Chapter 4

GCPD.

After freeing Alberto Falcone, Jericho and Talia picked up where they left off by interrogating Penguin. His secretaries were tied up together so it was no use for Penguin to get help.

"Now before we were interrupted, you were explaining to us about your visit to Black Mask, that someone broke in and what?" Jericho asked,

"I ain't telling you nothin' you lousy ponce." Penguin retorted, Jericho sighed shaking his head, that was not what Jericho wanted to hear.

"Talia." Jericho ordered, Penguin's eyes widened realizing implications of that statement. Not again. Talia approached him preparing herself for the beating. She punched his face again and again until her knuckles bled.

"Enough." Jericho commanded; Talia reluctantly stepped back

"Ok, ok. You win. Someone broke in and killed Black Mask. I went down there to chat with him when I discovered his body." Jericho's was shocked to say the least. Black Mask Dead? No, he saw him alive at Blackgate last night, there's no way that he's dead. Something doesn't add up.

"You better not lying, Cobblepot." Talia hissed,

"I don't! I don't! I swear!" Penguin shook his head violently.

"Alright. That's all we needed to hear." Jericho said as he and Talia went to the door,

"By the way, Merry Christmas." they left the office and went to the deck on the final where they were going to contact Barbara.

"Oracle. We just finished questioning Penguin. Find out about a murder at Lacey Towers"

"Hmm. Police is on the scene now and… huh. This is interesting. They say that Black Mask is dead."

"Damnit. We're on our way there now." Jericho stated, "By the way, get the GCPD to take a look at the Final Offer, moored at Dixon Docks. They'll find Slade Wilson tied up and waiting for them along with some of Penguin's illegally obtained weapons."

"An anyomous tip? No problem." the call ended as the Bat Wing arrived and hovered over them.

They left the Final Offer in the Bat Wing and landed on the roof of Jezbel Plaza and got inside where they arrived at his apartment where the police were just a few moments ago. they entered the door and went to the living room where the body of Roman Sionis was and body of a female was hanging from chandelier.

"Time to get to work." Jericho stated as he brought out his cellphone and scanned in the fingerprints of the supposed body of Black Mask while Talia joined him to see the body.

"Hmm. This crime took place several days ago. The fire and exposure to the elements have made the identifying of the body diffuclt. The victim is wearing a black mask but I can't have a positive ID that confirms that it is Roman Sionis without a DNA analysis. Something I can't do on the field." Jericho said,

"What about her?" Talia nudged to the woman on the chandelier.

"Tiffany Ambrose, Roman Sionis girlfriend. She was no angel, drug trafficking on her rap sheet. But nothing indicates that she was the target here."

"Look at this." Talia urged her brother to take a look at something she found, some pieces of a shattered bottle that smelled gasoline "May I borrow your cellphone for a moment?"
Jericho handed her the cellphone, she scanned the shattered bottle analyzing the particles and reconstructing the scene on the display.

"The fire spread as a result of a Molotov cocktail thrown into the room." Talia said, "Could've been intended to destroy evidence."

Jericho spotted a set of fingerprints on a wall as Talia used his cellphone to scan the trajectory of a bullet that supposedly killed Black Mask.

"The shallow trajectory of the bullet suggest the shooter could be someone of penguin's height. However, the grooves on the floor suggests that the victim was killed by someone leaning back in a chair." Talia said, "Also the other bullet was fired from a revolver. The ballistic analysis indicates a low trajectory. The shooter could've been someone of Penguin's height. But the pattern in the gunpowder suggests that the bullet was actually fired from someone lying on the floor."

"That's good to know but check this out. There's a set of fingerprints on the wall here. can I have my cellphone back?" Jack asked, Talia handed him back his cellphone allowing him to scan the fingerprints.

"Penguin was telling the truth. He was here but it was after the murders were committed. If it wasn't him, then who?" Jericho wondered as the fingerprint analysis was finished. Talia spotted some white streaks nearby the stairs.

"These white streaks are shoe polish. Whoever shot Tiffany was being dragged on the floor. So besides the victims, there were two people in the room. Tiffany's shooter and whoever was dragging the shooter."

