Early the next morning, The Gotham Police are at the Delta Gamma Pi Sorority House. Their crime scene unit is going over the place with a fine tooth comb, looking for any evidence they can find. Detective Harvey Bullock is overseeing the investigation. Commissioner James Gordon enters the crime scene.
"Whatcha got Harvey?" asks the commissioner.
"Near as I can figure, Victor Zsasz added five new sorority girls to his body count, then cut a little too deep while addin' up his tally."
"You really expect me to buy that?" asks the commissioner.
"Nah," admits Bullock, "Be nice if it were true though."
"So what happened here?"
"Best guess?" asks Bullock, "I'd say Bats got here too late to stop Victor from doing his thing and ended up gettin' some payback."
"You actually think Batman did this?"
"Hey, all I'm sayin' is that anyone who dresses up like a bat ain't alright up in the head."
"I'll keep that in mind. In the meantime, get me some more suspects. Has the back porch been cleared yet?"
"Yes, sir," replies Bullock.
"Good. I'm going out for a smoke. Let me know if you find anything useful."
"You got it, Boss," says the detective.
James Gordon goes outside and lights up a cigarette. After taking a couple of drags, he hears the expected raspy voice.
"You know I didn't do this," says Batman.
"I know," replies Gordon, "Harvey just finds you a convenient scapegoat."
"Do you have any suspects?"
"Hundreds," says Gordon, "Every one of those scars on Zsasz's body represents someone with a father, brother, boyfriend, husband, uncle, nephew, or lover who would love to see that bastard dead."
"As good a place as any to start looking," says Batman, "Focus your search on victims who have family members with martial arts, military, or police backgrounds."
"Police? You don't think one of my own men could have done this!"
"Just a precaution, Jim, Whoever killed Victor Zsasz last night, disarmed him, broke his arm, his ribs, his nose, and then systematically carved tally marks into his gut that are so deep the blade nearly exited his back. That takes tremendous strength, and extensive training in hand to hand combat. It may not be an officer from the Gotham City Police Department. He may be from another city or town altogether. But you would be negligent if you were to ignore the possibility."
"Have you found anything useful?"
"I've collected some samples, and will be running them through my lab in The Bat Cave. I don't know if they'll turn anything up yet. I have a gut feeling they won't. I think this vigilante is smart enough to use forensic counter measures."
"So you think it's another vigilante?"
"Conclusively? I don't know. It's the best theory I have at the moment though. I'll keep you posted."
Commissioner Gordon flicks his cigarette butt out into the lawn. Trusting in his unusual friend's insights, he turns around and heads back inside to talk to his detectives some more.
War Journal Entry # 235
Last night's engagement of the enemy was a success. Regretfully I was unable to prevent the collateral damage of five civilians. However, I was able to dispatch the enemy quickly, cleanly, and without having to expend any ammunition to do so. While I don't expect this pattern to hold for long, the longer I can keep the local authorities from getting wind that I'm here, the more of the enemy I can eliminate.
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Batman: Punishing Gotham - 4
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