Inquiring About a Case Once Closed [Gordon]

[Roman Sionis]

First week sales of EXTREME face-paint makeup had not gone as anticipated. The Janus Cosmetic booth at the annual Gotham City Fashion Show had been the laughing stock of the convention. Circe's depiction of a zebra like - makeup style didn't go off well with the average consumer. A large crowd had gathered around their booth, and had left in a snickering drove. What did they know? Everyone wore a mask. Everyone in society pretended to be something. Expectations. Social standing. All a farce. Mother and Father had showed Roman this. They cared more about sucking up to people like Thomas and Martha Wayne, then they did him. Their own son!

There he went again. Going down the trail of this pity-party. Why did it bother him so much? He was thirty-two years old and the president of a powerful Gotham City company. He owned a Rolls Royce, was dating a model, and owned a personal luxury apartment, yet he could not overcome the emotional neglect given to him by mommy and daddy.

It was a new Monday morning, 9:30 AM. This is how Roman Sionis was starting the work week.

"SUCK it up Roman. You're the man now. You're the president. You're the CEO. Everyone is your $*!&@. Mom and dad are dead now. You killed them remember? They deserved it. Yes they did. Mask wearing pieces of &!@%#. That is what the world doesn't understand. The face is unimportant. It is all about the mask we wear. The focus should be on the mask! EXTREME is needed in society. EXTREME allows them to shed off their false selves and become something true. It allows people to be true to themselves! If people do not want to wear my products, then I'll force them to wear EXTREME!"

Roman Sionis did not realize that this inner monologue was being said out-loud. Not in a yelling tone, but definitely a raised voice. He turned to his desk. Sitting on the piece of furniture was a mannequin head covered by a black cloth. Underneath the cloth, the mannequin head was wearing a mask.

"Remind me to install a sound proof generator in here," Roman said to It.

Once again, Roman was standing at the window in his office, looking out into the streets of Gotham. It was a nice day outside. Mild weather. Sun only slightly hidden by the clouds. There were a few employees of Janus Cosmetics still trickling into work. Probably the other executives. Members of his father's old guard that had yet to be purged.

"Lazy @$!%. You'll all be fired by months end. This company only needs me. I should be the sole decision maker," said Roman in a low mutter.

The intercom buzzed to interrupt his thoughts. He walked over to the receiver and pushed the acknowledgement button.

"An Inspector James Gordon of the GCPD is here to see you," replied Cynthia the secretary.

He had been expecting them. The Gotham City Police Department had made an appointment. With the train wreck called this weekends fashion show happening, Roman had totally forgot about this scheduled meeting. They had to come on this specific Monday morning.

Roman drew his .45mm pistol out of the desk and put it in a shoulder holster underneath the white suit jacket he was wearing. "Cynthia, send 'em in."

[James Gordon]

Chief of Detectives James W Gordon of the GCPD would enter the office, it was a lot bigger than his own office and the decorations were interesting. It was a scorcher of a day, probably one of the hottest days of this summer. Gordon had a small amount of sweat on his brow that'd he'd wipe off as soon as he entered the office. He saw Roman Sionis sitting there, behind the desk. Impatience was plastered all over the man's face and it appeared as if he had a firearm under his jacket. Luckily for both of them, he probably wouldn't need it. This wasn't really an official visit since Captain Barry Lincoln and his homicide team closed the case on the untimely deaths of Roman's parents. Gordon had noted some inconsistencies and thought it is prudent to look into the sordid affair. First of all, it was a house fire, a house fire that ended in the death of two fairly wealthy and influential people in the city. Was it arson? Or was it straight up a murder? The weird thing is that detectives from Homicide and detectives from Arson showed up at the scene. After the initial inspection of the scene, it became a case exclusive to homicide. It seems that someone in arson seemed to believe that this was a murder. 

