Burden of Proof [Montoya]

[Pamela Isley]

To say that it had been a rough few days for Pamela would be an understatement. She'd had the perfect plan to get away with murder, but it had been spoiled by a man wearing a bat costume. And not only that, while she doesn't remember all the details of what happened she does remember that her greenhouse was severely damaged. All of her precious babies inside are exposed to the elements! This has been a severe weight on her mind.

Especially since she has been able to do nothing about it. Yes, she was able to get in touch with Nettle and tell her what to do in her absence, but her housekeeper would only be able to do a bare minimum to perhaps ensure that some of them would survive. Some of her babies were extremely delicate, however, and Nettle wasn't up to the task. Perhaps she could ask Nettle to hire someone on her behalf? But who would she be able to trust with her poor babies? They needed their mother!

But no, worst of all, she was in the asylum. She didn't even remember how she got here, though she remembers enough to know that Batman was to blame. That terrible man! But in spite of a rocky start, she was beginning to learn how to manage herself in the asylum. It was difficult because they refused to give her the respect that she deserved unless she demanded it, and when she demanded it they treated her as if she was unruly. So she learned to pick her battles, and the rest of the time she's been purposely well-behaved to see what that would get her - always looking for a better edge than that, but she's not been in the asylum long enough to have found it yet.

What she didn't know that her good behavior got her was the ability to receive visitors. She wouldn't consider that to be a positive because she didn't want any visitors, except perhaps Nettle so that she could tell the woman what needed to be done in person. Instead, it was someone else who caused an orderly to come to her door.

"Hands in front, Ms. Isley. You have a visitor."

She'd been attempting to relax on her extremely uncomfortable bed, but one thing she'd learned quickly was that if you don't do what the orderlies say, they'll go get some friends and come in after you and that's most unpleasant. So she sighed and walked over to the door, presenting her hands by the slot in the door. "A visitor? But who would visit me?" she asked curiously, already unhappy about the prospect. Had her friends found out she was here? So embarrassing!

"I don't know, some cop. Montoya was the name, I think."

She pursed her lips at that, saying nothing as he handcuffed her. She was used to the procedure by now since she'd somehow been labeled as 'violent', though she didn't recall doing any such thing. But that was only one thing she'd found unfair and unsatisfactory about her stay so far, and not the least of those. The very idea of talking to the police right now displeased her since she had a few guesses what it would be about, and it tempted her to do something to make her do something to deserve being called violent. But that was just a flight of fancy for the moment - she'd see how she felt when she got there. At the very least, she hoped that if she had to talk to someone it would at least cure some of her boredom.

The orderly took her to one of the rooms normally used for therapy sessions, at least for those patients that the therapists wouldn't want to invite into their office. A simple room with the only furnishings being two metal chairs, each placed on opposite sides of a metal table. There was also a large mirror on the wall, though any idiot could guess that it was actually one-way glass. She was seated in the chair opposite from the glass, no doubt so that any observers or cameras could see her from the front.

The orderly locked her handcuffs to the table as was standard procedure, then headed to the lobby where the aforementioned cop was waiting. "Montoya? I have her ready for you, if you'll come with me," he said, leading her back to the room where he'd left Pamela. Who would simply be there waiting quietly, like the model patient that she was.

[Deleted]

Two Days Earlier - GCPD Midtown Precinct

Things seemed really quiet in Midtown for the last week or so, it was almost as if criminals had decided collectively to stop their operations to prepare for something big - or maybe that was just the boredom of the officers of the precinct that was talking, considering that's what their ongoing theory was. For Renee Montoya, a junior homicide detective - she would give anything to have been on the streets on this day, but there was just nothing happening, unfortunately this meant that she had to focus on her paperwork and working through the cases she had been neglecting to write up for the last couple of weeks. 

She sat at her desk, a piping hot coffee to her right, a stress ball to her left, and in her center was the last case in her backlog - from that morning. It wasn't even a homicide, it was just dumb luck, she went out to grab the coffee that was at her desk and caught some low grade thug trying to break into a car in the parking lot, not far from the police station. It was an easy bust. Before Renee could write up her case, the Captain's door swung open and Barry Lincoln stood at the frame, she wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't yelled across the office in her direction. "Montoya, got something for you! Come see me as soon as you can!"

Renee couldn't help but inhale before she had let out a sigh, she closed the file over and grabbed the coffee before she made her way into Barry's office and shut the door behind her before she sat down on the seat across from him. "This better be good, Captain..." She took a big sip of her cheap coffee, the Captain was looking out of the window of his office through the blinds, his back turned to her, he was speaking bluntly and to-the-point. "Montoya, cut the attitude. I'm sending you to Arkham Island." Montoya nearly spat out her drink at those words, but had prevented herself from doing it as she cleared her throat. "Ya wanna repeat that, Barry?"

"I'm going to cut straight to the point, Montoya." Nothing new there, Barry was never one for small talk or beating around the bush, he always got to the point. She watched as he turned around to reveal the grimace on his face, he pulled out his chair and sat down on it. "I'm sure you heard about the Pamela Isley case, seeing as nobody seems to know how to keep things confidential anymore. If not, let me break it down to you - this guy, Harvey Dent, gets poisoned - something fatal from what I know. That vigilante Batman turns up, gives the guy the antidote, god knows where he got that - Pamela is our main suspect, she's a toxicologist and was his girlfriend. Seems pretty open and shut, right? Even Dent was convinced it was her."

