Chapter 9: Clues

"Breaking news from downtown Chicago!" A news reporter said. "Emily Correia, head lobbyist for the Fortune Sons Farming Company was found dead in the ghettos of leartown, a small neighborhood said to be among the poorest areas of Illinois."
James shut the TV off. "Another murder. Definitely our killer."
"How do you figure?" Joe asked. "The police just said—"
"The police don't know that Emily Correia has had a target on her back for years." James interrupted. "Emily was one of the best lobbyists in Congress and she was the one who got the farm subsidies bill to be attached to the food stamp bill. I do know that she was big business's best weapon against any possible tax increases or regulations that were proposed in new bills. Emily worked for hundreds of Fortune 500 companies, and she made herself a huge enemy with pretty much everyone."

The new team of George, Georgina, Joe, Leslie, and James were gathered in James's apartment for their first team meeting. Pam had also attended, but chose not to get involved with the new team's activities.
"Man, you must've already known her." Leslie scratched her head. "Well it definitely shows that you've been working with the Batman."
"By far these murders are connected." George nodded. "But James, do you have any idea who this person might be?"
"I don't." He shook his head. "And that's the problem. Even if I were to create a list of all the rich and powerful people who have been involved in many criminal activities, the list would be too long and extensive to be able to predict their next targets. What we need is a base of our own. Batman has his Batcave, Superman his Fortress of Solitude, so we'll need something too."

"Perhaps we 'ave to find somewhere outside of Gotham?" Georgina asked. "So no one vill find us?"

"I don't think we need to go that far." Joe answered. "How about this: James, I could start searching for potential abandoned places for us to set up some kind of base of operations?"
James nodded. "Good plan. I'll leave you to it. In the meantime…Alcor, bring up a list of our dead."
"So far we have three deaths." Alcor announced. "John Stevenson, Eugene Fredrickson, and Emily Correia. Each person had a history of white-collar crime. Each of them have crime histories that took place outside of the United States except for Fredrickson. Stevenson was caught with corruption and game rigging during the World Cup but did not admit to any wrongdoing. Fredrickson was caught raising insurance premiums illegally to taxpayers and robbed millions from them, however he did not admit to any wrongdoing either. Finally Emily Correia has a history of lobbying for not only Fortune 500 companies but some suspicious organizations including the mob."

"Suspicious organizations?" Leslie asked. "Who?"
"According to records," Alcor projected a few pictures of deserts and groups of militants stationed in Africa. "Her husband, Ricardo Gullucci ran a sex-trafficking business in multiple countries such as Kenya, Malaysia, India, Mexico, and Guatemala just to name a few."

Everyone gasped.

"A sex-trafficking business!?" James gasped. "Good god! Where is he now?"
"Dead." Joe said, looking up from his laptop. "6 years ago he was found dead in a Star Labs laboratory in Kenya."
"A Star Labs laboratory? In Kenya?" Georgina questioned. "Of all the places, why there?"
Alcor suddenly zoomed into Joe's computer and started running data through the projector on the wall.
"A girl was apparently spotted in the laboratory." He answered. "There's not much though. Apparently anyone who was in the room when it took place either fled or was killed. But some are saying that that girl killed Gullucci."

"A girl?" James suddenly froze. "Joe! Alcor! Check the date of that news report! Do they say when it happened!?"

Quickly scanning the document, Joe nodded.
"The incident took place May 11, 2009."
"Six…years…ago…" He mouthed. "That girl…ANY IMAGES!?"
Joe and Alcor looked, but Joe shook his head.

"None."

"Damn it!" James angrily pounded his night table. "That girl could be my sister! She might be alive! Any other information on that day?"
Scanning the document, Joe nodded.
"According to this Gullucci had a nickname: El Silencio."
"I've heard of him." Pam finally spoke. "I used to smuggle herbs and illegal plants into Gotham through him."
Everyone turned to look at her. She quickly put her hands up defensively.
"Before!" She insisted. "Back when I was Poison Ivy he was one of my providers that's all! He had that Spanish name because he was a sneaky yet powerful drug cartel that could smuggle substances in without being caught."

