You Got Me [Gordon]

[Heather Glass]

She looked in stunned silence down the alleyway, attempting to comprehend what she was seeing. Not more than a half dozen feet in front of her was the body of a man, with the blood still pooling beneath him from a very obvious and brutal neck wound. And just as shocking as that sight, to her at least, was the sight and feel of blood on the knife she held and on her hands. It wasn't very much blood actually, but even a little bit seemed like a lot in this context. Also, why was she holding her knife in the first place?

And she couldn't remember anything about how she ended up in this situation - not at all.

She heard a commotion over her shoulder, so she turned and saw an alarmed-looking man rounding the corner, as she was just within the alley herself. It was an older man, perhaps in his 50s, cellphone out and ready to do something, but seemed to hesitate. It took her a moment to realize why, but when she did she slowly put down the knife and stepped back a couple of steps. That seemed to reassure him enough that he was walking into the aftermath of a situation rather than a currently active situation to continue what he was doing - calling 911.

Time seemed to collapse for a moment - on some level she was aware that the man was attempting to describe what he saw before him to someone and where they were at, but that was all in the background. In the foreground, her eyes kept drifting between the blood on her hands, the knife on the ground, and the body, trying to figure out what happened. First of all, that was her knife - she recognized it. It had been floating around in her purse or pants pocket for years, but she'd never used it before. In fact, she'd questioned why she had it in the first place because she couldn't imagine having the nerve to use it even if she needed to. But there it was, covered in blood. There was a corpse with... well, she was no forensics expert, but there was no other readily apparent cause for the gash on the man's neck. And it was also on her hands...

Her slow, stunned thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a question from the man. She missed the exact words, but she understood the meaning - something about her well-being. "I... don't know..." she answered - she didn't know much of anything right now. Vaguely she heard the man explain to the person on the other end of the line that she looked like she was in shock but he didn't see any injuries. Was that true? Was she in shock? She wasn't sure... She also wasn't sure if she was uninjured - she didn't feel anything. But then, she also was feeling rather numb overall at the moment, so she wasn't necessarily certain if that meant anything or not.

There is something called the fight or flight response, where supposedly fear encourages the body to prepare to either fight off some sort of a threat or to run away from it. But that's an incomplete list, as there is a third option: freeze. It's the preferred option in situations where it's unclear whether fighting or fleeing is a better idea and sometimes it's the best option in itself. What was she supposed to do now? Nothing like this had ever happened to her before, so her mind was jumping to TV and movies - usually, if someone killed someone they ran away and tried to hide from the cops. But that's what the bad guys do, right? So she shouldn't run? Right?

How long it takes the police to respond when someone calls 911 depends on a lot of things, especially depending on the urgency of the call. But even in the most urgent situation, it can take several minutes depending on how close the nearest officer happens to be. That can seem like a long time or a short time, depending. In this case, for this young woman, standing there trying to slowly parse what happened, the minutes fly by so quickly that she hardly noticed their passage. She was still standing there, looking extremely dumbfounded, when the police arrived.

[James Gordon]

"Any unit in the area a possible code 30 just happened on Claremont Ave, Code 3 Identify." The dispatch call was broadcasted for all of the GCPD to hear. A code 30 meant homicide. The 911 call received mentioned a man that was not moving, a man that was covered in his own blood. It also mentioned a woman nearby who seemed disoriented. Three different radio car units responded to the dispatch call, the first one was only about three minutes away and the other two were about 8-10 minutes away. When a homicide happens in Gotham City, several officers are needed for a variety of reasons. Canvasing the area, knocking on doors, chasing down any possible witnesses, and so on. The first officers on the scene would gauge the situation before the detectives were called in.

Radio Car 24-C was the first to arrive on the scene, Officers Ramierez and Halling exited their vehicle. Their hands hovering over their holster as they decided to approach with caution. They stepped forward carefully, first approaching the woman that was mentioned in the call. Officer Ramirez held his hand out as he took one more step forward. "On your knees ma'am, now. With your hands on your head." They approached cautiously, trying to figure out how much of a threat this woman was. Officer Ramierez noticed the knife at her feet, he placed his hand on the latch his holster, ready to draw his weapon if needed. Each step was slow, it was possible that she could pick up the knife if she wanted and charge the two officers. However, from what they could see, it didn't look like she was in the right mind to attack anyone. GCPD regulations were still followed in order to keep the officers safe, but both Officer Ramierez and Halling thought she looked harmless. There were stories though, about officers letting their guard down and getting seriously wounded or even killed.

While the two officers were dealing with the woman, the other two radio cars arrived within a minute of each other. Sergeant Hardin and Meyer and Officers Jacobs and Polk. As soon as they exited their cars they fanned out and assessed the situation. "Officer Meyer and I will speak to the witness..." Sergeant Harin shot a look at the body that was covered in his own blood. It Looks like we have a DOA, Officer Polk, notify CSI, Homicide, and get a bus down here." Officer Polk nodded, walking off to return to the car to put in the necessary calls for the situation at hand. Officer Jacobs, assist the two officers that are with the suspect." Officer Jacobs nodded, walking off to complete the task assigned to him by his sergeant.

With tasks handed out, Sergeant Hardin and Officer Meyer approached the older man.

"Sir, my name is Sergeant Hardin and this is Officer Meyer. Were you the one that placed the 911 call? What is your name sir? And what did you see?" Officer Meyer would take out a small notebook and a golf pencil prepared to write down whatever the man was going to say.

Within moments everyone that needed to be notified was notified, and this scene was now an open murder investigation.

[Heather Glass]

It seemed to her mind as if the police officers just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, even though the lights of the approaching car had well heralded their arrival. In fact, she startled in slight surprise when she was spoken to, her head whipping around to face Officer Ramirez though her expression seemed stuck on that same look of shock. "...'kay..." she said shakily, immediately but methodically putting her hands, still marred by blood, on her head and kneeling down. There was the slightest tremble to her movements, and though her skin was quite pale normally, somehow it had found an even lighter shade to be - she was terrified. Not of the officers in particular but of the situation she'd somehow found herself in - when it came to the officers she wasn't sure if they counted as a good or bad addition to the situation. As if a part of her was desperate to ascertain that as soon as possible, she found herself staring at the one who had spoken to her.

