DC: 2011-12-23 - Crime Scene Investigation

Down in the South End of Star City, there were earlier reports from various precincts of Star City's Police Department of an illegal weapons bust. A few members of one of the local gangs were caught with their pants down by the Police and a small cache of weapons were taken into custody. Normally, this isn't too big of a concern; Illegally obtained weapons are pretty common place as far as busts go. However, what warranted some Justice League-level attention is the fact that in the reports these weapons were described as 'Futuristic' and 'Like an old-school '50s Ray-Gun'. When questioned, the gangsters admitted to only having a small portion of their haul on them at the time of the bust. The vast majority of the cache of weapons is on the move.

Wally West, the fastest man alive, is one Leaguer working the case. He's not known as the brightest investigator, but he's no dummy. Dressed as the Scarlet Speedster, Wally is on the scene of the original crime... which has been abandoned for the shift change. Dusk has fallen and it is rather dark outside, which is a perfect time to look into matters.

Batman's arrival is almost perfectly timed, it's dark enough that he can't be seen, yet not too dark for him to see what's going one clearly. He's come via the plane. A quick low altitude exit later and he's gliding to the scene. When he touches down he studies the area with mild interest. He hardly seems to notice The Flash as he moves carefully around the scene of the crime. "Hmmm, the scene's mostly undisturbed." He makes it sound as though this is barely good enough. He crouches to study the floor for a moment, apparently something caught his attention. Then he's rising, turning to look at The Flash for the first time since his arrival. "Did the police have anything to say that wasn't in the report? Opinions, things they're not sure would look good on paper?"

Where the two Leaguers are is just a small building in the South End. It's an old storefront that has long been abandoned of legitimate commercial enterprise. The Flash is kneeling over an old counter top that once would have held goods such as fresh meat, deli or other such items on display. When the Flash is spoken to by the Dark Knight, he turns a cowled head to regard him. He grunts an acknowledgement and answers, "Ah, yeah. I caught a couple of straggling SCPD Detectives. They had been staking this place out for a couple of weeks. Lots of box truck traffic to and from this place..." He pauses, "I asked if they were marked trucks. They said they typically had fish or crab logos on them."

"They didn't record and check company names?" Batman shakes his head slowly. "They also didn't do much of a job on their reports." Batman frowns a little. "Did they say /why/ they were watching the place? That had to have suspicions beyond simple increase in traffic." Batman continues to study the scene, it's difficult to tell what he's looking for a light is removed from his belt and he begins to study surfaces, almost as though he intends to check every inch of the room.

As The Batman continues to investigate the area, the Flash lowers a hand to the ground. His gloved hand hovers over a spot on the ground. The floor is covered in 12 inch by 12 inch sections of linoleum. The section of the floor he is looking at is rather ruined. The linoleum crushed and shattered, but the place his hand hovers over has charred marks in a circular pattern... as if there was impact at one point that radiated outward. The Flash says to Batman in response, "They didn't say and I didn't ask, Sorry Batman. I imagine that any names of companies might be buried in some footnotes. I think the traffic alone to this old store gave them the suspicion to keep an eye on it..."

As Batman looks at his surroundings, his light should shine on a similar impact point on the floor to what the Flash is observing. Except, instead of the single impact point that Wally is observing, Bruce should be able to immediately spot several points of impact with charred marks with varying size in radius.

"I'll get copies of the physical reports." Of course that may mean either working his way through the red tape, or possibly breaking the law. But neither of those have stopped Batman yet. For now however he studies the impact markings on the floor, he leans in closer to study the the markings. "I'll have the computer run these impact marks through the system, see if I can't find a match for their source." He looks to Wally. "It's not likely that they'd push that much of anything through a single property. That's a fast way to get caught. But I'll definitely consider the possibility that these are new players, advanced tech but no sense. It does happen."

The Flash runs a gloved hand over the marks on the floor. He stands up and just happens to look at the wall adjacent to him. He humphs as he spies another such mark in the wall. Wally says, "Pretty strong cinderblock this wall is made out of. Whatever made these marks didn't blast a hole strait through the wall." He shrugs his shoulders, "Some kinda energy gun? The report said something about a 'ray gun'. Maybe there was some kind of shootout in here?" There is, however, a complete lack of any kind of bullet casings or bullet holes. The Flash puts his hands on his hips and looks towards the front door, "I am sure this isn't the only place they were holding up in... the gangsters they hauled away admitted that there was a larger collection elsewhere that the PD have, so far, missed."

"It's not a matter of if there was a fire fight. That seems fairly obvious." Batman rises turning his attention to the other side of the room. "The question is /what/ was being fired. There are a lot of different energy weapons out there. Knowing which one would be helpful. I may be able to identify the type." He's looking for signs that the shooting had gone two ways. "The question is did the weapon make a sound? It's possible the police watching this place were right outside when the crime happened and never knew a thing."

The blasts on the floor and on the wall do have a distinct look to them. The markings on the floor are too uniform. The charred markings around the initial impact point are uniform too... as if the blasts were made directly above the impact points. Someone was shooting directly down into the floor; strait down, not at an angle. The markings on the wall indicate a strait shot, no spread in the charring around the points of impact to indicate that the shots were made at an angle. It certainly does not appear to be the kind of markings made by a firefight.

The Flash grunts an acknowledgement to Batman before saying, "I don't remember hearing if they had heard anything... and the reports available to the Watchtower didn't say whether or not the police believed shootings were occurring. Perhaps they are quiet guns or, at the very least, silenced." The Fastest Man Alive shrugs his shoulders.

"Or energy based projectiles." Batman looks at Wally for a moment, his expression thoughtful. "It's too early to jump to conclusions Flash. Why don't you file your report while I finish off the last of my tests? I'll brief you on the results when I get them." He begins to search the holes for signs of burning or metal fragments. Yet of course he's soon back to scanning the rest of the room, the kit removed from his belt a simple lab kit, the more advanced version waiting outside.