Gerard Way: Crime Scene Investigator

Gerard had no choice but to drop his brother back at their house so he could get his own car. As much as he didn’t want to follow Matt’s instructions, he couldn’t put Brian’s life in any further danger.

“I’ll call you with any updates, Mike,” he said grimly as he drove away. He drove to the nearest bank and walked inside.

The line was long, but he didn’t have time to wait. He immediately cut to the front of the line, much to the annoyance of several people, but they lost the nerve to say anything when they saw the handgun clipped to his belt.

“The transfer was a success, Mr. Way,” said the teller, eyeing the gun nervously.

“I need to make a withdrawal.”

“What’s the amount?”

“One million dollars.” Gerard felt breathless after saying the words. It was strange to simultaneously gain and lose so much money in one day. The woman’s eyes widened.

“That’s a fairly large amount. We’re going to need some time...to...” She stopped as he discreetly placed his badge on the counter. She sighed in relief. At least he wasn’t going to try and rob the bank.

“I’ll get it right away.”
-
He placed the money in the black duffel bag he had brought with him and drove to the hotel. He became nervous when he saw no one else around, save for a lone man in front of the building’s entrance. There were no people walking the streets, giving the city block a ghostly, empty feel.

Gerard parked on the side of the street next to a parking meter, noting that it showed half an hour of time left. The man walked over to him, and he dropped the bag on the ground between them.

“I’m impressed, Lieutenant. A whole half hour to spare,” Matt said lazily. Gerard struggled to keep his composure.

“Where is the kid?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“What, I don’t even get a chance to talk to an old friend? Come on, Way, you know me better than that.”

“You’re not a friend, you’re a criminal. And I’m going to bring you down.” Matt placed a hand over his heart as though he’d been shot.

“Oh, that hurts, Way,” he said sarcastically. “You know, I was going to tell you where the kid is, but you seem a little uptight. I think we should play a game instead.” He reached into one pocket and pulled out a box of cards. “In here is all the help you’ll need, my friend. I suggest you work quickly. Because that meter shows all the time you have left.”

He swiftly pulled out a gun as if to shoot at Gerard, who promptly fired a single shot at the man’s heart. He fell backwards, instantly dead. Gerard called Mikey and told him it was okay to come by. He put on latex gloves and picked up the box, finding four cards inside: the aces of spades, diamonds, and hearts, and a joker. It was more than a little shocking to him.

“Matt, what have you done this time?” he asked himself. He looked back inside the box and found a white piece of paper he had previously missed. He shook it out of the box, noting a gold-colored stain on it, and read it carefully.

It’s a toss-up, Gerard. But this time I’ll let you decide the outcome.

He knew what to do. He took a cotton swab from his field kit and swabbed the strange stain, testing it to see what it was, but was unsuccessful. It was different. Mikey arrived soon after, bringing more lab equipment than would fit in Gerard’s car. Gerard handed him the piece of paper and showed him the cards.

“I can’t believe this. You have to find that kid, Gee,” said Mikey. His brother looked at the meter. Twenty minutes left.

“I know. But I have no idea where to start. He said everything we needed was in the box.”

“I’ll try and figure out what this stuff is,” said Mikey. He thought for a second. “Hey, what’s this?” He showed the box to Gerard, who saw a tiny dot of red that didn’t blend with the rest of the crimson filigree designs on the box. He tested it quickly. It was blood.

He looked around for any signs he had missed earlier. Then he saw a small playing card taped to the wall of the hotel’s parking garage, which was right nearby. He kept his gun drawn and approached it. The card was the three of spades. It was turned sideways, as if to point into the garage. He took the hint and ran.

As he quickly scanned several cars on the first floor, he couldn’t help but wonder about Matt’s sick sense of humor. His very first victim had died in a parking garage. How he ever evaded the penalties for that case, Gerard would never know.

“It was a three,” he muttered to himself. He soon came upon a concrete pillar supporting the next several floors. It read ‘3A.’ There was another card taped to it, the four of diamonds.

Matt’s second victim had been killed in a jewelry store. This was getting weird.

‘So I’m looking for an expensive car on this floor,’ he thought to himself. ‘Probably Matt’s BMW.’ He searched around madly for any sign of the car, but couldn’t find anything. He was starting to feel a little dizzy; everything looked the same. There were no cars like Matt’s in the garage anywhere.