Meanwhile, the man with the cellphone had tucked it away when the officers arrived, trying to both keep out of the way while also staying on hand. He looked somewhat disturbed himself but seeing that his call had resulted in the arrival of many people who seemed to know what they were doing seemed to settle him. "Ah, Sergeant Hardin, good! Yeah, I made the call. I'm Bryan McPherson - I own the music shop right here," he stated, pausing to tap the nearest wall of the alleyway with his fingers because it was within reach, "McPherson Music. Anyway, I didn't see very much - the girl has just been standin' there, except when I turned to look in the alley..." he gestured with his hands to indicate coming around the front of the building "...She was holdin' that knife. Everything else looked just like this already." He gestured into the alley, indicating the body.

"I was rearrangin' the guitar display and it took me a moment to realize I was hearin' a fight or somethin', but then it took me another moment to get out here and it was all over," he explained, omitting the part where he'd hesitated just a little more than he had to on purpose in hopes of missing the whole thing. Not everyone has the nerve to just charge right in when something is going down. "Maybe some of these gawkers have seen more," he added in an attempt to be helpful, indicating the small group of curious onlookers who were each attempting to see what was happening without being so obnoxious that they'd get shooed away by the police.

He was right, but also wrong - a few of them had seen the now-deceased man attempting to haul the young woman into the alley, but she'd fought back. However, all of them had been far enough away to have only seen generally what happened - some flailing arms - not give a detailed account of who did what. Though they all agreed that it had happened very quickly - maybe a dozen or so seconds between the first and last sign of a struggle.

[James Gordon]

The young woman was complying, that is a good thing. Officer Ramierez and Halling, and now Officer Jacobs finished closing in on the woman. Once Officer Ramierez was close enough he'd take her right hand and twist it to put it behind her back, he'd then reach for the handcuffs on his belt and cuff her right hand. After her right hand was cuffed, Officer Ramierez would next take the woman's left hand and drag it down so it would meet her right and, cuffing it. The woman was now in cuffs. There was a body on the ground close to where they were standing, there was a knife visible, everything about this scene appeared to be that there was a murder committed here. The motive? No one really knew, but the detectives would get here soon enough to look at the crime scene and form their own opinions on what may have or may have not happened. Officer Ramierez, Halling and Jacobs would then help the woman up and began walking her back to the car. " Are you hurt ma'am? Can you tell us your name? Can you tell us in your own words what happened?" Officer Ramierez asked, trying to piece everything together as well as he possibly could. Officer Hallings took out his note-book, ready to jot down the woman's responses. The responding officers were always required to receive initial statements for witnesses and possible suspects when first arriving on the scene.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Harding and Officer Meyer were speaking to the witness. A Mr. Bryan Mcpherson, owner of the music store that had an exit that led out into this alley. Sergeant Harding nodded his head at everything that Mr. McPherson said while Officer Meyer jotted it down. He was going to reply but was unable to before Officer Polk approached. "Sir, emergency personnel, Crime scene investigation, and Homicide have been notified." Sergeant Hardin nodded in approval, focusing his attention on Officer Polk for a moment. "Good work, Officer. See that group over there? According to Mr. McPherson here, they might know some. Would you mind questioning them?"

"Right away sir." Officer Polk would turn and walk away to question the onlookers that were starting to gather.

"Okay, Mr. McPherson, is there anything else you can remember?" Sergeant Hardin asked before looking around and taking in his surroundings. He'd notice two security cameras that were right outside of Mr. McPherson's music store. "Would you mind getting your surveillance tapes for us, Mr. McPherson? They will be returned to you."

While Sergeant Hardin and Meyer were still talking to Mr. McPherson, Officer Polk approached the grouping of civilians that had started to gather outside of the alley.

"Good Morning everyone. I'm Officer Polk. Did any of ya'll see any of what happened?" The middle-aged cop asked in a slight southern accent. He appeared to have a friendly and patient air about him.

The unraveling of the Crime Scene was happening slowly, but surely. The Detectives and Crime Scene investigation would soon arrive on the scene and the suspect would eventually be taken to the closest GCPD Precinct for questioning.

[Heather Glass]

When Officer Ramierez took hold of her hands, he found her to be every bit as compliant as he would hope, her arms practically limp in his grasp as he cuffed her. She was really too busy just trying to keep herself from freaking out to do much else. She wasn't even sure what 'freaking out' would entail in this instance: Trying to make a break for it? Bursting into tears? Fainting? All of those seemed like possibilities, but none of them seemed like good ideas so she just tried to keep breathing and keep her thoughts from racing. 'It will be okay,' she mentally repeated to herself, trying to get herself to believe it. It wasn't very effective though, because there were a lot of things going on that seemed to be evidence that the words weren't true.

She was pulled somewhat out of that thought track when she was physically pulled to her feet. If they hadn't noticed earlier, they'd probably notice at this point because they were standing right next to her: she's a small young woman, only a couple inches over five feet. And while she wasn't underweight, she was still on the thin side and has the physique of someone who might accidentally get some exercise by walking places sometimes. That didn't mean that she was physically incapable of doing what she apparently did, but it did mean that she would be at a huge physical disadvantage in a fight against your standard adult male.

In keeping with the rest of her compliance, she was also quite willing to be taken to the car. Some of the questions, however, seemed to trip her up. "I don't... I don't know..." she answered the first because she still didn't feel like she'd had a chance to take proper stock of herself. She wasn't bleeding, obviously, but bruises and other things like that? She wouldn't know. "I'm Heather Glass," she added, because she knew her name easily enough, though he question reminded her, "Where's my purse?" Because she honestly had no idea and it suddenly occurred to her that she probably had it with her - she usually did. The question was quiet, though, because it seemed to her like a smaller problem at the moment. It would likely be found soon in any event, because it had merely ended up being flung aside during the altercation, landing among the random debris in the alley.

