112/What Was Left Behind

What Was Left Behind
Date of Scene:	23 April 2017
Location:	Wayne Tower, Gotham City
Synopsis:	Summary needed.
Cast of Characters:	Batman, Ravager, Zatanna Zatara

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Batman has posed:
TIME: 11:42 PM
LOCATION: Wayne Tower

The scene of Bruce Wayne's death--or, at least, where his body was discovered and reported to Gotham police--remains cordoned off, even though the evidence has theoretically been catalogued and, when appropriate, removed to GCPD's CSI unit for analysis. The front entrance to Wayne Enterprises has never looked so grim.

There are two uniformed officers at the scene, apparently to make sure there's no civilian tampering. Of course, as is often the case with third-shift work, they seem as bored and distracted as anyone might be in their situation.

"...so I says, 'Miller, you fuck with that locker, I'ma fuck with you.'"
"Yeah, right, Biggs. You said jack."

Ravager has posed:
Rose Wilson is on her Harley as she vrooms down the street, parking nearby before hopping off. She is looking fairly casual at the moment, because she's seriously undercover as she decides to poke around the scene, although she probably shouldn't. She looks like a fairly ordinary girl and she carries what looks like a fairly ordinary camera with her as she crosses the street toward Wayne Enterprises, walking up the side to see if there's a side entrance she can use to avoid any guards.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna's in a slack time of her work schedule, which is a convenient time for a murder. Only, not in a suggestive way that implies she is a murderer.

She had parked a block and a half away, and after emerging from her car and locking it, had raised a slim black wand. "Sehtolc krow," she had said, and shortly thereafter, "Annataz tceted t'nac ecilop," which is why...

Rose may notice a woman in fishnets and a crisp white-tie top walking around the crime scene. She has one hand to hold her top hat down and is looking from very near Miller and Biggs, because, of course, they can't see her.

Batman has posed:
The Wayne Tower side entrance has been set up as a temporary 'main' entrance, given the crime scene blockade of the front door. There's a guard on duty, but he seems as vigilant as the officers outside.

A sign on the side entrance says 'Please KNOCK for access' in a simple sheet of paper printed in Comic sans.

The officers, meanwhile, continue their banal discussion, completely oblivious to Zatanna's presence.

On the ground, there is a decently sized blood stain, while various noticeable marks or divots appear to have been made at different points in the sidewalk and front wall of the building.

Ravager has posed:
Rose Wilson knocks on the side door, maybe finding that the side entrance might be a little more loose than the front, where two guards are on duty, not one. As the guard undoubtedly attends to Rose's summons, she answers, "Can I get a pass to the crime scene? I'm with the Daily Bugle and I need a picture for the late edition," she explains helpfully, "You'll help me out, right?" she says and smiles attentively at the gentleman.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna sees the divots, even if their trail up alongside the building is mysterious to her. A monster? A demon? She pulls a little glass vial out of her pocket, points with her wand as she uncorks it with her teeth, and says, "reverse(a dram of blood in the bottlE)." A droplet of blood - or a similar amount of dried flakes, it all comes to the same - would hopefully thus discreetly march up and into the bottle, even as her eyes come up and -

Someone's walking around the back? Her ears perk. Then she mutters to herself, "A reporter... great. Well, I suppose it's news..."

After this she loops round behind the cops and positions herself to peek over their shoulders, obscuring the view of most of her from the perspective of that guard. Nonetheless, the reaction is interesting to her. Perhaps even illuminating.

Batman has posed:
The side-entrance guard scratches the back of his head as he stands at the door. "Uh...you got your ID on you? I'm not s'posta let anyone in so late, 'specially if you're not a Wayne employee. I'll have to photocopy the ID, you understand..."

Meanwhile, Zatanna's sorcery-based evidence collection occurs without incident. Some of the marks on the ground look like they might have been made by claws or incredibly tough weapons. At least one looks like some kind of 'impact' point from a heavy object or entity landing on the pavement--perhaps Wayne's body itself was slammed into the ground there, which would have been (in a potentially obvious note) incredibly painful.

Ravager has posed:
Rose Wilson hmms, "Late? Ok it's after five, is that late?" she asks snarkily, then produces an ID with a picture on it, giving it to the guard, which was provided by her "employer". She puts her hand on her hip, "Listen, I don't have time for this. You can't keep the press out, you know--that's not legal. So are you going to let me by or not? Escort me if you want. I don't care," she explains smirkily.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna corks her bottle and winces as she sees that dimple in the pavement. Although, she muses as she gets up and walks round carefully to take one big high step, right in Rose's peripheral vision, and approach the front door of the building, attention kept low to spot clues and, of course, avoid stepping on /actual/ evidence.

I could fix it, Zatanna thinks to herself, but that's not a legal defense I want to risk introducing.

Batman has posed:
"No, no, it's fine," the guard replies, disappearing for a moment before returning to Rose with her ID, a photocopy in his hand. "You're fine. Just right through here," he adds, gesturing her through the lobby toward the front entrance. "Can't open the door, of course. Still a crime scene. But the officers out there'll potentially tell you whatever you might need. Or so I assume," he adds, before his face offers a confused look toward Zatanna outside. "Maybe...that detective?"

