Urban Decay (Open)

[Deleted]

"So what's the M.O. then, Lieutenant?"

Harvey bobbed his head side to side.  He stood in a taped off crime scene in Park Row.  There were two bodies laying on the ground.  The placement of their bodies suggested to Harvey it was not simply a killing, but an execution.  The rounds were pretty small, but the shots were clean and very precise.  They both were rumpled as though they had first fallen to their knees and then to their stomachs. 

A small note lay upon one of their backs.  It only said:

How the gods kill.

Harvey was crouching down to inspect the note again without touching it.  The crime scene was still very fresh, forensics hadn't even finished with photos yet.  Harvey sighed a little and went back to his full height looking to the young officer whom was speaking to him in the first place.  He had a cigar between his teeth, as usual.

"Its been a while since I picked up slack for homicide.  I'm used to crazier stuff, but I guess the note merited I take a look.  Sounds to me like its another wacko."

Harvey paced between the two bodies and then went to stand where the shooter would have been.

"The shooter was right behind them.  They were on their way somewhere, to someone.  They are definately mafia men.  While their faces are blasted to hell, I know they are from a gang around here.  The tailor tags in their suits are from a local tailor that is one of my ears.  He serves two specific families that have a truce.  I am not sure they would go after eaqchother, they have a begrudged truce, but they both need it.  The Bertenellis are weak right now and these aren't Bertenelli men."

Harvey racked his brain.  There was something he wasn't thinking about.  He had a habit of realizing those things during lunch and it was five till, after all.

"The MO can not be determined until we narrow down the possibilities.  My educated guess, for the moment, is it's a false flag.  I think someone wants to start a fight between several gangs at once.  These two guys, after looking at the IDs are pretty important to the Bertenellis, yet they are not from their little clan, they are from another clan.  The Bertenellis are weak right now, but attacking them would still cause problems for everyone."

Forensics came up to Bullock to let him know they were done with photos and were ready to science it all up now.


"I'm gonno go do lunch.  I'll be back within the hour.  Try to have something I don't already know yet by then...?"

The forensics girl rolled her eyes when Harvey turned away.  He ducked under and raised the tape up at the same time and headed off to go find some grub.  There was a decent sandwich shop nearby and that did sound awfully good.  He headed two blocks away on foot and walked in.  He sat at the counter.  He didn't have to look at the menu.

"Reuben.  And how 'bouta root beer to go with.  In the mood for one today."

Some days a root beer was just the right choice.

[Deleted]

Robin wasn’t sure if he’d call this luck or not. On the one hand, he’d been in the area at the right time to catch the crime scene going up, so there would be more to go off of than just police photos and a stale, hours-old crime scene once the sun set. On the other hand, someone was dead, and it was probably weird, because Detective Bullock had caught the case instead of one of the homicide detectives. Major Crimes wouldn’t have been called in if it wasn’t weird.

Though being in costume when the sun was still up was, possibly, even weirder. At least there were lots of shadows his could use to hide in this part of town. The teenager glanced up from his perusal of the scene as the M.E. started loading up the body, frowning thoughtfully as he watched the detective stride away. Bullock had been able to get a lot closer than Robin was capable of right now. He’d most likely have some useful information that Robin could use. And yeah, Robin could just wait for him to submit a report, then hack into the GCPD database to read it, but that would take hours.

Whereas if he just went down and asked, it would just take about twenty minutes or so, and Robin could ask for clarification if needed. Plus he’d apparently get to eat. Alright, so investigating a murder wasn’t exactly how Robin had planned to spend his Saturday afternoon, but what the hey. Never-ending mission and all that.

Only problem was, Robin mused as he tailed Bullock from above, the only change of clothes he had were his own, and he couldn’t join the detective for lunch as Tim Drake any more than he could as Robin. Ooh, okay. That was lucky: the sandwich shop Bullock had just ducked into was only a couple doors down to the solution to his dilemma. He ducked into an alley for a quick change, then kipped into the Salvation Army store for a quick disguise.

Five minutes later, Robin walked back out, tugging on a hoodie that was two sizes too big for him followed by a dark jacket that was a size and a half bigger than that, both thoroughly worn and a bit rough looking. A black newsboy cap over his hair, a pair of lightly tinted sunglasses to obscure the exact shape of his face and the shade of his eyes, and Robin nodded his approval at the reflection in the window. He looked even smaller than he usually did in the oversized clothes – not something he really needed help with; he knew he was tiny enough as it was, even when he did have the added bulk of his boots and body armor – but they did what he needed them to. He tugged on a frayed pair of fingerless gloves, pushed his glasses up with a knuckle, and pushed his way inside the sandwich shop to drop gracelessly onto the stool next to Bullock before the detective had gotten his food.

