2017.01.18 - Cold Case Part 3
This log is part of the Cold Case Plot.
Again, Zach has been called out on a cold cold night, but hey at least it's not sleeting. And there are no killer teddy bears or giant Joker clown robots. In fact, it's a nice patio in the super-rich bay area. Police tape surrounds the area, but the Teen Wonder has no problem dodging that. So, he's waiting on Zachm the pixie-booted youth pacing on the chill flagstones, cape flapping in the slight breeze.
Thank *goodness*. Zach's still dealing with the fact that he was actually shocked and appalled by the giant killer clown robots. He didn't have to snuggle up against Robin with his heart still pounding; he's pretty sure the Boy Wonder *knew* that the perpetually-unimpressed young magician was actually kind of impressed by the homicidal automaton.
The youngest of the Zatara family appears not too long after Robin started pacing. "Stop that. It'll give you wrinkles, somehow." It's an even tone, probably from the even tones he's conversed in for the past few minutes. He's gone from a hangout with Batman to a meeting with Robin.
How is he even spending so much time in Gotham lately? Zach's not sure himself.
Robin flashes a smile at his friend, and cross the patio to clap a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, thank you for coming. Got something weird and need some advice," he says. He points inside the penthouse to the tape outline on the carpet, irregular but yet at the same time oddly, disturbingly human.
Zach smiles a little to Robin and moves with him, to the door. Lingering in the doorway, looking to the outline, he stares for a moment, frowns slightly, opens his mouth...says nothing, closes his mouth again and purses his lips, then looks to Robin with more of an inquisitive gaze. "The tape guy was a spaz?"
Robin shakes his head slowly, the Teen Wonder all serious and Batman-y right now. "No, bud, he was not," he says simply. "We need to cover all the bases on this one and I need your skills. Is there anything magical about this area or the, um, remains there?" he says as the wind tousles his raven-black hair.
This is getting to be a habit. Zach's been in Gotham so often lately that he feels like he lives there. And consulted by stoic, all-business types...even Robin?! He's usually more cheerful than this, but Zach has to admit that investigating a murder doesn't exactly invite blithe commentary. Unless you're an asshole. Or the victim was.
But with a simple gesture, Zatara casts his senses over the room, over the proceedings that they've both missed out on directly witnessing...and he ends up letting his hand fall to his side and shrugging his shoulders. "Not that I can tell. Whatever happened here, it wasn't magical. And thank goodness for that, because I've just finished talking to Batman about demons."
Robin blinks at Zachary. "/What/ about demons?" he says, startled out of his stoic-detective facade.
Zach glances over at the noticeable change. "...oh, uh, were you there? No, you weren't there, I think." He frowns, thinking back, then shakes his head and waves a hand. "There was an extraplanar being -- a 'demon', which is a vague and totally unhelpful term -- rampaging in Gotham the other day. I helped to send it packing, and I've been doing some research on it. Probably an accident or an incidental summoning. Not the kind of thing you'd really *want* to summon. Anyway, I told Batman to ask Omen for help tracing it, since Omen's the best bet with that sort of thing. Not really my wheelhouse. He'll probably ask you to do that."
Robin stays quiet since it's not a totally known thing that there are two Robins wearing the same costume and using the same name. It's how he gets around, after all. "OK, then," he says quietly, looking back into the penthouse. "Well, it's good to know my instincts were correct and this wasn't magical, but ... after all, neither of us have any way of telling that," he says, gloved hand on the glass door. He looks into the disturbed apartment for a few seconds longer. "Something weird happened with this man, and it's eating at me."
"Weird how?" Zach asks, starting as if to lean on the doorway, but then stopping himself. No, he doesn't want to leave any evidence that he was here, even if his clothes can be changed magically. It's just more red tape and potential risk, and having no secret identity, he doesn't want to complicate matters. "I mean, besides the fact that he was murdered, obviously."
"I'm not sure he was," Robin says. "Murdered, that is. He died, but... he'd been dead for some time before he stopped moving. Months, in fact. But he wasn't a zombie or some kind of other thing like that." He looks to Zach and shakes his head. "And somehow it's linked to Mister Freeze, but he's been in Arkham since the last time we put him there, over a year ago." Yes, remarkably the master criminal hasn't broken out in all that time.
Zach looks back to the tape. He's silent for quite a while, and then suddenly he all but shouts, need for stealth utterly forgotten. "Cool Air!!" His eyes flare wide open, and he turns to the Boy Wonder.
Robin shakes his head. "What? You've heard of this, before?" he says, his eyes narrowing behind his black leather mask.
"Cool Air! Haven't you read any Lovecraft?" Zach gestures with uncommon excitement at the tape. "It's a story about a man who moves into an apartment building, and he meets this guy...it's...kind of bizarrely romantic." He rolls his eyes, waving his hand as if to dismiss that point for the moment. "But the guy basically has to keep it freezing cold in his place all the time. It's weird and the narrator doesn't get why, until one day when the machinery fails. Since it was the 20s, I think, it wasn't exactly easy to fix. Anyway, long story short, the guy had died years ago but kept himself alive by keeping himself cold."
Robin shakes his head, but listens. He looks back into the death scene as Zachary relates this, then gets a slow pursed-lip look, like he tastes something sour. "Holy HPL," he mutters. "That.. fits. The guy's blood was actually some kind of antifreeze or something. You think someone could have used that story as... inspiration?" he says as the wind picks up. They are on top of a very tall building after all.
That makes Zach shiver...at least it's explainable as the chilly wind picking up, even if that's not the only thing to send a cold wave through the both of them. "Well, it *is* Gotham. I mean, if it's going to happen, this is definitely where it would happen."
Robin quirks a slight smile. "OK, I'll agree with you, there. So.. that's at least something to look in to. Glad I asked you to look at this," he says, shooting a broader smile at the other teenager.
"I feel validated as a person, not just a magical lexicon." Zach remarks, with a slightly dry tone. But he's at least smirking, so he's most likely being facetious. "Anything else we're looking into tonight? I feel like I should get an apartment here, as much as I'm in the place lately." Then he glances through the door. "Not...*this* apartment, though. I have a very bad feeling about it."
Robin playfully gives Zach's shoulder a light shove, dispelling the vision of the teen as another Dark Knight. "No, I doubt they're going to able to rent this place for some time to come," he says.
Zach's smirk spreads slightly, and he nudges back. "So! What else is on the docket for tonight? I've watched a bunch of people unloading ships, investigated a truly bizarre death that's possibly murder and possibly just a terrible coincidence...these things have got to come in threes."
Robin shrugs. "We could go check out Arkham. I want to ask Fries some questions." He cants his head to the side. "Ever been there?"
The smirk immediately vanishes, and a sour expression replaces it. "Arkham Asylum doesn't have exactly the best reputation. From what I understand, it's a disaster waiting to happen and you'd have to be either crazy or Batman, present company excluded of course, to stand a chance of going in and out without some sort of trauma." Zach shakes his head, but he does just sort of bounce his shoulders noncommittally at first. "I guess we can go if you want to. I'll follow your lead."
Robin watches his buddy, then thinks better of his idea. "You're right," he says after a minute. "You've been a big help, though," he says.