Chapter 47: Feline Troubles (Part 1)

After his time with Harley, Arias got himself cleaned up and spent the rest of his morning digging up what he could on LexCorp and its head, Lex Luthor.

Surprisingly, a lot of information was easy to come by since the man didn't hide much about his personal life; in fact, he was quite boastful, with entire articles dedicated to his achievements readily available online.

The only real difficulty was in trying to find the shady businesses he had a hand in. Articles did exist, but they were more or less conspiracy theories with no solid backing or evidence. This came as no surprise since the man had even served jail time but still got out and reversed his image as if it were nothing.

Perhaps the only surefire hint Arias had to go on was that it was public knowledge that Metropolis's Man of Steel had an outspoken dislike towards Luthor, who was equally vocal about his dislike of the alien superhero. From a business perspective, Arias felt that Luthor would have no reason to be hostile towards Superman if he was legit, unless, of course, he was just xenophobic like some media personalities, but that wasn't the case.

In turn, Superman, who only rebuked criminals and not political or other business figures, had no reason to be hostile without cause.

As Arias was digging deeper into LexCorp's local and international projects to find some sort of criminal link, his phone rang, with the caller ID showing "Commissioner Gordon."

"Hello," he picked up the call and put it on speaker while continuing to browse articles.

"Morning, Mr. Markovic," Gordon began, his voice steady but carrying an underlying tension. "Before I get to the point of why I called, I wanted to ask if you heard from the mayor recently or yesterday. I'm sure you've seen the news, but as of right now, we have nothing to go on. Any information could be helpful."

Arias showed a brief smile when he heard this and decided to give Gordon a suspect.

"Personally, I hadn't talked to him since the other day concerning his distribution of the invitations for the Gala. I was actually planning to contact you myself because I was suspicious of something. As you know, I recently did a deal with LexCorp, selling off my properties, but this was handled by my secretary Roulette and Gregor, who acted as a middleman."

"The deal itself proceeded without a hitch, but this morning I found that Roulette had disappeared while Gregor was murdered. I'm not sure how the two events align since it's still too early to tell if Roulette really has run off, but something definitely seems off."

Arias didn't delve too deeply into details, mixing some truth and lies to make Roulette and even LexCorp the suspects since he hadn't taken part in the deal personally. He knew that even though the mayor's line and his were secure, call records could still be found, hence even if his were checked, it would align. From start to finish, he was confident he wouldn't have a major role in all this. If LexCorp was smart, they would denounce Roulette as well, as they had nothing more to gain from her. Arias was practically giving them a way out—but at the cost of abandoning Roulette.

"I see, that definitely helps us make some connections. As for the exact reason I called, earlier this morning the Gotham Bank reported a break-in. I'm not sure if you've been notified yet, but your vault there was targeted. The one behind it was Catwoman. She's been quiet the last couple of months, but I guess she couldn't resist robbing the newest millionaire on Gotham's scene. This isn't the first time she's done this."

"Thank you for the information. I'll call the bank and learn more. Contact me if you need any more help with the case."

"I will. Thank you for cooperating, and good day."

After cutting the call, Arias took the initiative to call the bank and find out exactly what had occurred. The vault was one of the many assets he obtained from the former major criminals and held little value in his eyes, so he never even personally inspected it. More so now, he considered wealth only necessary until he experienced his reconstruction, but even without it, he wasn't exactly in a bad place. It had more to do with his desire to lay the groundwork even before he could manifest his power in that vessel.

The call with the bank didn't take long since he was, of course, one of the more valued customers. Even better, since the bank assured clients who paid for a certain form of insurance that they'd be compensated whenever a theft occurred, he had nothing to concern himself with.

While going over the mundane details regarding when he'd receive payment, his doorbell rang. He ignored it at first, but it persisted, only stopping when he finally decided to answer, just as his call was coming to an end.

An angry Barbara in casual clothing was waiting outside with a frown on her face.

"What took you? It's awkward standing out here alone like some call girl."

Arias first tucked his phone away before gesturing for her to enter. "What do you expect when you drop by unannounced? I was on an important call, first with your father, then the bank."

"Was it about the case with the mayor?" she took the bait, unaware, even showing genuine curiosity.

"Yes, I told him what I know, minus the attempt on my life. Gregor was most likely seen as a loose end, but that's for the commissioner to figure out. As for the bank issue, my vault was apparently broken into by someone called Catwoman. Are you familiar with her?"

Arias spoke in a manner that passively promoted his innocence regarding the case while also digging for information on Catwoman, someone he knew only by name and nothing else. And it worked.

"Yeah, of course I am."