Exactly What It Is [Gordon, Catwoman]

[Deleted]

Harvey had gotten the call twenty minutes ago, and here he was rolling up now and getting out of his unmarked unit.

As he made his way past people, pavement, and police, crime scene tape was lifted for him, but he still had been a little too tall to be helped much, though he did appreciate the gesture.  He didn't always express it, but that's just how Harvey worked.

Williams and Franklin of the 73rd Precinct had been the first to arrive.  When they got on scene they had first found the night guard incapacitated, they heard a shriek off to the west of the Wyly Museum, all works owned by the Hortons, whom offer free entry to the public.  It had been closed for the night with three guards.  The man at the front door, the woman patrolled it the inside of the museum, and the man who guarded the two docks for supply delivery.  

They called in for more back up as well as EMS units.  Two more from the 73rd arrived, Miller and Hernandez, followed four minutes later by an ambulance and dealt with Otis, the unconscious front door guard.  He was a mountain of a man, it took both officers and both EMTs to move him.  

Meanwhile, once Williams and Franklin had gotten the confirmation two other officers were en route with help, they made sure he was okay and they moved ahead to see what was going on in the building.  When they did eventually get to the West side of the museum they would find a painting, missing from its spot.  They both reported hearing the sound of Nadia, the woman who patrolled.  She was on the ground, looking like she had lost a fierce fight with a jungle cat.  She was conscious and claimed Catwoman had stolen By day she made herself into a cat, painted in 1920 by Arthur Rackham.

Within minutes from then more cops, more attention, and now Harvey arrived and was given the story by the officers.  He stood in the room and just stared at the blank space of well-lit wall where the painting had once been.  His eyes wandered while skepticism and curiosity fought within.  He glanced at the witness, Nadia, at the far corner of the room  He considered her for a moment before turning his attention back to the scene.  His thoughts and opinions were beginning to form.

[Deleted]

Today in Gotham city it was raining, heavily. Police commissioner James Gordon had just made it to the Wyly museum. His arrival was noticed by the press as well as the other officers that were at the scene. Gordon turned off the ignition to his vehicle and stepped out. His shoe splashed in the puddle that had been made by the massive amount of rain that Gotham has gotten today. It soaked his sock and splashed up to his pant leg. The man released a groan while staring at the museum. Police as well as the major crimes unit was already hard at work. Police tape was sprawled across the scene. It wasn't long before the media made their way to the Commissioner stuffing the microphones and his cameras in his face. 

"Commissioner!? Has this been another heist by the infamous cat-woman? Do you have a comment on as to why a cat related piece has been stolen?" A young female reporter spoke up, hoping to get an answer from the commissioner. Not today, he has already been dealing with too much. Gordon moved past the media as fast as possible. They noticed he was ignoring them, their questions elevating in sound with every passing second. He just wanted to talk to whoever his major crimes unit Captain has assigned to the case. If he recalled correctly it was probably Bullock. He sparsely remembered receiving a call about this earlier this morning. The rain bounced off of his trench coat as he walked into the art museum. This place was a good tourist attraction as well as good for the art-loving residents of Gotham city. It has never been the subject of a major art theft. Although in Gotham there was a first time for everything. 

Inside of the museum had that wet/humid smell that interiors have when its raining outside. A rather unpleasant smell but police work did tend to have its fair share of those. Gordon was right in his assumptions. Bullock was on this case. The commissioner approached lieutenant Bullock, tapping the large man on the shoulder. 

"What are your first impressions, lieutenant detective?"

[Deleted]

Harvey stirred from his silence when Gordon's question struck his ear and the man tapped his shoulder. He glanced back at the Commissioner and then back to the scene.

"It looks like Catwoman's work, but... I dunno. I got a uni over there wrapping up the witness statement, but I think it would be wise to get her input recorded at HQ. I don't want to cloud my mind too much with my own opinion, yet. I am still soaking in all the info I'm getting here."

Harvey stepped forward to examine the hardware in the wall that the painting had been hung from. He ran his gloved fingers over it and gave it a gentle pull so see how sturdy it had been. He would, right after, look around at the cameras in the room. One of the officers was working with the dock security guard to pull the footage for the investigation.

