CHAPTER ONE
MEET THE HATTER
Sunday mornings in Gotham City were often gloomy and quiet. They symbolized the end of another torturing week, and the start of a brand new one, full of unimaginable and frightening possibilities. Of course, you could try to see this unending cycle in a more optimistic point of view. Something along the lines of "make the next week better than the last one" or "live in the moment, don't worry about the future". But if you ever visited or even heard of Gotham, then you'll understand why its citizens aren't exactly known for being the most cheerful group of people.
Every day that passed, the city became more corrupt, more unethical…More insane.
Yet, that particular December morning was strangely pleasant. It had rained every day for the last two weeks…But that morning, even the weather seemed softer; quieter. Perhaps the storm that had haunted the city was finally passing. Maybe all the murders, the robberies, the crimes and madness…Maybe all that would go away once the rain stopped. Then, Gotham would be able to finally rest in peace and quiet.
Riiiiiiing.
Jervis' lazy blue eyes fluttered open once the doorbell rang. The sound broke his focus. He'd been staring out his kitchen's window while waiting for his tea to warm up. The man calmly turned away from the sink and stared at the door of his apartment for a couple of seconds without any intention of moving from the spot he stood on. Who could it be at ten o'clock in the morning? Jervis had his suspicions.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiing.
The bell was accompanied by a demanding knock on the door this time. The skinny man gave a light sigh, passed with his hand through his black hair and finally decided it was time to answer whoever was standing outside. Jervis stood in front of the entrance, quietly, almost pressing his ear against the door. He could hear people talking. Two men. Another sigh escaped from his lips. Large boney fingers quickly unlocked the locks on his door before putting his polite smile on and opening the door. Yes. Of course Jervis was right.
"Good morning, officers, how may I help you?"
Two men stood outside. Jackets soaked, dripping all over Jervis' welcome mat. They held their badges up, not bothering to mimic the smile Jervis had offered them. How unpleasant.
"Hello, Dr. Tetch. I'm Detective Harvey Bullock, and this is Officer James Hewlett. We need to ask you a few questions. May we come in?"
Jervis' smile grew a bit wider as he nodded. "Of course. Please, come in." He walked back into the kitchen, followed by the two men. The one called Bollock glanced around with furrowed eyebrows, examining every last tile covering the kitchen's walls while the younger male followed him quietly. "Take a seat. I was just making some black tea. Would you enjoy a cup? Coffee perhaps?"
Bullock shook his head. "No thank you. Dr. Tetch. We've already had our morning coffee." The younger male glanced at the detective with an arched eyebrow, as if ready to disagree with that statement. But he kept quiet and sat down, just like Bullock. Jervis gave a small nod and poured some tea in a small white cup. Just because his guests weren't in the mood for a tea party, didn't mean Jervis couldn't have fun by himself.
"I suppose you are aware why I'm here, right? The rumors that have been running around Gotham about your clinic are a bit troubling, Doctor."
Jervis' smile faded as he sat down in front of the officers, cup in hand. "Hm. Yes. My co-workers and I have been bothered by the media for the last few days. And from what I've understood they're as much as a pain in the neck to me as they are to you and your department." The doctor took a sip of his tea. His lips curled a bit. Ah. Excellent tea.
Bullock released a small chuckle that could easily be mistaken by a cough and nodded at Jervis. "Yes, now that's true, Dr. Tetch. It's very hard to keep anything from the media." He suddenly went serious and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table in front of him. "But it's also very hard to keep anything from us." He paused on his tea sipping when the detective made that statement. Both stared at each other for a couple of seconds before the conversation could continue.
"Tell me, what have you heard, Doctor?"
He shrugged while gently placing his cup down. "The same as everyone else. Horrible accusations of me performing macabre experiments on my patients against their will. I've even heard that a newspaper published a whole article about my high school years. To think they actually bothered flying all the way to London to interview my poor old teachers..."
"And Lauren Summers."
The corner of Jervis' lip seemed to have a short spasm when hearing that name. Lauren Summers? Yes. They had interviewed Lauren Summers. Jervis had heard about it, but never actually bothered to read his ex-lover's statement about his personality. Fucking Lauren. "I read what she said about you, Doc. She referred to you as mentally unstable and obsessive. Said something about you having a thing for Alice in Wonderland?"