"What's this gotta do with me, Barry? He ain't dead - corpses are usually my job, ya know." Her captain sighed in response and held up his index finger as if to stop her from talking further. "Let me finish." She took another sip of her coffee as her eyes rolled in a circle. "Word around the block is Batman got the antidote from Isley herself - don't know where that rumor started, don't really care...doesn't really fit the narrative either. Why poison someone then give them the antidote without gaining something out of it? Either way, we've completely torn apart her greenhouse to see if something, anything can point to her - as you can probably guess, we wouldn't be having this conversation if we found anything that pointed to what poisoned Dent - there was some pretty dangerous toxins in that place, but not what we were looking for."

"Damn Barry, sounds like a real mess of an investigation, I can double check the place for ya if somethin' might've been missed - but even I probably couldn't find somethin' an entire squad of officers couldn't find at the scene. I'm good, but I ain't that good." Montoya was actually getting interested in the story, part of her was excited to find out what her part would be - but she didn't show it, she remained stone faced and had kept her tone of voice monotone - she did have a reputation to maintain as the toughest cop on the force, after all. "That's not what we need, Montoya. Look, right now, she's unstable - she went absolutely batshit crazy when Batman took her in - no pun intended. I got a call today from the Asylum, they told me she should be stable in a couple of days - so in two days time, you're heading down there. The reason I'm going with you is because she apparently takes women more seriously - you're the toughest woman I know, and you're the best pick I can think of."

Renee Montoya and Barry Lincoln spoke more about the case for a further ten minutes in his office before they concluded the meeting and Montoya left the office - most of the meeting had just been clarifying the details of the case, and once Montoya felt she had a full picture of what the story was, she had a good idea of how she planned on handling the situation at the Asylum. She returned to her desk and spent the rest of the day finishing off her paperwork and contemplating her plans for the next couple of days - if they would have been anything like the last week, it would be a quiet few days before she met with Pamela. She booted up her computer and began to do some further research into Isley - what little she could find, that is. She needed to be ready for someone who was apparently unstable.

---

Renee Montoya is in her police cruiser alone, dressed in her casual jeans and leather jacket as always, she never has been one for uniform. It's been a long drive from Midtown to Arkham Island - as she is driving across the bridge, her mind thinks back to her meeting with Barry - replaying over and over every last detail of what they know. Of course she'll probably get a file once she gets to the Asylum that gives her a refresher of the whole thing, but she has to rely on the vital information given to her by her captain, as a homicide detective, the information you're given first tends to be the most important. She still doesn't know what to make of this whole situation - this isn't exactly the kind of work she's paid for - but if the GCPD believes that she's the best choice for the case, she certainly isn't going to pass up the opportunity to get some brownie points.

Her thoughts get cut short as her attention is drawn to the infamous sign as she closes in on her destination - Arkham Asylum - the sign dark, brightened only by the moonlight. Just the sight of the entrance is enough to raise the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck to rise - Montoya doesn't fear anything, she doesn't even fear this island. It's just the notoriety and stories that have been told about the place that gives her those goosebumps. The sight of the sign leaves her eyes as the cruiser speeds underneath it and leaves it behind in the dust as she approaches the security entrance, slowing to a stop and pressing her foot on the breaks.

No words are spoken between her and the security guard in the booth, she simply rolls down the window, holds up her badge and gives him a deadpan glare - this is enough for him to hit the button and raise the barrier. Montoya rolls the window back up before driving over to the staff entrance - she might not work here, but for cases like these, GCPD officers are usually allowed access through here. The raven haired detective hits the breaks, exits the car and makes her way over to the door before she knocks at it - the camera above it moves to look down at her, she shoots it an intimidating glare at it, and the sound of the door unlocking makes a satisfying click as she opens it up and enters.

Just as she enters the lobby, fills out her visitors form and waits for a few short moments, one of the asylum's guards approaches her from the corner of her eye, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the building. "Montoya? I have her ready for you, if you'll come with me," he said, leading the way - his voice didn't sound as valiant as she would expect from a guard in a place like this, but she isn't judging him...well, she's judging him a little bit, regardless, she keeps her mouth shut about it. As he opens the room door for her, Montoya doesn't hesitate to enter, her chin held high, her face deadpan as always and her body moving with confidence.

As the guard shuts the door behind her, locking it shut - Renee grabs the file from the socket next to the door with all the details she can possibly want about Isley. She makes her way over to the table, looking at the woman she's going to be spending the next while with - Pamela Isley, cuffed securely to the table. Normally Renee doesn't like the people she interrogates to be restrained in any way because she wants to show that she isn't afraid of them - but in this case, Pamela can be deemed as violently unstable, so she understands why it has to be done. She sits down across from Isley, placing the file down on the table in front of her before she leans back and folds her arms across her chest.

"I'm Detective Montoya - I'm in homicide at the Midtown GCPD." Montoya speaks with her monotone voice as always, not wanting to show any emotion, she pauses for a moment to get a look at Pamela's face before continuing. "Before ya ask - yeah, I know nobody died. Believe me, first thing I wanted to know too - but apparently they thought I was the best person for the job." Montoya lightly shrugs, continuing. "So, look, I wanna know what I'm dealin' with here. I want to know the real "Pamela Isley". So, let's start with the basics: Tell me about you and Harvey Dent. Heard ya both had a thing...or have a thing, maybe? Tell me 'bout it, healthy relationship?" Montoya already knows the answer to this question from what she's been told, but she wants to hear it from the suspect herself - she wants to go back to day one and work her way to the present from there, it's a method that's worked for her so far - but Isley is a bit more unpredictable than people she's dealt with before.

