7891/A New Question Arises

A New Question Arises
Date of Scene:	08 June 2019
Location:	Batcave - Gotham
Synopsis:	Question discusses the case that led him to Gotham with Batman. (This is a backdated scene and takes place before the events of Superman's reawakening in the Watchtower)
Thanks to:	Thanks to Batman's player for this backdated scene.
Cast of Characters:	Question, Batman
Tinyplot:	A New Question Arises

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Question has posed:
Question enters the Cave through one of the more or less rarely used entryways. He knows that if he is down here, he is likely alone unless Alfred is around as well. He moves with stealth, bypassing some of the more annoying security measures. Some have changed since the last time he had visited and the last thing he needs is to wind up in a bat-trap or tripping alarms uncessesarily. He's not here to attack, just to talk after all.

Once he reaches the main cavern he no-longer treads as lightly. It would be pointless. He could no-more sneak up on the caped cruisader than a one-man-band could in full regalia. His assorted pupils both former and present, maybe, but Batman... unlikely. They had some of the same trainers afterall. Besides it wouldn't be... polite.

Batman has posed:
     The cave had been populated and unpopulated quickly. Those on patrol were out, leaving Batman the only one in the Batcave for now.

  The telltale ears of the cowl could be seen above the chair of the batcomputer. A slight turn of his head, and Batman comments. "Question."

  He stands and turns to face Vic, not angered, it was another friend visiting after all. He doesn't remove the cowl, but Vic and he knew each other quite well. He stands, allowing The Question to state his business.

Question has posed:
Question nods towards Batman and says, "Batman." his voice and tone are at that practiced level between voice and whisper that forces you to listen closely lest you miss a single word. "A assume you know why I am here. I've been in Gotham for over a month now after all."

Batman has posed:
     Batman leans his head towards Vic and sighs. "The Robin issue." He reaches towards his belt, locking down the cave to assure their privacy.

  He walks towards the armory, all of the suits of the family are there. Damian's current Robin suit with the same removable R shuriken, Tim's old Robin suit with the original throwing R. The Red Robin suit Tim wears now, sans R. "Someone is trying to frame one of my sons."

Question has posed:
Question reaches into his jacket and withdraws, smoothly, a small plastic bag sealed with evidence tape, opened, and resealed. Inside the small baggie is a single R-shaped shuriken. There are specks of dried blood along part of it and scratches along its edges. There are two tiny 'bites' taken out of one of its edges, tool markings are the kind that would be made in laboratory analysis.

He says offering it to you, "Possibly. Or he may be using forensic countermeasures. I have not completely elimiated him yet and he is currently the only suspect. Place this in your analyzer. You will find that the blood matches the victim. The metalurgical analysis shows that it is a tempered alloy made of titanium steel. However, unlike Red Robin's it is lacking in the element osmium. It is still quite an expensive alloy and an exact replica. Whoever made it either had access to pictures of one, or had seen one closely enough to judge its scale and paint mixture exactly."

Batman has posed:
     Batman takes the bag and examines it. Removing the shuriken from the bag and placing it in the analyzer. "Compare with all variations of database item four forty two."

  While the computer starts its work, Batman turns and listens to Vic. "Osmium is a hardener. Not a complete necessity, but also makes for a significant chemical marker for a genuine piece of equipment from us."

  "Out of all Robins, you are suspecting the least suspicious one, Vic. Tim has had lapses in judgement before but nothing as severe as to make me believe he would kill someone." No, Bruce had two sons that were more aligned to kill than Tim.

Question has posed:
Question shakes his head, "He had a relationship to one of his victims. Alice Adair. Their relationship lasted for three months, a rather intense one on her part. Timmothy had to leave in the middle of several of their dates due to... your occupational hazzard, but she always forgave him. Then, he broke it off with her suddenly. Later he would date someone in the profession for a while, but even that seems to be cooling off rather quickly. Miss Adair was badly injured by Granger. Her throat was crushed, her hyoid bone was broken in three places. She has barely spoken above a whisper since."

He takes another deep breath, "And then there was the new development. Granger's body has turned up. Gotham PD doesn't know it yet but he's been in their custody the entire time. He is an unclaimed John Doe in drawer C-37 at the Gotham City morgue. By the angle of the cut to his throat, and the bruises on his body he was killed by someone of Robin's approximate size and they used techniques only students of the Dragon school have learned. Our school. Lady Shiva's school."

Batman has posed:
     Batman keeps looking at the large batcomputer screen, listening to The Question carefully. "And the fact that Tim has not used these in years has me leaning towards a setup. The missing osmium, the fact of Tim no longer using these, and your story with Granger and the rest...it just screams to me that Red Robin is just the fall guy."

  "There must be another thread connecting everyone together. The missing osmium says that someone is good enough to make a convincing fake, but not a replica. Robin and I have been filmed enough times before, could the unsub be someone who's studied these tapes? You and I both know that there are enough people out there with eidetic muscle memory that could pull this off without having been taught by Shiva."

Question has posed:
Question nods slowly, "Could be. Could be. I have gone over this myself. There are currently seven individuals in Gotham capable of replicating the techniques. Besides your family. That I can discover. I have eliminated anyone from Hub City as well at least directly. I agree with you that this smells like a set up, but there is also a possibility, with his resources.... and training that you provided to him. That he could make it -look- like a frame job. You must admit it is even remotely possible..."

Question sighs, "I do not like this any more than you do. Be honest, Batman, if our roles were reversed. You would be taking a really hard loook at Red Robin also. Even if it were just to eliminate him completely."

Batman has posed:
     "With what he has at his disposal, you're correct. Even with the cost of procuring the raw materials for a shuriken, to make a passable fake."

  Batman turns in the chair and holds his fist to his chin, the most disturbing part of the whole situation hitting him just now. "The second to worst case scenario here is that someone knows who Tim was. They know the secret of the family, and could bring the whole operation down."

  Bruce looks significantly more troubled now than ever. "What do you need from me to find who did this?"

Question has posed:
Question rubs his own chin, "For now, nothing. I have established a base of operation here in Gotham and I will be remaining here for a while. There are other cases here drawing my attention. Your vampire problem, for example. I ran into one in Sunnydale at a burger chain of all places. Robin was there also, but he stayed, uninvolved. I was in disguise at the time and I do not believe he knew it was me... but I had to stay in character. I let him... it... clobber me and it go away." He shakes his head.

He says, "Right now, I have to find a way of eliminating Red Robin completely without forcing him into a corner. This whole thing begs for a motive. This does not have the feel of your usual cadre of Arkham crazies. I'll give the boy some space, and see if the culpret makes another move. That is all we can do at this..." he hears your communicator beeping.

Batman has posed:
     Bruce taps his gauntlet computer and looks at the briefing. Quickly standing and dictating to the computer. "Disengage lockdown protocols. Ready zeta tubes to the Watchtower." He gathers the rested R shuriken and passes it to Question.

  "With me, Vic." He says, his voice stern and commanding. He didn't have time to explain.

Question has posed:
Question tilts his head but follows. The Watchtower is and has been something he has been curious about for some time now. It's very existence is supposed to be a secret, though an open one to be sure as it is difficult to miss via telescope.

He hurries behind Batman trying to keep up. "Very well..." he has no idea what he is about to witness, or what he is about to become a part of. Soon his caseload is going to encompass a far larger jurisdiction than he had ever imagined.