"I don't remember Cats ever stealing a painting before... Do you?"

Harvey's hand had absent-mindedly gone his right pec, the place where Catwoman, a few years ago, had left him with a claw mark deep enough that they permanently remained in the form of scars. He rubbed it with the ball of his hand before dropping his hand back to his side.

[Deleted]

"A cat related item has been stolen. The witness has claimed to see 'Catwoman' and security was scratched all to hell. That all points to the well known MO of Catwoman." Gordon approached the space where the painting once was. There was a small collecting of dust that outlined where the painting was. Beside the square of clean wall there was a plaque "Bought at auction in June,1996. On display since July, 1996. The Wyly gallery was well known all around Gotham city. The piece had been fairly well known and was even shown in the brochures at the front desk. It was one of the pieces that was prided by the owners. A couple that loved art so much that they opened a free gallery to the city. It wasn't like the Metropolitan museum of art in New York city. It was guarded, yes but only by three night guards. The security was lax. The painting being on display since before Catwoman was active pointed out that if she had wanted the painting then why didn't she take it before? Not to mention lax security wasn't exactly her style. Its almost as if she enjoyed a challenge. 

"Close, but not quite. At first glance this is her MO, yes. Although there are a few things that I see after further inspection. This piece has been on display well before Catwoman even existed. That means that she already had a chance to take this. Why would Catwoman wait so long to take this one painting? Has she ran out of jewelry to steal? I doubt that highly. Art isn't her style, and Catwoman is the type of thief that doesn't switch up their style. The security this place employs isn't really her style either." Gordon took a quick breath. 

"If I had to make a guess. I would say that we might have a copy-cat on our hands" 

[Selina Kyle - Catwoman]

Four blocks away she was secreted under an overhang from the rain. She'd been taking a moment to keep dry, and warm. It was amusing to watch people going to and fro like ants in the rain. She'd been listening to chatter she was able to pick up in her earpiece, but most of it was scrambled due to weather. Oh Gotham, never change; she mused to herself, slipping a claw beneath her goggles to gauge the weather.

Still drizzling, she leaned back against the stone as she sighed. The nights had been boring as of late. She'd gone out sans mask a few times to her local haunts, the Iceberg, Alibi, her favorite corner dives. But it was still not the same.

As some PD chatter came in staccato bursts she felt her body tense. Something had occured down at the museum. She'd been down to see the new exhibits already, lingering on a few of the pieces. So to hear that someone had pilfered such lovely paintings raised her ire. Glancing out once more into the rain, she was poised to keep put for another quarter of an hour or so, and then she heard it.

"xzzzzzzzchhhttttttchhhhhh....Catwoman...made....shhhhhhhhhhhhEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE..cat..." Wincing and cupping her ear, she hated how the rain affected her signal. She'd have to speak with Alec about that. Affixing her goggles back over her kohl rimmed eyes she shook her head. The Rackham piece. And they thought she did it? Really? Didn't they know that she didn't do art in the States? Really? With her track record, she clearly went after jewelry, loose stones, and trinkets. But artwork? She'd retired those tools a while ago. And with Gotham's architecture, there was no way she could easily lift a canvas, and flee swiftly with all her gear.

...What was going on?

Tapping a button she was able to dial in her goggles, mentally calculating slip as well as distance to crunch the numbers for time to the scene. The rain made it an interesting path, as some surfaces were more slick than others. This could help her if she took one route, possible cause her death by another. Fixing her route in mind, she was off, neatly stepping off the ledge to fall several feet, her whip cracking to coil at just the right time. She'd be there in eleven minutes flat.

[Deleted]

"We'll see. I don't want to completely rule her out, Commish, I got good intel that says she's lifted a few paintings in Italy and France. I learned a lot this last year."

Harvey had not spoken at all about what he had been up to for the past year, but it was certain he had done something important. He had so much more information at ready regarding more high-profiled individuals than he had before. He also seemed to be in better shape and of sharper wit. His attention to small details seemed to have increased at a great rate.

