whole house an airy feel, and the furnishings are muted shades of neutral colors. No, what really stands out is the all the decorations, though they're not excessive in size or number, are living plants of some kind. Flowers, all of them impossible to identify, and exotic-looking houseplants are around every corner. Fortunately, Pamela was kind enough to her guests to make sure that the scents of her creations are mild; instead the air smells more like the freshness of growing things than anything else.
Sitting easily across from Vicki, Pamela patiently waits for the reporter to get everything set up, looking very relaxed. At least until she's asked the first question, when she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath as if preparing to talk about something difficult. Actually, it's a simple matter for her to once again explain her lies. Well, mostly half-truths with a lie thrown in here and there: "Okay. Well, a few days ago it was just like any other day when the Ventriloquist shows up at my front gate. I'd never met the man before that, though the police told me he's been watching me - probably thought I was an easy target, since I live alone. Anyway, so he shows up and demands that I hide him. Threatens to go after me, my friends, and my family if I don't help him or if I call the cops. And what else could I do but let him in?"
She pauses and shakes her head as if at her own foolishness, but continues quickly, "So he came in here and I, not wanting to be anywhere near him, stayed in the lab inside my greenhouse. I spend a lot of time in there anyway, so it has most of what I need. And he left me alone, for awhile at least, but a couple of nights later he comes barging in with a tommy gun and a lead pipe." She stops to place a hand delicately on her forehead, as if the memory is simply too difficult to describe properly, but goes on, "Fortunately, he only used the gun to break the door and came after me with the pipe. I tried to run, but he cornered me in the greenhouse.
"And - well I'm not sure how to explain it, it happened so fast, but I was fighting for my life, and somewhere in there I managed to grab the pipe and wrestle it away from him. And the moment I do, he starts screaming and saying, 'Don't hurt me!'" she pauses again to shake her head, as if she's still amazed by this part, "And when I see how scared he is, I threatened him if he didn't let me tie him up. And it worked. And after I did that, I called the cops." She stops to shrug as if that's simply beyond her ability to explain, but concludes with, "And after I did that, Batman appeared after a few minutes and took the Ventriloquist - don't ask me why. The cops didn't seem very happy about that when they arrived." And that seems to be the end of the story because Pamela starts looking expectantly at Vicki. Naturally, there will be follow-up questions, and she's certain that they'll be just as easy to field as the ones the police asked her.
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Last Edit: Mar 9, 2011 15:29:58 GMT -5 by harlequin
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Post by vicki on Mar 9, 2011 15:27:22 GMT -5
Vicki jots down a few particularly important notes while the other woman is speaking, though for the most part she's relying on her trusty voice-recorder to remember every last detail on her behalf for later reviewing. "I see," the strawberry blonde replies simply after a few moments of quiet rumination, looking up from her notepad to the redhead opposite her once more before finally offering up her first questions. "Did he say what he was hiding from? And why do you think the Ventriloquist targeted you specifically, Dr. Isley?"
Vicki doesn't mean to sound unsympathetic to the other woman's plight, but it's not as if she was actually seriously hurt during the ordeal; she can't say the same for any number of other victims she's reported on in her time as a journalist. Her tone isn't directly accusatory, though there's certainly a skeptic's suspicion underlying her question. The special breed of villains that have made their home in Gotham are far from sane and reasonable, but they usually have some sort of logic for doing what they do, no matter how far-fetched or tenuous that logic may be. And if Pamela's never met the man before he suddenly showed up at her doorstep, then there must be some reason why he chose to pursue her...or there must be something more to the story. Sure, she's a well-known scientist, an attractive lady, and fairly wealthy to boot, but if Ventriloquist were only after rich, pretty women, there's certainly no dearth of loaded, lonely housewives around Gotham's north side.
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Post by Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy on Mar 9, 2011 16:40:52 GMT -5
Pamela couldn't really care less what the reporter thought about her or her story. The suspicion in particular is so ordinary any time someone talks to her about this that it goes by almost unnoticed. As far as she's concerned, Vicki is just doing her job of snooping into other people's business, and she's doing her job of keeping Vicki out of anything that doesn't need to be publicly known while supplying the rest.