The front door to the building initially seems undisturbed--at least in regards to normal use, since it's clearly been a day or more since the last time the door was washed. Fingerprints and smudges galore are on the glass.

Ravager has posed:
Rose Wilson gives a satisfied nod to the security guard, "Right," she says as she steps past him and looks up at the "detective" as she walks to the crime scene, stopping at the tape like a good, honest citizen. Walking by Zatanna, Rose heads to the crime scene near the front door. She tries to keep an eye on what the magical "detective" is doing lest she be forced to answer more questions. She decides to take some pictures of the important stuff and lingers around so she can learn some more about what happened.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna does not touch the fingerprints. Instead she walks carefully past them and tries to estimate just who and where they came from - more to the point, if those were all from HUMAN hands.

A camera clicks behind her and she pauses, looking over her shoulder. "Excuse me," she says, "I'd really appreciate it if you could not for a moment."

This may puzzle the cops on the scene, especially if Rose replies.

Batman has posed:
Rose's camera can capture some of the marks in the ground--even from a distance, to her eye, they look recognizable as being made by the kinds of weapons that some like Deathstroke would use, or adamantium claws like those possessed by Wolverine.

The fingerprints, meanwhile, all appear to be human. At least, they've got the signs of human prints.

After Zatanna speaks, one of the cops looks at the other. "Huh?" he asks.
"I think that was dispatch," his partner replies.
"Dispatch, repeat?" the first says to his radio.
<<Nothing for you. Over,>> replies dispatch.

The officers begin looking around. "Ghosts?"
"Gotta be. Your mother's obsessed enough with me to haunt me, buddy."
"Hey, screw you."

Ravager has posed:
Rose Wilson glances at Zatanna and frowns a little bit, perhaps preparing to tell her to shut up or something else with swear words involved so she can live up to her reputation, but she doesn't, "What'd you say? I need a picture of where he was murdered. He was shot or stabbed or what?" she asks Detective Zatanna. Her camera is digital and she zips through the pictures she's already taken, although doesn't really make anything of them, or at least doesn't verbalize her opinion about the dumb pictures, "Yeah I need a money shot."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna side-steps quickly to get nearer to Rose so she can speak more quietly. Hopefully, they won't overhear if I use my inside voice, Zatanna prays, before telling Rose, "Don't /photograph/ me, alright? Here, I'll get out of your way. Is your light bad?" Is that a wand in her hand? Yes it is.

The wand is briefly pointed at the cops. ",Htaed fo esuac eht no eziroeht" Zee mutters, then gives Rose a brief, silent shushing gesture.

Batman has posed:
The two cops sigh and stretch lazily. "You know," one says, "we could probably get promoted enough not to do this again if we, you know, offer something useful to Gordon."

"Probably," the other says with a groan. "Okay, so what could we say? We weren't even here this morning."

"Yeah, but so what? I heard Bullock say something about a potential tampering with the body. Might've been another cop who did it."

"You go to Gordon with that and everyone, IA or not, is gonna destroy you."

"Just saying."

"Yeah, right. Anyway, I figure Wayne probably coked out, you know? Super-rich playboy and all."

"Tox screen ain't back, and there was blood, man."

"Still. Maybe self-inflicted when goin' bonkers."

"Maybe. Maybe it was just a hold-up or something."

"Poetic irony? I mean, didn't his parents get shot dead in a hold-up? When he was a kid?"

"Think so, yeah."

Ravager has posed:
Rose Wilson puts her hand up, "Hey no prob, I don't need a pic of you anyway," she says smirkily in response to Zatanna, taking a picture of the chalk and the murder scene again. She raises her chin as the cops start blabbing about the crime and what they've "heard". "So he cut himself while on coke in the lobby of his business. In the morning. Yeah that makes sense," she replies smirkily, thinking that is the stupidiest thing she's ever heard.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna's lips thin together.

She says to Rose, still quietly, "They're just making it up. Maybe there's a reason." With this Zatanna sidles on the /outside/ of the crime scene, possibly in case her spell starts to break or if a cop walks straight into her or something equally absurd. She did not put a ton of power into that one; normally you don't need to.

"Scisnerof eht ta kool," she mutters in the cops' directions, taking a half-step backwards and asking Rose, "Are you freelance or with one of the papers?" Ragged though their lives may be at this point.

Batman has posed:
The cops continue their meeting of the minds.

"What about that crater, man? Ain't no way Wayne was able to do that, unless he spent an hour piledriving the pavement."

"I guess...but what if he got in a scuffle with the mugger?"

"That assumes there was one, though. But, hell, sure, why not. So they fought?"

"Well, there was some sort of sign of struggle. Some injury or something."

"But you don't know what?"

"No. Think we could visit the morgue?"

"Man, /maybe/ you could get that chick ... Stacy, right? ... to get copies of the photos CSI took. No way is anyone going to let either of us schmucks play detective."