"Never know, maybe she decided she just wanted it all the sudden. I don't put anything past her anymore..."

[Deleted]

"Bullock I've been a cop for a very long time. Sometimes you just have to follow your gut." Gordon spoke still looking at the empty space for the painting once was. He had faith in Bullock and the rest of the Major Crimes unit that they could capture whoever stole the painting and hopefully retrieve the painting. That would be the preferable outcome, whether Catwoman was involved or not. It would only matter if whoever was involved was caught and dealt with properly. He took another breath looking around the museum. "For me something doesn't add up. You're on the major crimes squad for a reason. To find out who did it and why. If it happens to be Catwoman then we catch her. If it happens to be someone else, well then we catch them too." Gordon brought his hands up to his mouth as he coughed. The rain wasn't good for his breathing. He was visibly slowing down but nothing could stop him, not yet.

"Have you spoke to all of the security officers? And the first responders? How about the owners of the museum?' There were a lot of paths to cover. A lot of work to be done. Good thing Bullock had solid help. Although Gordon himself would pay attention to this case. It intrigued him. This wasn't a high priority case according to the mayor. However it was still important to Gordon. So he would give his all, even to an art theft. 

"A good place to start would probably be to cross-check the security footage. Who did the Captain stick you with anyway?"

[Selina Kyle - Catwoman]

The chime in her ear alerted her that she had made it in eleven minutes. And the scene below her was a verifiable shitstorm. One that was not her doing, otherwise she'd be perched on the rooftop like the cat that ate the canary. This time, there was some sort of hanky panky going on, and she was not having any of it. This had happened since she had been taking more prolific things, so she had to alter her MO slightly. But taking a painting? Seriously. The GCPD could not be thinking this was a legitimate path. Even Gordon knew better, behind that stoic facade was a steel-trap mind.

Running her forefinger along the side of her goggles she was able to zoom in to scan just who was working the scene. Gordon had to be there. And it was probably Jacobson who was on the radio, but the connection had been so fuzzy she couldn't be sure. And....where was he. It's not like it was hard to miss the hulking, fedora clad..there he was. Detective Harvey Bullock. Owner of cats. Neighbor to Catwoman. She knew he smoked, because she'd bummed a hit or two from him in passing. So it would just be a few more minutes, time she could utilize to get closer. If he wasn't going down that path, she'd lure him away.

[Deleted]

"I just got here before you. I gotta do some walkin' here and start talking around, give me a bit."

He stepped down to examine the floor briefly, seeing where the guard and Catwoman scuffled.

"You mean a partner? Eh, to be determined, I guess."

Finally he looked over to that woman, Nadia, and walked in her direction. He got the run down from one of the unis on the way before finally making it over to speak to her. She was a beautiful, fit, and fierce looking young woman from France. Eventually, after getting footage available, it did show Nadia fought well against Catwoman, impostor or not. Whomever it was in the video, she made an extremely convincing Catwoman, however there was one detail in the floor that the footage confirmed... it bothered him.

Eventually he made his way back around. He headed to Gordon.

"The shoes are all wrong."

[Deleted]

Gordon looked at the footage. He had it paused at every frame. Watching what was unfolding, he watched the entire fight and the entire event play out a few times. "I'm going to look at the footage a few more times. Is CSI here yet to bag this all up?" Gordon asked looking around. He did see the man that was in charge of the Gotham city crime-lab day shift. Ken Beavers. "I'm going to talk to the CSI Bullock. Double check anything that you need to do and we'll meet back here in a few minutes." Gordon smiled and nodded before walking up to the CSI. Beavers smiled, extending his hand to the Commissioner. Gordon shook, firmly. 

"CSI Beavers, tell me what you and your team have found so far."

[Selina Kyle - Catwoman]

From her perch she watched the two met chat, then part ways. Bullock went over to a woman who looked pretty rough. Zooming in she was sure to get detailed photographs of her. If this was the woman claiming she had done something, Selina wanted to be sure to have a sound footing to find out who the 'victim' was. And despite the blanket she had wrapped around her, Selina could easily see the tattered remains of her clothing, and the bloodied wounds on her face.