The first question is simple enough to answer. "Well, it's my understanding that he robbed a bank a couple of days before he showed up here, barely managed to escape that, and that he was running scared from the police. I'm not sure why he came after me," she starts, but her pause is thoughtful as she considers the second question more carefully.
The innocent person Pamela's pretending to be wouldn't know nearly as much as she actually does about the methods and motivations of the Ventriloquist, so this answer would be guesswork. So what would her guesses be? "I think he probably came here because he'd already been watching me and knew more about me than some random person. Why he'd be watching me in the first place is beyond me, though it may have something to do with the people I know - I'm good friends with a lot of influential people. Or it could be because of what I know; I don't think that he'd have any use for botany, though my sub-specialty is toxicology - you need a solid understanding of that in order to use the particular splicing technique I know. He might have thought that poison could be useful to him, as disturbing as that thought is," she replies slowly, frowning by the end. This is where her much practice at spinning lies with the same apparent ease as someone simply running off at the mouth really starts to come in handy. Shaking her head as if clearing that thought, she adds, "I'm just glad that it ended the way that it did. Could have been a lot worse."
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Post by vicki on Mar 10, 2011 20:58:08 GMT -5
Vicki listens closely to Pamela's response, no longer relying on just her audio recorder to catch every detail of the redhead's story. The way she rattles off her supposed reasons seems sound and convincing enough, and the reporter finds herself more easily inclined to believe Dr. Isley than she might be ordinarily... perhaps there's something in the lightly fragrant air of the flowery room.
She makes a note to try and look the woman's employment record up, perhaps peek into her recent studies to see exactly what she's been researching, and why Ventriloquist (or anyone else, for that matter) might be interested in stealing her work. It's worth a shot, at least, and it might provide her with a lead. She also plans to review what information the police department was willing to share with the media more closely after their interview.
"Yes, it could have been," Vicki affirms, knowing full well that to be the truth in her experience as a journalist. "You're lucky, Dr. Isley. Not many face a member of Gotham's rogue villains and live to tell the tale with ease," she adds in a voice that's not quite warning, but not quite praise either. "You said he was there for a couple of nights? Why didn't you try to get help?" Ventriloquist had threatened to harm both her and those close to her, but she apparently had free roam both inside and outside her home even while he was hiding out there, so aside from his threat, what else could have stopped her?
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Post by Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy on Mar 10, 2011 21:40:53 GMT -5
Nodding solemnly while forcing the pride she feels from reaching her face, Pamela still has to mentally pat herself on the back for that one. Actually, she'd fought off the man twice, and it had been easy both times. Then again, if the Ventriloquist hadn't been such a fool to begin with then the second time wouldn't have happened. Exactly how does she stack up against the rest of Gotham's rogues, she wonders? She doesn't really consider herself one of them - no, she sees herself as a vigilante of a different sort. Gotham has enough protectors of people; where are the protectors of the environment?
The next couple of questions cause Pamela to affect a look of embarrassment even a bit of lingering fear. "Honestly? I was afraid. I told myself so many times that I should call someone or try to get away, but every time I tried to work up the nerve... I just kept seeing myself getting killed if I was caught or, even worse, that he'd get away and take it out on someone I know. I thought that if I just kept quiet and stayed out of the way that he'd leave me alone. Stupid of me, I know," she says rapidly, as if it was easier to express these feelings quickly rather than pondering them for too long. "And maybe it reminded too much of what happened in college..." she adds leadingly, knowing that if anything would distract the reporter from the inconsistencies in her story, that side-story would do the trick.
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Post by vicki on Mar 11, 2011 2:09:58 GMT -5
Vicki carefully considers Pamela's excuses and her own possible responses, though she's unable to think up anything that wouldn't end up sounding remarkably callous in the face of the doctor's recent troubles (especially if what she says is true). Suggesting to a victim that they could or should have done something differently to avoid tragedy, another woman no less, is pretty heartless, and simply uncalled for in a professional interview.
"What happened in college..?" she trails off, repeating the other woman's words to coax out the rest of the story. The diversionary tactic works, the journalist unable to resist following the offered lead like a fish chasing a baited hook. To be fair, the reporter isn't normally so easily duped into being distracted away from her primary goal, but her snooping senses, usually sharpened from years of practice (both professional and otherwise), are slightly muddled by the subtle pheromones filtering into her subconscious.