There was no true cause of the fire determined, but if the fire department or arson had to guess they would label a crude accelerant as the culprit. However, they never found any traces. The sole survivor of the fire was the maid, Rita Pascal. She was sweated in the interview room for hours with an interpreter present because of her inability to speak much English. She swore up and down that she wasn't the culprit, and even managed to get a lawyer with little money she had available. Homicide didn't have any evidence, so they weren't able to hold Rita for more than twenty-four hours. She was eventually released and hasn't been heard of since. When GCPD tried to contact her again, they weren't able to get ahold of her and came to the conclusion that she had fled to Mexico to avoid further run-ins with the law. Roman Sionis would be considered a suspect, but he was with his girlfriend Circe. They watched a movie had dinner, those facts were very firmly stated in the transcript of his interview. His alibi was so solid that the GCPD couldn't touch him if they wanted to. 

Since the first few weeks of the investigation, the case was placed on the back burner and was left there. Chief Gordon followed the case closely, the whole ordeal was on TV after all. It was a big shock to Gotham and the Fashion world. It was front-page news, it was on national news networks and then the coverage just abruptly stopped. Gordon still had questions, he wanted to hear it from the man himself, Roman Sionis. Gordon was naturally suspicious of the man but he had no proof. He had a hunch that Roman might have been partially or fully responsible for the death of his parents. The case was still technically open, but Gordon had a feeling that it was shoved aside for a reason. It was buried because someone wanted it buried, and if he had to wager his badge on it, Gordon would bet that Roman was the one responsible for the death of his parents. He wouldn't make any accusations today, but he'd get Roman's story and compare it to the case file later. 

"Mr. Sionis, my name is James Gordon. I'm the Chief of the Detectives Bureau for the Gotham City Police Department." He approached and offered his hand for a handshake.

"I'm sorry to bother you sir, but I'd like to see if I could get your story on what happened with the heinous murder of your parents? I realize that this might be painful for you, but as you know the case is still open and has been for some time. Due to the status of your parents, there have been certain powers that be breathing down the Bureau of Detectives to catch the killers." This was partially false, no one was really making Gordon do this. But he had his hunch, and he meant to follow that hunch. The ball was dropped on this case, everyone stopped talking about it. He hadn't told a full lie, and he could prove it if Roman asked him about it. An interview like this was almost like a game of chess. If Roman really was responsible, it was possible that he could reveal his responsibility with the correct amount of nudging.

"Why don't you start from the beginning. The night of the fire. Tell me what happened?"

[Roman Sionis]

Roman did not receive nor respond to the handshake.

"Murder? You sure it wasn't an accident? The fire marshal informed me that it could have been an accident of neglect. I can't even remember the last time Charles Sionis had a proper electrician come out and visit the old family mansion. The old man was always trying to skim off the top. He put so much money into cars, suits, dresses, food, vacations, jewelry, remote cabins, and other crap like that. I doubt he actually invested in his own home. He was always attending social events being held by OTHER members of high society, like the $!%@ Wayne family or Veronica Vreeland. The place was a kindle box based off all the things my mother used to collect. But don't get me started on that."

Roman sat in his father's old executive chair. His legs were crossed, fingers folded together, and elbows resting on the hand rests of the chair.

"By the way, I HAD no idea the case was still open. No one communicated that to me. They should of right? After all they were MY parents! I thought it had gone down as an accident or someone had arrested Rita Pascal. She was the only person who happened to survive the ordeal. If she didn't purposely kill my parents, then she probably triggered the fire on accident. Rita Pascal isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, being an illegal and all. After working for my parents for YEARS, she claims to have never learned any English. That or she pulled a Sammy Sosa in front of Congress during the 2005 MLB steroid hearings. In my opinion you should be tracking her down. She is probably wearing my mother's jewelry somewhere in New Mexico."

Roman leaned forward on the desk and now had his elbows resting on the mahogany wood. He opened his hands up and let out a small smile, "By the way, how rude of me. Coffee? Water? Danish? Heeee. Lemonade at least! It is hot as heck out there."

Roman had heard of this James Gordon from his contacts within the GCPD. Gordon had a good reputation for being a stand up kinda cop. Knowing a little about your opponent before going into a chess game was always helpful. In chess, Roman had always been an aggressive player. Gordon arriving and deciding to re-investigate the crime scene was the opening move. Roman responded, naturally playing the preferred black side, by throwing out both knights in two out of the first three moves. In chess, the move was known as the 'accepted Halloween.' Sacrifice a pawn in order to draw out the enemy into a line of fire.

