Prince of Darkness ~ Gotham

~ Chapter Forty Four: What Would Dad Do? ~

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Please, please let this work... The tiny weight of the USB drive felt like a hundred bricks had fallen on top of Holly with every step she took toward the art classroom. She sat in her seat, still feeling everyone's eyes on her. But rather than want to curl up into a ball of embarrassment and die, she straightened her spine and acted like everything was perfectly fine. "Alright class, again as a reminder, please make sure you arrive at the school by 10:30 am tomorrow so you can get your art displays ready. The judges will be stopping by to ask you a couple of questions around 11:15, so be sure to prepare your responses. And one last thing, remember to have fun!" Mrs. Scherer announced to the class.

As everyone sat at their desk, reading through the interview questions, Holly looked up to Mrs. Scherer's desk, watching as she typed something into her computer. It's now or never, Hols. Without further hesitation, Holly reached into the smallest pocket of her backpack, and with the drive clutched in her fist, she walked over to the desk and set it down. Mrs. Scherer caught Holly out of the corner of her eye and turned away from the monitor. "May I help you, Ms. Gordon?" She whispered. "I found the proof," Holly slid the drive over.

"What is this?" Mrs. Scherer looked confused. "Just watch it. Please," Holly responded. Mrs. Scherer gestured Holly to stand next to her, and Holly eagerly went behind the desk, watching her teacher plugged in the drive and clicked the link. The teacher squinted and leaned closer, trying to see what was going on. "This is from the day Cara and I had lunch with Natasha. As you can see, we were comforting her through a difficult time," Holly pointed out. Mrs. Scherer was silent as she continued to watch the rest of the footage, and with every passing frame, she realized that Holly had been telling the truth the entire time.

As the screen went black, Mrs. Scherer turned in her chair, an apologetic look in her eyes. "I'm very sorry, Ms. Gordon. I shouldn't have been so harsh with the accusations," She apologized. A bit too late, for that but carry on. "And keeping with our agreement, you are allowed back into the art contest," "Thank you, Mrs. Scherer," Holly nodded before returning to her seat, a tiny smile playing on her lips. Right behind her desk, she could hear the familiar voices of Jasmine, Jordan, and Evie gossiping about her. "What did she just do?" Jasmine whispered. "She had some kind of file, I think," Jordan whispered back. "Great, all that work for nothing!" Evie sighed. Holly fought back the temptation to confront them, wanting to chew them out for trying to ruin her reputation.

But as the smile continued to linger, she was already imagining the shock and regret from them when she won that contest. They were going to regret underestimating her.

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"Cell phone records?" Jim asked as he walked down the stairs, noticing Harvey dropping off a couple of boxes at their desks. "And credit-card statements," Harvey added. "Give me a hand!" "Yeah, sure," Jim nodded. But when he reached the end of the staircase, he stopped in his tracks when he saw a familiar face smiling and waving at him. "Give me a minute," Jim turned back to Harvey. "Take your time," Harvey replied. Jim walked down the smaller flight of steps to where Oswald was proudly holding something in his hands.

"It's good to see you, old friend," Oswald smiled. "And I hope the little miss is doing well!" "What are you doing here?" Jim placed his hands on his hips, clearly not in the mood for small talk. "I wanted to invite you to a party I'm hosting!" Oswald answered, handing him a black invitation with Oswald's written in curly silver fonts. "No thanks," Jim declined, handing it back. "I hear you. Too busy, I suppose," Oswald frowned. "Are you on a tricky case? Anything I can help you with? It worked so well the last time,"