paper love | edward nygma

Chapter 19 ○ Jokester

Grace's POV

I ran over to Commissioner Essen's office, and luckily Jim and Harvey were both in there. "Okay, sorry to interrupt, but my boyfriend works for the Gotham Gazette. He sent me a text message saying that there are bodies falling off of the roof of the building." Jim took the phone from my hands and examined the message. "Thanks, Grace, we will get cars there immediately. Let's go, Harvey." About seven police officers came to the scene. I came along too.

The bodies had letters spray painted on them. There were six bodies, each with a different letter on them. The bodies spelled out Maniax, but I didn't think it was complete yet, and apparently neither did the people on the roof. A body with an exclamation mark on it dropped in the perfect spot. I heard a delirious laughter, and it could only have been one man. It was Jerome Valeska. 

The group had apparently escaped and without a trace. There were fingerprints on the jackets the bodies were wearing, which matched up to the missing Arkham Asylum prisoners. The group was calling themselves "Maniax!" for whatever reason. They were maniacs, that was the only thing they were ever right about. 

~ ~ Time Skip (about 2 hours) ~ ~

There was a lead on the Maniax. They had driven away in a truck that was a gasoline truck of some sort. It was noticeable at least. I walked into Essen's office to hear the latest news. "So, is anything happening with the Maniax?" She crossed her arms. "Not anything yet, we just have to wait-" Jim came rushing in with suspected news. 

"The truck the Maniax were using has been seen chasing a school bus. We are sending units to respond, I'm going too." A school bus, how dreadful. There were children, they didn't deserve pain like this. "Jim, I'm coming." Jim held up his hand. "No, you aren't. You are not a cop, you don't have a vest. They are armed. Stay here, I will let you in on any updates." I pouted and agreed. 

I walked into my office and sat down. It would be a long day, so I decided to read. I loved reading Charles Dickens. He was a truly remarkable author. I heard a knock on my door after ten minutes of reading. "Come in please." Edward smiled down at me and sat down in the chair in the corner of the room. "Are you reading Dickens?" I smiled and put my bookmark in. "Yes, I was. This whole Maniax thing has me stressed." I put the book in the drawer of my desk and crossed my arms. "I'm sorry if I am causing any distress between you and your partner, I never meant it to be that way."

I chuckled and sighed. "Edward, it's not your fault. If James wants to be jealous, then let him." There was a knock on the door, who was knocking this time? I got up and opened the door, it was Jim. "Hey, I know how much you want to know what happened. Well, the rest of the Maniax got away after trying to light up a school bus, but we caught Arnold Dobkins. He got assassinated at the scene, by an unknown sniper."

"They are still on the loose? Do you have any idea on who the next target will be?" He shook his head side to side. "Nope, no leads. I'll keep you updated though." He smiled and I smiled back. I hope these bastards would be brought to justice one day.