Ravager has posed:
Rose Wilson motions to herself, "I don't really care what happened to be honest, I just take the pictures," she explains to Detective Zatanna, using her quiet voice instead of her loud, annoying tone. "But honestly, you wonder what happened right. Broken concrete, blood pretty much everywhere, looks like something took a crash landing here, right?" she wonders. She listens to the cops for a moment and takes a few steps back for another picture, trying to sneak a shot of Zatanna, because she's a rebel like that.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna is at least pretty photogenic. Sucking her teeth she makes a mental note - Stacy - the morgue - and of course she has that blood sample.

"Or someone slammed somebody," she tells Rose, more grimly. Her arms fold, the little wand being tucked up her sleeve without further flourish.

Batman has posed:
The two police officers begin drifting off-topic.

"Speakin' of playin' detective, think I got a chance with Montoya?"

"Buddy, you got a better chance with my dead mother."

"She still around, you think? Hey, Ma Biggs!" the one policeman calls.

"I need to request a different partner," the other says with a grunt.

Back inside, the security guard calls to Rose. "You doin' okay there? Need a coffee or anything?"

Ravager has posed:
Rose Wilson huhs at what Zatanna says, wonder who could have got slammed in the lobby of Wayne Enterprises. She glances back down the hallway to the security guard and says, "What? Oh, no thanks, I think I'm done here. Hey, when's the funeral?" she wonders. She lowers her camera and asides to Detective Zatanna, "So what's really going on, anyway?" she whisperwhispers, like it's a secret.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"I don't know," Zatanna murmurs to Rose, folding her arms loosely as she makes another note at that name drop. Montoya. Maybe there's a connection to Stacy. She'll have to check.

"But if he killed himself - well, look at that blood. He'd have had to jump, and if he'd jumped from really high up, that outline wouldn't be as... person-y as it seems to be. And if it was lower, he'd have broken a window. Probably."

Batman has posed:
The security guard shrugs as he leans back in his seat. "Sorry, miss. Nobody tells me nothin'. I can give you the number for the company lawyer, though. Got it around here somewhere..."

Outside, the cops continue griping over petty crap. Finally, one heads across the street toward a nearby convenience store. The remaining cop rubs his eyes and yawns.

Ravager has posed:
Rose Wilson shrugs, not sure of anything she's been told so far, so it seems like anything could have happened, "Not much of a struggle really. Looks like quite an impact, that's all I can tell," she observes and then adds, "Maybe the windows are reinforced when he did his swan dive," she suggests. She waves off that suggestion, and walks to the security guard to get the number, "You got that number? I guess I'll be going now. Hey, when's Commissioner Gordon's press conference about this?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Mm," Zatanna says. As Rose turns away, Zatanna folds her arms, frowning. What more is there for her to do here? She looks towards that meandering cop as the two of them separate, and much like Rose drifts off, so too does Zatanna.

After that meandering cop. "Sehtolc teerts. Niaga em sees namecilop edur." And so it is that a completely normal woman says, with sudden plaintiveness, "Officer..."

Zatanna looks like a woman in extremely casual but comfortable clothes who is up at this hour, maybe from one of the apartment buildings nearby. She looks on the verge of tears.

"Is it true about... about how he looked, when he..."

Batman has posed:
"Uh..." the security guard says, flipping through a few papers. "I don't got that on my schedule. Probably first thing in the morning would be my guess. That's when everything happens." He sniffs. "Me, I like third shift. I don't have to deal with people, you know?"

Outside, the policeman does a double-take and his entire body tenses. "Good lord--!" He tries to catch his breath. "Lady, Jesus. I didn't even hear you."

The officer flexes his left hand a few times and clears his throat. "So, ah, what? You know we're not supposed to talk about ongoing criminal investigations. But yeah, someone died here. Bruce Wayne. That much is public knowledge."

Ravager has posed:
Rose Wilson gives a nod to what the security guard says and says, "Right, people are trouble," she explains helpfully, "Okay take care," she tells him and heads outside, pushing open the side door. She glances down the length of the building to spy on what Zatanna is doing.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Oh, I'm sorry," Zatanna says, shifting around. "I just have a quiet walk...

"I... Understand you can't but..."

Zatanna's voice lowers, even as she hugs herself and looks over, towards that crime scene. "... It wasn't some kind of... creature, was it? I know it's a dumb rumor, but I could have sworn I heard something when I went to take out my trash... Something big."

Batman has posed:
"That would just take the cake, if it were," the cop replies, shrugging. "But I can't say for sure." He nods toward the chalk outline. "As far as I know, all the usual suspects are in Arkham, so hopefully it's not that. But, hey, someone seems to get out of that place almost every day." He quickly catches himself and assumes a more sympathetic expression. "You're safe, though. Don't worry about that."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Thank you, officer," Zatanna tells him, with a smile. "I appreciate everything you do. You have a good night. Thanks again." And with that Zatanna starts walking.

She has to perambulate around a couple extra blocks to make sure the cops don't see her going in completely the wrong direction. "I am so glad I wore my Adidas today," she says, somewhere around block #2.