James was still shaking from the sudden revelation.
"This means Hanna might still be alive!" He thought. "If only—"
"Wait James." Georgina spoke. "What if this girl isn't your sister, but the killer?"
His heart sank to his stomach. He hadn't thought of that.
"Or what if it is his sister, but also the killer too?" Joe suggested darkly.
"No!" James protested. "She can't! This is a cold-blooded killer! My sister was always kind and intelligent, and she would have no reason to commit these crimes!"
"You can't rule it out James." Pam said sadly. "It fits the killer's motivations. It's possible that Emily was able to cover up her husband's sex-trafficking business with her political strings. Being one of the best on Capitol Hill has its benefits, and maybe your sister knew that and wanted revenge."

"But how could she kill Gullucci?" James asked desperately. "Gullucci is a very powerful man with connections to the criminal underworld!"
"Remember where he was found James." Leslie explained. "Dead in a Star Labs facility. It's possible she could have found something to help her."
"But that means she was trapped in a sex-trafficking ring all this time!?" James protested. "And Batman couldn't find her!?"
"Hold on." Joe scanned the article again. "It says here the girl identified herself as "Lana. Sorry James, false alarm."
He exhaled deeply. "Thank god it's not her."

"Well we don't know for sure yet." George said. Regardless, we may have a lead."
"What vas your sister's name James?" Georgina asked curiously.
"Hanna." He replied. "Hanna Davis."
Leslie suddenly stood up. "James! I think I knew her once!"
James gasped. "You did!?"
"Can you get me a picture?" Leslie asked. "I knew a girl named Hanna but I want to be sure it's the same one.
Nodding, James took out his Ari1 and showed her Hanna's prom picture.
"Huh…" Leslie crossed her arms. "That's her, but she was much older."

His eyes widened. "That means you met her AFTER she was kidnapped! But how? Where did you meet her!?"

"I met her here James." She answered. "In Gotham University."
Everyone gasped.
"That's…not possible." Joe stammered. "If Hanna had escaped or gotten rescued and brought back to the United States, we'd know about it, and so would Batman."
"Unless she didn't want to be found." Pam interjected.
The room went silent. Everyone looked at the plant user who elaborated:
"Whatever she went through those 6 years must've changed her." Pam said. "Whether she was raped, tortured, or either of the sort, we know that she would not be in the right state of mind if she returned home."

Just then, James's Ari1 beeped.

"James!" Alcor spoke alarmed. "Another death has been reported!"
"I'm getting news as well!" George nodded, staring at his mobile device.
Switching the TV back on, he now saw the Gotham News with a blond woman speaking.
"This is Vicki Vale reporting live from North Gotham." She said. "A few minutes ago, the body of Stanley Jones was found in this alleyway with a message written in blood."
Everyone gasped as the camera zoomed in on the message on the wall of the alleyway.

James looked closely and froze.
The sign read:

NIGHTSHROUD COME FIND ME

"He or She left a clue there for me." James said solemnly. "They want to meet me, or string me along. Whatever it is, I need to go decipher the message. I'm going to the alleyway."
"No James!" Georgina protested. "It could be a trap!"
"I don't have a choice." He shook his head. "If I don't go, I'll lose our only possible lead to catching this killer. It's possible that she's changing her pattern now. Instead of one death per day, it might increase to two. Or three. If that happens, then this killer's more dangerous than we thought seeing as they can snatch up these powerful people so easily."
Pam walked up to him and touched his shoulder. "Be careful, this killer knows you." She said. "Don't go alone. It's likely it could be a trap."
He gave her a nod. "I'll be careful."