Though when she tried to answer the last question, her face wrinkled in confusion. "I don't... I mean, I can't..." she said, her words starting and stopping, mentally and emotionally lost with that question. Though getting some physical distance from the body and the horrible confusion that seemed to permeate the air around it definitely helped. In fact, when they stepped out of the alley and she glanced around, her confusion seemed to ease a little. "I was walking home... from the subway station..." she said as if she was just remembering that now. But her words stopped there, even though that was hardly anything.

Meanwhile, Bryan McPherson seemed quite unbothered when the officer he was speaking to got interrupted - if anything, seeing that there was a lot of manpower being put into clearing up the problem that had appeared in his alley seemed to comfort him. Though when asked if there was anything else, he was silent for a moment as he gave the question some serious thought. "Well, now, I don't know if it really means anythin' but it occurs to me that it was too quiet. I heard a fight - you know, grunts, gasps, but nobody cried out before or durin' - not for help, not at each other, nothin'. There wasn't any yellin' at all until, well, I guess the sound of that." He tilted his head to indicate the body. "I don't know, is that weird?" he asked, unsure himself but clearly wanting to mention anything that might be important.

Though he seemed to immediately brighten somewhat when the cameras were mentioned. "Ah yes, the cameras! ...Not sure if they would catch the alley here - I've got 'em focused on the doorways. But everyone's got cameras around here - the neighborhood is goin' downhill fast. Everyone is probably closed at this hour, but I can get you the cellphone numbers of my neighbors - we all look after each other. At least one of them will have it for sure," he said with some confidence before he turned to go retrieve what he had.

At the invitation of Officer Polk, several witnesses were quick to identify themselves. Three of them in particular actually saw some of it, and provided a nearly consistent narrative - they'd each been about their own business when the sound of a struggle attracted their attention. They looked up and saw a man - the one now dead in the alley - holding the woman now being taken away in handcuffs and trying to haul her off into the alley. She was slowing him down somewhat with her struggles, but he was simply so much bigger and stronger than her that he was holding her from behind and able to lift her off the ground without too much trouble. But then he'd managed to carry her into the alley, which was out of sight of these witnesses. A couple of them had made a run for it, but the nearest was over a block away and didn't arrive until after Mr. McPherson was already on the scene.

A few others also reported that they had heard something, but though they'd been nearby at the time they'd been indoors and could only give an account similar to Mr. McPherson's, except they heard less and were even slower to arrive on the scene because they were further away.

[James Gordon]

The scene was slowly starting to come together, the main witness and the man that called 911 was cooperating with the police. He gave his statement, mentioned that the tapes could be used by the police and other witnesses were adding what they saw as well. A man that was much larger than the woman carried her off into the alley. Bit by bit, this started to look like it was some sort of mugging gone wrong, and that Heather was simply defending herself. That is what Officer Polk was starting to learn as he continued to question the witnesses. They gave their eye witness accounts the best they could. After he was finished questioning them he gathered all of their names as well as their personal info just in case the GCPD needed to contact them again.

Heather, the woman that was now in handcuffs still seemed so disoriented, she didn't seem to know what was going on. Officer Ramierez was still talking to the woman, who had know identified herself as Heather Glass. "Okay so you were walking home, what happened next? Do you... remember the man at all? The man in the alley?" Mr. McPhreson and the others were painting a picture that Heather didn't seem to be aware of, it was very possible she was in shock.

Meanwhile, Officer Meyer kept writing down what Mr. McPherson was saying and Sergeant Hardin was preparing to wrap up his line of questioning. "Alright Mr. McPherson, get those numbers for us. I'll have you hand them over to the detectives alright? They should be here soon. Officer Meyer and I just recorded your official statement, but the detectives might have some follow up questions. Do you have a number or home address we can reach you at if you're not at your business, sir?" Once finished writing down what Mr. McPherson said, Officer Meyer would close his notebook, and take a deep breath.

The patrol officers were starting to wrap up what was required of them, a few moments later a 2010 Toyota Avalon would pull up. Detective Sergeant Paul Krause and Detective Randy Haig would exit the vehicle and approach Officer Ramierez, Halling, and Jacobs. Sergeant Harding and Officer Meyer were now taking the statements of the other witnesses.

"Alright, alright you called us and we're here. What do you got for us?" Detective Sergeant Krause was a tall man with broad shoulders. He had blonde hair and an extremely thin hairline. His eyes were partially bloodshot and it looks like he went ten rounds with the devil known as alcohol. Despite all that he seemed that he was very present and ready.

"Well sir, we got the call saying that this woman, Heather Glass was standing over the Vic in the alley back there. We haven't looked at the body yet sir."

"You haven't? Hell, I like you boys already, you did your job and are allowing us to do ours." He smiled briefly before turning his attention to the woman. "Your name is Heather, is that right? Did you kill that man, Heather? Was he trying to hurt you?" He asked hard questions but he asked them very carefully. After she answered his first question, Krause decided he and his partner would look at the scene to get a better idea of what happened before they questioned her further.

"Looks to me that she's out of her damned mind. Take her back to GPP, that'll be our first stop once we're done here." Krause stated before leaving the patrol officers and Heather. He and his partner stepped into the alleyway. Both of them put on gloves and got down to work.

[Heather Glass]

Among all the confused thoughts racing through her head, and even more currently being held at bay by her mind attempting to not let the situation overwhelm her, even one piece of remembered information was a great relief! She recognized this street - she'd walked it many times, actually, because the route provided her with the best access to the subway station. She couldn't recognize it from inside of the alley, but actually this is a familiar place even if she was more accustomed to seeing it during the day. All at once, she went from feeling completely lost to, at the very least, knowing where she was and what she was doing there.

But Officer Ramierez's questions gave that feeling of orientation a proverbial slap in the face. "Uhhh..." she said, her face falling slightly as her look of confusion became somewhat pained. She was a forgetful person, she knew that, but this was beyond ridiculous! Something terribly bad had happened, clearly, so why didn't she remember? But wasn't it normal for people to forget traumatic things? Sometimes? Maybe? "No, I didn't recognize him..." she finally answered, not sounding very confident, though that could have simply been because she was distracted by her own effort to recall more information. She really wanted to, not just to answer the questions being asked but also because she really wanted to know herself.

