Chapter 10—Interrogations (part 1)

Dick walked into his office the next morning to find Sarah sitting on his desk. Her blond hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and her uniform was perfect. The only sign that she had met Jason two nights ago was the well-covered bruise that Dick could just make out on her left cheek.

"You're still alive," Sarah commented flatly.

"You sound surprised," Dick replied.

"Your brother set us back a few days," Sarah said quietly.

"That shouldn't be a problem for a big crime boss like you," Dick retorted just as quietly. He closed the gap between them with two steps. "You seemed to have everything under control the other night."

"I gave you a higher dose," Sarah admitted.

"So you're planning to sell," Dick guessed.

Before Sarah could reply, there was a knock on Dick's office door and a young officer named Jones, said, "Chief wants you to ID a suspect in your kidnapping."

"No problem," Dick replied easily. He sent a quick glare towards Sarah before following Officer Jones downstairs to the interrogation rooms.

Dick stood behind the one-way mirror and took a step back in surprise as soon as he saw the man behind the glass.

"Do you recognize him?" the Chief Franco asked.

"Yeah," Dick said. "But he wasn't one of the men that attacked me. He was at all of the fires Arsonist created, and he's been following me for several weeks."

"Do you know if he was at the warehouse where you were taken?"

"I'm not sure," Dick replied. "I was pretty heavily drugged. The only reason I'm not dead is because the vigilante known as the Red Hood rescued me."

"I thought he worked out of Gotham with the Batman," Jones said. He had recently transferred from the GCPD to BlĂĽdhaven.

"He does," Dick said. "I'm not sure why he was here."

"I want an APB on the Red Hood to bring him in for questioning," Franco said to Jones.

"He was just trying to help, Chief," Dick said.

"He killed three men, Grayson," Franco replied. "I know you support the work of vigilantes in this city, but I have no tolerance for them." Dick opened his mouth to protest, but Franco held her hand up to silence him. "I only tolerate Nightwing because he hasn't killed anyone. I will not have a murder in my city."

Dick closed his mouth, knowing that any other defense he could provide could implicate himself. He turned back towards the interrogation room and studied the man. He definitely had been there during his kidnapping. Dick knew that Jason had only called the police because Dick had been gone for over twenty-four hours and the chief would have probably been wondering why he hadn't shown up at work. Jason had saved Dick, but the arrest of this man could possibly expose him as Nightwing.

Dick looked at the man's file. His name was Jonathan Eck, and he was known to be an accomplice of the Arsonist before the villain's death at Dick's own hands. It was unknown who Eck was currently working for.

Detective Carson walked into the interrogation room. The head detective for the BPD was a trigger-happy, slightly violent man who Franco had to reign in on occasion, but he was good at what he did, and he got the job done. His partner, Detective Cooper stood next to Dick to watch the proceedings.

Dick studied Carson as he sat in the chair opposite Eck. Carson was just over six feet tall with dark hair. He was wearing his pistol under his jacket, and there was a slight twitch in his right hand as if the detective would rather have his gun out.

"Let's start out with something easy," Carson said. "Why don't you tell me your name?"

Eck tilted his head to the side and smirked. "You think you're gonna get something outta me, don't ya, cop?"

"We can do this one of two ways, Eck," Carson began.

"I know," Eck replied. "The easy way or the hard way. I'm not an idiot; don't give me that bullshit."

Carson pressed his lips together. "You were found unconscious at the warehouse where Officer Grayson was held captive two nights ago. What were you doing there?"

"I was out for a walk, and I got caught in the fight," Eck replied smoothly, meeting Carson's eyes. Dick couldn't find any tell that the man was lying from where he was standing.

Carson reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out a piece of paper, which he slid across the table. "Do you recognize this man?"

"Yeah, just some cop that was at the last Arsonist job," Eck replied. "The negotiator."

"This officer was kidnapped two nights ago and was rescued from the warehouse you were at."

Eck's brow creased in confusion. "I didn't see him there. Maybe he was inside."

Cason's left fist tightened at the small triumph. "We found you inside, unconscious and cuffed to a pole. You were there for a purpose."

"So what if I was?" Eck challenged.

Carson stood and pounded his "What was your purpose at Warehouse 87?" Carson asked, his voice raised in an intimidation tactic.

Eck snorted. "Really? Intimidation? You're not very good at getting answers out of suspects."

Carson growled and stormed out of the interrogation room. When he reached where Dick, Cooper, and Franco were standing, he said, "I don't think he knows anything, Chief. He's just a grunt."

"I don't think so," Dick replied. "He was there when I arrived. If he was allowed to be let in on something as big as attempting to murder a police officer, he has to know something of importance."

"Well why don't you try then, if you know so much about him," Carson retorted.

Dick turned to Franco, his eyebrow raised.

"If you think he might know something," she said, "be my guest."

A second chapter today! I'm on a roll with this story! Next chapter will be up within two days. Thanks again for reading, and please drop me a review! I really appreciate them!

~Red~