“Hey,” Robin called, his Gotham accent thick with the East End, “’kin I get a roast beef? And a zesti? Oh, an’ I’m with him.”

He grinned crookedly at the man behind the counter as he jabbed a thumb in Bullock’s direction.

[Deleted]

Harvey, at this point, was looking through his phone. He had a few news apps and was reading the day's national news as well as local news. In the process of reading he got a text and responded to it.

His root beer was brought to him. He uncapped it with a ring he always wore on the pinky of his left hand. It was actually one of his mother's rings with an onyx stone in it. Anytime anyone gave him crap for it he left it imprinted on their damn foreheads.

Harvey took a drink of his root beer when some kid pulled up right next to him at the counter. The voice he recognized. He looked down at the kid next to him and gave him an unimpressed look.

"What're'ya doin' out in the daylight? Oh, well I guess you wouldn't have no school on a Saturday..."

Harvey noticed the cook/waiter guy gave them a suspicious look.

"Bring us our sandwiches over there. This kid and I got some shit to square away."

Harvey grabbed him at his elbow and led him over to a booth a ways away. He wasn't being mean, just annoyed and stern.

"Alright, what'cha want, Boy Blunder? This got soemthin' to do with that murder up the street? And seriously, I never seen you are bats out during daylight, a little weirded out by that."

Harvey took another drink of his root beer. He nearly got a zesti himself, but root beer was the right choice today. The kid had probably been out all night tonight, Harvey figured. He was probably due for a bit of grub before, hopefully, he was going home to his little Bat cave. This Robin was fairly new. The last one seemed a little young before he stopped doing this. The one before that, Harvey figured he grew up.

"Bats know you're talkin' to his favorite detective?"

Ha, Harvey and Bats got along these days, but it didn't mean Harvey wasn't going to make fun of the guy.  For god sakes, he dresses as a bat and solves and prevents crimes.  Why didn't he just go to the damn police academy?  Or maybe he had...?

[Deleted]

Robin settled himself in the booth, vaguely annoyed to realize that he had to choose between his feet hitting the floor or sitting against the backrest. Man, he couldn’t wait for his growth spurt. Or at least the day he was over five feet. Four foot nine just wasn’t cutting it.

“I’ll give B a report when I see him later,” Robin said off-handedly, the East End accent vanishing like it had never been. “The crime scene will be old by the time the sun sets, though; I’d rather handle it now.”

He grinned.

“And if it helps any, Robins are technically supposed to be diurnal.”

The accent slipped seamlessly back into his voice as the waiter approached with his soda. The thirteen year old tossed him a thanks and pulled the can closer, popping the tab with a quiet hiss of carbonated air. The accent drained right back out like water through a sieve as the waiter moved out of earshot again.

“So,” Robin began brusquely, “we’ve got two Gassati soldiers dead from gunshot wounds to the back of the head. I can’t I.D. them both for you, but the one with the scar on his right hand was Vito Comasco. From the marks on his knees, he was taken out execution-style. His buddy wasn’t though – he was just shot out of hand.”

Robin took a sip of his soda, thoughtful, running through the bare facts of what he knew. The Gassati were new players in the East End. Most of their power base was in the Bowery and Robbinsville, and they’d only just started expanding into the East End about half a year ago, though apparently with the Bertinelli family’s blessing. Territory dispute was still a possible motive, though, given the other families in the area.

“Comasco was up for a promotion to capo,” the teenager mused. “He may have been the main target. Unless… Hm. What the M.E. have to say about the entry wounds? And what about that piece of paper; what did that say?”

[Deleted]

Harvey just listened to the kid, drinking his root beer. After a certain point Harvey set the root beer down and leaned back in his seat. He just watched the little motor mouth go.

When did my life get so ridiculous that I solve cases with a ten year old.

Harvey sighed a little at the kid.  It wasn't a hostile one, it was actually because the kid was making some good observations and points.  Finally he raised a finger at the mention of the entry wound.

"They were both executed.  I agree, they wanted to hit Comasco, and yeah, maybe the other guy was killed just because he was with Comasco, but I'm pretty sure the other guy was Comasco's body man.  The note said "How the gods kill."  That's the one part of it that make's no sense.  You kill Comasco you're obviously sending a message to the Gassantis, but I don't think the note was meant for the Gassantis, I think it was meant for the police.  Whoever killed them knew we were going to get there first."

Their sandwiches were brought over soon after.  Harvey nodded to the gentleman and just stayed quiet until he walked off again.  Harvey picked up one of the sandwich halves.  Nothing like a reuben to help solve a case.  Robin helps, too, I guess.