Meanwhile, Bryan McPherson was nodding, "Yes, of course!" He was quick to reach into his front pocket and pull out a business card, writing a phone number on the back of it before handing it over. "My cellphone - I can be reached at that number any time you need," he said with a nod, before turning back to retrieve the numbers and recordings.

Still attempting to remember the answers to the very reasonable questions that the cops were asking, Heather simply waited to see what would happen to her next. Even more cops with even more questions, apparently. Even if she weren't feeling like she was in a bit of a daze, her awareness of her surroundings coming and going, she felt like she wouldn't have been able to keep track of anything around her except maybe the presence of the officers staying next to her. So when these questions came, asked by someone else, she floundered a bit. Not at the first one, because her name was something she couldn't have been more certain about. "Yeah?" she answered, but the actually important questions that followed prompted only a frustrated exhale at first. She seemed to mull it over in her mind for an agonizing moment, finally muttering, "I don't... think I could..." Her voice was quiet as she said those words, which were basically what she had been thinking to herself this entire time.

Though the expression on her face shifted from a confused frown to more of an actually upset frown at the detective's parting words. She didn't say anything else until he was way out of earshot, but she muttered, mostly to herself, "I'm not crazy..."

When the detectives started looking through the crime scene, the evidence they found was actually quite straightforward. The knife, still where Heather had left it, was a single-purpose folding knife with a 3-inch blade. Though it was simple in design, the materials it was made of were high enough in quality to put it in a mid-tier price range - not a cheap blade purchased on a whim, but also not one only a knife enthusiast would be likely to buy. There were plenty of signs of wear on the handle, indicating that it wasn't new, but aside from the notable exception of the blood currently on the blade, it looked clean and well-maintained.

From approximately the position of the knife to the body, a significant amount of blood colored the concrete - showing that the lethal injury had likely occurred where she'd been standing but he had moved away from her about eight feet before he collapsed, probably stumbling backward because he was facing toward the alley's entrance. And it wasn't difficult to guess even without a proper autopsy what the exact cause of death probably was; the wound on the left part of his neck was not at all shallow, and it also wasn't a simple in-and-out stab wound - he probably bled out very quickly. There was also another obvious wound, but this one was superficial - a fresh, thin cut along his cheekbone, also on the left side, but not even significant enough that it would have required stitches.

When they checked the alley for less obvious evidence, they'd locate Heather's purse among some unrelated trash bags to one side of the same area where the knife was found. It was a trendy but not expensive red handbag, very clearly hers because the wallet inside had her ID and other cards, all with her name and face on them. Her cellphone was also inside, as were a number of other less notable items - simply the few things any other young woman might carry around for convenience like her makeup. There were also a couple of receipts from earlier that day - one for groceries bought that afternoon, and another for a late dinner and a couple of cocktails at a bar earlier in the evening.

[James Gordon]

As the detectives walked away, Officers Ramierez and Halling would help Heather into the car. Once they shut the door they'd each get in, start the car and look back for a moment. "Alright Ms. Glass we're heading back to the precinct okay? Do you have any questions for us? You seem... confused." Officer Ramierez would pull the radio car out of its parking spot, merging into traffic. The woman, heather seemed to be a little confused with what was going on. She didn't seem like someone that just took a life, but shock was normal after an incident like this. Gotham Police plaza was about ten minutes away from where they were at this very moment, they'd be able to get her there and set her up in an interview room while they waited for the detectives.

Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Krause and Detective Haig were going over the scene in the alley. Krause would kneel down at the victim, examining his wounds. "One deep stab wound in the neck area, probably hit an artery." He'd stand up again, following the blood trail. "Trail ends here... and starts over... here." The victim lost a lot of blood, and it appeared that he lost it very quickly. Detective Haig kneeled as well, searching the body to see if he could find anything on the corpse. He noticed that the victim was carrying a weapon. ".38 revolver, obviously didn't have time to use it." Krause's ears perked up at the comment that the victim had a weapon. He returned to Detective Haig and crossed his arms. "Had a gun? You find the wallet yet? Did we get an ID on this guy?" Krause asked, staring at the dead body.

Detective Haig shook his head, he hadn't gotten that far. He didn't say anything before he started fishing through the victims pockets. He finally found a wallet. "Here's the wallet... Looks like a Steve Carbone." Krause uncrossed his arms, swearing under his breath as he put his hands on his hips. "Did you say Carbone? Think that's any relation to Frankie Carbone?" Detective Haig shrugged, deciding to stand up. "Frankie Carbone? Isn't that a Maroni guy?" Krause would nod affirmatively. "Not just any Maroni guy. One of the underbosses, knew Sal since he was a kid. This guy is young enough, could be the younger kid brother?" Krause would shake his head, there was a look of disappointment on his face. He wasn't really sure what could happen next but if this Vic was related to Frankie? Then whenever he found out, it was very possible that bad things would happen.

Krause and Haig weren't able to get much further in their little investigation before CSI arrived on the scene. "Detectives, I'm Gil Jackson. I work the dayshift, is there anything myself and my team should know" Detective Krause and Detective Haig approached CSI Jackson and his team, handshakes were exchanged right before they got down to business. "Well Gil, we got a stabbing victim, if you and your team could sweep the alley for evidence that'd be great. Murder weapon is present, and nothing has been bagged yet. My partner and I are gonna question the witnesses before heading back to GPP to question the witness. Is there anything you require from us, Gil?" He'd shake his head, placing his kit down on the ground and opening it. The CSI team was already taking pictures and putting on their gloves. "We'll call you if there is Detective, happy hunting."