[Pamela Isley]

Having only been in the asylum for a few days, Pamela's patient file was thin. It was thicker than most patients who had been in the asylum for such a short time, but even experts only had so much to say about someone they'd only known for such a short time. And unfortunately for Renee, much of it was expressed in jargon that only another expert on psychology was expected to be able to understand, though even with all the technical mumbo jumbo the gist of what the file had to say about her was clear.

When she'd first arrived at the asylum, Pamela had been in the middle of a psychotic break - a complete loss of touch with reality. It had been a difficult state to manage because nothing seemed able to get through to her. Fortunately, it resolved on its own over time. Then again, what followed hadn't been much easier - Pamela Isley is an arrogant, entitled, and manipulative woman, quick to make demands and throw fits when she didn't get her way. In particular, she insisted that she didn't belong in the asylum and demanded to be released immediately, and she also was quite desperate to call her housekeeper. But the asylum staff weren't necessarily unfamiliar with how to handle that, so her efforts to get what she wanted that way largely failed.

She'd been permitted to call her housekeeper in the hope that it would calm her. The call had been monitored, but the only thing they discussed was that she was quite concerned about the fact that her greenhouse was damaged and she at the very least wanted the holes patched so that the plants there wouldn't be harmed by being exposed to the outdoors. The call did indeed seem to calm her, and when asked about it she'd explained that she was quite fond of her plants.

But she wouldn't explain more - in fact, she proved to be extremely resistant to therapy, deftly turning any attempt to talk about her thoughts and feelings into a conversation about much shallower topics. For this reason, it was strongly suspected that the good behavior she was demonstrating now was merely a façade - she'd figured out that she couldn't get what she wanted by being aggressive so she was resorting to being passive-aggressive instead. She was still being resistant and manipulative, but she was pretending not to be - which was an improvement when it came to being able to manage her, but it also meant that she was still potentially volatile. All that it would take for her to potentially snap again would be for her to believe that it might be more effective than her faked cooperation.

If the paperwork was to be believed, it was clear that Pamela was a very good actress - there was no sign to be found on her features that she was anything but calm and curious about this woman wanting to talk to her. It did surprise her a bit that it was a woman - the orderly had said so, and obviously any given cop was more likely to be a man. Whether that was a positive or a negative to her was yet to be seen. She did raise an eyebrow when the woman introduced herself, her curiosity deepening - a detective wasn't a surprise, but a homicide detective was interesting. Still, she took that in silently and calmly waited until it was indicated that it was her turn to speak.

Though when the first question was about her relationship with Harvey, she laughed lightly and said, "Well, of course, darling. The man is crazy for me. Why do you ask? Though I haven't heard from him since I got here - perhaps he understands that it would embarrass me." She frowned slightly at that, looking somewhat troubled. And if any word of it wasn't true, that wouldn't be reflected on her features - an expert at reading people would be able to tell that she's much more reticent than most people, probably hiding much underneath the surface, but whatever is being hidden is very well hidden indeed.

[Deleted]

The tip of Renee's fingers sift through the handful of pages in the file, she's trying to decipher what she's reading, but there's a lot of terms and big words that she can't make much sense of - can't they just make a "psychology for dummies" version for her instead? She's not unintelligent by any means, but even her wisdom has its limits and this by far exceeds them. She just lets out a unnoticeable sigh through her nostrils and thanks her blessings that she got the run-down from Barry, she'll just have to wing this. She closes the file and brushes it off to the side to allow herself to rest her forearms on the table between them. 

Montoya glares directly at Isley's face, not once letting her attention be drawn away while she listens to the response she gets to her question - as expected, this woman doesn't want to give a straight answer to the question. Nobody ever gives straight answers, and if they do, it's usually when they're lying - this is never easy. Although the red haired woman let out a laugh before the response, the light scowl on her face after the answer tells Montoya that this is a facade, which is honestly no surprise after the report she heard of how unstable she was a few days ago, and so far, she's not seen that side of her. She's hiding something, she isn't being honest about the kind of person she is - Montoya needs to get the real side out of her.

"Alright, Pam...ya say he's crazy for ya, right?" Montoya adjusts the position in her seat, getting more comfortable as she prepares herself for a long line of questioning. "I suppose that ain't too much of a surprise, I mean you're a damn good lookin' woman, to be upfront with you - I assume you're no stranger to guys and girls alike going crazy around ya. What makes Harvey so special? What makes him stand out from the crowd?" Montoya shuffles a little bit, resting her elbows on the table as she raises her hands and interlocks her fingers in front of her chest as she gives her head a light tilt and narrows her eyes. "I mean, ya must get guys left, right and center going nuts that ya forget about the next minute every single day - so, why Harvey? What sets him apart from the other "crazies" ya get all the time?"

Leaning back on her chair a little bit, the sound of the wooden chair creaking as she moves in it makes her cringe a little bit, but she continues to watch Isley carefully, doing her best to read her motions and facial expressions - her question mostly comes from her own personal experience. She knows how it is to have a bunch of guys doing stupid things to get her attention, despite the fact she's very much not interested in the opposite sex. She knows how frustrating it can be to have that unwanted attention - and she knows that she forgets all of their faces not long after - it's very rare that someone doing something stupid to get your attention or show that they're obsessed to succeed and get their way with you.

[Pamela Isley]

There was an immediate purse to Pamela's lips as the detective asked her next question, though it had nothing to do with the question itself. "That's 'Pamela'. Or, better yet, 'Ms. Isley'. Never 'Pam'," she corrected, her voice flat. But then a smile returned in full force as she happily added, "But yes, of course." And her smile got even bigger when Montoya complimented her appearance. "Why, thank you, darling! You're not wrong," she commented.