Tetch closed his eyes for a second. Mother Fucking Shit For Brains Lauren Summers. He opened them again and smiled, shrugging his shoulders a bit. "Lauren Summers was my girlfriend, Detective. I'm not proud to say this, but, back in the day, I was only dating her for sexual purposes." Lies. Lauren was ugly. All his friends said she was rather attractive and eighty percent of his high school's male population wanted to date her. But Lauren Summers was ugly. Corny brown hair. Corny brown eyes. Corny tanned skin. Corny. Not beautiful.
"After I got what I wanted I dumped Ms. Summers. The poor thing has held a grudge against me ever since. And honestly, I don't blame her. I was an awful boyfriend. It's only natural for her to say those awful things about me."
He took another sip from his tea. Bullock switched a glance with officer Hewlett when he thought that Jervis wasn't looking. But he was. The detective turned back to look at Tetch.
"Uh-huh. Well, despite all that, Doc., these accusations are pretty worrying. Twenty-three of your patients have gone missing in the last seven years. No trace of them. Just gone like that. Well. Except for four of them who have been found floating by the Bay. Heads stitched up, bodies stripped naked…And with pages from the books Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the looking glass stuck in their throats."
Fucking. Lauren. Jervis listened carefully but didn't look back at any of the officers; too afraid of showing any emotion towards that description. Instead he focused his eyes on his cup of tea. Remained calm and quiet. That cock sucking Lauren Summers told them about his passion for Alice in Wonderland. Now they had found the corpses and the pages shoved down their necks…Jervis knew that had been a bad idea. He shouldn't have. But it would be such a waste…To throw those bodies into the bay like a common mobster without leaving some kind of signature. It wouldn't have been a problem if they didn't know about Jervis' appreciation for Lewis Carroll work. But Lauren had to open her big fat mouth. And now they knew everything. They knew everything and it was Lauren's fault. Fucking soon to be dead Lauren.
"...Oh. Have you now? Hm. I need to have a serious talk with Lauren then. If she keeps this up I might end up in jail. She's still in London you say?"
Bullock shook his head. "You're not allowed to leave Gotham, Dr. Tetch." He calmly said, a small smile spread across his face. Jervis pretended not to see it. He took another sip.
" You see, we began investigating your past a little deeper. You had a girlfriend here in Gotham didn't you? Lived right across the street. Vanessa? Blond hair. Blue eyes. About...Ten years younger than you?"
He had drunk his tea to the very last drop, and yet, his throat was drying up. Jervis' tongue passed over his lower lip. "Yes." The doctor mumbled. Bullock sighed, rubbing his forehead impatiently. Jervis needed more tea. He got up and refilled his cup.
"She left three years ago because of a job offer in Seattle. We tried contacting her. Turns out Vanessa never got to Seattle, Doc."
Tetch gently put the teapot down and stood there with his back turned to his guests for a couple of seconds. Staring out the window over his sink again. That window...He used to watch Vanessa. She lived right across the street. Sometimes forgot to close her blinds. Jervis knew every inch of her body by heart even before they started dating.
"...That…Is very worrying." He paused there. A bit too long. Reflecting on what he could or should say. "Have you found out where she is?"
"Not yet. But I'm guessing she must be where your other nineteen patients are." Jervis peeked over his shoulder, not resisting the urge he had to see just what Bullock's expression was as he said that. He wasn't smiling with his mouth. But his brown eyes almost seemed to be laughing at Jervis.
"Doc. I don't mean to be rude, but I've noticed you're not very good when it comes to relationships. Lauren Summers seems to hate your gates, Vanessa and you were engaged and yet she takes a job offer on the other side of the country...I mean…What happened?"
Tetch sat down again and bended a leg over the other. "She left me. Apparently some of my...habits bothered her. She didn't enjoy living with me anymore and decided to pack things up. Probably for the best really, we couldn't have a single meal without fighting anymore. But I assure you that, Alice and I broke up but in good terms. There were no hard feelings between us after the separation. I was actually very happy for her when she got that job offer in Seattle." Jervis pressed a hand over his chest, showing the other two he actually meant what he said.
