Gotham: After Dark - The King Slayer

by Dustin Brubaker

  “No problem boss,” Falcone said into the receiver. “I’ll take care of it.”

  Falcone hung up the receiver and departed the phone booth, walking towards and alley and out of everyone’s sight. Contrary to a lot of people who worked for the mob, Falcone was the kind of guy who wanted to be heard but seldom seen. He wasn’t keen on showing his face unless there was a good reason to do it and preferred to stay in the shadows, especially around strong police presences at crime scenes. As he walked down the street he recapped that conversation in the jewelry store. Based on that he knew exactly where everyone was at that given moment. Falcone would use that to his advantage and attempt to assist the police and the DA’s office to close this case as soon as possible. It was in both their interests if this man was waken carefully an while he was unsure which paranoid he’s This something big and he was going to take care of it for Don Sabatino, even it was the last thing he did for the old man.

  When Tony returned home, he was coming back from what was an exhausting day at the station. He and Dent spent the better part of a few hours looking over the letter that the Kingslayer had sent to the Gotham Gazette. He poured over every detail, took notes and looked for clues. He had even brought his notes home, hoping that his wife could help him. Tony was confident that Samantha might be able to spot something that he and Dent missed. A long shot but it never hurt to get help from a fresh pair of eyes that he trusted more than anyone else in the city. Yet as he walked into the house, something was different. His wife quietly walked into the hallway without making a sound, which usually told him there was someone else in the house. Usually she was only this reserved when there was company present.

  “Tony.” She said as she walked into the hallway. “There’s a man here to see you.”

  “Who is it?” Tony asked.

  “I’m not entirely sure.” His wife answered.

  “Then why did you let him into the house?” Tony asked, upset that his pregnant wife let a total stranger into their home.

  “He’s here about the case.” She answered, “He wants to offer you some information that might help with the case you and Dent are working on. Based one what he does, I thought you might want to sit down with him and hear what he has to say.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Tony said as he strolled into the living room. When he got in there the answer was quite obvious. The man sitting on his couch was wearing a suit, a fine Italian one that you usually saw on one of two people; bankers and mobsters. He didn’t look like a banker.

  “Who are you?” Tony asked as he walked into the living room.

  “My name is Carmine Falcone.” The big man said as he set down his tea and stood up to shake his hand. “I’m here on orders to assist you.”

  Tony walked up and shook his hand. “Anthony Gordon.”

  “Yes, with the district attorney’s office.” Falcone said as he sat back down and resumed drinking his tea.

  Tony walked over and sat on one of the chairs on the other side of the coffee table, trying to get a read on the man in his office. “Who sent you here to assist me?”

  “I’m here on behalf of Johnny Sabatino.” Falcone answered.

  “Sabatino?” Tony said as his eyes opened up. “as in Don Sabatino; one of the biggest heads of organized crime in Gotham?”

  “The very same.” Falcone confirmed.

  Tony controlled his temper as he didn’t like the idea of a thug being in his house and with his wife waiting for him to come home. “Why did you come to my home?”

  “Because you and I talking could make thing tricky.” Falcone said as he then gestured to his wife. “So I thought it would be polite and courteous to get permission from your boss before consulting you. If she wasn’t comfortable with it, I would have approached someone else.”

  “Why are you approaching me?” Tony asked.

  “I’m privy to information that might help your investigation.” Falcone said as he put the tea cup back down on the table. “I am authorized to assist you in any way I can. If you need someone shaked down for information, I’ll do it for you. I am also allowed to divulge information that you and the DA might not be aware of if it will help bring this sick bastard in.”

  “Why?” Tony asked. It was a fair question.

  “Mr. Sabatino is just as upset by the killings as any other concerned citizen of Gotham is.” Falcone replied, “We’re just as disturbed by the killings, especially of women and children. We want this man off the streets just as much as you do and want to offer our assistance.”

  “And what do you want in return?” Tony asked. Another fair question.

  “All we want is that you do not use any information or evidence we provide against us in future prosecutions.” Falcone answered, “We think you’ll accept this because you’re more interested in taking out a serial killer than a mobster who at least has limits. We don’t kill children.”

  “You just sell drugs to them.” Tony shot back.

  Falcone’s face twitched a bit as his anger was evident. “We do not sell drugs to children. If you have any information that disproves that, provide it to me and I guarantee that person will be dealt with within twenty four hours.”

  “I believe you.” Tony said as he didn’t want to push things further. “All right; if your information and participation leads to the arrest of the Kingslayer, we will not use it to prosecute you.”

  “That’s all I needed.” Falcone said as his demeanor changed. “Tell me what you know about this sick puppy and I’ll do my best to fill in the holes for you and give you a better picture to look at.”

  “All right.” Tony said as he sat up in his chair. “As I said before, this man refers to himself as the Kingslayer. He honestly believes he’s doing the city a favor and killing people he thinks has sinned against Gotham. There’s no proof that these men did anything wrong, we have no idea why they were targeted.”

  “They did sin against the city, just not as bad as you think.” Falcone said as he flipped through a few of Tony’s notes. “Both Grisham and the Jeweler had ties to organized crime.”

