The Cycle of Obsessions, In search of you, #2
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"Master Bruce?" Alfred's familiar voice called from the entrance, waking me up. I had fallen asleep while looking through criminal archives on the Computer.
I was actually searching for where the Joker could possibly be. He'd been out of Arkham for two full weeks, and hadn't committed a single crime.
It was weird. Worrying, honestly. The longest he'd gone without robbing a bank or doing something illegal was about 2 hours. And I think it was because he'd gotten black out drunk the second he escaped Arkham.
"Alfred. You, uh, startled me," I said, shaking my head.
"Startled you awake, I see. Why don't get some sleep for a change?" He stated.
I turned to him. "I can't. I'm not comfortable with The Joker running loose around Gotham,"
Alfred raised his eyebrow. "If I'm not mistaken, he was released from Arkham, was he not?"
I sighed. "Yes, he was released, but-"
"And," Alfred began, cutting me off as he crossed his arms. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't it been three weeks since he was released?"
"Two weeks, but-" I started, but he interrupted me again.
"He's been certified as sane, and he's been living what seems like a legal life. Well, I can definitely see that that's worth loosing sleep over, Master Bruce."
I rolled my eyes at his sarcasm.
"Joker is planning something. There's no way that he actually recovered." I stated, turning back to the computer.
"So, you're losing sleep over a suspicion?" Alfred asked. The judgement in his tone was tangible.
"No. One, I'm not losing sleep. Two, it's more than a suspicion. Listen, It seems like he became 'sane' overnight, doing a one-eighty back on March 5th of this year. Same thing with Harley Quinn."
"Coincidence perhaps?"
"I don't believe in coincidences. Especially not after I found this. It's an excerpt of a voice recording that Dr. Leland — Joker's main psychiatrist— made on March 3rd. Listen..." I said, pressing the play button as I mentally prepared myself for something. I didn't know what for, but I would probably need it.
"John has been, for lack of a better term...acting up, recently. He goes through these fazes of just being completely quiet, only talking when he's asked a question. They tend to last...about a week. But every time one of those fazes ends, he just gets..."
Her sigh crackled across the speakers.
"...worse. He's been terrorizing the other patients. It's gotten to the point where they're filing complaints. Not letting them sleep at night through his endless 'maniacal laughter', staring at the female patients until they became until they are either horribly uncomfortable or even 'afraid for their lives', excessively flirting with both male and female employees — causing three of our staff members to quit — and, apparently the most upsetting, John won't stop telling the patients about his...'fantasies'. According to most, if not all the patients, John will endlessly tell stories of him and The Batman...sleeping together. On top of all this, he's been refusing to take his medication, and has even began making suggestive remarks to his nurses regarding the needles they use. I...I must admit. I'm beginning to lose hope in him,"
The recording ended, leaving both me and Alfred in stunned silence.
"I...hadn't listened that far," I said quietly.
"Well,"
He scoffed. "That was certainly something, wasn't it, Master Bruce?"
"Jesus Christ. Okay um," I let out an uneasy chuckle.
The recording, much like Joker himself, was both disturbing and slightly humorous.
"There's more, as well. This is a recording from the next day, March 4th. The day before the one-eighty;" I said, pressing play.
"Both John and Harleen are...unsettlingly quiet tonight. They've been been whispering to each other through their cells, stopping only when a nurse or another patient passes by. They also won't talk to anyone else, completely ignoring the doctors and other employees when they ask them a question. Honestly, I don't even think they ate tonight. It's worrying me."
"And finally, March 5th's report,"
"...Moving on to another surprising revelation, John Doe is in another one of his 'I'm better' fazes. Though...it's different this time. Maybe a new coping mechanism to being placed in here? He's not as quiet this time, talking a lot with the other patients and actually seeming to be — according to a few staff members and various patients — nice. He even took his medicine this morning without any sort of fight. It'd be nice if I didn't know how John's mind was. In complete honesty...I think he's acting. At the very least, he's lying about something. Planning something, even. It's just not...like him."
"Both Harley Quinn and Joker were released September 5th." I stated, turning to Alfred. "Exactly six months after this recording. Either they had someone to help them get out, or the doctors there are incredibly dumb."
Alfred hummed. "I'm betting on the latter. It also seems to me that Dr. Leland had no say in the matter?"
"None whatsoever. Clearly. I've heard her, she seems to be one of the only competent doctors that works there, and yet they don't listen to her."
"Sounds familiar," Alfred hummed.
Chuckling, I shook my head as I looked away from him.
"Look," I said, bringing up a picture on the computer. "This is a lighthouse situated near the edge of the city. Near the abandoned Joyland. Remember that place?" I asked.
He nodded. "Joker's old hideout, is it not?"
"Yep. And this Lighthouse was purchased by a woman by the name of Ann Zele on the same day that Joker and Harley were released. Hoping it was a coincidence, I looked up this woman's record. She's lived here most her life, went to Harvard medical school, got a PhD and then came back here to work at Arkham,"
"Unfortunately, there's nothing about who she primarily worked with, and because she worked there for less than a year before she quit — which isn't uncommon — there's no photos of her from that time frame. Not only that, but she left no trace of working anywhere after Arkham. She vanished off the face of the earth for almost three years. Until two weeks ago when she purchased the lighthouse. And now it's saying she works as a substitute for a psychiatrist at St. Alice's Hospital and part-time at Yumi's"
"Did you say Yumi's? The clothing store?" Alfred asked.
"Yeah," I nodded. "Yumi's on main and third, why?"
"I go there all the time. What did you say her name was?"
"Ann Francisca Zele. Seems like she's also known as Francie or Annie. This is her picture. Look familiar?"
I pulled up the picture of the woman.
She had long, mousey brown hair, light green eyes, thick red framed glasses and a small mouth.
"Yes, actually! Well, her hair was different, but I remember-! I hated her," Alfred said matter-of-factly.
I snorted, not expecting the words that came from his mouth. "You hated her? W-what happened?" I had to stop myself from laughing.
"She was unprofessional! And she also had this look like she'd been smoking something other than cigarettes on her smoke break, if you know what I mean."
"Unprofessional how?" I asked, turning to face him.
"She kept stuttering, dropping things, walking like a newborn, she called me old and immediately apologized. She also kept switching her voice," He said, crossing his arms again.
"Switching her voice?"
"She would go back and forth from a mid tone with no accent to a high pitch squeak with one. It was incredibly annoying,"
I hummed as it clicked in my head who this might be. "Sounds familiar. You said her hair was different than the picture. How was it different?" I asked, standing from my chair.
"It was much shorter and the ends were bleached."
"And what kind of accent?"
"I believe it was New Jersey,"
"Yep, that's her." I shook my head. I found them.
"That's who, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked, handing me my belt.
I clicked it on, pressing the button to call for the Batmobile.
"Harley Quinn."
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AYYY! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it was a bit shorter, but I rlly tried lmao. Anyways, it's 2 AM and I was supposed to be asleep at midnight. Oop.
As stated in the last chapter, I do take prompt requests!
Anyways, toodles, peasants.
Jk I'm trash as hell LMAO