James as Nightshroud floated down to the bloody message on the wall. By now, the police and the media had cleared out after word had gotten 'round about his impending arrival.
He stared deeply at the message trying to find some kind of alternate meaning to it. After a few minutes, he suddenly noticed something odd.
"Why would she say "Nightshroud come find me instead of 'come and find me'?" He wondered.
"Perhaps her location can be revealed through these letters." Alcor suggested.
He broke the words down into multiple groups, then thought back to some old memories.
"If this killer has a connection with me, then this message should point out a place I've been to in my lifetime while here in Gotham." James thought. "Think…Video stores, shopping malls, grocery stores, movie theaters, restaurants…restaurants!"

He soon had the first two words: Sight and Round

"No…" James thought. "It can't be the old restaurant?"
But soon he had the last word:
Dome
He put the words together and got:
Sight Round Dome
"The Sight Round Dome Diner." James concluded. "It's a diner my family and I used to go for breakfast and occasionally dinner many times before it closed down. But I also…No…I used to take Abby there too!"
"Shit…" James flew up to the roof of the building and dialed back to his apartment.
"Everyone!" He called. "I found the location of the killer's diner! I'm heading over there now!"

"We'll join you!" Joe started but James replied immediately:
"No! You don't have means to mask your identities yet." James said. "Stay there, I'll go myself. I'll stay in touch."
He gulped. "There's no doubt about it now. The killer is a she; even worse, it could be either my sister or Abby…"
"There!" Nightshroud could see the rundown diner come into view in front of him. He landed and slowly pushed the door open.
Looking around, he could see the diner was completely shot. Dust was everywhere, and tables with chairs and stools were bent out of shape. Looking around, he could see a door to the kitchens that he opened. Immediately he noticed the destroyed and abandoned cooking area with old utensils scattered on the ground.

"Over there James." Alcor sent some Solarium to the corner of the room and saw a wall that looked out of place.
"This piece of the wall is newer than the other parts…" Nightshroud noticed.
He felt around the wall until he touched a loose panel that he pushed. In front of him the wall suddenly opened, and a dark stairway appeared. The young student slowly descended down the stairs while using his Solarium as light.

Soon he came to a landing and saw a dimly let room with bloodstains and dust all over the place.

"She must be here James, be on your guard." Alcor warned.
Nodding, he looked and saw two doors; one on his left, and another on his right. Taking the right one, he opened it and saw a large puddle of blood along with some fragments on the floor.
"Human flesh…" Alcor said darkly.
"What!? Really!?" James thought, terrified.
"Don't lose your nerve. We've seen worse." He assured.
"Great…"

Returning to the dimly lit room, he then readied into a battle position.
"Behind this door…might be either Abby or my sister…" James gulped. Gritting his teeth, he let out a large amount of energy and blasted the door to smithereens. Charging into the room he noticed he was standing in an office. Looking around quickly he noticed nobody was here.
"Alcor, any signs of life?"
"None." He replied. "It looks like, this killer didn't want to meet us after all. Maybe she wanted us to find this place."
"She's long gone then…" James said, annoyed.
Searching the room, he suddenly came across two pieces of paper. One paper had a poem on it, and the other had a list of crossed out names.
"Oh my god…" James stared at the list in horror. "This list has NINE names!"
"And they're all crossed out." Alcor added worriedly. "This means she's been ahead of us. She's already killed a lot more people than we realize."

Angrily, he pocketed the list and picked up the other paper.
"No way…" James stared incredulously at the poem.
"What is it James?" Alcor asked, confused.
"I wrote this poem!" He said, shocked.
"You did!?" Alcor was stunned. "Read it."

James sighed, and began:

The Cry of the Unfortunate

The many days come a feeling
That life for many is unappealing
The pain, the toil, the loss of many
Of labor made for just a penny

We look up we spot the people ahead
Those that have but rarely bled
They see the hell that lies in front
But the wealth of few shan't bear the brunt

The world stretches and splits in two
And the few say to the many "adieu"
Thus the rage of penury becomes a flame
Against the wealth of few they are to blame

When the flame dies, and ashes galore
The winds of change blow evermore
The thieves will burn and the victims will learn
that the world will turn and give them what they yearn."