[James Gordon]

Deflecting, trying to change the subject and denying even knowing the case was still open followed by offering Chief Gordon a beverage. This guy knew what he was doing, or at least he appeared to be competent enough at face value. Gordon would be able to poke and prod in all the right places and see how long Roman would be able to keep up this facade. "Well as far as I know the case was handed over to our homicide squad, someone has a reason to believe there was foul play, but mistakes have been made." Fires that are truly accidents don't usually burn that long and that intensely without a little aid. It was possible though, and even if that were the case and Gordon knew it was the case he still didn't have any proof.

"It is hot, yes but no thank you. I am quite alright." A polite refusal, accepting a drink would put the ball in Roman's court. He would be able to force Gordon into playing the game that he wanted to play. By refusing, Gordon would keep the playing field in a sense of neutrality, at least for now. "I was hoping you could shed more light on your parents, Mr. Sionis. Did they have any enemies? Do you think anyone in this city would actually want to see them dead?" Gordon wondered if he'd bring up Rita again, she seemed like would be the most likely scapegoat for Roman. She was long gone, and it didn't really matter if she was dead or alive somewhere in Mexico. Gordon didn't like her for this, she might have had motive but he read the interrogation transcripts. She denied everything, there was no evidence to the contrary either, that's why she got off in the first place. Gordon has been wrong before, but this was just a hunch. Sometimes, as a cop, you had to go with your gut, even if it was destined to get you in trouble.

Gordon took a breath, he blinked a few times, never averting his gaze from Roman Sionis. "You were with your girlfriend Circe the night of the fire, right? I can't seem to find where you said the last time you saw your parents. Maybe Detective Huell and Detective Lansky left it out." One of the reasons that Gordon was so interested in this particular case is because Detective Lansky and Detective Huell were known associates with Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb. Chief Gordon couldn't prove their corruption, this was just another one of his hunches. They weren't like Detective Arno Flass, where they left an easily found paper trail that pointed right to their corruption. These detectives were smart. Was Roman Sionis the type of man to pay off cops in association with trying to hide what really happened to his parents? Maybe, maybe not. Gordon still didn't have proof, he would have to keep prodding. The best strategy against Sionis might be to force his hand, he was known to be impulsive and to hold a short temper. If Gordon could cause some sort of outburst, Roman might just reveal something without actually realizing he has done so.

[Roman Sionis]

Sionis gave Gordon a dejected look. The Italian's face drooped and his lips frowned into an umbrella shape. He purposely made the next heartbeat pronounced.

^!&#! I paid a lot of good money to make this case go away. Lansky and Huell told me they were going to find the taco bender and pin the death of my parents on her. Stupid idiots. I want a freaking refund, otherwise they'll go on my list of those to get rid of. Time to play the game with Blue Boy Gordon...

"I am sure Detective Huell and Detective Lansky investigated the case thoroughly. I assume having the case passed onto the homicide division is a simple formality? You must understand, I had already coped and moved on...thinking my parents had died due to an accident. Now, knowing that the case never was closed and there is a strong possibility my parents were murdered is going to make me go through all of it again...please give me a moment." Roman said covering the left side of his face with his hand and slightly lowering his head.

Roman turned the executive chair around so now he was sitting and facing the wall, making sure Gordon was unable to see his face. Roman began to make a slight sobbing sound, and acted as if he had a violent heave. There is an old Gotham statement, men usually did not cry as much as women. Roman Sionis could not remember the last time he had cried. He certainly did not shed any tears at the death of his parents. In fact he rejoiced. Because of this, it is said that seeing a man cry is usually an awkward scene. No doubt Gordon had been around of lot of sorrowful individuals because of his occupation as a police officer. However, how many of those were grown men and not females or children? Roman purposely tried to make the sobbing as uncomfortable as possible.

