Prince of Darkness ~ Gotham

~ Chapter Thirty Three: We're Toxic Together ~

With Dr. Lang's rage two seconds away from erupting like a volcano, Jim began questioning all the staff and security who were on shift that previous night. But so far, he had no luck. The last staff member left to question before resorting to the long and draining hours of questioning every patient, was another security guard named Steven. "No, man, I got my keys right here," He answered, gesturing to the ones on his belt. But he looked rather bothered by Jim's questions and refused to make eye contact. "Look at me, Steven," Jim calmly spoke but with a hint of warning. "Look at me, tell me the truth,"

Steven slowly met Jim's eyes before asking him why he was being picked on after telling the truth. "There's five other guards with keys to this wing," Stephen reminded. "True, and you're the only one who looks and smells like a hunted animal," Jim pointed out. "Whoever fried Frogman had keys. Now, we've searched all the inmates' cells, no keys. But I know they're out there, and I need to know where. I'm backed up against the wall here, and I'm starting to lose my patience. Do you understand?"

Steven nodded. "That fight... during the play. Right after, I noticed my keys were gone," He admitted, making Jim close his eyes and shake his head at the irresponsibility. "You lose equipment, that's a big deal. They dock me a week's pay, so I tracked done a spare set!" Steven added. "Who took the keys then?" Jim questioned. "I don't know. Anyone could've taken them!" Steven answered. Jim could feel a wave of frustration and anger wash over him, and the last thing he needed was to unleash it on somebody, even if that person made the dumb mistake of losing track of their keys.

"Walk away," Jim warned. Steven tried to get closer and apologize, but Jim again told him to get away. Steven finally agreed and walked down one end of the hallway while Jim stormed off in the other direction. If only Dr. Lang let Harvey and the GCPD get involved with this investigation, maybe it wouldn't have been so stressful. But again, Jim was the only one who could fix this problem.

With this knowledge, Jim and the rest of security started questioning the inmates. As Jim sat at his desk, flipping through each of the present inmate's files, Dorothy stood next to him, and a few security guards blocked the door just in case. "Inmate 5075 Jack Gruber," Jim read, looking up at the balding man who appeared to be in his mid to late 30s and wore brown circular glasses. "Inmate Gruber, did you take Officer Wenger's keys?" Jim asked. "You're looking into the sad demise of the Frogman, aren't you?" Gruber countered with unblinking eyes and a creepy smile at the corner of his lips.

"The Frogman disrupted your play last night," Jim recalled. "You didn't like him very much, did you?" "Well, I had no opinion of him. He was called the Frogman because he believed a giant bullfrog lived inside his abdomen, controlling his thoughts," Gruber chuckled. "He was already dead. I don't waste psychic energy on the dead," Jim looked back at the file, going through the lengthy list of charges Gruber had accumulated over the years. "Rape, murder, you're no stranger to violence, Gruber. Your psych evals say you're a grade-A sociopath. Why should I take your word for anything?" Jim inquired.

"You shouldn't believe everything you read, Jim," Gruber said. "May I call you Jim?" Jim quickly grew tired of this charade and once again questioned Gruber if he had taken the keys. "Please, search my cell if you do not find me trustworthy, but, no, Jim, I did not take anyone's keys," Jim returned to his notepad and crossed Gruber's name off the list just as the sociopath called one of the guards to take him back to his cell. And that was just the beginning of a long day of interviews. One by one, each inmate was called in, but they weren't as "calm and collected" as Gruber had been. Some of them tried to lunge at Jim or swipe the files off his desk. Other inmates started pounding on the desk and started crying, causing the guards to escort them out of the room.