Detective Sergeant Krause and Detective Haig exited the alley, questioning the witnesses and Bryan McPherson. They spent the next three hours talking to witnesses, knocking on doors and checking all of the businesses that had cameras in the alley. After all of that, they finally managed to get statements from the witnesses including Bryan McPerhson and they had all the tapes from every building that had cameras facing out towards the alley. Now that they had all that it was time for them to head back to GPP and question the witness. Krause got in the car first, followed by Haig. "What do you think about all this?" Detective Haig reached for a bottle of water that was in the cup holder, taking a drink. "Well for one I think that McPherson fella is too nice for his own good. Also that's a helluva lot of tapes to go through. Heather seemed out of her mind, yeah?" Krause nodded in approval. The two discussed the case and their thoughts on the case as they were returning to GPP.

Ten minutes later they arrived, both exiting the car at the same time. They walked into the building and would head back up to homicide on the fourth floor, where Heather was probably waiting. She would have been checked and have been waiting for close to four hours now. Detective Krause and Detective Haig finally made it to the fourth floor, they exited the elevator and approached the Lieutenant Kitsuragi. "Hey Lieutenant, you know where patrol stashed our suspect? A heather glass?" Krause place his hands on his hips, waiting for the Lieutenants answer. "Interview room 3, Gentlemen." Krause smiled, starting to walk away. "Thanks Lieutenant, lunch tomorrow? I'll buy."

"Sure, Sergeant Krause. I'll never miss an opportunity to make you pay for lunch. Good luck, both of you." Both detectives smiled, heading towards interview room 3.

They would enter the room. "Ms. Heather Glass... So sorry to keep you waiting. So let's start from the beginning. What happened? How did it happen? Take your time, try to remember all that you can."

[Heather Glass]

With the doors shut and the car started, Heather was still trying to process what was going on. But perhaps it was the fact that they were now headed away from that awful scene with not just the body but the noise and so many different people, and she was instead contained in the relatively quiet calm of the back seat of a cop car, something in the question asked seemed to loosen something in her emotions.

"Confused? Of course, I'm confused... why wouldn't I be? I've never been in a cop car before, I've never been arrested," she said, and stinging tears suddenly started pouring down her face, "I was just walking home and... and... that guy was dead... and I don't know what happened... I..." That was about all she was able to say before she was crying so hard that the vast majority of her words were completely unintelligible and most of the words that could be made out were simply expletives.

But though the sudden torrent of emotion was intense, it was also relatively brief in actual minutes - at least at that intensity. Her need to stop and breathe prevented her from being that hysterical for too long and that seemed to settle her nerves to somewhere more stable. By the time they were arriving, her tears were down to a trickle as she quietly asked, "Can we get the blood off my hands? Because there's blood... on my hands..." She remained cooperative as she was checked, too focused on trying to end her tears to fuss too much about all the police procedures - she didn't like to cry in front of everyone, but she couldn't help it. At least she couldn't at first, but she managed to get some sort of a handle on her emotions somewhere along the line.

They found literally nothing else on her - she was fond of wearing T-shirts and trendy jeans and, as any woman fond of trendy jeans knows, the pockets are mostly for show. So she'd long been in the habit of keeping everything in her purse instead. Though it would be at that time noted that she had a few large, fresh bruises on her arms and a shoulder - not as impressive now as they would be in a couple of days, but they were the evidence that she'd not gotten through the situation completely unscathed.

Finally, when they were through with her, they left her to wait for the detectives. Knowing that they would ask her more questions, she used the time to try to remember anything at all more about what happened. But her brain seemed to remain mostly uncooperative, though she thought that she could remember a few things here and there. When they arrived, they'd see her sitting there, head held up by one of her hands on her face, and the eyes she turned toward them now were no longer the wide but otherwise blank eyes of someone in shock but those of miserable young woman who'd had a good cry and was trying not to have another.

But as they came in she tried to steady herself, responding to the question, not with words at first, but a deep breath. "Okay... so... okay..." she said, making a couple of false starts before she found a groove, "So I was walking home from the subway station. I go that way all the time, because I ride the subway a lot and, you know, it's the fastest way. So I'm walking and..." She paused, faltering a bit. She turned her face away from them to look at the table. Her hand shifted to touch one of the bruises on her arms and she added, "I was grabbed..." She gave a sharp, humorless exhale and said, "Probably hear it all the time, but 'it all happened so fast'. I mean, I don't even think I... I don't know how I could have..." She trailed off for a moment but then came back with, "I mean, just because I own a knife, because it makes me feel better, doesn't mean that I know how to use it!"

[James Gordon]

Detective Krause would sit in the chair opposite of Heather and Detective Haig began to pace around the room. Krause nodded at what Heather was saying and was listening intently. He started to visualize the crime scene in different ways. Heather Glass was on the way home from the subway station, takes the route often. "Where were you coming from? A job? School? How long have you been walking along that same route, have you ever had any trouble before?" Krause asked, trying to get out as many details as he could. He'd cross his arms and blink a few times. "And you say you didn't know this man, Ms. Glass?" Detective Haig would ask, ceasing his pacing. Krause would uncross his arms and reach in his suit jacket for a flask. He unscrewed the cap and took a swig.

"Really, Paul? In front of the girl?" Detective Krause stifled a chuckle and put the cap back on, stashing the flask back in his jacket. "Hell, Randy Heather here needs a drink more than both of us combined." He stated, Detective Haig, smirked for a moment before starting up his pacing again. Detective Krause would consider his next questions very carefully. He recalled the blood at the crime scene, there were some superficial wounds on the face of the victim, but there was one main wound that would be considered the fatal wound. There will be an autopsy done at some point, but any detective worth his salt would be able to know what happened and how it happened. It was a pretty straight forward stabbing, most detectives in Gotham were thankful when they had a case this simple.

She said she didn't know how to use it, but the stab wound was one made with precision, or at least that is how it first appeared. Perhaps the video would reveal more. "How long have you had the knife, Ms. Glass? Where did you buy it? Have you ever used it like this before?" He asked a lot of questions, and she gave answers. By conducting this interview the way they were, they were looking at all the responses Heather was giving them. They were looking for lies, holes in the story. She seemed so confused about what happened, and even there were witnesses that saw some of what happened, it was going to be difficult to discern the full truth of the matter.