And a moment of silence came up. And now, Bullock's lips smiled. Jervis could see it clearly. Not a toothy and wide smile. But it was there.
"...It's Vanessa, Dr. Tetch. Not Alice."
Jervis stared blankly at the detective, his fingers pressing hard against the cup in front of him. He could see by the corner of his eye that the younger official had gone tense. Hands slowly moving to reach for his gun. Shit.
"Of course. Vanessa. How silly of me."
Jervis said with a small chuckle, having another hand to pass through his hair. But as soon as he lowered his hand to grab the cup of tea again, two guns were being pointed at him. "Dr. Tetch. I am going to have to ask you to place both of your hands behind your head. Anything you say will be used against you. Please cooperate and nobody needs to get hurt. Now, you must tell me where you're hiding the bodies."
The doctor felt his mouth and left eye twitching uncontrollably. Involuntary spasms. It didn't matter anymore. They knew. They knew everything. Everything he had worked so hard on. Years and years of exploring and experimenting, thrown away by a couple of cops. Jervis looked up and bit his lower lip, chuckling a bit, as if he had just pictured something funny inside his head.
"...You know, the human brain is really a fascinating organ. All those unexplored areas all the...The possibilities. You know there's an area of the brain designated only for guilt? Imagine. To eliminate that feeling permanently...How marvelous would that be?" He sat back, rubbing his chin while shifting his eyes between his guests. "I haven't found a way to do that yet. But I'm working on it, don't you worry. I suspect it can't be harder than performing lobotomy, really. All it takes is one nail, large enough to break through the human skull…And you can eliminate stress completely." He whispered that last word, leaning a bit forward, as if it was meant to be a secret.
"Of course, lobotomy also seems to eliminate most of your independent brain functions...But still. Can't make an omelet without cracking a few heads, Detective, that's what I always say!"
Another chuckle escaped from his lips. Bullock was biting down his tongue, doing his best not to snap at the neurosurgeon. "...Doctor. What have you done to Vanessa's body? Where is it?"
Jervis rolled his eyes, and shrugged his shoulders dramatically, shaking his head disapprovingly.
"She had to find out. Used to follow me around in her car, thought I was having an affair. How ridiculous of her to think that! I could never have an affair with another woman. She was perfect! Blond hair, blue eyes, pale soft skin. She was...the perfect girl. Alice that is. Not Vanessa. Vanessa was, if I may be so bold, a slut. A little dirty slut. Following me, spying on me with her shifty eyes."
Jervis pauses to glance at his cup. He nonchalantly reaches for it and takes a large sip, drinking all the black tea. Once he was done, he gave a satisfied sigh and let the cup dangle between his fingers.
"Of course, she follows me down to the bay. Sees things she shouldn't. And you know how it goes. Things get complicated...Need to make quick decisions. I couldn't just let Alice leave me. So...Uhm… I grab my tire iron...And I hit her head with it. I hit it. Again and again and again until her pretty face isn't pretty anymore. That's what happened." Tetch sighed while looking down, as if having a flashback. Remembering his girlfriend's face, smiling and filled with life.
He threw the cup over his shoulder, making it hit a wall and break into tiny pieces that fell to the ground.
"Alice was always a curious little rascal, that she was...Not like Vanessa. Vanessa was nosy. Arrogant…Stupid." Jervis' face had slowly began to frown without him even realizing it. His eyes blinked a couple of times before looking back at the two officers who stared at him with puzzled expressions. Tetch chuckled and shook a finger at them.
"But, ah-ah-ah. If you gentlemen want to find her, you need to answer a crucial question, Detective."
Bullock narrowed his eyes, never lowering his gun.
"And what's that, Dr. Tetch?"
Jervis pursed his lips and calmly placed both of his hands behind his head.
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"
For those waiting for Joker to pop up, don't worry. Chapter two is on the way. And guess who's in it! 8D
Also, thank you very much for reading. Critics are appreciated. This is my first fanfic, and if you find grammatical errors, I'm really sorry.
English is not my mother tongue and I still have a lot to learn. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and stick around for more. :)
