In plain sight (Sequel to Unappreciated by all except you.)

Chapter 5: Angry bird vs posh pig.

Life at the GCPD that day was the same as it had been every day since the death of Captain Essen. Absolute chaos. At a time when the GCPD should be channeling its efforts towards restoring order to the city it seemed that all anyone could do was bicker. Far from setting a good example Jim Gordon , Gotham's 'golden boy', was by far the worst of the lot but then it was hardly surprising. The man had always had a temper. He was currently having a shouting match with Alvarez whilst Bullock watched from the balcony as he enjoyed a cup of coffee.

Ed rolled his eyes before heading towards the filing room. The incompetent fools, he thought scornfully. The fact that the police still thought that Jerome's old, blind and now deceased father was the mastermind behind the Arkham breakout was almost laughable. 

"Hello Miss Kringle" he said brightly as he entered the filing room. "Mr Nygma" Kristen replied with a nervous, yet over all friendly, smile "is there something you need?" "I just wanted to return these files" he told her as he placed the pile of papers on top of a nearby cabinet. He knew better than to try and put them away himself, he doubted he'd survive another encounter with an angry Kristen. She had been less than happy last time he had tried to re-organise her files.

Miss Kringle nodded gratefully and set to work at putting them away. There was a moments silence as Ed hovered in the doorway nervously. He could of course just sneak in later and search for the information he needed but he doubted things would end well if he was caught. He was walking on thin ice as it was. The last thing he needed was to be accused of being a mole. If he wanted to find Galavan, it might be better if he went above board.

"What is it Mr Nygma?" Kristen asked suddenly. She had her back to him but from her tone of voice and the way she was clutching hold of the side of the filing cabinet draw so hard that her knuckles were almost white it was clear that his lurking was making her feel very anxious. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry" Ed cried hurriedly "I was just lost in thought I guess. I was going to ask you about something but I can see that I have upset you. I'll get out of your hair." He turned to leave, cursing himself for not having thought of a better plan, one that didn't involve causing Miss Kringle unneeded stress. Things had been going so well between them of late.

"What was it you wanted to ask me?" she called after him and Ed dared to stop and look back at her curiously. "I was wondering what you knew about Theo Galavan, if anything" he replied tentatively " I thought you might have seen his name in a report somewhere maybe or just heard something about him in general. I know it might seem strange but I couldn't think of anyone else to ask." "Why do you want to know about Theo Galavan?" She asked quizzically. "Oh no real reason, just curious" Ed replied a little too quickly. Kristen raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Well I can't say that I know anything about him and I don't remember seeing a mention of him in any of our files but I could keep a look out for you" she replied and Ed grinned hopefully.  "If you tell me what is that you find so interesting about him" she added.

Ed bit his lip, wondering what he should tell her. He settled on the truth. Well, most of it. "To be honest, I've been thinking about what a strange coincidence it all is" Ed said carefully "that our mayor 'runs off' and we have this dreadful break out from Arkham at the exact same time as this mysterious billionaire comes to town. We don't even know anything about him yet after what happened with Jerome people are calling for Galavan to take the position of mayor. It's all happening a bit fast, don't you think? I know I'm probably getting a bit too ahead of myself but I can't help but think that there might be a connection. I guess I'm just looking for something to prove me wrong or at least give me enough evidence to give to Detective Gordon. As it is I doubt he'd take my suspicions very seriously." Miss Kringle nodded as she considered this theory. It was a bit far fetched to be sure but a part of her couldn't help but think that Edward might be right. Either way, it couldn't hurt to have a second line of enquiry. As it was they were no closer to catching those responsible for the attack and slaughter at the GCPD and Kristen didn't think she could cope with that injustice much longer.