Work Text:
The familiar sound of a rush of wind followed by a light bulb turning on begins the show. “This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved we are exploring the untimely death of Jason Todd,” Ryan begins. He adjusts his papers, “And as fair warning, I do not like this case. It’s, it’s not pretty.”
“I don’t think anyone hears about the death of a child and thinks it’s pretty, Ryan.” Shane retorts.
“I know, I know - but this one, this one leaves me real uneasy. Technically,” he hesitates. “Technically Bruce Wayne has provided an explanation, but there are a lot of details of the case it does not fully cover. But, I don’t want to be disrespectful, this story is truly heartbreaking.”
“Before we begins this,” Shane says, staring directly into the camera. “Mr. Wayne, if you are watching this, please, do not press charges.”
“Yeah, I’m just reporting my research,” Ryan nervously chuckles. “Nothing more.”
“Real convincing,” Shane draws out.
“Shut up Shane, let’s get started. On October 22nd, 2009, Bruce Wayne made the adoption of his second son public. The story was Jason Todd was trying to rob Mr. Wayne’s car while at Wayne Enterprises. Jason Todd, only 12 years old, had been the child of two neglectful and addict parents, Willis and Catherine Todd. While we do not know the exact whereabouts of either adults, but we do know Jason Todd grew up without them on Gotham’s streets, in a particularly dangerous neighborhood called Crime Alley.”
Hahhahahaha
What? What is it?
It just feels so on the nose…
“Watch out! Crime Alley!
Where the crime happens!
Where the kids try to rob ya!”
(wheeze) I guess a place that has a man dressed up as a bat protecting it gets to be a little on the nose.
“Over the next few years in Bruce Wayne’s custody, Jason Todd made few public appearances. Many reporters at these events would describe him as, ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘like a fish out of water.’” Ryan diverts from his script and adds his own commentary. “Which makes sense, I mean, he’s a child in the shadow of one of the richest men in the world.”
“Yeah, and this kid is from Crime Alley for crying out loud! He’s a crime baby! Hanging out with the one percent!”
“Crime baby?” Ryan laughs.
“Yeah, that’s what they call them out in Crime Alley, them crime babies.” Shane retorts.
“Jason appeared at a total of 3 public events with Bruce Wayne over the year and a half in his care. Then, on December 8th, 2011, Jason Todd and Bruce Wayne went on a philanthropic trip to Ethiopia. According to Wayne Enterprises, this spur of the moment trip was not unique to the Wayne family. Even with his first son, Richard Grayson, Bruce Wayne would reportedly take him across the globe ‘on a whim.’”
Rich people are fucking wild.
Hahahahahaha
I bet the kid saw one of those
Sarah McLaughlin ads about
starving kids in Africa and got a
bleeding heart and then daddy
Bruce says, “Alright! To Africa
we go!”
“It was three days later on December 11th that Jason Todd would be kidnapped for a ransom of ten million dollars. The note in his hotel was never given to the public, only detectives of the case had seen the note in person, thus leaving the specific requests and details a mystery. Bruce Wayne gave his first testimony to the Gotham Gazette five days after returning from Africa, which he said the most famous quote associated with the case: Quote, ‘I was given an ultimatum: Pay the ransom or lose my son. The criminal misunderstood how long it would take to wire that large of a sum to a developing area, I was only given 10 hours. The money came in 12.’ Endquote.”
“Oh my God,” Shane mumbles. “That part of the story always breaks my heart. He was just two hours off, two hours away from saving that kid’s life.”
“The warehouse Jason Todd was being stored in was strapped with multiple explosives, including a pipe bomb which would ultimately lead to his untimely death. The way Wayne Enterprises has described the case leaves no loose ends, but then there are more ambiguous parts once the coroner’s report was released to the public. Jason Todd’s body was sent back to the states for examination from the Gotham Coroner. Jason Todd’s body was left with multiple broken ribs, a fractured skull, a broken arm, a broken nose, and a concussion.” As he lists the injuries, a diagram of where the injuries would hit the body was shown on the screen. The diagram highlighted trauma to his head, torso, and arms as they were listed off. “However, his official cause of death was asphyxiation from being under the collapsed building, meaning these injuries happened before the warehouse exploded.”
“I really don’t like this case, Ryan.” Shane says. “I really, really don’t like this case.”
“Me neither, but this part never made sense to me. Why brutally beat up a person you’re holding for ransom? To get the money, don’t you think the kid has to be in tip-top shape?”
“Ryan, I change my mind, I loathe this case.”
