AN: Let this be a lesson to all of you-Hell hath no fury like a woman pissed off. I know it should be 'like a woman scorned', but really, let's be honest-breakups are trivial in the whole scheme of life. And before you complain, I didn't cut her throat out. I found her like that. Shame she had to OD on heroin three months later-she was useful.
Johanna Crane-Bastards. Think I'll go home after this. Maybe take up the position of 'scary lady that hates kids and hands out toothbrushes on Halloween'.
Just-Me-and-My-Brain-I'm ignoring my own canon for this one. So...Batman's in deep shit and Jonathan is very much no longer with us. I think Kitty would like my head in a soup tureen.
Christineoftheopera-One day, one glorious day, the clown will die. Sadly, I probably won't be here to appreciate it. Hopefully Edward will send me security footage of it.
"Did you like my Dalek, Batman?" Richardson leaned back in the chair. "Murder never looked so adorable, did it?" He scowled at the screen, knowing she couldn't see him and not caring. "Oh, sweetie, you'll get wrinkles. Didn't your mother ever tell you that?"
One of these days…
"What d'you think of my nails? They took ages…the things we do to look good, hmm?" She waved a hand in front of the camera. "Jonathan always preferred them to be red…must be a guy thing." She shrugged and folded her hands atop the desk. "How's the case coming along? I heard you paid a visit to Mrs. Pepper, bless her big mouth."
The camera panned out-not much, but enough to include someone else. A woman, middle-aged.
The owner of Paper Hearts.
She was tied to chair, looking very much the worse for wear. Her hair was out of its bun and there a lump on her forehead. A strip of duct tape was across her mouth.
BANG!
Blood spattered the camera, but they could make out enough to see the now-headless body of Mrs. Pepper fall to the side.
"Maybe be a little more subtle in your attempts. And enjoy the new death on your conscience."
The screen went black.
"God."
He had nothing to say. He'd get her-he'd catch her and throw her back in Arkham for good this time, if it meant he had to paralyze her to do it. It didn't have to be fatal, just permanent.
"We kept the messenger this time, but she's mute-had her vocal cords cut out." Christ. "Maybe she'll communicate with you-she won't react to us."
The messenger was a girl-sixteen, maybe?-with a hideous scar on her throat. She didn't even look at Batman apart from a quick glance when he entered the room. Brave, then. Or stupid.
Or drugged-her pupils were incredibly dilated and her lower lip was bloody and swollen where she'd been chewing it.
Yeah, she'd been drugged-probably a mild sedative to keep her from panicking. Richardson? Probably-Jim would have told him if they'd drugged her.
"Who hired you?"
She looked at him again, blinked three times, and shook her head.
"You don't know, or you won't tell?"
She gave him the finger.
"Any luck, sir?"
"No."
"Might I suggest a hot bath? Might help you think."
"No time, Alfred." He stormed into the cave and booted up the computer. "I need to find her."
The blood types hadn't worked, either. There was no pattern.
Of course there's no pattern, there's only two toxin-related incidents.
He'd found out who her little messenger was-Rosalie Jepson, nineteen, with a record for petty theft. No word on what had happened to her throat. But that wasn't helpful.
Maybe those deaths were coincidence…leftover books…no. No, she'd done something.
He brought up their files. The two women looked nothing alike, and at first look they had nothing in common. They weren't even the same age.
He ran their names through a word program, looking for anagrams. Nothing came up.
Jonathan Crane, laughing despite the smoke…
He shook his head. Crane was bad enough before, this mental ghost was not allowed.
The neighbors hadn't reported anything interesting, and neither had the families. As far as anyone could tell, there was no reason-not even a bad one-that they would have been targeted. One of them was divorced, the other never married. So it wasn't even a matter of 'no one will have a happy relationship EVER AGAIN'.
Wait.
There, on the list of 'foods in cupboard'. Both of them had had the same-obscure-brand of green tea.
It was something.
THE END