"Well, this is interesting." Jericho stated as he walked towards the broken table, scanning the blood sample on the floor

"This DNA doesn't belong to either of the victims. Whose is it?" Jericho wondered as the crime scene reconstruction played through on the display, "The fight broke out when someone startled the shooter. It's not clear who won, could be either one of them." Jericho approached the doorway as he spotted a piece of white fabric and scanned it, "Fabric analysis indicates that the intruder was wearing a white suit or a sport jacket. Could help identify the intruder, but I can't say the same thing about the shooter though."

"I found something." Talia called to her brother, "it's a cellphone and it appears that it's been lying here for several days."

"You think?" Jericho retorted as he scanned the phone for text messages, one of the message that he read peeked his interest "Well, this is interesting. It's Tiffany's phone, she was text messaging to Roman Sionis about… Harley Quinn."

"Harley? Well, that raises more questions. Was she the killer or is she one of the assassins?"

"I don't know. This crime took place days ago and I saw Black Mask last night and Harley hasn't been heard of or seen since she broke out of Blackgate a few months back. We got a body, an unknown shooter and an unknown assailant who dragged the shooter." Jericho summed up the crime then he got an idea of how to get answers, it was risky but he was going to do it. "There's only one thing that I could do to get some answers."

He contacted Barbara on the headphone, "Oracle I need access to the National Criminal Database."

"Well the only thing to do that would be to infiltrate GCPD. Wait a minute, you're not considering doing that, are you?"

"Maybe." Jericho replied sheepishly, Barbara sighed,

"Hold on a sec. you need to psychically hack into their servers system which is very hard to do considering that the guards has doubled since the murder of Lieutenant Brady. Sorry, can't help you on this one."

"Fine, then I'll just go to Jayden for assistance." Jericho warned, "Besides, he and I get along just fine, considering that I'm his uncle."

"You wouldn't…"

"Try me." Jericho urged. Barbara groaned in defeat, she loved him to death but sometimes he was so damn stubborn. Once he got an idea, there was no chance in hell he wasn't going to change his mind.

"Fine, if you're going to do something that stupid, I suggest that you'll get the concussion detonator at Bat Cave."

"Not a bad idea." Talia slapped the back of Jericho's head and gave him a stern look.

"What?" Jericho asked in defence,

"Really? Using your nephew as extortion?" Talia shook her head in disapproval, "That's just vile, even for you."

"Sorry." Jericho lowered his head in shame, every time he's done something dumb or ridiculous, she would always make him look a high school student being told by the principal.

"Hi, my name is Jericho Brown. I'm here to see Commissioner Gordon." Jericho said as he was in the 13th precinct

"Do you have an appointment?" the receptionist asked,

"Not really." Jericho shrugged, the receptionist pointed to the waiting room saying you're gonna sit there and wait like everybody else. Jericho sighed as he walked to the waiting room and sat down on a chair for a good 20 minutes. He was getting bored until someone startled him.

"Sleepy much?" he turned around to see a redhead sitting in a wheelchair next to him

"Not really. You know even after 4 years, the police still hasn't getting rid of corruption and sleaziness." Jericho muttered,

"Tell me about it. When the Joker killed Commissioner Loeb and my Dad replaced him, I thought that the system would get rid of the flaws but bad habits die hard I guess."

"Hmm." Jericho agreed on that note and then he turned around at the mention of Dad and Commissioner putting them together, "Wait, you're Barbara Gordon, right? the daughter of Commissioner Gordon."

"Guilty." She confirmed, "So, what you're doing here?"

"Well, I'm here to see your dad. He was a friend of my moms. He has some things that belonged to her."

"Want me to lead you to him?"

"Really?" She motioned him to follow her to the elevator but the doors were too small to allow her to fit so Jericho helped her to get in to the elevator.

"So how long have you been back here?" Barbara asked, admiring the handsome man in front of him. "He does have a nice ass. Damnit, Barb! Don't think like that!"

"A few weeks. I've been traveling around the world for the past 4 years, been to lovely Paris, Barcelona, Algeria and the list goes on. Now I'm here to settle in good ol Gotham."

"Wow, really?" She asked a bit in awe, he nodded, "huh. So, um I was thinking since you've been gone , I was thinking that maybe we could go out together someone…" Barbara asked, lowering her head but quickly corrected" as friends? Nothing more."

"Are you hitting on me?" Jericho asked raising a eyebrow, he's been hit on by many women in the past but by a woman in a wheelchair, that's new.

