Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

The Loveless Stiff

    I'm welcomed to a hectic police precinct, as officers and desk jockeys scurry about the platforms and lower levels. In the middle of the floor level of the precinct, a projector along with a screen has been set up, with Detective Bullock, and Captain Essen talking off to the side.

I flinch as two long arms wrap themselves around me in a tight hug, "It's good to have you back, Nat."

I chuckle, and turn around as Ed removes his arms and places them in front of himself, "Have you been called back to duty?"

I nod, "Yeah, gotta help with the Arkham breakout, I think I saw something about it in the papers this morning. A...Jack Gruber?"

Out of his lab coat pocket, Ed removes the folded up front page of this morning's newspaper. He opens it up to the headline: Electrocutioner Escapes Arkham.

"The papers are calling him 'the Electrocutioner' because of his use of unconventional shock therapy and other electricity-themed methods of attack. It's a fantastic name, if I do say so myself," Ed comments, his eyes quickly scanning the paper.

Our attention is turned to the projector, as Captain Essen slams her hand on the side of the projector, "Everyone! Let's have a look at our perps."

Ed scurries over to man the projector, getting a stack of paper-thin slides to place on the lit area of the projector.

Captain Essen reviews the facts of the case, as well as any possible leads, "Jack Gruber. In Arkham off a rape-murder beef. We can't find any records on Gruber prior to his incarceration so we're guessing Gruber is an alias. We're sending his prints nationwide, see if we can find another name for him. Whoever he is, he's clever, and angry, and a grave public menace. The Commissioner is deeply concerned, and he's on his way here to talk to all of you right now. You know what that means? And you know-"

Captain Essen suddenly stops, as she spots James Gordon moving amongst the crowd of officers and detectives.

"Wasn't Gordon was demoted a while back? I'd heard he'd been assigned to guard duty," I whisper to Ed.

He nods, "Yes, this is true, to Arkham Asylum, which makes his presence relevant to this case."

"Jim?" Captain Essen looks over at him.

"Captain," he responds.

"Hey, partner," Detective Bullock mumbles in his usual sarcastic tone.

Gordon glances over at Bullock, "Hey."

"You're out of your jurisdiction," Captain Essen tells Gordon.

"Captain, this is my case," he argues.

She takes a step forward, "Jim, you need to get out of here."

He shrugs, "It's my case."

Bullock intervenes, "No, no, no, the Captain is right. You need to leave, before the Commissioner gets here."

Leaning over to Ed, I ask, "Why are they so concerned about the Commissioner?"

"The Commissioner is the one that had James Gordon demoted," he explains, "after his attempts to investigate possible police corruption."

Detective Bullock takes Gordon by the arm and starts leading him out when he looks up, "Oh fudge, he's here."

Making a snap judgement, Bullock hides Gordon behind a nearby decorative column, "And you're there. Sidestep."

The two of them behind the column, Commissioner Loeb doesn't notice them as he makes his stern walk up the stairs to where Captain Essen and the rest of us are standing.