"M---my parents did not h--ave ANY enemies. They were considered..o--outstanding citizens of Go-tham. They were very close to Bruce and Martha Wayne. You can ask anyone about how much they were respected and liked in the affluent community..." Roman took time getting those words out.

It is because those pieces of @^!& wore masks everywhere they went! <Bleeping> hypocrites. Pretended to be kind, compassionate, respectful, apologetic, moral citizens all the white talking crap behind people's backs and secretly plotting the downfall of those better then them so they can move up in society....

In between the contradictions of his emotions and thoughts, Roman let an important detail leak out of his mouth, triggered by one of Gordon's questions, "Last time I spoke to them was the morning of their deaths....Sob..sob.." Roman spoke, glowering with his head buried in one hand.

And that final conversation was the last straw! I had enough of them. Deny me what I wanted, douche bags.

[James Gordon]

Roman Sionis wasn't skilled at hiding his emotions, he wore his feelings on his sleeve for all people to see. Maybe it wasn't always obvious, but whenever something he thought strongly about came up then it appeared that he had issues hiding how much he really cared. Gordon had an idea that Roman didn't like his parents, but does that mean he murdered them? That isn't very far fetched and worked well enough as a motive, but there wasn't actually any concrete proof that he was responsible for the deaths of his parents. "Well I'm sorry if this is causing painful memories to surface Mr. Sionis. My only goal is to shed some light on the situation, to earn some justice for your parents and for you." Gordon smiled warmly, he did care about his job and he cared about protecting the citizens of Gotham. Perhaps he didn't agree or like a man such as Roman Sionis, but that didn't mean he wouldn't protect him or seek justice in his name like he did everyone else. Cops didn't choose who they protect, they enforced the law, it was that simple.

No enemies? That was odd, most people with the success that the Sionis' family had would have a handful of enemies or at least people they didn't get along with. It is possible that Roman didn't know that side of his parents, Gordon couldn't hold that against him. "Well I am truly sorry for your loss, Gotham is a darker place without people such as your parents to bring light to that darkness. I don't know much about their business but I know they did a fair amount of philanthropy." Gordon decided to choose his words very carefully, he didn't want to set Roman off in the wrong way, if he feigned enough ignorance on his own suspicions then Roman might just reveal something, or at least that was the main goal of this whole conversation. There are thousands of unsolved cases in Gotham, but Gordon felt strongly enough about this one to start pulling at a thread. He didn't know if it would lead anywhere, but it was that gut feeling that had been harassing him during this entire conversation.

Roman was contradicting himself in how he talked his parents, did he actually mourn them? Gordon could spot fake emotion, crocodile tears. Was Roman taunting him? Did he know that Gordon truly had nothing? "You talked to them on the morning of their deaths? What was this conversation about? Do you know if your parents met with anyone else that day?" The fact that he met with them on the morning of their deaths meant a number of things. It meant that the detectives omitted an extremely important detail. It also meant that he could have been the last person to see his parents alive. The conversation and the nature of that conversation were vitally important to the outcome of this case.

"I know it is hard for you, but if you can recall the conversation I would like to hear about it." Gordon asked nicely and smiled warmly again, waiting for a response.

[Roman Sionis]

Sionis winced.  He shouldn't have mentioned his conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Sionis on the morning of their murders.  Being the investigator that he was, Gordon followed up after displaying an amount of sympathy.  Fortunately, Roman had his back turned towards Gordon.  The wince slowly became a smile as he devised his next sentence.  Perhaps he could use the mishap to his advantage.

He slowly spun back around in his executive chair.  Grabbing a tissue, Sionis blew his nose and dried what tears were there.  He left out a deep breath and answered Gordon's inquiry,  "We were catching up on professional and personal matters.  My father was encouraging me like he always was, on a handful of ideas I was formulating for the company.  My mother shared that she had received an invitation to a party at Wayne Manor, a charity ball in order to raise money for environmental non-profits."  

Roman blew his nose again.  The sound resembled a fog horn going off in the middle of the night in order to warn everyone in Gotham that it a boat was making it's way into the Gotham harbor.  Roman turned his head and threw the soiled tissue into the waste basket.  Roman politely used hand sanitizer after that, maintaining a steady hand during the entire action or movements.