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Post by Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy on Mar 11, 2011 3:00:54 GMT -5
At the question, Pamela blinks in surprise as if she had been unaware that she'd mentioned her past until the reporter echos it. "Oh, well," she starts as if reluctant to say, "About two years ago I was finishing up my doctorate and my professor - a brilliant, but very eccentric man - snapped and attacked me. I nearly died... twice... and they never did catch him." Hook, line, and sinker. As terrible as that experience was, it's a very handy verifiable fact of her past that's been a huge help to her recently. Whatever holes in her story it doesn't distract people from, it partway explains - of course some of her behavior regarding the Ventriloquist is a bit odd. She'll have to thank Dr. Woodrue for that when she finds him. After she kills him.
Pausing to recollect her thoughts after recounting that even more horrible memory (perhaps one of the few honest reactions that she's displayed thus far), she adds helpfully, "His name is Dr. Woodrue if you'd like to look that story up. There was a manhunt..." There's a strange sort of tension in her voice as she says the actual name as if it's difficult for her to say, but otherwise she forces herself to keep up the appearance of being only slightly disturbed by this turn of the interview.
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Last Edit: Mar 11, 2011 3:24:05 GMT -5 by harlequin
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Post by vicki on Mar 11, 2011 3:21:24 GMT -5
Jotting down the referenced professor's name for future research, the reporter's blue eyes return to the redhead once more. "I'm sorry to hear that," Vicki responds, though even with genuine feeling underlying her tone there's something almost artificial in the well-rehearsed voice in which she delivers the sympathetic words. The copper-haired woman feels there's something more to Dr. Isley's account of the event, but she can't quite place her finger on it. She's no detective, and she has to trust that the police will discover and follow up on any potential incongruities in the story.
Just then, a buzzing noise is heard from her bag, and Vicki reaches in to fish out her cell phone...though it's to answer it, not silence it. She flips it open to find a text message from her boss waiting on the small display screen, quickly reading the brief, but urgent, phrase: BREAKOUT @ BLACKGATE
Her breath catches momentarily as she realizes the gravity of the situation, both as a very seriously dangerous occurrence and as an opportunity for some incredible on-site reporting. It may be wrong to think of potential personal gain when the safety of Gotham's citizens is being threatened, but, well, it's one of the necessary evils associated with her choice of career.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Isley, but I have to run... Breaking news," she explains simply as she excuses herself from the unfinished interview. "If anything else comes to mind, you have my number." Though her requests for follow-ups usually go ignored, Vicki always suggests it anyway, as there's always the chance that she'll be provided with some tip on a really good scoop. With that, she scoops up her things and tosses them into her bag, showing herself out the front door as she rushes to make the scene before any of her rivals get there first.
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Post by Pamela Isley - Poison Ivy on Mar 11, 2011 3:59:04 GMT -5
If anyone is going to see through Pamela's story, it's certainly not going to be the police. She had the officer who questioned her wrapped around her little finger... The pheromones always work so much better on men. Especially men who aren't very inclined to disbelieve her to begin with. No, she's much more worried about Batman, who she's fairly certain that she'll see again. She's guessing that the Ventriloquist sang to him like a canary, and it will be much more difficult to pull the wool over his eyes. And even if she can't, the Ventriloquist can't prove that she did anything wrong, and so neither can Batman.
She nods a thanks to the reporter's sympathetic words, not missing the artificial sound of it. But it hardly matters to her what a reporter thinks about her, just so long as she doesn't get any of the wrong facts to add to her story. And fortunately, she gets a reprieve from keeping those facts out of reach when Vicki's phone goes off. Pamela would certainly sacrifice the safety of Gotham for the personal gain of not having to continue this interview any longer, but she suppresses the smile that tugs at her features as the other woman excuses herself. With any luck, whatever the 'breaking news' is will detract from the attention her own story gets. She can hope, anyways.
"Oh, that's fine, and thank you for coming," she says politely as the other woman excuses herself. Curious, she turns on the TV once Vicki leaves, easily finding a station reporting on Blackgate. It's enough to make most Gotham citizens fear for their lives. It makes Pamela smile - this might be even big enough to make Batman forget all about her...
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