Later that night Jonathan told his brother Christian that he had a date he was late for, but the truth was that it was an outright lie. Jonathan had a secret life, a life of that no one, except those who partied with him, knew about. He was an addict and he had it bad; sex, drugs and alcohol, but above all he craved the thrill which only came from an adrenaline rush. That night he partook in all of these vices and it was the latter that landed him in critical condition at Gotham General Hospital.
He had taken the Maserati, just as Lao had foreseen, and went to that 'date' he told Christian about. Only it wasn't just him and his lady friend named Cherri, no, there were other people there. It was in essence an orgy of sorts. It was there that he had taken a mild amount of stimulants, just something to get a buzz going and then he led Cherri to one of the many rooms of the mansion which was situated in the Upper East side.
But she stopped him short of the room, she had a better idea and she told him that she wanted to test the car, his car, out. In the state of mind he was in he didn't object and so, they went out to the car and got inside. When he tried to kiss her she once more stopped him and whispered in his ear that she wanted to do it while the car was moving. That got him even more excited as he was planning on having a joyride in any case.
Without hesitating Jonathan put the key in the ignition and turned it. The engine came alive and he revved it for emphasis, smiling at Cherri and revved it again as she returned his smile, but hers was a more playful smile. He put it drive and off they sped down the driveway. He didn't even stop or signal as he exited the driveway and turned left into traffic. All around him car horns sounded and angry drivers slammed on brakes, waving fists and hand signals followed him as he sped away. He made another left without signaling and skipped a red light, then continued on to the next crossroad which brought him to Murphy Avenue.
He turned right into Murphy and by that time Cherri had undone his pants and was busy pleasuring him, which caused him to step harder on the gas pedal. Down Murphy Avenue they rocketed for three blocks where he intended to skip another red light and there it was that the accident occurred. For at that moment he was close to climaxing and so had closed his eyes in satisfaction. He suddenly opened his eyes just before he reached the light and saw the oncoming Mack truck. He realized that he would make it and stepped on the brake. Nothing…
The Maserati continued speeding toward the truck and then the two collided. The result sent the Maserati flying off in the opposite direction and into oncoming traffic all to the sounds of screeching rubber and honking horns. The car hit another car that was too late in braking and the two vehicles skidded to an awful stop on the corner of the sidewalk.
23 December 2001.
The weather service reported a fine clear day and so dawn broke over the eastern horizon clean and clear of smog or clouds with the sunlight sparkling off the ocean water surface. The ex-Marine Tommy Monaghan noted the scene as he made his way from his home in the Cauldron all the way across town to the Upper East Side, the home of William Connolly.
The Gulf War veteran, even though he made his living now as a contract killer, could still appreciate such scenes of magnificence. He didn't consider himself totally heartless as he continued on to his meeting with his potential new employer and old war buddy, William "Black Heart" Connolly. It was Tommy that gave William his nickname way back in their Gulf War days. Bill had been a sniper in those days and he was fond of shooting his targets in the heart and Tommy knew of Bill's involvement with the Black Irish even back then.
It had been some time since Tommy last saw Bill as their lives obviously had taken such different directions after the war, but even so they had still kept in touch. He was actually looking forward to seeing his old friend again after so long.
"Good morning Harvey," Jake Sands said when Sergeant Bullock got inside the Leung's Wu Shu, "this is getting to be a habit. Are you following me or what?"
"Oh real funny Jake, nah you'd know if I were following you. I mean look at me it's not exactly as though you could miss me." Harvey said with a smile on his face. "What do have here?"
"Well, as you can see another homicide, Harv."
"Right. Cause of death?"
"Single stab wound to the heart. The same as the other three victims as well as the bodies we recovered from Metropolis. I think we may have a serial killer on the loose."
"Could be, it very well could be. Do we have any witnesses?"
"None that I am aware of."
"Who found the victim?"
"The caretaker, he's over by the rear entrance and he's really shaken up."
"Okay thanks, Jake. Oh and fill Renee in when she gets here, she's outside talking to some of the students. Seems the news traveled fast on this one. I'm gonna go talk to the caretaker."
"You got it Harv." Jake said as sergeant Bullock left.
Minutes later Bullock returned to Jake's side, the medical examiner was now busy with a preliminary exam of the body, shaking his head he told Jake, "Not much, Renee show up yet?"
"Not yet, I guess she is having more luck that you are."
The ME came over to them and said, "Time of death is somewhere between 11pm and midnight. I'll know more when I get the body back to the lab."
Just then Renee arrived to come and stand beside them. "So what do have here, Harvey?"
"Homicide," he replied, "same MO as the previous murders, single stab to the heart, but this one has the outline carved into the floor just like the Fu Long case. Jake seems to think we may have a serial killer on the loose."
"Yes," Jake said, "I was telling Harvey about the other bodies that were found in Metropolis Harbor, which all had the same single stab wound to the heart. Though I can't figure what the significance of the outline around the body is as it's not a procedure we use anymore."
"Did you get anything from the students outside?" Harvey asked.