"Alright, kid, lets think about this...  Who would want to start a war between all those jugheads anyway?"

Harvey chomped down into his sandwich.  He knew the kid would start to think about it, too.  After about getting four bites into it Harvey stopped and quickly wiped his mouth with the napkin and got his phone out.  He pulled up his browser.

"I knew it!  There was something I wasn't thinking about earlier.  The note, it said 'How the gods kill,' right?  That's a song.  Its a long shot, but its something."

Harvey looked up the song on youtube on his phone.

"Yeah, Danzig."

Harvey listened to it.  He raised it brow.

"Hmm, again, its a long shot, but if they were referencing this song, I think our killer is trying to start a war to end all their wars.  The lyrical content suggests to me this person has a reason to want all of them dead.  Its revenge.  Maybe we should be looking for someone linked to everyone right now."

Harvey went back to eating his sandwich.  It was a ridiculous theory, but Harvey felt a hunch.  He hoped Robin might have something to add.

Seriously, I actually want his opinion?  Well, at least he's one of Bat's kiddos.

[Deleted]

Robin wrinkled his nose a little. Wow, so not his kind of music.

“Danzig?” he repeated skeptically, distinctly underwhelmed. “What is that, an eighties hair band? That is way before my time.”

Seriously, it was 2014 already – the entire twentieth century was just a history lesson, as far as Robin was concerned. He’d never seen it. The very early aughts were kinda like that, too, if only because his memory didn’t actually stretch out that far. Robin bit into his sandwich, humming quietly in approval at the hot roast beef and melted provolone. It wasn’t as good as Alfred’s, but it was still pretty darn delicious. As he chewed, he turned his attention to analyzing Bullock’s theory. It wasn’t a bad one, overall. Robin couldn’t be sure of the connection to the lyrics until he looked them up for a better read-through – that was the first time he’d ever heard the song, and he couldn’t be completely sure he’d heard all the words right – but pulling up a mental map of Gotham’s biggest crime families was easy enough.

“…This isn’t really a ‘shot heard ‘round the world’ kind of killing, though,” Robin concluded, swallowing. “Even with Comasco up for promotion, he hadn’t gotten it yet, and besides, he was only gonna be a capo – not so high up the food chain, and only a little less replaceable than he was before. The Gassatis would be annoyed, maybe, but not angry enough to start a war with the other families. And the other families wouldn’t care at all. Also, John Gassati is getting engaged to Frank Bertinelli’s niece Renata in a week.”

The teenager lifted his sandwich for another bite, well aware that he didn’t need to explain the implications of that. The son of the Gassati family head marrying the Bertinelli family head’s oldest niece? That was a medieval-style alliance right there, and it would make both families much stronger once it went through. It was hush-hush information, but it had leaked out to certain exclusive channels. Batman included.

“It’s a good hypothesis, but let’s investigate other avenues and hope you’re wrong. Because if you’re right, the killings are going to have to escalate to get the kind of reaction the suspect wants. Things will get bloody fast – especially since our suspect will have to be a new player in the Gotham underworld.”

[Deleted]

Harvey knew it was a stretch, but he was minded like that. He kept eating and by the time Robin was done talking for the moment he had finished the first half o his sandwich. He leaned back in his seat again and had another drink of his root beer.

"Yeah, you got a point, kid. The note is still weird. Its either revenge or a vigilante of lesser tactics than you and your pal, Bats."

Harvey ate a few of his chips slowly while he thought about things.

"After we're done eating meet me at the crime scene so you can have a look and gather what you need for you and him."

Harvey took a few more bites of his next half of the sandwich.  They'd have to talk to forensics for more details.  Sitting here all afternoon theorizing was only part of what they had on their plates.

"So...  Since we're sitting here having lunch, kid.  You're new, right?"

It was rare for Harvey to have a moment to just shoot the breeze with one of the Bat clan.  They were notorious for disappearing at a moment's notice.  At least the kid was kind of stuck here eating for the moment.

"You know, I figure you like doing what you do with Bats and what not, but you should know; he's just a man like anyone else.  I known him for a while and I remember when the first of you kids started tagging along.  I thought it seemed a little creepy, but after a while I started to realize he needed him to keep his feet on the ground."

Harvey took another drink of his soda and set it on the table.  He looked at the kid more directly and his expression mostly stern, but there was a twinge of concern.

