Did you find out who killed my mother?
You killed your mother, Jerome.
Jim Gordon watched on as he saw Jerome Valeska getting pushed towards the panel van that had come from Arkham Asylum after they had informed the institution about their new inmate.
He ignored the shudder that went down his spine as he remembered the look in Valeska's eyes the moment the young man knew his cover had been blown. He hadn't even been mad about it. It had almost seemed as if to him the whole matter didn't mean more than losing a round of poker. With a better-luck-next-time attitude he'd leaned back in his chair, laughing his head off while staring at his blind, obviously very much intimidated father.
Gordon scratched his chin. Somehow the thought of Valeska being confined behind the bars of one of the Asylum's cells did little to ease the sense of foreboding he felt.
"He is a good actor, succeeded at fooling me for quite some time."
Gordon turned around to see Lee Thompkins approaching him.
"He was close to getting away with it.", he admitted somberly.
"Thank God he didn't."
"Yeah..."
Thompkins eyed him suspiciously.
"You don't seem satisfied, though.", she observed.
Gordon cracked a faint smile at her.
"You are right. I don't think this is the last time we'll see Mister Valeska. And quite frankly: I already dread that day!"
*
Stale cigarette smoke and the sickly sweet scent of cheap cologne had blended into a nauseating odour that pervaded the already fuggy air inside the small bureau. A blueish haze drifted across the small study desk on which stacks of records were piling up.
Mister William Mason took another drag of his cigarette and blew out frouzy smoke while he simultaneously raked the fingers of his left hand through his hair. The man looked ready to break into tears as he dropped the cigarette into the ashtray and began to hastily browse through the records on his desk.
"I'm so sorry.", he said, sounding deeply embarrassed.
"Two weeks ago I was appointed as Doctor Strange's representative for the time of his absence, and, to be frank, no one told me much about how this institution operates. It seems that Mister Strange is a man that doesn't think much of labor division which is why everything's so messy. I am truly sorry it takes so l..."
"It's alright, Mister Mason. Take your time. I'm in no rush to go home!"
Mister Mason looked up from the record of Aaron Helzinger to lock eyes with his counterpart.
"Thank you for being understanding of my situation.", he breathed.
His counterpart smiled leniently.
Mason returned his attention to the stack of records and put Helzinger's file on another stack to his left.
"Let's see... Greenwood, Robert. No... Sionis, Richard... No... Ah, there he is: Valeska, Jerome."
Mason held up the file as if he'd just found the proverbial Holy Grail and not just the report on a deranged delinquent.
The man cleared his throat.
"Compared to other inmates of the asylum, his list of committed crimes is quite... short. He killed his mother in cold blood. His attitude towards his atrocious act was what got him send here in the end."
YOU ARE READING
A Study In Insanity
Fanfiction-Mister Carter had scratched the surface of the dark abyss that was Jerome Valeska, but it would be her job to reach the bottom, to find an answer as to why he thought like he did, why he'd done what he did.- A young psychologist agrees to treat Jer...