"No! I can assure you that I am not!" She quickly defended as her cheeks turned a deep red, "Come on, Barb! You've fought thugs, criminal masters and lunatics. But yet you still get cold feet when you're trying to ask a guy out."

"Sure." Jericho chuckled as he took out a pen from his pocket and wrote his number on her hand, "Call me anytime, then we can go to the place of your choice. Now where is your dad's office?"

"Last Door on the left." Barbara said as they stepped out of the elevator and she led him.

"Alright, we're inside." Jericho told Barb on the Comms as he and Talia were in the rooftop maintenance and crawled through ventilation to a room. They got into the GCPD through the roof after collecting Concussion detonator at Bat cave

"Good, the Server room is directly through the bullpen via the investigation department and one more thing, they're using a security protocol that your cellphone isn't familiar with so you should activate your disruptor app that Lucius installed."

"Thanks." Jericho complimented her as they were in a room and spotted a interrogation going on with a officer and Ricky Loose Lips through the window in a interrogation room

"So, when are you going to tell me about how did you find out about Alberto and Harley Quinn working together?"

"Well I'm gonna tell you nothing because it's non' of your damn business. Besides, I don't reveal my sources to anyone" Jericho and Talia decided to intervene, interested of how Ricky knew about the coalition of Alberto Falcone and Harley Quinn as Jericho smashed through the window grabbing officer and knocked him out cold.

"Not you again!" Ricky exclaimed wide eyed as he tried to escape but Talia raised her foot and hit his throat cutting off oxygen.

"Speak. Or you won't be walking anywhere. Ever." Talia demanded,

Ricky croaked, "No Way! You gotta answer for droppin' me off that rooftop, sweetheart."

"No! You have to answer to me. Who is this source of yours?"

"Ask one of the pigs. They've got him locked up in the Holding cells."

"How about we take a walk up to the roof?" Talia threatened,

"Ok. You win. He's a gang member of Harley's. He knows everything about her plans, allie, bookies everything. He goes by the name Joe Irwin, al right? Now you're gonna let me go?"

"May I remind you what happened the last time you said those words?" Talia reminded before knocking his lights out and left the interrogation room with Jericho

"So what now?"

"You go to Server room, I'll handle the source. I'll be fine." Talia said, Jericho hestitated before contacting Barbara for a route to the Holding cells.

"Oracle, Talia needs to know what is the fastest route to the Holding Cells."

"The Holding Cells? You know what, i'm not gonna ask. According to the schematics, it adjoins an old elevator shaft which you can access via infirmary. It should be no problem for."

"Thanks Oracle." Jericho nudged her to go to the Holding Cells while Jericho went to hack into the panel When Talia appeared in the holding Cells, looking for Joe Irwin,whistles of awe and howling came from the inmates, they haven't seen a pretty girl like her and she immediately got disgusted by their display.

"Pigs." Talia stated,

Rebecca Anderton, an 16 year old girl who just moved to Gotham from Manchester England six months ago, due to her Mother who is a lieutenant moved to Gordon's unit by recommendation from her captain.

She was wearing a Manchester United shirt under a grey jacket along with denim jeans, beige shoes. Her hair was brunette and she had blue eyes. She was looking at her IPad in the server room when she heard the doors open. She looked up and gasped when she saw the person walking in. It was Jericho, the rebellious vigilante who had made a name for himself over the past few months. she thought it was just rumors but it was true.

"Easy." Jericho assured, "I need access to the National Criminal Database."

"It's right here." Rebecca said,

"You must spend a lot time here." Jericho said as he approached a server while inserting a PwnBox into the server

"Cool Pwnbox. You're bypassing the network security but you'll need to psychically bridge intranet to external telecom wire you want to uplink which you can access from the sewers.

"That kind of knowledge could get a young girl into a lot of trouble. Cool T-shirt by way." Jericho stated a bit impressed as he took out the PwnBox when the transfer of the data was completed and was heading out when Rebecca asked him with a big question.

"Wait, why do you what you do?"

"Because I made a vow." Jericho replied, just then a tear gas was thrown into the room and smoke was starting to come out.

"Get out of here." Jericho commanded, Rebecca didn't waste time as she started to cough getting distracting the Swat Team while Jericho escaped through the ventilation system.

"Oracle, I'm on my way out. But before I can access to the server remotely, can you hack into Telecom wires that is under GCPD?"

