Chapter five
Batman stood in the alcove near the window, one of the officers turned off the light as Jim Gordon put the tape into the VCR and hit play.
"Hi-d-ho there all you pigs and bats tuning in tonight, we've got a great show for you, isn't that right Harl?" Joker was standing in a dim room with a spotlight on him, the walls were a rusty slivery color and he was holding a microphone.
Harley jumped to his side in her costume, "Oh it sure is mistah J! Tonight's show is a real killer!"
Joker shoved Harley out of view and the thump of her hitting the floor could be distantly heard, "But before I tell you about it, have you heard this one boys? A doctor of psychology was doing his normal morning rounds when he entered a patient's room.
He found Patient one sitting on the floor, pretending to saw a piece of wood in half.
"Patient two was hanging from the ceiling, by his feet. The doctor asked patient number one what he was doing. The patient replied, 'Can't you see I'm sawing this piece of wood in half?' The doctor inquired of Patient one what Patient two was doing. Patient one replied, 'Oh. He's my friend, but he's a little crazy. He thinks he's a light bulb.'
"The doctor looks up and notices Patient two's face is going all red. The doctor asks Patient one, 'If he's your friend, you should get him down from there before he hurts himself' Patient one replies, 'What? And work in the dark?'"
Harley makes the sound of drums in the back, Joker cracks a smile and laughs then rubbing his purple gloved hands together he says, "Tough audience eh Harl?"
"I thought it was funny Puddin'!" Harley offered, still off screen.
Joker half-frowned, then he perked up again, "Okay well, on with tonight's show. Oh folks your going to love it, we got a great guest, so lets have a big 'hand'…" Joker snickered, "For Jack Mitchell!"
The camera turned with a jerking motion to see Jack bound and gagged with electric tape, his hands were tired together at the wrists. And to everyone in the police stations horror it was clear both of Jack's hand's had been cut off just below the wrist. The gaping open red wounds waving in the restraints, the blue veins were practically dangling, and the thick ivory bone was roughly cut and crusted with dried blood. Jack's face was twisted in pain, his eyes blood shot and he looked drained and almost gray/white, sweat was dripping from his face and his black button down shirt was smeared with blood and dirt.
Several younger officers had to leave the room for a moment at the site of his hands cut off, the blood had stopped dripping, but everything was exposed.
Joker moved over to the side of Jack, "Jack my boy, you don't look good at all!! Don't you think the show is funny?" Joker looked to Harley, still off camera, "Isn't it a funny show Harley?"
"Oh yeah Mistah J! It's hilarious!"
"See Jackie, Harley thinks it funny, so why not give us a smile huh Jack?" Joker asked walking around in front of Jack smiling broadly.
He looked at Jack for several minutes, "Oh I'm sorry Jack but your just bringing us all down!" Then Joker snapped his fingers, "I know what it is! You can't smile eh? Yeah didn't think so, well I can take care of that."
Jack's muffled protests went unnoticed as Joker looked to Harley, "Nurse Quinn I need to operate on this man immediately!"
Harley bounced on the set with a sexy nurse costume over her Harlequin costume, she also wheeled over a tray of knives, she smiled at her Puddin. He patted her on the head,
"Thank you."
"What can you do for him Doctor J?"
Joker sighed looking over the set of knives, "It's not going to be easy, but I'm going to give him a smile." Joker grinned darkly at the camera. Then he slowly picked up a scalpel, it glistened in the light, he laid it back down and looked them over.
"May I make a suggestion Puddin'?" Harley asked displaying the knives with her hand.
"Well I don't see why not." Joker smiled.
She swallowed hard hoping she wouldn't mess up, then she pointed out a hooked blade saying, "This one here has a high quality cut, due to slicing instead of chopping with a straight edge. A razor sharp edge around a radial feature, precision trimming of plastic, rubber or flash. Piercing tough, flexible materials with a perfect slice." She smiled brightly holding it out for him.
Joker had a perplexed look on his face after hearing Harley spill out all that information.
"I have hobbies you know." She smiled and titled her head up proud of herself.
Joker laughed loudly and picked up the fine stainless steal hooked knife, with a sharp bladed edge. He held it up, the severe blade reflected the light as he twirled it between his fingers. He bent forward, the knife advanced closer to Jack's mouth. Joker held the blade right up against Jack's skin, then he stopped with a frown, Jack's whimpering and sobbing was loud.
Joker snapped his fingers, "Oh wait, I'll have to take the tape off to do this and all that screaming is going to be very disruptive."
Harley waved her arm, "Oh oh oh!" She said happily.
"Yes?" Joker said fingering the blade of the knife.
Harley reached into a pocket in the nurse outfit and pulled out a jaw breaker the size of her palm, "How 'bout this mistah J?"
He took it and tossed it at Harley, smacking her in the side of the head, "It's been done."
He giggled.
Harley looked only momentarily dazed saying, "I got it!" she ran off the set and returned a minute later and handed Joker and shiny red apple.
Joker looked it over, "Well, a classic never goes out of style!"
He ripped the tape from Jack's mouth, "Ple-" before Jack could get more out Joker shoved the apple in and jammed his mouth shut. Then he brushed off his hands and held the hooked knife between his index finger and thumb.
Harley ran off the set and the camera quickly and messily zoomed into Jack's anguish distorted face. Joker cleared his throat and looked Jack over, "Hmmm, yes…yes." he said moving around him, "Ah."
He leaned forward, not covering Jack's face, and he pressed the blade just inside Jack's mouth, where his smile should have been, and Joker began to gradually tear up the side. A torrent of blood began to immediately spill down his face and neck, Joker took the knife out of Jack's mouth and shook the blood off his hand. Then Joker lurched forward again, each immaculate slice a delicate masterwork of tearing flesh.
Joker seemed engrossed in the job, his hand was skillful as that of any painter with each deep stroke and sliver of bloody flesh to hit the cold floor. Jack's moans of terror and wails of torture fell upon silent ears.
Harley played narrator as she manned the camera, "Oh! Look at his precision!" she gasped softly, and let out a little sniffle, "This is a genius at work."
Joker was meticulous, his hands dripping in Jack's hot blood, Jack had even begun to shake violently, and yet Joker never once slipped up. The blade carved and cut into Jack's face with smooth expert incisions. A great deal of blood was pouring out of the wounds, more blood than Joker had expected, he worked through it. Jack had begun to swallow his own blood, it was syrupy and hot.
Finally Joker stepped back, Harley rushed over with a hand towel. Harley took the hooked knife and Joker wiped his hands and face, where some blood had splashed. He looked down at his suit with irritation at the blood that would surly stain it. He threw the towel at
Harley and she was quickly out of view.
The camera pulled in directly on the big tender carved smile on Jack's face. The smile spread from Jack's cheek bones down to the original corners of his mouth, about an inch and a half of raw exposed flesh cut into a red grin. Jack was very pale from the loss of blood and his head was titled back, there was a sheer look of bleak death in Jack's eyes. He twisted a little and twitched in the seat, his eyes rolled back in the sockets until only the white was revealed, he gurgled softly as his breathing seemed to stop, and his chest was no longer rising.
The tape turned to blank fuzz.
"Dear God!" Some men murmured in the police station.
"He's a monster!" Jim Gordon didn't bother to say it lightly, his face was reddened and you could see the tears that had weld up in his eyes, Jack had been a close family friend. It wasn't just how he was killed, or who killed him, it was the horror that Jim had to sit there and watch and do nothing! He had to watch his friend get tortured and he could do
absolutely nothing!
For now.