By the end of the first day, it didn't look like Bullock and Gordon had anything. According to Nygma, who had been trying to impress Kristin with how much he knew from the two detectives, none of the thugs in that part of town knew anything about who killed the Waynes. As I clocked out for the night, I walked past the two detectives at their desks, I could feel the disappointment coming off of them.

Whoever killed the Waynes were getting away with it. They needed to get caught, and I could only hope that these two were able to find them before the killer left town.

When I got home, there was already opera music blaring from Mrs. Kapelput's closed door. I stopped outside of it for a moment, staring at the door and wondering whether or not Oswald was in there. If Mrs. Kapelput was playing music, then her son was most likely there. I turned away from the door and walked the rest of the hall down in my apartment right next door.

The opera music was still audible in here, but it was quieter than the other night. I found myself smiling softly and went about my usual nighttime schedule.


When the Waynes' murderer was caught barely two days later, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The police station was jam-packed with applauding cops and journalists, hoping to get the first glimpse of the two detectives who caught the killer single-handedly.

Bullock and Gordon both looked very happy with themselves, accepting the handshakes and claps on the back. I stood near Nygma, clapping politely as the two detectives finally made their way over to where the Captain was standing. Our police captain was looking very proud of the two men. From across the room, I spotted Arnold Flass bring his hands together three times before putting them back down.

Some photographers for the Gotham papers took pictures of the two detectives. Nygma stood close to me and seemed to stand even taller than usual. I glanced at him, taking in the slight smile on his face.

"You seem quite cheerful today, Nygma." I said.

"Quite cheerful, Miss Rook." Nygma agreed. He didn't elaborate why he was so peppy, and if he did I had a feeling that he'd give the answer in a riddle. Together, we watched the cops eventually disperse and the reporters and photographers leave the station. Nygma's silent and tall presence wasn't a bother, like how Kristin or the other cops would believe. He was quiet when he wanted to be, and just liked showing off his brains. Mix that with social awkwardness and you ended up with Edward Nygma.

I blinked at him and said, "You can call me Sydney. Miss Rook seems too formal."

Nygma looked at me like I had just sprouted an extra head right in front of him. "Are you positive?" I nodded and Nygma smiled. "Fine, then you have to call me by my first name."

"Sounds like a deal, Ed." I said. He nodded and turned back to the crowd of cops in front of us. I had to go back down to the records office, and after saying goodbye to him, Ed gave me a broad smile and looked flattered at the fact that someone was saying goodbye to him.

However, the peace that seemed to settle after the Waynes' killer was long gone, a new major crime occurred. This time it was about some homeless kids going missing. After a witness gave descriptions of the two kids who he had seen being kidnapped, Kristin and I had to go through stacks upon stacks of files, trying to see if any of these kids had criminal records.

I couldn't see the door open from behind my stacks of papers and manila folders. But common sense told me that it'd be Ed long before he opened his mouth to greet me and Kristin.

"Good afternoon, ladies!" Ed said. I smirked to myself, and waved a hand from above the stacks of papers and folders. Ed stepped closer and peered over the top, taking everything in with great interest. Kristin seemed to be hiding behind her stacks.

"Why are you here, Mr. Nygma?" Kristin asked sharply. I leaned around my wall of paper to give her a narrowed eyed gaze. Kristin ignored me and kept her eyes trained on the folder in front of her.

Ed didn't answer right away, alerting me of the riddle that was about to happen. And sure enough: "Everyone wants more of it to feel special, yet the more you have of it the less special you feel."

Kristin rolled her eyes and didn't even bother to try and answer. I frowned hard and after a moment looked back up at Ed. "Knowledge. You want information about the kids taken off the street?"

"Precisely."

As I started handing Ed the information we had been able to dig up about some of the missing kids, Kristin gave me a very confused look. She must've have been questioning how I knew the answer to his riddle. After Ed said goodbye and left with the papers, Kristin wheeled her chair to me and asked, "How did you know?"

"I remember in elementary school, there were these books full of riddles, puns, stuff like that." I explained. "I liked reading them, and so did almost everyone else in the class. Some of the riddles Ed uses are the exact same ones I remember from back then."

"You have an amazing memory."

"My mom once told me that I reminded her of an elephant because of it." I said, smiling slightly at the thought of my mother.

Later that evening, about five minutes after I entered my apartment, there was a couple of sharp knocks on my door. I frowned slightly and opened the door to see two unfamiliar cops standing on my doormat. I frowned at the pair of them. "Can I help you?"

"My name is Detective Allen," The man said, nodding and smiling in a friendly way. "This is my partner Detective Montoya. We're with the Major Crimes Unit, and we're here to ask you some questions."

"About?" I asked.

"Your neighbor, Mrs. Kapelput's son, Oswald Cobblepot has gone missing." Montoya cut to the chase. "Mrs. Kapelput mentioned your name."

I snorted. "I bet she did. That woman hates me. Well, come on in." I stepped aside and let the two cops into my apartment. I closed the door behind them and gestured for them to take the couch. "Do you want anything to drink? Water, beer?"

"We're good; thank you though." Allen said, raising his hand briefly to stop me from getting them anything. I grabbed a chair from the tiny dining table and sat down across from the couch.

"Alright, what questions do you have for me?" I asked, leaning back and crossing my legs.

Allen and Montoya remained in an uptight position, sitting up straight. Montoya pulled out a notepad and flipped through it for a brief moment before looking back at me. "Mrs. Kapelput thinks that her son has, and here's a direct quote, 'gotten tangled with a loose slut.' Then she told us to check you out because she, once again another direct quote, 'knows that you've brought the population of Gotham here.'"

I felt a flare of anger rise inside of me and my eyes narrowed into slits. "Firstly, if Oswald has gotten involved with a girl, then good for him he needs to get away from his mom for a while. Secondly, I've brought one ex-boyfriend since I've moved into this apartment. And that was like my first month here. God dammit she's nuts."

"She does not like you." Allen noted. "She went on for a while. She's also convinced that you convinced Oswald into leaving her."

I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling. "I've met him on two separate times, and neither of them lasted over five minutes."

Allen and Montoya glanced at each other in that way that all detectives seemed to do with their partners. They asked me when my two meetings with Oswald were, and I noticed that after I told them about the meeting in the street, they both tensed and desperately avoided looking at each other. I stopped talking and stared at them, getting an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

But the detectives quickly wrapped up our meeting and left my apartment even faster than that, giving me fake smiles and exchanging glances. I glared at them as they left, my trusting of them evaporating quickly.

They knew something about Oswald disappearing. That much was painfully obvious. The only question was why the hell did they get worried after I said I saw him outside of the Chinese restaurant a few days ago?