"Hmm. It will be difficult but… not impossible. Already working on it. Where is Talia?"

"I'm about find out." Jericho said as he was in the shooting range and walked to the door, "Talia, how it's going?"

"Slow considering that the inmates are currently on protest." Talia said as she pressed her foot to Joe's face in the holding cells, where a riot was taking place. "Tell me about Harley."

"Ugh. For the last several months, she's been hellbent on getting revenge on you, your boyfriend and your brother. The death of The Joker really did something to her, she became more crazier than ever. When the turf war between Penguin and Black Mask escalated, she decided to intervene by making a deal with Alberto Falcone, considering the history between the old man Falcone and Penguin."

"Why?"

"I don't know, she didn't tell us. All she said was she's planning on something huge, that would make Joker proud and from the look I saw in her eyes it is something serious. That's all I know, ok?"
Talia stomped him after she heard enough and ran out from the cells knowing that her brother was waiting for him as the guards was trying to restore order.

Jericho was waiting in the bullpen by the elevator when Talia appeared on the other side. She ran to him as the elevator doors opened. They stepped in to Elevator when SWAT team busted through the front entrance.

"There they are!" the leader called and they began to shoot but the door closed just in time. Moments later they were in the rooftop maintenance where doors opened to reveal Lieutenant Anderton. She raised her gun only to be disarmed by Jericho.

"At ease, Lieutenant. We're not here to hurt you. I guess you heard the commotion."

"Yes, mind tell me what the bloody hell is goin' on?" she asked as they stepped out of the elevator, before they had the chance to answer the question, SWAT Team ran up the stairs and aimed at the Al Ghuls.

"Anderton clear the line of fire!" Team leader yelled,

"Hold your fire!" Anderton commanded,

"Not when there's 50 milli on both of their heads." Team leader said, that's when Jericho dropped a smoke pellet and the bullets went flying as a fight erupted, seconds later when the smoke was clear, the SWAT members was laid out on the floor with Jericho still standing and Anderton being held by Talia safely from the bullet rain.

"By the way, we were investigating the Murder at Lacey Towers. Does that answer your question?" Jericho replied,

"Fair enough. Bloody hell, I thought there weren't anymore bent coppers." Lieutenant Anderton,muttered rubbing her sore neck

"Old habits die hard in this city. Talia, we better leave, now." Talia nodded as they left the rooftop maintenance when Gordon showed up.

"Are you all right, Meg?" Gordon asked concerned,

"I'm fine, Jim although you might recruit new members tomorrow. Honest ones this time." Meg replied as she left.

"Oracle, Confirm now we have access to the National Criminal Database." Jericho said as he uplinked to the Batcomputer with the data from the GCPD in the Safehouse via Telecom Wires, Talia was drinking water in the kitchen while Jericho was working on his computer with Barbara online

"Connection confirmed. You can now perform the DNA Analysis. Sending you over the case file of Lacey Towers murder." Barbara said as Talia walked to Jericho and looked at the computer.

"This photo is from the day of the murder. It's a perfect match. The DNA tells more of the story."

"Wait. Here's something that the police overlooked. Roman Sionis owns Gotham Merchant's bank and he installed biometric security only he could access." Talia stated,

"You're right." Jericho replied, "Ok, Oracle, we have enough information to solve the Lacey Tower murder. Here's what happened: by now GCPD thinks that Black Mask is dead, the casualty of a turf war. Murdered by the Penguin. But that's not what happened ."

"Someone terrified Sionis lover so he sent her to his safehouse which was anything but safe. Sionis appeared later, looking for trouble and he found it. Or so it seemed." Talia added pacing back and forth

"Right,because Sionis always is paranoid and paranoia has its advantages, that's probably why he lasted this long. He sent in a decoy, giving himself the element of the surprise but it wasn't enough."

"The killer didn't hesitate to shoot the decoy but he wanted Roman alive so that he could access stored cash at Gotham. All it was left to do was to destroy the evidence but it wasn't the fire that killed her." Jericho said,

"So the killer forced Sionis to shoot his girlfriend." Barbara finished the summary, "What kind of monster would do this?"

"There's only one person who would do it. Harley Quinn." Talia stopped pacing when Jericho said Harley's name. "I know it's a stretch but from what Talia have learned from Ricky's source, she's the only person that can something like this. And I know where she's going next, Gotham Merchants Bank."