At the moment, in fact, she was accidentally demonstrating just how beautiful she actually was. Here in the asylum she'd been given no makeup and yet her skin still appeared to be flawless and youthful, and she was wearing the normally boring and shapeless patient uniform but she gave it structure and curves. The carefully crafted façade was down but that only revealed that it hadn't been hiding anything. She was sporting a rather intense looking bruise above and somewhat to the side her forehead, near the hairline, but knowing that injury was only temporary and would heal in time seemed to only point out the perfection of the rest of her features.

Which became thoughtful when the detective began asking why she'd chosen Harvey. Oh, she had her reasons, but she wouldn't be giving those... "Well, let's be honest, most of the people who take an interest in me are simply beneath me. I'm not just a pretty face, after all, I was born in money and I have money. And I'm not just another heiress, I have a doctorate in the sciences. Beauty, brains, and money - I'm a real catch," she explained with a most self-satisfied smile.

"And then you have Harvey," she said, looking into the middle distance with an admiring expression as she gushed, "Worked his way into law school, worked his way through law school, worked his way to being the youngest DA in the city, and worked his way into my heart." There was the sound of tinkling chains as she lifted her hands to her heart - well most of the way there because the one locking her to the table wasn't quite long enough, but the attempted gesture was clear.

Looking back at Renee, she added, "I'd say he deserves me after all that work, don't you? Unlike all these other boring men who have done nothing but sit back and inherit their parent's fortune. " She gave a quick scoff of contempt at the mere thought of those. "And he's not bad to look at either," she added with a knowing smile before she gave a soft, wistful sigh and looked to the other woman for more questions.

[Deleted]

Montoya's lips curl into a sly and brief smirk as she noticed the change of expression after she called her "Pam", she had a feeling that might have got under her skin, but she wants to test her limits and sanity, light pokes here and there might bring out her true colors. "Sorry about that, Pamela. Just wanted to see how casual we could keep this conversation." She leans back, keeping a good eye on the redhead - she wasn't saying it to be nice, there is something unnaturally beautiful about Isley - usually in a place like this, people are run down, frail, bags under their eyes, a look of misery on their face...but her? She looks like she's just a change a clothes away from going to a fancy dress party.

Perhaps Montoya is going through the wrong line of questioning, she's keeping the questions broad enough to get an answer out - but nothing specific, as Pamela quickly makes her realise. It's obvious why any guy would fall for her, she isn't the least bit surprised about Harvey going crazy for her - but as Renee learns a little bit about Harvey and his success, that's when she gets a better idea of what might set him apart from the average joe. "Alright, that's pretty impressive, I'm not gonna lie. District Attorney ain't an easy job to come by, I know some people that have been working for years tryin' to get their degree."

Renee flinches slightly at the sound of Isley's chains as she adjusts her position - although she feels safe across from her at the moment, the prior reports of her going over the edge has the raven haired detective cautious of what may come out of this session. Her shoulders slump slightly in relaxation as she realises Pamela is just moving her hands towards herself. Renee listens to her ramble on about Harvey being deserving, and attractive, managing to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the idea. "Deserves ya after the work? Nah. I know tons of successful scumbags that deserve nothing but being put behind bars - I know successful scumbags who hate women, break the law, abuse animals - ya name it, I've seen it. Success doesn't exactly make ya a good person...so for all I know, the guy could be a real piece of work."

Montoya avoids commenting on his looks as she has no opinion of it - she feels as though so far she's gotten nowhere and feels it's time to change up her line of questioning slightly to be more relevant to the case at hand. "Lemme ask ya something...I heard a few days ago ya were a little bit...deranged? Crazy? They thought ya were a lunatic. Is there something I should know about your mental well being? So far, ya seem like a pretty normal woman - ordinary women don't normally end up being on that side of the table, Pam." Renee takes a pause on purpose to let the way she addressed her stick before correcting herself. "Sorry -- Pamela." She watches careful, being sure to read her facial expression to see if there's any noticeable cracks in this facade. "Are ya being yourself with me right now? If ya be real with me, and I'll be real with you."

[Pamela Isley]

When the detective tried to excuse herself for being overly familiar, Pamela smiled lightly - looking somewhat appeased but not entirely. "Oh, if we're keeping things casual... What was your name again? I'm afraid that you have me at a disadvantage..." she pointed out with a smile, beginning to wonder if the other woman had neglected to provide her own first name on purpose. Small details such as the names that people called each other were important in her mind, something that she'd learned growing up in a rich family, though she didn't truly understand it until just a couple of years ago.

Though she hadn't moved her hands with the intention of causing any alarm to the detective, she easily noted when it happened anyway. The woman was a bit jumpy, wasn't she? She let her hands sink down into her lap again, intentionally keeping the chains quiet after that. As the detective went on to rant about successful scumbags, Pamela's eyebrow lifted slightly at that in curiosity. "You obviously don't know him if you'd lump him in with them," she commented somewhat dismissively, but then her expression turned empathetic as she added, "Though it sounds like you've run into your fair share. As have I, darling, they're a plague to all of us, aren't they?" She slowly shook her head, giving another soft sigh.

Though when the brief silence after that is followed by questions about the current state of her sanity, her lips pursed in discomfort. She looked away and took a deep breath, the very picture of a proper woman being burdened by impolite questions. Yes, she realized that she was in an asylum and being questioned by a detective and so that was a logical thing to be asked about, but that didn't mean that they weren't probing into private matters that shouldn't be anyone else's business. Of course, she'd had to answer a lot of such questions lately, though that didn't mean that she liked it. She was about to answer when the other woman addressed her by the wrong name again. She frowned at the detective and gave her a penetrating look before she stated, "Don't do that on purpose, darling - it's rude."