"Yes, it seems the caretaker had contacted one of them and the news spread through the grapevine. They said that they were busy with a late night class when a stranger that the master apparently seemed to know interrupted the class. Not long after the stranger arrived, the master dismissed the class. More than one of the students thought that the master acted a little strange in the way that he dismissed the class. None of them heard a thing from where they were in the locker rooms as the Wu Shu is sound proof. What did you get?"
"Well, the caretaker found the body here around 7am. He says that he found the back door unlocked."
At that revelation, Jake called one of his guys over and told him to check the back door for fingerprints and perhaps any other trace-evidence."
"Right well, let us know then what else you find. We'll be at headquarters if you find anything new," Harvey said then he and Renee left.
Christian sat at his brother's side waiting for him to wake up. He had learned from the butler early that morning about the accident. When he and the butler arrived at the hospital they nurses at first didn't want to allow him to see Jonathan as they felt he was lying about who he said he was. After some minor incident and the clarification from the butler, Christian was finally allowed to see his brother.
When his brother eventually opened his eyes he felt relieved and some hope that the doctors may be wrong about his brother as they didn't think that Jonathan was going to pull through, "Jonny, what happened? The doctors say that you were hit by a truck."
Jonathan, after some minutes trying to focus, eventually recognizes his brother. "I… I don't really know. I was driving down Murphy Avenue and all of a sudden the brakes didn't work. I skipped a red light and… then I woke up here," he lied. "Where… where is Cherri? How is she doing?"
"What about before that? They said that you had a substantial amount of drugs and alcohol in your system," continued on, not wanting to upset his brother by telling him that Cherri didn't make it.
Jonathan's eyes went distant, like he was looking at something faraway, but was in fact trying to remember, then he said, "Yes, well, like I told you I going to that date I told you about, but it was a lie. It was actually a party where I had some drinks and something more. We were driving the Maserati and listening to music. I guess I wasn't paying much attention to the road." Then his body convulsed and he began coughing violently, blood spurting from his mouth.
The nurses came running in then but the episode was over almost before it began and so she just wiped the blood from his mouth and told Christian that he would have to leave soon. He nodded and thanked her as she left.
"You know father never gave up hope that you were alive. Every six months he would assemble an expeditionary team and sent them to search for you. After years of searching mother asked him to stop sending expeditions, she was told him that he was obsessed and that he should just accept that you weren't alive. That was hard on father and he gradually became ill after that. His health got worse as time went by and even on his death bed two years ago he still believed that you were alive. We stayed there in those mountains for a year, searching and hoping that you would somehow return to the campsite. I just wish that you had come back sooner, so we could have spent more time than this together."
"Shhh! don't talk rest."
"There is a file in the safe at home, the combination code is the numbers that correspond with your name and the file is father's last will and testament, he made it so that you would inherit it all. He… he was adamant even on his death bed that you were still alive. Mother and father loved you very much. Everything is yours now old chap, take care of yourself. I love you dear boy." With that he gave his last breath and passed away.
Christian sat there with his brother for long moments, grieving and at the same time cursing fate that he had taken so long to return.
As he wiped the tears from his eyes he remembered the file Jonathan had told him about. Christian went to his brother's study and he had barely stepped inside when he stopped short. He was stunned at how Jonathan's passing could affect him so, especially when he had hardly known and the past few days were hardly enough to catch up a lifetimes worth of memories and feelings. He stood there in the study doorway, his feelings in turmoil and a hurricane of emotions sweeping through him as he realized that now he was truly and utterly alone in this world.
After a moment of standing in the doorway he went over to the safe and opened it by punching in his name. The safe opened and he removed the file and moved over to the desk to read it. The content of the file astounded him; his father had seen to it that Christian would inherit the house, the fortune and everything that belonged to his family including the title of lordship when and if Jonathan should pass away before Christian did.
He sat perplexed and stunned and then it dawned on him that he was now the new Lord Thomas, but that thought he pushed aside as the matter of his brother's funeral needed to take precedence.
Meanwhile, back at Wayne Manor, "Harvey Dent, Edward Nygma, Pamela Isley along with Victor Fries escaped from Arkham Asylum in the early hours of this morning," Alfred read as he held the morning edition of the Gotham Gazette in his hands. "Someone should really put an effort in to making that place more secure," he remarked and not for the first time as Bruce was enjoying his breakfast. "
"It seems that Batman has some work to do tonight, doesn't it?" Bruce replied.
"May I suggest that Master Tim and Mistress Cassandra handle these four while, you're busy with the murder cases. I dare say that as brilliant as you are, you have as yet no lead as to who the assailant is or may be."
"Yes," Bruce said reluctantly, "contact them as soon as you can, then have Oracle check with her contacts to see if anything unusual turns up. Also, have Dick meet me in Chinatown. In the alley behind Leung's Wu Shu, that's where master Leung was found murdered. It looks like our assailant is getting bolder."
"I shall do so. In the meantime everything is ready for your meeting with Mr. Fox at 9am."
"Thank you Alfred, I will be ready in twenty minutes."