  This comment caused both Samantha and Tony to look back at Falcone with shocked faces.

  “How were they tied to organized crime?” tony asked.

  “Grisham wasn’t with us, but we knew he was using his heart charity to funnel mob money into the city.” Falcone answered. “The jeweler was working for us. We used his shop to not only launder money but we got a cut of the action because we supplied him with illegal stones from the Congo. We have no idea how the Kingslayer knew about any of this, but I’m certain that whoever he plans to strike next will have similar ties or sins.”

  “We have two kings left.” Tony said.

  “I know.” Falone said as he stood up and paced around. “The spade and the club; we need to find out who would represent each symbol.”

  “How do you mean?” Tony asked.

  “Well we know the Grishams were given the heart because of their connection to the heart charity.” Falcone started, “And the diamond card was obvious as well because our guy was a jeweler. So whatever card is used next, the victim’s card will represent their sins to our Kingslayer.”

  “I get it.” Samantha said as she seemed excited. “What if the next person will be a club owner?”

  “That’s pretty good.” Tony said as he liked where this was going. “But the Kingslayer would want to take out the person who represents the king of clubs. So who owns the most clubs in all of Gotham?”

  At that exact moment, the blood rushed from Falcone’s face. He started to go pale as he had a thought that sent a chill right up his spine. He immediately got to his feet. “I’ve got to go.”

  Tony ran after Falcone who had bolted out the door like a bat out of hell. He ran after the mobster and stopped him halfway to his car. “You know something! What is it?”

  “I know who the king of clubs is.” Falcone confessed.

  “Who?” Tony asked. “Who owns the most clubs in th
is city?”

  “That would be Johnny Sabatino. So if you’ll excuse me.” Falcone slapped Tony’s arm away and continued to run to his car. Tony watched in absolute shock as Falcone peeled out of the driveway and tore down the road, running a stop sign and speeding out of sight.

  Falcone nearly cause several accidents while keeping the pedal to the metal while flooring it back to Sabatino’s restaurant. Falcone didn’t care about parking at that particular moment as he pulled onto the sidewalk and slammed the car into park. As he stepped out of the car, two of Sabatino’s men were looking at him as if he were a madman.

  “Falcone, what the hell?” one of the thugs called out.

  “Shut the hell up!” Falcone called out, “Where’s the boss?”

  “He’s out back, having dinner.” The other thug replied.

  Falcone didn’t hang around to chit chat and walked into the restaurant and jogged to the back of room as quickly as he could. When he arrived to the back room a waiter was just about to serve Sabatino his supper. He had a plate of food in one hand and a steak knife in the other. Given the situation, Falcone wasn’t in the mood to take any chances when it was his boss’ life on the line. He pulled out his piece and gunned down the waiter before he got within two feet of his boss, tagging the man for two shots to the torso, killing him.

  “What the hell?” Sabatino called out as he had the waiter’s blood on him.

  The entire room erupted into chaos and one of the thugs took away Falcone’s gun and pointed his own at his temple. Falcone stood there, waiting for the old man to say something first.

  “What was that for?” the old man called out.

  “I just got word that your life is in danger.” Falcone called back. “That crazy psycho is coming for you next.”

  “He is?” Sabatino said with a laugh. “What did I do?”

  “You own over twenty night clubs in the city.” Falcone answered, “You also use those clubs to push drugs and prostitutes. In the eyes of the Kingslayer, that makes you the king of clubs.”

  “Why did you shoot the waiter?” Sabatino then asked.

  “I don’t know that guy.” Falcone confessed, “But all I saw was a man less than two feet away from you with a knife. Forgive me, but I’d rather shoot first and ask questions later when it’s your life I’m protecting.”

  The old man walked up and grabbed the gun from the thug that was pointing it at Falcone’s temple. “I admire your spunk. You really did that to save my life?”

  “I did.” Falcone confessed.

  “Unfortunately, he shot the wrong guy.” A voice called out.

  In all the commotion that Falcone had caused by shooting the waiter, there was no one covering the door into the private room. Standing at the door with a fully loaded tommy gun in his hand, was a masked man. There was no doubt in Falcone’s mind; that masked man was the kingslayer.

  “Time to pay for your sins, Sabatino!” the man called out. Without hesitation he stared to fire on everyone in there, spraying the entire room with bullets. Some of Sabatino’s men tried to shoot back but their efforts were futile as the tommy gun tore them down before they could even fire off a single shot.

  Instead of trying to shoot back, Falcone grabbed Sabatino by wrapping his large arms around the old man and lifted him off the ground. As the bullets started to fly he ran towards the nearest table and leaped over it with his boss. As he was leaping over the table, he used one of his hands to grab a corner of the table and used his momentum to turn the table over as they jumped over it, providing cover for both he and his boss. Every table in that room was thick enough to stop any man made ammunition, so it was the perfect cover as the Kingslayer’s bullets failed to break through it. As the bullets were ricocheting all over the place, Falcone knew it was time to back on offense. He popped open Sabatino’s jacket and removed his piece from the old man’s holster. The moment the tommy gun paused for just a second, Falcone emerged from the table shot at anything or anyone that moved. While Falcone’s indiscriminate shooting took out one of his own men, the second shot was at the kingslayer. The bullet ripped into the masked man’s right shoulder, making it impossible for him to hold the big gun up. The masked man, dropped the big gun and bolted for the door. Falcone fired several more shots at the masked man but he was out the door and gone.