Who was trying to frame her? Who knew enough to even attempt to do that?

Not wanting to waste any more time, she slowly made her way to one of the quieter areas around the scene, crouching in the shadow as she neatly stalked Bullock. If she was found at this point, she'd be in a questioning room in no time.

...now if he'd only head a few more feet away from all the uniforms...

[Deleted]

Harvey agreed and headed off. He had been at it for a minute, he needed to clear his head. He stepped off away from everyone down an alley nearby for a cigarette. He could have a cigar on the ride home, eventually.

Harvey closed his eyes for a moment right as he took in that first, long drag. All those thoughts and pieces of information no longer scream, but fade to a dull roar. Easier to organize and filter the content with a moment to himself. He began doing a little research on his phone once he opened his eyes again.

Sgt. Beavers of the forensics unit sent to this scene, held a clip board with a small notepad and a few pieces of printed information on the other side of it.

"As far as the biological side of things goes, we've found blood in places, that could all very well belong to the security guard. No fingerprints belonging to the thief. The material we saw in the video footage, the cloth she wrapped the painting in, was heavy weight muslin. A piece of it got snagged here," Beavers pointed out a sculpture nearby with a crime scene marker near it indicating the piece of muslin.

"We still have our computer forensics department looking to detect any signs of sabotage from within the network."

[Selina Kyle - Catwoman]

nd there he was. Several yards below her, even, already taking a sweet, sweet pull off of the cigbrand here. She could smell the smoke, her mouth almost watering as she, too, wished to indulge.

Instead she took advantage of him shutting out the world, dropping down to the ground in front of him, her boots landing with a wet squish on the pavement.

Straightening up from her crouch, her eyes were ablaze as she closed the distance between the tall man, and her leather-clad form. Fingertips pressed the mechanisms in each of her fingertips, save for one, as her claws neatly slid out, the metallic sound a soft, comforting whisper. Grabbing his tie in one fist, Catwoman wrapped it several times, tugging his head down to hers.

"What The. Fuck. Bullock." She spat at him, lips pursed in anger. There was no flirtatious start to this little 'chat.'

[Deleted]

"Jesus!"

Harvey managed to keep his cigarette hanging from his lips as she closed in on him the way she did. Her pull of his tie made it tighten just a notch or two and Harvey didn't care for that at all.

"Go what the fuck, yourself, kitten. Don't get mad at me about this. I haven't even been back a week yet! Yeesh."

Harvey was not afraid of her, but he respected the hell out of her, so he broke from her with his hands up, showing her he wasn't about pull a fast one on her.

"First of all, that's Lt. Bullock, and second of all I don't even think you did this, neither does Gordon. Thirdly, I still have to do my job and eliminate you as a suspect."

Finally Harvey pulled his cigarette from his mouth and offered it to her.

"Loosen, up, baby. Ain't you happy to see me?"

[Selina Kyle - Catwoman]

Red, red lips pursed as he swore at her, and she narrowed her green eyes at him. "Not my problem, Lieutenant!" She hissed, hackles raising if she would've had them.

"You know I don't...go for the face. Or paintings. Really? Here? What the hell does Gotham even have in terms of fine art!?" As he stepped away from her, she let his tie unfurl once. She wasn't going to let him get away without her getting the drop on what exactly was going on.

"Then eliminate me. What do you need from me? I've been four blocks away most of the night, sitting under a stoop people watching." She paused, the slightest flick of a smile on her lips. How...feline. To be hiding out of the rain and watching people. Not that it would stand up as her not doing it.

"Do you need these? To prove it wasn't me?" Letting the faint light glint off her claws she offered something, only until he pulled the cigarette from his lips. Another unfurl of his tie as her free hand grasped the cigarette. "I'm keeping this one. Don't want you to run it past your CSI boys for evidence." She murmured, relishing the drag of nicotine hitting her bloodstream.

She pointedly ignored his last question. Second to Batman, he was just about as fun to toy with.