After the first round of questioning, Detective Krause shot a look at Detective Haig. Haig would nod and walk towards the door. Both detectives knew that they'd need to review the tapes first before they continued. They could form opinions now, but until all the evidence was reviewed, they wouldn't be able to make a decision on what the fate of Heather Glass should be. Detective Krause would stand up and walk towards the door. "Well, Ms. Glass you have been very cooperative so far. My partner and I have to review some evidence, but we'll come back alright? An officer will be in shortly to see if you need anything, water or something to eat, okay?" The two detectives would leave, walking to the office they'd be able to review the tapes in. "What do you make of her?"

Detective Haig approached the office door, opening it and allowing Detective Krause to go in first. "I dunno, looks open and shut... but you never know. Let's see what the tapes have for us." They'd both enter the office, take the tapes they have gathered and started watching them. Only watching the hours when the crime would have taken place.

[Heather Glass]

The questions that Krause asked first prompted a brief look of relief - easy questions! Except when she opened her mouth to answer them, nothing came out. Her expression became confused - where had she been coming from? "Oh... um... well, no - I don't have a job right now, and I'm done with school. I was just... 'out'... I remember I got a drink from... somewhere..." she frowned at her inability to recall, "It's been a long night..." As if that would excuse her lapses in memory.

"I've gone that way since I moved into that apartment, so about a year. And no, nothing like that, ever. Worst thing I can remember happening is just seeing people I thought might be shifty sometimes, but I didn't even know and they never talked to me or anything," she added much more smoothly because that part she could recall easily, and her eyes lifted back from the table as she was able to speak more confidently. Similarly, Haig's question got an immediate, "No, I'm pretty sure I've never even seen him before."

When Krause pulled out a flask and the two detectives joked about it, she gave the vague sort of smile one gives when someone recognizes that something is funny, but simply isn't in a mood to find much of anything funny. She was simply too troubled by her present circumstances to do better than that. When there was a pause in their questions for thought, she shifted uncomfortably in her seat - she was trying her best to be forthcoming but was troubled herself by the questions that she couldn't answer and was quite worried that the holes she couldn't fill in might lead them to a nasty conclusion.

Though the questions she was asked after that pause were ones she knew the answers to, at least - she was almost relieved as she started answering. "Oh, I got it something like five or six years ago - I don't remember where, but it was back when I lived in Kansas. My father is... not a good guy, and he was upset when he found out that I was moving out right after high school. So I got it, just in case, though nothing happened. And I've just kept it in my purse, because, you know, Gotham..." she explained easily, but she became a bit more anxious as she added, "But that's what I'm saying - no, I've never used it anything like that! I know to wave it around to get someone to back off." She mimed brandishing a knife. "But n... not... that," she finished, her eyes starting to well up again but she lifted her head and took a deep breath to force them back down.

Fortunately, that proved to be the last question for the moment. She didn't trust herself to speak, so she simply nodded an acknowledgment when the detective said that they'd be back. As they left she simply tried to get ahold of herself again - she'd already cried in front of people more than she wanted to today.

As Mr. McPherson had said, pretty much every business in that area had cameras, which amounted to a lot of tapes. Though in the end, the number that was actually useful was small. Most were focused on the entrance areas to their respective stores and only happened to catch a glimpse of the struggle on the sidewalk, but the store on the opposite side of the alleyway from the music shop was a pawn shop owned by someone who was probably quite paranoid if the quality and positioning of their surveillance cameras were any indication of their personality.

In the end, the cameras were able to piece together a narrative of what had happened: the victim appeared first, walking down the sidewalk. Due to the nature of the cameras, facial expressions were often difficult to read, but his movements seemed to be purposely casual as he looked around himself as he walked. As he approached the alley, he took one last look around and rounded the corner as if he did so every day. However, the moment that he got into the entrance of the alley, a spot covered by a camera from the pawnshop, he immediately flattened himself against the wall and positioned himself just past the corner - obviously trying to be as invisible as possible but, at the same time, staying close to the sidewalk. There he waited.

Less than a minute later, Heather came walking down the sidewalk, going the same way. She was looking around herself too, but her manner was more openly wary - she had her hand on her purse, holding it to her side. As she approached the alley, her pace slowed until finally stopping completely when she was quite close but still probably out of view of the man waiting there, though she was looking directly at it. The man seemed to be aware that she'd stopped, probably hearing her footsteps, and he shifted impatiently. Finally, after a moment of hesitation, she deliberately angled herself to walk on the far edge of the sidewalk, as close to the street as possible, still eyeing the entrance of the alley.

Though when she stepped to where she would have come into view of the man, he suddenly ran at her. Almost looking prepared for this, she turned to run but her reflexes proved to not be up to that task - she didn't manage to get very far before he grabbed her from behind. However, this was definitely a deviation from the eyewitness accounts - they stated that they saw the struggle happening near the alley entrance, giving the impression that it hadn't been that far out. Though perhaps that's where Mr. McPherson's statement that he didn't hear her scream factored in - his hand didn't go over her mouth, but though her exact expression was obscured by the quality of the video, her mouth looked like it was only slightly open in an expression of surprise rather than a scream.

She did struggle quite ferociously, managing to slow the man down as he grappled with her, but he had her from behind and, after a few moments, he managed to get enough of a grip on her to lift her from the ground and carry her toward the alley in spite of her struggles. Seeming to notice this, as they approached the entrance of the alley her tactics shifted. Before she'd been trying to kick him or twist herself free, but now her hand went to her purse, and then her whole effort went into getting just her right arm free.

At that point, they were just inside the alley and the camera from the pawnshop was the only one able to provide a view. But the extra quality it provided and the ability to watch it back more slowly were a godsend for being able to see exactly what happened. There was a flick of her wrist, obviously to quickly open the blade. Which she then thrust over her shoulder toward his face. It wasn't clear that he even knew she was suddenly armed, but he quickly through his head away from the movement of her hand. She'd come close to stabbing him right in the face, though - this would be the most likely moment that the cut to his cheek happened. His attempt to avoid the sudden attack apparently loosened some of his grip on her, though, and her feet were back on the ground.