She sighed heavily and said, with as much dignity as possible, "I have been told that I had a mental break. I don't remember anything about it. All I know is that I'm suddenly here, and keep being told that I'm unwell, though I feel perfectly like myself and I see no reason why they should be allowed to keep me here. If I had some sort of an episode, which obviously wasn't my fault, then clearly it's over and I should be sent on my way." Clearly unhappy about the situation, she was nevertheless calm - deliberately choosing to not throw a fit about something she could easily throw a fit about.

If there were any real cracks to her façade, they were difficult to spot - a normal, sane, innocent woman who somehow ended up in her situation might feel the same way and to the same degree. Even if she was the arrogant, entitled woman that the paperwork indicated, that was being very well hidden. As evidenced by her answer to the last question asked: she looked slightly surprised by it and said, "Of course, darling, I have nothing to hide."

[Deleted]

Montoya doesn't even feel surprised by the fact Isley asked her name, her facial expression doesn't flinch as it remains deadpan with slightly narrowed eyes, she responds, "Detective Montoya. If ya have to know my first name, it's Renee. Only my parents call me by my first name." she finishes, she isn't lying either - it might be the reason she doesn't like when people use that name to address her, it reminds her of home...and home wasn't exactly easy for her, so she doesn't enjoy being reminded of it - somehow she feels as though she'll regret giving out her name to this woman, but what's done is done.

She listened as Isley dismisses her comments about what Harvey may or may not be - all she can think is, "why is she defending him?" - if Renee came here with no prior knowledge or information about this case, she would have wrote this woman off as a suspect. It just doesn't make sense, she's either innocent or an extremely good manipulator - either way, it's not going to be easy. The GCPD either gets put back to stage one if she ends up innocent, or she's going to have a tough time getting a confession out of an excellent liar. Montoya does light up slightly at her comment about successful scumbags being a plague - she finds herself agreeing. "Yeah, ya ain't kidding - some of the worst people I've ever known could be looked at as successful. They all tend to be men, too - probably why I ain't a fan of 'em."

The conversation continues, and Isley calls Renee rude - which is fair, she was trying to be rude, after all. The look she shoots at the detective is enough to tell her that while it might not be driving her mad, it's at least getting a bit of a reaction out of her - another prod at the bear that lurks within, potentially. Renee almost finds herself agreeing with Isley about her episode being over and the fact she should be on her way...almost. This woman is the prime suspect of an attempted murder, after all - she won't be falling into her pity trap that easily. "That would be pretty convenient for ya, wouldn't it? Can't help ya there. Asylum has a job to do, I'm sure you'll be let go if they find there's nothin' wrong with ya. Just give it some time, they're a busy bunch - lots of crazies in Gotham, believe me."

That's when she uses the words "I have nothing to hide", it tends to be the most guilty people that use these words the most, and everyone has something to hide - even Renee has lots of things to hide. She needs to find some way to tie her to this case, even if it takes all day - even if it takes some more physical interrogation techniques, though she does want to avoid that, she already has a pending lawsuit against her for assault. "You're a toxicologist, right? Tell me, how much do you know about poison? Like, fatal to human toxins." Renee pauses, tilting her head a bit, continuing. "To add to that -- specifically poisons that have antidotes that go hand-in-hand. How much do ya know about that kinda thing?"

[Pamela Isley]

"Only my closest friends call me Pamela," she retorted dryly, before giving a slight smile because she believed that she made her point. It wasn't entirely true because all kinds of people presumed to call her by her first name - but they did so without her permission. But, that being the case, explained just how deeply unacceptable she found 'Pam' to be. "I prefer 'Ms. Isley'. Or 'Miss Isley' if it's convenient to point out my marital status, or 'Dr. Isley' if you're trying to flatter me," she explained, and then lightly laughed at the nuance of it all.

Though Pamela suspected that the detective hadn't come so that they could vent their mutual dislike of certain kinds of men, that was certainly a subject that she was more than happy to discuss at length. Partly because, at least in her opinion, there was no such thing as the 'right' kind of man - they were all terrible. "Well, of course they're all men, darling. It's only natural. They see stepping on anyone or anything in their way as the true path to success - how else are they to prove themselves to be the alpha male? Women, on the other hand, have too much natural sympathy and empathy to do such a thing," she stated, as if it were all known fact, though she frowned slightly as she added, "Well... Unless they cast off their better nature to better survive in a cutthroat world. Which is sad, honestly - it's a lie that sentiment is a weakness."

Between the subject of men and talk of her current circumstances, though she'd been full of smiles at the start of their conversation she was now thoughtful and philosophical. Where was the rage and anger that was written about in her paperwork? None seems to be forthcoming. At worst, she was mildly irritated at the way she'd been addressed.

In fact, though she gave the other woman a raised eyebrow and slight look of disbelief at her comments about her stay in the asylum, her voice was quite level as she said, "I don't see how being released from here or not is a matter of convenience - it's false imprisonment to hold me here against my will if there is no reason for it, regardless of how busy they are. What's convenient is that apparently the asylum isn't beholden to standard criminal justice procedure." Not that she expected this detective to do anything about it. She'd already resigned herself to the fact that she probably wouldn't be given any favors.

As the other woman began her next line of questioning, an amused smile came to Pamela's face, though she politely waited for the detective to finish clarifying the question before she responded. "How much do I know about that kind of thing?" she repeated the question to herself, "I would say... that I'm the second-best in the world at it." She nodded to herself as if to confirm that answer. Her smile grew larger as she asked with overtly faked innocence, "Why ever do you ask?"