  Falcone turned back to face his boss who was still lying down behind the table for cover. “Are you all right, Mr. Sabatino?”

  “I think you separated my shoulder when we leapt over this table.” The old man confessed, “But considering the alternative, I can let that slide.”

  “Let’s get you to a hospital.” Falcone said as he scanned the room to see if there was anyone else alive.

  “No.” The old man replied, “You go get that bastard and bring me back his heart.”

  “As much as I would enjoy that.” Falcone replied, “I’m not going anywhere until you’re in a hospital and under armed guard.”

  The old man looked at him and nodded, “All right. Let’s get out of here.”

  It only took a few minutes for more armed men to show up and Falcone clued them in to what just happened and what the bugger looked like. Half the men went out to look for him while the other half stayed to clean up the mess and get the boss to Gotham General. Falcone walked the old man out to the car and put him in the passenger side.

  “Nice ride, Falcone.” The old man said.

  “We have a reputation to maintain.” Falcone said with a wink as he started the car. It took him less than a few minutes to get the old man to the hospital and admitted to treat his shoulder, which was separated. Falcone stood guard at the door of the room, only allowing medical personal to enter until more men arrived to secure the area. He had been sitting there for the better part of an hour, covered in other people’s blood when someone he recognized entered the ward. It was Tony Gordon and he was there with his boss, assistant district attorney Dent.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Falcone asked.

  “Someone in our city was attacked.” Tony answered.

  “Was it him?” Dent asked.

  Falcone stood up and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a card; the king of clubs. “He dropped this on his way out.”

  Dent took the card from him and looked at it. “Where did this happen?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Falcone answered. “It’s already being cleaned up as we speak. We have a reputation to maintain. The room is soundproof so no one heard a thing. But you guys have a mad man on your hands.

  “He’s also got some set on him if he had the minerals to come after Sabatino like that.” Tony also added.

  “Not for long.” Falcone said, “If I get my hands on him, he’s going to lose a lot of body parts.”

  “No vigilante shit in my town, bub.” Dent said as he put the card into his pocket as it was not evidence.

  “Sorry.” Falcone said as he sighed. “It’s been a long day. Needless to say, you have our full support in bringing this turd to justice.”

  “We appreciate that.” Dent said with a hint of sarcasm. “But we’ll let the police take care of this from here.”

  With that Dent turned and walked away from both Falcone and Tony who didn’t follow his boss.

  “This guy isn’t holding back.” Tony said as he turned back to Falcone. “He’s taking more chances and he’s not waiting to strike again.”

  “He’s moving faster because he feels the heat on him.” Falcone added, “I have no doubt he’s going to strike the King of Spades as quickly as he can.

  “We need to find out who that is.” Tony said back to Falcone.

  Falcone smiled at the thought as it appeared that Tony was more willing to accept his help than his boss was. “There’s a diner around the corner from here on 9th street. Meet me there in an hour and we’ll figure this out.”

  .

  As promised, Falcone walked into the diner about a half hour after Tony Gordon had left the hospital. Tony was sitting
at a booth, nursing a cup of coffee as he waited for the gangster to meet him there. Falcone took of his jacket and tossed it into the corner of the booth and then sat across from the lawyer. He looked exhausted but focused on the task at hand. He picked up the menu that was lying on the table and looked back at Tony.

  “Have you ordered anything?” Falcone asked.

  “Are we going to be here that long?” Tony countered.

  Falcone put the menu down and sternly glared at Tony. “We are not leaving this table until we figure out who the King of Spades is.”

  “How are we going to do that?” Tony asked.

  “Easy.” Falcone said as he went back to scanning the menu. “While we’re eating, I’m going to ask you questions about your case, a lot of them. If you’re honest with me, we’ll break down the clues and figure out who the next target is. This guy wants to take credit for his work; he’s leaving more breadcrumbs than you’d see in a fairytale. The answers are out there, we just have to find them and exploit them.”

  “All right.” Tony said as he took the other menu off the table. “Let’s order something and get to work.”

  They sat down in that café for a few hours, going over every detail. Falcone asked a boat load of questions and Tony was honest with each one, hoping Falcone’s fresh eyes might find something like he had the previous time. Their food came and went and they continued to talk about it, going over one detail after another.

  “You know.” Falcone said as he was sipping on a cup of earl grey. “the spade is considers a weapon, like a spear. To me this is the key hint to who the next victim is going to be. We’re looking for someone who works in weapons.”

  “Like the owner of a gun shop?” Tony asked.”

  “No,” Falcone dismissed almost immediately. “The owner of a gun shop is small potatoes, too small a target for him.”