She was able to twist her body around at that moment, her now-ignored purse being flung to the side during that movement, though he was still gripping her left arm. But he still had his head shifted to avoid her first blow which, unfortunately for him, gave her the very clear target of his neck. She instantly went for it, stabbing him hard and giving her wrist a quick twist as she pulled it out again. Now he let go of her, staggering backward and clutching at his neck. He backed up far enough that he was out of view of the pawn shop's camera, but the one from the music shop that was focused on the alley door included the spot where the man expired.

Still within the view of the pawnshop camera, Heather stood there and watched, looking quite composed about the situation. Until, when the man had stilled, she could be seen looking down at her hands in apparent surprise, and only a moment later Mr. McPherson could be seen exiting his shop from the front and rounding the corner. The two looked at each other for a moment, but Heather slowly put the knife on the ground where the detectives later found it, backing a few steps away from it. This seemed to give the shop owner some confidence and he stepped further into the alley and brought a cellphone to his ear, clearly making the 911 call.

[James Gordon]

Detective Sergeant Krause and Detective Haig started viewing the tapes, there were so many that it took them a few hours to get through all of them. Most of them were worthless, but in most of them, they saw the victim and Heather at least once. They were both in an office, sitting down in front of the monitor as they put in the tapes and reviewed them. They took turns when it came to changing the tapes, and neither of them was too interested. That was until they finally got to the tape that belonged to McKlusky's pawn, it was another store that was connected to the alley. "McKlusky's? Why do I always see this particular pawn shop pop up? Must have been involved in four or five of my cases these past couple'a years." Detective Haig would shrug, deciding not to indulge Krause.

Detective Krause held the tape from the pawnshop in his hands, noticing his partner's chosen silence. "Fine. We gotta couple after this one, let's see if we can find anything. We've already seen our Vic and Ms. Glass. Vic looks like he was waitin' for her but we haven't seen where. Quality is shit, and we've only seen very small bits of the struggle. Hope that there's somethin' here, for her sake." Detective Krause popped in the tape and then shot a glance at his partner. "Well the narrative is in her favor... Vic was a known low-life with ties to the mob. What do you think he was after her? I doubt it was a robbery, was he looking to rape her?" Krause took his hand and began rubbing his nose as he let out a deep sigh. Before he hit play on the tape, he'd take out the flask again and take a swig. "Randy, I'd say the city is going to shit but that's been the case fer... How old is Gotham?" Detective Haig would shrug again before gesturing towards the TV.

"Play the tape, will ya? I'm starting to get hungry." Krause let out a brief chuckle and hit play on the tape. Both detectives watched closely, the pawnshop tape seemed to be the missing link in this case. Not only did it have a perfect angle, the quality of this recording equipment was miles better than the others. "Well I'll be goddamned, props to Mr. McKlusky for being a paranoid old man." They'd watch the struggle, and they'd watch Heather almost completely change her demeanor. She went from kicking and twisting to going for her purse. There was no scream either, just a look of surprise. When Heather drew the knife, she brandished it like she knew what she was doing. The victim moved his head to avoid an attack, which is what gave Heather the opening she needed. She went for the opening without hesitation, the thrust into his neck was quick and calculated.

"This look like a confused and scared girl to you? She didn't scream when he first grabbed her either, the music man's statement matches up." When the victim bled out and slumped, Detective Krause shifted himself in his chair. "Not really, maybe she was still in shock?" They saw what happened next, the moments before Mr. McPherson would enter the alley and called the police. Heather looked almost too calm, almost like she was fully aware of what she was doing. "What's the deal with this girl?" Detective Haig shook his head, standing up from the chair and moving to cross his arms. "Dunno, let's finish the rest of these tapes then get some food. Girl probably hasn't eaten for hours." Detective Krause would nod, stopping the tape. Detective Haig would then pop in the next tape and the two would finish watching the tapes.

It was another hour and thirty minutes, it was 4am. The stabbing happened hours ago, and Detective Haig and Detective Krause decided to play the long game with this one. There wasn't something off about this entire case, but they couldn't really put their finger on it. The pair would leave the viewing room and made their way a block away from GCPD plaza to go to a twenty-four-hour diner. They grabbed burgers and a salad (Just in case Heather was vegetarian). Detective Haig's wife was vegetarian so this was a practice he followed with everyone when he didn't know their food choices. They made it back to the station and into the elevator by 4:30. The bullpen was pretty empty at this point, Detective Haig and Detective Krause entered the interview room. Detective Krause threw the bag with Heather's food choices on the table and he and Detective Haig sat down. "Salad or a burger, pick whichever you want." There was a bottle of water in the bag as well. It was possible that she had requested a drink or snack item from the other detectives, but she has been in this interview room for a very long time.

"Okay... we're starting from the beginning. Start with you walking down the sidewalk near the alley, and then go from there. As many details as you can remember, please." The detective unwrapped his burger and took a bite, wondering what was going to happen next. If she gave the same exact story as she did earlier, then the detectives might have to press her harder.

[Heather Glass]

Though it was so late that it was actually early, Heather didn't feel tired. Or at least she didn't feel sleepy - even though she was left waiting for a long time while they reviewed whatever evidence they were reviewing, she was too concerned about what might happen and was still trying to remember what she'd forgotten. And also trying to forget what she did remember because the sight of the bloodied man in the alley seemed to be burned into her memory and it was hardly a pleasant image. The thought of actual rest would still take at least a few hours to catch up with her.

But by this point, she'd been mentally agonizing over her situation for hours, and it had happened at the end of a full day, so she was definitely mentally weary. She was simply sitting there with her head resting in her hands when the detectives came in. She looked at the bag and, though a part of her was just as uninterested in food as she'd been when she'd been offered a snack earlier, the scent of food made her realize that she was physically hungry even if her mind wasn't quite into it. She pulled out the hamburger and water bottle, already unwrapping it when she said, "Thank you." It wasn't a bad burger, but she still ate it rather mechanically, her mind elsewhere. She was also quick to set it down and open the water bottle too - she'd shed a lot of tears earlier and it was catching up with her just how thirsty she was.