[Deleted]

Renee is slightly impressed at the way Pamela Isley hits back at her remark about only her parents using her first name - when even figuring out how they will be addressing each other is an issue, how will they ever get her to admit she tried to off Dent? Montoya feels a hint of temptation to get aggressive with Isley, but decides against it, she needs to keep this conversation civil if it's going to get anywhere - but eventually one of the two of these women will snap, she just knows it. "Fine. If you're gonna be like that -- I'll settle on callin' ya Dr. Isley. Can I get ya anythin' to drink by the way? Coffee? Water?"

The detective was intentionally complimenting her, maybe staying on her good side will lower her guard and get her to say something she wouldn't say to someone who presents themselves as her enemy - or maybe it'll just make it easier for Isley to manipulate her - time will tell. The red headed patient expresses her loathing of men, normally Renee would mark this down as some form of evidence, but she can't help but agree with her attitude towards the other sex - a lot of what she's saying can be traced back to Renee's own opinions and thoughts on the subject. 

"Look, Dr. Isley, I would love to sit here and chat all day about how much we both hate men - believe me, I could go on for hours, days even. Ya have to understand though, I'm here for a specific reason. Small talk is nice to have every now and then, especially with someone who shares your beliefs. Maybe one day we can grab a beer, or a coffee - whatever ya prefer - and we can talk all day about how women are better. For now though, I'm gonna need you to cooperate with me and answer my questions...because I've got a lot of 'em, don't wanna keep ya here too long."

Renee normally at this point would be filling out her notebook, but so far she's gotten no information from Isley that can be applied to the case - she's playing hardball, and this is something that was fully expected before this line of questioning began. She starts to get serious now, though - pulling out her notebook from her jacket pocket along with a ballpoint pen, clicking at the button to get it ready as she opens the book up - so far, all she has to write down is 'Harvey Dent -- crazy for Isley. Successful DA.' The victim doesn't matter in this case, he's fine, he's recovered and even though he believes with all his heart that it was this woman who poisoned him, she wants to get a confession or evidence to prove it first of all - victims tend to form crazy theories in the heat of the moment.

Montoya doesn't bother to comment on whether or not this is a false imprisonment - she doesn't want to start a debate or argument with the suspect, that would only add problems to an already difficult situation.  She writes down more in her notepad, 'Pamela Isley -- Egotistical, believes herself to be second-best at toxicology in the world. Motive: TBD' Montoya's notes have always been short as they are mostly for her own bullet points for mental notes on the cases she deals with before she fills out the paperwork - it's a nice reminder that helps her keep on track. "Second-best in the world, huh? That's a bold claim, Dr. Isley." Montoya looks up to her as questions why she's asking. "So, tell me about them - we've been to your greenhouse. Is there any poisons or lethal toxin plants that ya don't keep there? Specifically ones ya know the antidote of? Anything ya can tell us will help us in our investigation -- I'm sure ya understand."

[Pamela Isley]

When the detective opted to call her 'Dr. Isley' out of all of those choices, that prompted an intrigued raise of Pamela's eyebrow. She's being flattered, is she? But she kept all commentary on that to herself. Instead, she simply smiled as she said, "Some water would be lovely, thank you." Someone actually caring about her good side was a welcome novelty compared to what she'd been through as of late.

Though, sadly, that was paired with the other woman calling her out on the fact that the conversation had drifted onto a topic that was surely not what she'd come for. Which was a pity, because that was definitely a topic that she enjoyed far more. Still, she only reacted to this with an amused smile, and she stated, "I've answered every question that you asked." She wasn't going to accept responsibility if that lead them in directions that the detective didn't prefer.

As expected, her complaint about being in the asylum against her will went ignored. She didn't trouble herself too much about that, though - she'd already seen the writing on the wall, and it said that she would be in the asylum until the powers that be felt like letting her go. Which, of course, meant that her goal was to figure out how to make them feel that way, but that was a difficult enough of a problem that she'd not yet worked out her strategy. She could hazard a guess that the woman before her didn't have that much of an influence on the problem anyway because she'd been told that she was being held more because they believed that she was mentally unwell and not because she'd committed a crime. Which was, as she said, rather conveniant. But it did mean that she didn't see the point of pressing her case to the detective.

Instead, she waited patiently for the other woman to make her notes and ask more questions. Though she visibly rolled her eyes when the detective sounded skeptical about her stated credentials. "That's not a claim, darling, that's a fact. Unless Dr. Woodrue has gotten himself killed, but I'm not that lucky," she flatly stated. Not that she really expected the detective to truly appreciate her talents anyway. "But no - everything of mine is in my private lab in my greenhouse. Whatever is left of it, anyway - I haven't exactly been allowed to go back and assess the damage since Batman decided to invade my property. Do let me know if you find out who he is - I have a lawsuit to file," she stated with no small amount of bitterness.

But she took a breath to calm herself and added, "But what do you mean by 'know the antidote'? Because there is no such thing as a toxin that I couldn't easily figure out an antidote for unless you count those that kill someone so quickly that an antidote would be worthless. Neutralizing a toxin is a parlor trick. But if you're asking which I've already figured out, I could try to make you a list - it's a long list. I don't normally keep them on hand, though."

