* J *

Part One: Chapter 4: Downtown

When the cops got to their building they found Valorie Napier clutching her dead husband's body in her arms. Despite how truly devastated she appeared, the cops automatically thought of her as a potential suspect. They can't yet verify that her actions were out of grief and not guilt. Gotham was a city riddled with crime, the cops have seen it all. It certainly wouldn't be the first time someone committed a crime and immediately regretted it. Wouldn't be the first time a wife killed her husband. It wouldn't be the first time a killer put on an act in order to look innocent. So the cops approached the bloody couple on the floor with their guns drawn.

"Hands on top of your head!" One shouts with Valorie's chest in his crosshairs.

"No! No you don't understand!" She cries burying her head in her husband's neck.

One of the cops heads down the hallway of the apartment, securing the perimeter as his two co-workers handle the situation in the living room. He opens the first door on the right and finds the bathroom. He nervously enters and aims his gun at the shower. It was the only place someone could hide in the small room. He reaches out one hand and steadied his gun with the other. He quickly pulls the shower curtain back and sees that its empty. He then crosses the hall to the first door on the left.

In the living room one of the other cops harnessed his weapon and approached Valorie as his partner covered him. He attempted to pull Valorie away from the body of their victim. He has to use force to peel her away. Once he gets her on her feet they can both see that the left side of her face is swollen and had the beginnings of bruises. It definitely wasn't the first time they've seen a battered wife. Nor would it be the first time they've seen a woman snap and lash out at her abuser.

"Did he do that to your face?" Asks the one with his gun drawn on her.

She sobs louder and nods, then turning her tear filled eyes back to her husband's body. "I-I-I deserved it," she sniffles, "I stole money from his wallet."

"Hey," calls out the cop in the hallway as he stares into the first room on the left. He slowly lowers his gun.

While one cop cuffs Valorie, mostly for their own safety, the other walks over to the third cop in the hallway. He slowly peers into the room and sees a young child. The child had blood on his hands and clothes. He sat Indian style in the middle of his bed with a book in his lap. He looks up at the cops for a second and returned his gaze to his book. He seemed unsurprised by their presence in the home. One of the officers quickly puts his gun away. The other checks out the remaining room at the end of the hall.

"Hey kid, you ok? Are you bleeding?" Asks the cop approaching Jack and searching him for wounds. The child slowly shakes his head. "You sure nobody hurt you? Your dad maybe? It's safe to tell me, no one is gonna hurt you kid." The cop gently sits at the edge of the bed staring at the child. He thinks that Jack is most likely in a state of shock. "Did you see your mom and dad fighting?"

Jack's eyes look up from his book. Jack showed no signs of panic. Jack doesn't have a single tear in his eyes. Nor is his nose or eyes red from recently crying. If it wasn't for the blood on the boy the officer would think he had been in his room the whole time, unaware of the horror scene in the other room. However, the blood clearly stated that the boy was in close enough proxcimedy at some point to the crime committed. He may have seen everything. He might be able to name his mother as the killer. But obviously the child had to be in shock to appear so placid.

"Did your dad hit your mom? Did she maybe attack him for hurting her? I know you had to see something kid, there would be no other reason for the blood on you."

Jack's eyes fall down on his hands and for the first time he notices the blood on them. However, he doesn't appear to be shocked or disgusted. Nor did he seem sad or upset. He doesn't even appear to be confused. His demeanor doesn't once waiver from total ambivalence. But that's because Jack never shows what he's feeling. The cop assumes that the child's lack of emotion has to be shock. He can't hear the man in Jack's head, or what he was telling him.