These basic needs met, she let herself enjoy it for just a moment before she sighed and acknowledged that she'd been asked a question. Even with the food and water to ease the situation, it sounded like they were starting the same set of questions again and she didn't like having to answer them the first time. She put down the water bottle, and gave Detective Krause a weary look as she said, "I remember I was walking down the sidewalk. And then I was grabbed. And then the guy was dead, and I was holding my knife, and there was blood everywhere..." She trailed off, shook her head, and looked down at the barely touched burger in front of her as she lamely added, "That's really all I remember."

And there went her appetite again... Though she reached for the water bottle again, because that seemed like it still might be palatable at the moment and now that she had it within arms reach she really was quite thirsty.

[James Gordon]

Detective Krause and Detective Haig listened to Heather give her testimony once more after having viewed the videotapes. She didn't remember much of anything at all, it was very sparsely detailed. Why was that? Almost anyone else in her shoes would remember the most vital parts of what happened. She had killed a man, and in the tapes, she looked like she knew exactly what she was doing. Like she was born to use that knife, she definitely didn't look like someone that owned a knife just because her father was an unsavory human being. Detective Krause wasn't even able to finish half of his burger before Heather finished her side of the story. He would shoot a confused look over at Haig before setting his burger down on the table in front of him. He'd slide back in the chair he was sitting in, standing up. "Ms. Glass, would you mind excusing us for a moment?" He'd signal Detective Haig to stand up and follow him outside of the interview room.

Both of them left for a moment, Detective Krause stuffed his hands in both of his pockets. "What the hell is going on, Randy? This girl doesn't remember a damn thing. If the tapes showed her to be frantic during the stabbing then maybe I'd say she was in shock but she looked so calm, so content?" Detective Krause seemed to be having a pretty difficult time piecing everything together, while Detective Haig looked calm as ever. He was close to his retirement so he didn't care as much about this case as Krause. "Look, there's plenty of actual evidence pointing at this being an open and shut self-defense case. What more do you want, Paul? "

Detective Krause shook his head. "That's what's bothering me, that's exactly what's bothering me. All of the pieces are there, why does it look like she's lying to us? What does she have to gain exactly? Maybe she doesn't trust cops, but people that are normally in this situation are very descriptive." Detective Krause would shrug and sigh lightly. "Well there's one way to find out partner. If you really care that much, let's put a little pressure on her." Detective Krause would nod, and both men would head back into the room.

They simultaneously took their seats and Detective Krause returned to his burger as he had never left it. "So... Ms. Glass. You said you've trained with your knife before? That you know exactly what soft spots to go for in the case you need to use the knife?" Detective Krause took another bite of his burger right before Detective Haig jumped in. "Now, now Paul that's not what she said, is it Paul? Why would you accuse the nice lady here of such a thing? She said she didn't really know how to use it, right? She just knew to wave it when she wanted to get someone to back off."

Both Detective Krause and Detective Haig paused for a moment, both staring at Heather with piercing eyes. Krause looked more fierce, more forceful while Haig looked more friendly and sincere. They were doing the oldest trick in the book of policing. "Good cop, bad cop."

"Well, Heather? Which is it?" Detective Krause would ask, finally finishing his burger. He leaned in closer to look at Heather. His gaze couldn't be broken, he was attempting to apply as much pressure as possible without breaking the poor girl. It felt like she was hiding something, even if she still acted in self-defense. The detectives wouldn't push too hard, only far enough to see if Detective Krause's suspicion had any merit.

[Heather Glass]

In the silence after she restated what she remembered, beyond having to cope with the memory of the alley again, she was also aware that what she'd said was inadequate. It troubled her a lot, but she wasn't sure what to do about it. In fact, it occurred to her that maybe, since she couldn't remember, she should try saying that she did just to make it seem more normal. But that wouldn't be the truth, though, and the whole prospect of trying to lie to the cops was terrifying.

Besides, someone lying to the cops for more normal reasons had the benefit of actually knowing the truth and therefore could shape a lie around it. Someone who genuinely doesn't know anything about the situation can only make shot-in-the-dark guesses about what story would sound plausible, so she didn't have any sort of a basis here to even guess about what to say other than to tell what truth she did know.

Was she going to jail? Prison? She tried to banish the thought from her mind - she'd been grabbed, so she was defending herself, and that's not wrong, right? ...But it seemed that she'd done something she knew that she wouldn't and couldn't have done...

She didn't react when the detectives excused themselves - she was too pensive to really notice that it was technically a question and would it have mattered if she'd objected? Of course, the moment that they left all she could think about is what they were talking about without her. She had no idea but it was easy for her to think of all sorts of possibilities and none of them were good. The relatively brief period of time while they stepped out wasn't enough for her to get her appetite back again, though she surely had one buried somewhere beneath her emotions. She still hung onto the water bottle almost like a security blanket, though.

When they returned, her eyes shifted to them worriedly, and when Detective Krause started asking his question her expression became instantly confused. "What? No..." she said, opening her mouth to object further when Haig jumped in with his good cop routine. For a moment there she looked like she was about to panic, but the correction back to what she'd actually said seemed to calm her down again - but only part of the way.

She still looked much more anxious when Krause asked again. She looked like she was about to cry, but she managed to both hold it back and meet his gaze as she answered. "No, I've never trained with my knife before. Not because I'm a 'nice lady' - I mean, I try, but... But lots of nice people know how to use knives. I mean, it's like a gun - you can use it to hurt someone or just to protect yourself. I mean, I should have known how to use it if I was going to feel safer carrying it. But I didn't because... because it's kind of a big deal to think about having to fight someone off like that. So I... I never did... I thought that if something did happen I wouldn't have the nerve to fight them off anyway..." She had to pause to take a breath because her words had started to come out in a rush and she had the physical need to breathe. She took two of them before she added, "I'm... I'm telling the truth."