[Deleted]

Montoya holds up her index and middle finger as if to say 'two seconds', she turns around on the chair, looking directly at the mirror - she knows there's people behind there, watching and listening in with intrigue, she doesn't know who it is - she doesn't really care, either, she furrows her brow before inhaling a deep breath yelling, "Hey! Whoever's on the other side of that glass, get the woman some water! Make it snappy, on the double! Ya hear?" Montoya clears her throat before turning back around in her chair, which she grabs by the handles and pulls slightly closer to the desk as the legs scrape across the ground with an unsatisfying sound.

It only takes a minute or two before the sound of a buzz is heard on the other side of the interview room door, the handle being pulled down and the door swinging open - a slightly shaken male in a security outfit shuffles into the room holding two cups of water, he slowly approaches the table between Pamela and Renee - very clearly trying to keep as much distance between him and Isley as he can. He sets the two cups down on either side in front of them both, Montoya stops him before he can go. "Wait." The man stops, a look of unspoken terror on his face as he turns around, waiting to find out what she wants without saying a word. "The key to her cuffs - gimme them."

"W-What!?" He says, stumbling over even that single word, "Why?" -- Renee isn't impressed, she rolls her eyes, extending her arm and opening up her palm in expectancy, it takes him a few seconds to come to the realisation that she's serious. Her death glare doesn't really help either, but he fishes the set of keys from his pocket, placing it in her hand before he quickly shuffles out of the room, the door closing shut behind him. Montoya slips the key inside her inner leather jacket pocket before returning to questioning.

She catches the name 'Dr. Woodrue' - Renee has been given a lot of information that is considered relevant to this case, but that's a name that didn't get brought up during her briefing or in the file she was given about the case. "Dr. Woodrue? Don't know the name. Who is he to ya?" Montoya scribbles down his name in the notebook - who knows? Might be relevant. She needs to write something with all this blank room on the page -- Isley bringing up Batman is to be expected considering the context of this whole situation, Renee has a few words she'd like to give to him too. "Screw Batman -- I'll deal with that guy another day. He's just another crook if ya ask me - if it was up to me, he'd be behind bars with the rest of 'em. Hell, a crazy guy runnin' around beatin' up people he deems bad while dressed as a bat? This asylum would probably be a good place for a guy like that."

She sighs, Batman has been giving the precinct a lot of problems - lots of cases of people blaming Batman for crimes that he probably hadn't been involved in, lots of busted up criminals looking to file lawsuits, a lot of people also seem to resort to saying "Batman did it " for any bad thing that happens to them in general. He's a scapegoat for so many filed police reports, and a guy going around assaulting people is keeping them busy enough as is. Isley listens to her finish about the toxins and antidotes, along with mentioning "it would be a long list" -- she responds in her usual deadpan tone, "Well, look, I don't want a list of 'em all obviously - I mostly just want a list of the ones you know about that ya don't keep stashed in your greenhouse." Montoya sighs again, not really knowing how to fish this information out of her. "The case we're investigatin' -- the vic was poisoned, but someone gave him an antidote that cured the poison, that person still wants justice, though -- that's why we feel you're the best person to ask about this case. Not only was he poisoned, but our research lab couldn't identify what that poison was -- that's why we're talkin' right now. Figured you'd be the best person to ask."

[Pamela Isley]

Pamela watched with interest as the detective yelled at what she'd always assumed was a one-way window and not a real mirror. Not that it was a hard guess, because not only are mirrors not normally built into the wall, why would they put a potentially shatterable object into a room where Gotham's worst psychiatric patients meet with their therapists if the only utility of it was that it allowed someone to look at themselves?

And when the yell resulted in water being delivered only a moment later, she looked quite amused. Well, either at that or how clearly the man with the water was trying to avoid her. She watched his every movement far too closely but she sat quite still - at least she did until the second he set down the glass in front of her but before he could move his hand away. Then she suddenly leaned forward an inch and said, "Boo!" The man startled a little bit and withdrew his hand with far more haste than necessary, though he didn't exactly jump at so little provocation. Pamela chuckled lightly to herself and looked to the detective as she said, "Sorry, couldn't resist." Because she's apologizing to the other woman, not to him.

It certainly wasn't her usual form of entertainment, but to say that she didn't like the asylum was putting it mildly. It was boring, and when it wasn't boring it was people asking her questions that she didn't want to answer. And here she was, literally attached to the table, and the man was acting like she was such a threat - was she supposed to not take advantage of the situation to do something too juvenile for anyone to punish her about? Especially when the target was one of the asylum staff - she blamed the whole group of them for the fact that she hadn't been immediately released the moment she'd come to her senses.

But that was all she did, the amusement on her face fading but not disappearing completely while she quite passively watched the detective get the key from the man. Though she obviously observed the exchange, she didn't react to it much and simply watched the man exit the room before she turned her attention back to the other woman to await the next question.

Though when the detective said she didn't know about Dr. Woodrue, her eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Interesting..." she commented, but quickly answered, "He was one of my professors when I was getting my doctorate - the head of the department. He taught me everything I know about poison. So, obviously, if he's still alive then I'm still second best." All of which was true, though it only scratched the surface of what she could have said.

But her expression was touched by anger as the other woman expressed her opinion of Batman. "I couldn't agree more! Forget about the property damage, you should see all the lovely bruises he gave me - and I didn't do a thing," she stated, as she just so happened to turn her head so that the bruise on it was at the front. It wasn't the only one she had, but the asylum uniform covered everything but her head, neck, and arms.

As the detective attempted to clarify the information she wanted, Pamela found that she had some clarifications of her own to make. "The ones I know about but don't have on hand is the long list, darling. I know a lot of them, but it's not my usual practice to keep a lot of antidotes in storage - I don't need them, so it's a waste of valuable lab space," she explained, then added, "Though I'm not sure how I can help you with your case - I could identify the poison for you, except I'm not exactly at liberty to examine anything in my lab right now. I don't even know if it's in a state to be used."

