You LIED

 The following Friday Pam met up with Logan at an old-style diner. It was the type that was trying to look retro with the booths and big tables that had the old jukebox selection radios up against the wall. The table currently had schematics covering it with Logan and Pam hovering over them trying to make sense of it all. Pam adjusted her glasses, a habit she still had from back when the glasses were actually prescription and not just clear glass like these ones. "These are the electrical lab blueprints of the original Botanical Gardens building built back in 1888." Logan chuckled, "Well I don't think they had electrical anything back in 1888. Everything was steam at that point, wasn't it?" "Then you think wrong mister." Pam said in a teasing tone. "The Edison Electric Illuminating Company started its push in New York around 1882 bringing power to many parts of Manhattan. The Wayne family felt it was the future, so they started including tunnels and such for all new construction. The first of which was this building."

 "Weird, I thought this Botanical Garden was a gift to Gotham from Martha Wayne. So, unless the Wayne's are Vampires or some other long-lived race how could that be?" "From my understanding, during the great depression, the building fell to budget cuts and remained abandoned until the Wayne Foundation reopened it under Martha and Thomas Wayne." 

 "Well look at my beautiful Pam, schooling me up like a teacher. I would happily take the role of teacher's pet. I was also under the impression that the great push for electricity came in the late 1920's." 

 Pulling other paperwork over the schematics, Pam starts running her finger over things line by line. "That was the push to get it residential I believe. These budget reports don't make sense, there are items purchased that are not in the Lab. I know this because Luisa and I tried to get some of this equipment for our project but were refused due to budget restrictions. At least that's the reason they gave."

 Pulling up another bundle of paper. "This says there was another grant from the Wayne Foundation that came in while I was in Africa, but no purchases were allowed for the lab at that time. I had to pay for my guide out of my own pocket." Logan laid down a contract he had in his hand. "This is also a contract for a security team. The security guy I met, Fred was his name I think, would not be worth what this team is being paid. Is there after-hours security? This amount paid out monthly would have to be for a team of 12 people at least I would think."

 Pam sighed and took her glasses off, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her other hand. "I need some answers." She stood up, "Could you keep going over these please, I will head to the lab and get some answers and look around a bit." She bent down and kissed Logan on the cheek. "Thanks, I'll let you know what I find." 

 Pam made it back to the Lab well within her lunchtime. There was a safety meeting scheduled for 1 PM that everyone had to be at. Surprisingly, everyone was there on time. Victor was running the meeting as Head administrator; Marcus was there but he was more interested in hovering over me for the chance to stare down my shirt. The intern Darshan was there with his purple Mohawk-style hair, bored as usual. But the big surprise was that Grimley was here in his wheelchair. He normally refuses to be present during these 'Pampering sessions, fit only for the young and useless!' meetings. 

 "Last item on the agenda for this meeting. In light of this past month, I have scheduled a mandatory review of all safety protocols for the entire lab." "Mandatory? C'mon, Victor." Marcus cried. Even Pam wasn't happy about this waste of time. (Bureaucrats. The worst kind of human. All Victor can think about is rules, regulations, and reputation.) Victor started to walk out of the room and Pam followed him. 

 "Victor, I need a word." With a deep sigh, Victor waved his hand in a follow-me motion. "In my office, please."

 Pam followed him into his office and before he could even get around his desk to sit down. "You know perfectly well Luisa would never have accidentally poisoned herself. And what about our missing research that I reported?"

 Ignoring her until he got comfortable in his chair. "Ah. About that... Should we call the police back in for more investigation? If you would like to insist then I will comply, but I will have them start with those closest to Luisa. How long until they figure out that Miss Pamela Isley is in fact a criminal that goes by the name of Poison Ivy? You even had me fooled until my computer screen went all green when I was messing with the settings while going over your file. How do you get your skin to change colors? Or is it simply paint? That would be disappointing."

 "I would be happy to have them come back in. I have been suspected of much and charged with NOTHING. I have had the Devilbat in my vines and still, I walk free, your threats mean nothing to me."

 "Hmm that may be true, but any further investigation into your great mentor Luisa could bring up some interesting purchases under her name that mysteriously never arrived at this facility. You see PAM, I think she was embezzling from the institute. First, she hires a known eco-terrorist. Second, she started ordering things like a Flow injection analysis machine, a Magnetic resonance spectrometer, and an HLPC machine. Come on, why would our lab need that? An HPLC separates compounds dissolved in a liquid sample and allows qualitative and quantitative analysis of what components and how much of each component are contained in the sample. Sounds perfect for your extracurricular activities, doesn't it?"

 "Knowing that she had an audit coming up in the next couple weeks she couldn't handle the pressure and took the easy way out. So yes Pam, I agree with you that her poisoning wasn't accidental." Victor pushed a button on his desk phone. "Fred, I am ready for our meeting as soon as Miss Isley is done here in my office." "Yes sir, I have the schedule ready when you are." 

 "Well Miss Ivy, is there anything further? If not, I am glad you are heading this urban renewal concept in the name of the dear departed Luisa Cruz. Darshan thought it would be 'Healing' to memorialize Luisa through urban renewal. Create a community garden out of an abandoned lot. I decided to put you in charge of it." Victor handed Pam a file with all the necessary paperwork for the project. "If there is nothing further, I am a busy man. Doctor Grimley and I will be keeping an eye on you for now." 

 (I could just kill him now.) Pam clenches her fist and stares intently at this filthy human in front of her. Deep breath (Strangle him!) Exhale (Poison his flesh) Deep breath, as Victor realizes he may be in trouble. (Tear his limbs off, bury his body as fertilizer!!!) Exhale, Victor's bladder starts to loosen as his sphincter tightens. (But killing him will only cause me more grief later.) Pam relaxes, turns to leave, and looks over her shoulder. "To be continued." 

 Pam walked out of the office. (I would love to kill him, but then suspicion over Luisa's death would shift to me and the true culprit would get away.) She stormed towards the water cooler and ran into Darshan. He was the intern in the meeting that we had just got done with. He looked to be of Indian descent which made his purple Mohawk hair stand out all the more. He was one of the few men who could look at me without lust overriding his brain. "Hey, Isley, what's wrong?" 

 "Nothing" I snapped as I reached for a cup and put it under the nozzle. Placing the file, I had been given on the water cooler, I tried to calm down with another cup of water. Drinking it like a shot. "...Wow, you drink a LOT of water. Pam glared at the poor guy, "Water is good for you. I am done if you came here for some."

 Darshan leans his back on the wall. "Oh, no. I was just kind of wandering the halls. I keep thinking about Luisa. I feel like it's partly my fault." Pam's jaw clenched back up. "Why? What do you mean?" Darshan looked down at the ground. "I kind of... Didn't tell the police the whole story. I never made it to the lab the night Luisa died." "You LIED?" Pam asked with some anger in her voice.