"Look, Gordon and Bats are pals through and through.  Gordon trusts him, more than I ever did, especially in the beginning.  Nowadays I probably trust him about as much as Gordon does, but sometimes things have happened to him that have messed him up a few times.  I guess what I'm trying to tell you that if there is ever a time where you feel you can't trust him or his judgement then come to me.  Yeah, you could go to Gordon, but if you're ever in a situation where you can't go to Gordon for whatever reason you should come see me, capiche?"

Harvey would not take no for an answer.  He didn't ever like the idea of kids hanging with Batman, but he knew why Batman needed a kid around.  He needed a little hope for the future.  The guy was pretty short on that.  Harvey always figured Batman must have been through something really bad that made him do what he does.  He even wondered if these kids may have been through something that Batman could relate to as well.

[Deleted]

Robin blinked at Bullock owlishly from behind his sunglasses, taken completely off-guard by the offer. That was – Oh. Well, he – Um.

Detective Bullock was concerned for him. That was… Unexpectedly kind. He finished chewing and swallowed, setting his sandwich down to take a drink of soda as a stall for time. There was a warmth in his chest that was both embarrassing and nice.

After a minute, Robin started slowly, “I appreciate the sentiment, and I’ll keep it in mind, I promise. But I… I don’t think it’s an offer I’ll ever use. No offense?”

He smiled ruefully at the older man and shrugged a little, the expression small and private.

“I mean, it’s – It’s just that if I ever had reason to think that I couldn’t trust B’s judgment, I’d go to Nightwing. Or to Batgirl. Or Superman or Wonder Woman or the rest of the JLA. Because if I couldn’t trust B, it would be because something was horribly, horribly wrong, and they all know B. They could help him. You and the Commissioner are great, Detective Bullock, but going to you in that situation would be pretty ineffective in dealing with the actual problem. And I care about B way too much for that.”

Actually, going to Catwoman would be a viable choice, too, but Robin wasn’t about to air out Batman’s personal life.  It was a weird thought to have, though - thinking that there could ever be a time when he couldn't rely on Batman. He was Batman. 

[Deleted]

"I understand, you have other options in that way. I can tell you're a good kid and I just didn't want you to think I'm not the type of person that can't keep his mouth shut. And don't you ever tell him I told you that either, I don't want him to know I'm nice to anyone."

Harvey smirked a bit and chuckled just a touch.

"I hope you never have to ask me for help, but don't be shy about it if it comes to that."

Harvey finished off his sandwich and guzzled down the remainder of his root beer. He pulled a out a cigarette to smoke on his way back to the scene. He tucked it behind his ear and put his hat back on.

"Alright then, kid. I'm headed over there. Finish up and meet me over there in, oh what, fifteen minutes. Gives you time to get yourself squared away."

On his way out Harvey got money from his wallet and handed the man the appropriate amount plus a good tip.

"And give the kid a cannoli or somethin' if he wants it."

Harvey handed the guy an extra five and out the door he went. Once outside he put his cigarette to his lips and lit it.

A few minutes later he was back at the crime scene. Forensics approached him.

[Deleted]

Robin ducked his head a little, smiling to himself. Bullock was kidding himself if he thought Batman didn't already know.

He finished his meal quickly enough, washing it down with the last of his zesti. Now the only question was - did he show up at the crime scene in costume? It was still daylight, so it just seemed odd, especially since he wouldn't be hiding in the shadows this time. Showing up like this would earn him strange looks too, though, and he wouldn't have any of the authority granted by being recognized as Robin. He sighed and slid out of the booth, waving off the offer of a cannoli on his way out the door.

When he showed up at the crime scene again, he was back in uniform and dropping from a fire escape on a bordering building. The angle was different from down here. And he had the choice of getting up close to actually investigate things. That was cool.

"Hey, Detective Bullock," Robin greeted, ignoring the looks he was getting from the technicians and officers as best as he could. 

[Deleted]

"What'd'ya want?"

Bullock was back to being Mr. Mean. Of course, the kid probably had a better idea of just how he really was. Harvey had to be adamant with himself not to smile or smirk at the kid in the presence of other officers and what not.

Harvey turned back to the forensics girl that rolled her eyes at him earlier in the day.

"So whatcha got for me, sweetheart?"

The woman had to try hard to not roll her eyes at him to his face.

"The note has been sprayed with Chanel number five.  No prints.  Shell casings tell us the weapon was a nine millimeter glock pistol.  To get anything else we're going to have to head back to the lab with all other physical evidence."

Harvey took a long drag of his cigarette and tapped the ash of it outside of the crime scene tape.

"Chanel number five, well, at least now we know our shooter is likely a woman.  She's a damn good shot if she made a hit that clean with a nine mil.  Hmm."

He looked back up at Robin.