[Deleted]

Renee feels for the poor guy - he's obviously new to this kind of work, either that or he just hasn't worked in an asylum before. The fact he's being easily spooked by a woman who is in chains tells the story, he's not seen the tough stuff yet...this is tame compared to the kinds of people that he will be meeting as long as he remains in this line of work. He's either just getting through those stages of nerves, or he's just not cut out for this job, either way Montoya feels bad for him and almost wants to apologise -- she doesn't, of course. She almost never apologises.

Montoya listens to what Isley says about Dr. Woodrue - oddly enough she can tell by her reaction that she's relatively surprised that she isn't aware of him. Should she be? He isn't famous in her eyes - but it's possible that Isley is more surprised that Renee didn't look into her background, which is true, she just kind of went off of what Barry told her back in the precinct along with going through some police records which didn't really give her much information. She did in fact do an online search, just to see if she had some kind of online personality, but she didn't bother looking through any articles that mentioned Pamela Isley because she's very much a believer of "judge for yourself"...at this point though, she's kind of wishing she did do all of that.

Listening to Isley mention that Dr. Woodrue was "one of her professors" tells Renee that he stands out more than the others, which is natural, students usually do latch on to one particular lecturer or teacher to take inspiration from or look up to, this simply seems to be hers. She adds next to Woodrue's name on the notebook, 'Dr. Woodrue - person of interest, Isley's professor, knows a lot about poison, worth questioning' She clicks at the pen again and sets it down next to the notepad, closing it over and making sure the bookmark remains in place so she can go back to it at will.

"So, this Woodrue guy knows more about poison than ya, huh? Maybe he's worth lookin' into, he might be able to put us on the right track into findin' out who poisoned our victim." Renee simply nods in agreement to Isley's comments about Batman - so the hammer of justice is unisex to this guy, huh? Seems he has no issues beating up women if he deems them as bad. Montoya wonders how well he'd do when that woman hits back, and would love to test out this theory. "That really sucks, Dr. Isley -- guy smashes up your stuff and hits ya? Some hero, huh? I'll get to him at some point, believe me."

Renee's face cringes as she mentions that the long list is the one she doesn't have - the issue is, she can't even bring her to a corpse to show her how the poison affected Dent - not only would that blow their whole case, but he isn't dead and no longer has the poison in his body, she picks up the cup of water from the table and takes a light sip of the water, gulping before setting it back down. "Well, as I said, this victim already got the antidote - he ain't poisoned anymore. That's the big issue we're havin', we can't really identify somethin' without seeing the effects of the poison in play. If it were up to me, I'd uncuff ya to go back to Gotham so we could have ya examine the victim - but there's nothin' to examine."

Renee pauses, leans forward, her voice lowering slightly so that the people behind the glass can't hear quite as well. "Let's say I had this really bad ex, right? Let's say...I wanted to send them a message that what they did to me is unforgivable - but at the same time, didn't want things traced back to me, what would be a good poison with a cure that ya can't really find in a common hospital? Askin' for a friend." Renee winks, hoping it might help things but isn't convinced Isley will cave in if she's guilty, then leaning back on the chair. "Now...obviously, we can't take ya outta here to get ya to your lab - but we could bring you somethin' maybe? Somethin' that can help get your mind going? From what ya tell me, there's only two people that can help us with this - you, and Dr. Woodrue...don't ya want the chance to show you're better than him by being the one to help us solve our case? A woman solving a case instead of a man for once, sounds great, don't it?"

[Pamela Isley]

When the detective's immediate reaction to learning about Dr. Woodrue was to indicate that perhaps he could help, Pamela's eyes lowered slightly and there was a certain sarcasm to her tone as she simply stated, "Yes, I'm sure that he could help." The fact that the other woman was so ignorant of that situation was interesting, yes, but it was also somewhat irritating. It meant that she could say whatever she wanted about him and the detective wouldn't know how true or not her words were, but it also meant that she would probably have to explain the situation at all.

And that, being an unpleasant prospect, meant that she wasn't necessarily in a hurry to do so. Besides, it was too easy to let herself get distracted by more pleasant topics. Not that explaining how toxins and antidotes work to someone who obviously didn't know anything about it was a pleasant topic, but it was better, at least. "Well, I assume that the hospital took a blood sample, and I could certainly identify a poison based on that. I wouldn't be able to make an antidote without a clean sample of the source toxin, but identification would certainly be possible," she explained. Of course, all of that was mere speculation without her having any access to her lab. She was confident that she could if the situation was different, though - she was second-best in the world, after all.

The next question caught her attention, at least when the other woman started to ask it, but only because of the quiet, almost conspiratorial tone it was being asked in seemed to indicate that it might be interesting. It wasn't - or at least she didn't think so. "I could give you a list, darling, but I would advise your friend that the better option for teaching a lesson would be something with a common antidote - the ex can't learn a lesson if they're dead, after all, so doing something that will probably kill them would be ill-advised. Unless the goal is to actually kill the ex, in which case why would your friend want something with an antidote?" she asked, not bothering to lower her own voice. She didn't care how many people heard her say things like that.

But once again the detective brought up Dr. Woodrue as if going to him was some kind of a threat. This time, as Pamela's eyes lowered again, she said, "You're perfectly welcome to take this to Dr. Woodrue if you can. It would be quite the impressive feat, though, considering the fact that he vanished without a trace six months ago and nobody has seen him since."