"Hmmm.  It certainly started off as a pleasant conversation and then took a negative tone...." Roman's voice trailed off as he looked directly into Gordon's eyes.  A scowl started to form on Roman's face, "They told me that they believed Rita Pascal was stealing from them.  They knew and suspected that over the years Rita had been stealing food, cleaning supplies, cosmetic samples from them, nickle and dime items really.  Being who they were, they did not mind of course.  But frozen deli meats became packs of shrimp.  Packs of shrimp turned into lobster.  A sample of Janus Cosmetics turned into multiple bottles.  Bottles became crates.  You're a smart man Captain.  They acknowledged that their kindness and compassion towards those who were less affluent then them, enabled them over the years.  Eventually she started showing symptoms of kleptomania.  They weren't looking forward to having this conversation with Rita..but they were not going to renew her green card during the next renewal period.  They were also going to discuss the suspected theft with her.  I believe they were planning to have the conversation with her later in the afternoon and that they were NOT looking forward to it."    

[James Gordon]

Roman Sionis seemed to be rather fixated on Rita Pascal, the cleaning lady that was under the employ of his late parents. The story is that she was a klepto, that she stole little items and eventually moved on to bigger ticket items. It isn't an unbelievable story but Sionis is pressing it fairly hard. Every part of Gordon is screaming internally, screaming that this man obviously had something to do with the death of his parents. Gordon could hear the DA in his head though... "A gut feeling isn't evidence." Roman Sionis had money, he had the family business he had every reason to knock off his parents. The motive, the opportunity, and a city of corrupt cops that could be bought off for the right price. Gordon's mind has been running in circles since he got here, this misdirection that is being employed by Roman is causing him to jump through hoops. 

First, he mentioned that he thought the death of his parents was simply an accident, an accident that he came to terms with. The feigned sadness begun here, he acted as if he was sad that his parents were gone and that Chief Gordon coming to his office just opened a closed wound. Jim could see it in his eyes, the look of a killer. Maybe he was wrong, but he had this feeling he simply couldn't shake. If the parents were meant to meet with Pascal, it would make her the last person that saw Mr. and Mrs. Sionis, and since Rita Pascal has been missing almost immediately after all of this happened that meant that the trail would result in being cold. Perhaps it was time to let this go, you can't win them all. Sometimes the cards are just stacked against you, and when you're in the lion's den you don't exactly have a lot of moves at your disposal. Jim would continue this line of questioning but he would watch his step, if he could pry a little more out of Roman then it was possible that Roman would let something big slip. 



 "Well I'm truly sorry for your loss, Mr. Sionis." Jim would add one final condolence, mostly he was playing an angle. If his hunch that Roman wasn't the biggest fan of his parents was correct then maybe if he was onto something that could be of help in the long run. If this didn't pan out then there was no harm done, just an irritated rich and powerful man, Jim was quite used to having those in his life. "Just between us... Do you think that Rita killed your parents?"

"Murder? You sure it wasn't an accident?"

"The fire marshal informed me that it could have been an accident of neglect. I can't even remember the last time Charles Sionis had a proper electrician come out and visit the old family mansion."

"I thought it had gone down as an accident or someone had arrested Rita Pascal. She was the only person who happened to survive the ordeal. If she didn't purposely kill my parents, then she probably triggered the fire on accident."

Bits and pieces of the interview so far repeated in Gordon's mind. First, it was stated that Roman thought it was an accident, then he jumped to Pascal holding his belief that it was an accident before introducing the idea that maybe it was Pascal. The narrative of it being neglect on part of his parents was quickly abandoned and Pascal was latched onto. Piece by piece Roman was building his narrative, and part of Jim believed that it could possibly be true. He was asking questions by the book. How Roman responded to his most recent question would be very key, if he took it the wrong way then it might also be time for Chief Gordon to take his leave.

Jim tapped his fingers on his leg for a few moments, waiting to see what was going to happen next.