"You probably ain;t even old enough yet to know how nice a lady smells in Chanel number five.  You got anything you want to do or say here, batboy?"

[Deleted]

"Is there a chance that I could see this note, please?" Robin asked the tech, keeping his stance deliberately nonthreatening and disarming. She quirked an eyebrow at him, only somewhat hesitant, but nodded and handed over the evidence bag after a quick glance in Bullock's direction.

"Sure thing... Robin."

"Thanks." The teenager frowned down at the note pensively for a minute, inspecting it. Handwritten, black ink ball pen... He pulled the piece of paper out of the bag and moved over towards a patch of sunlight to take a look in better light. The paper had been torn from a pad, and was fairly lightweight, so there was a chance... He hummed as he tilted the page in the light, spotting some subltle indentations. From the page above it, probably. Maybe there was a clue there, if he found out what it said. Reaching into his belt, he pulled out a small, handheld scanner and ran it over the page, scanning the note into the database on the creys back in the Cave. He'd run a few more tests on the digital copy once he got back. Finally, Robin gave  the paper a quick sniff, wrinkling his nose reflexively at the strength of the scent. "Whoa. Suspect wears her perfume heavy."

Which suggested a few more things about her, actually. Well, if it was a her. Better not to assume until there was more hard evidence in that direction. Robin slid the page back into the evidence bag and returned it to the tech. He turned to Bullock.

"I'm just going to take a quick look around. Go ahead and pretend I'm not here if you need to."

[Deleted]

"Deal."

Harvey dud just that. He went to talk to some of the other officers whom had just finished getting statements from witnesses. One of the officers told him the witness who made the call saw a lady in really nice clothes nearby that morning and she looked as though she were on her way to a funeral. A black pill cap hat with a black veil had obscured a look at her face.

Another officer told him about a shop owner nearby who noticed the same woman come in for a tea. The shop owner noticed the gun in her purse when she was digging out her wallet. She also was noted to have a foreign accent. Each witness noted the shapliness of her figure and how she was dressed as if she were in mourning. Harvey hoped he'd get to arrest her, she sounded like some sort of femme fatale. This was starting to feel like one of those old movies liked so much.

Eventually he moseyed over to Robin.

"Two witnesses noticed a woman in a cap with a black veil. Well dressed, Jackie O sort of look to her. One of those witnesses said they noticed a gun in her purse when she stopped to get some tea at the coffee shop over on the corner. It was at 9:15 am when she went to that coffee shop. She had an undetermined foreign accent. Think you can keep an eye and an ear out for that? If you find her before I do, you bring her to me, capiche?"

[Deleted]

"Directly to you, or would just a call to the GCPD to pick her up do?" Robin asked distractedly, frowning a little as he studied a mark on the pavement. A woman had been seen, Bullock had said? He lifted a couple fingers to his domino like he was tapping his temple and started flipping through the available filters. "Though I guess I could always just hang her from the light-post next to that coffee vendor you like to go to on your breaks."

Hm. Probably... The heel of a shoe? High heels. Yes, okay, and there was the toe. Foot length * .1452 = stature...

"Hunh. Tall lady," Robin muttered. A bit louder, he added to Bullock, "You're going to want one of the technicians to get a picture of this. Your killer was standing here at some point during the crime. I wonder if -" 

He straightened, moving carefully as he studied the ground. If he could find another footprint, then he could get a more accurate estimation of her height and figure out if the one he'd already found had been made coming or going. And he needed to figure out what it was that had been on the bottom of her shoe to make the mark in the first place. It had fluoresced slightly under ultraviolet, so it wasn't just regular old dirt. 

[Deleted]

"Directly. You know how to get a hold of me."

Harvey had to stifle a smile and chuckle at his the light post thing. His expression went a little stern at the after thought that Robin knew where he liked to get coffee. What is it with these masks and freaks knowing where the hell I go and what I do? Creeps.

Harvey watched and listened to the kid with mild interest written across his face. He nonchalantly ordered a forensics photographer to take picture of what Robin made note of. Harvey continued combing around the area and looking things over. He decided he might go walk around for a bit himself, later, and just figure out the woman's path physically. He might come across a broken heal or something like that.

"I'll be keeping my people on this, but I got a lot of other cases ticking and tocking away right now.  Tell you what, take this one.  I'll do my own work on it, too, but I got at least other twenty old cases on my desk right now.  I got plenty to knaw on for a while.  If you can help me bag this one I'll owe you one."

Harvey took out another cigarette for the smoking, being sure to not pollute the kid's air space with it.  He continued looking around a mulling about, rubbing the back of his head or adjusting his hat every so often.  He buried himself in thoughts.