“But what caught most people’s attention from the leaked coroner’s report was that Jason was not the only person in that building. According to first respondents on the scene of the crime, another body was found. This woman had untraceable DNA, but, many rumors have came about proposing he was his mother, however the DNA did not match with the Catherine Willis in Gotham City Police Department’s files. The Gotham City Coroner at the time, Edward Nygma, released this information in 2014. While it seemed groundbreaking, not two days later he was caught by the Batman and revealed to be infamous Gotham criminal, The Riddler. He now is in Arkham Asylum for multiple charges of theft, larceny, counterfeiting, tax fraud, art theft, and murder.”
I’m just imagining the head detective on
this case
(wheeze) “Oh we just got a crack
in the case we thought went cold!
All sorts of new leads and theories
from the public comin’ our way!
Good ol’ Nygma down in the
coroner’s office is on our side!”
“Our good pal! Mr. Nygma!”
And it turns out this guy is a Looney Toon
who commits crimes for his free time!
Hahahahahaha
(sigh) Only in Gotham
“So it’s three years after the death, and this guy comes forward with evidence that breaks the case, but is very unreliable because of the coroner. The detectives ruled out the theory of the woman in the warehouse, because there was just no substantiated evidence to prove him right. Like, there was no body in their systems for that woman to have existed.”
“So it’s all a bunch of horse shit?”
“All but the cause of death, but the detectives Bruce Wayne hired already knew that. I guess yeah, it’s all a load of horseshit.”
“What a waste of time, why would he pull that?”
“In the whirl of the coroner’s report, another break in the seemingly closed case happens. Just shortly after the coroner’s report had enter the news, Jason Todd’s grave was vandalized. At night, someone came to the private lot on the Wayne cemetery and dug up his grave.” An image of the defiled grave is shown of a destroyed grave. Soil and grass are spilled haphazardly around the hole in the ground. The tombstone is smashed at points with marble spilt around the gaping hole in the ground. “When Mr. Wayne received a call in the morning that his son’s grave was vandalized, they also informed him that his son’s body was missing from the grave”
“Holy shit, Ryan!” Shane repeats head in his hands. “I REALLY fucking hate this case! They stole the boy’s bones!”
“I know, when I was working on this episode, it was late at night. That bit made my skin crawl. Like who would have use of a billionaire’s son’s bones?”
“A freak, I’ll tell you that much.”
“Weeks later, the Batman recovered the body, and the Wayne family had another small service to put his body to rest again. They then installed cameras in the lot and sensors in the coffin so Mr. Wayne and the police would be notified if someone tried to vandalize the grave again. Since then, there has been no further issues around the Wayne family and Jason Todd’s grave. But there is still a looming sense of mystery surrounding this case. Why the other injuries on the body? Was there another corpse on the scene of the crime? Who robbed the grave? And with those questions in mind, let’s move on to the theories.”
THEORY #1 in white ink covers the screen.
“The first theory is that an opposing company did it. At the time, Wayne Tech had cutting edge in most niches in the tech market. Their stock yield was double of their nearest competitor. Some theorize this incentivized some opposing companies to blackmail Bruce Wayne. The theory says the kidnappers became too violent with Jason, and brutally murdered him before the money could reach the company. Then, to cover their tracks, they put him in the warehouse and detonated it to cut off any loose ties.”
“This theory,” Shane starts. “Feels like bullshit. Where did you get it? Did your buddies on the deep web forums let you know about this one?”
“Real funny, big guy,” Ryan sneers. “But no, I agree. This theory is relatively popular, but it doesn’t explain the grave robbing or really why he would have the injuries he had.”
THEORY #2 wipes over the screen next.
“The second of our theories is Gotham Coroner and vigilante villain, Edward Nygma, did it.”
Oooooh that’s a juicy theory.
Yeah, this one’s good, not bad, but it is
so quintessentially Gotham. Why does
someone as rich as Bruce Wayne live
in that shithole anyways?
I hear it’s not too bad for the 1%, besides
the occasional robbing.
God, of course it is.
“As previously stated, Edward Nygma released the coroner’s report to the public with no real motive. The case had lost attention of the public for about a year and a half, and he suddenly thrusts this information upon the public. Many speculate the reason was he did it was his alias, The Riddler. The Riddler is known for posing conundrums to Gotham vigilantes to figure out how to save civilians. Because the contents of the ransom note remain a mystery, there is room for speculation if it was a riddle to save Jason. The theory is he killed Jason Todd and got away with it, but when the attention waned, he decided to pull the spotlight back on himself.”
Ryan looks up from his sheet. “Thoughts?” he prompts Shane.
“This theory is too hogwild to happen in any other city, but in Gotham? I could buy it.” Shane ponders. “I heard once there was a guy there who burnt off half his face and made a whole terrorist character off of it. I could see this whack-a-doodle following Bruce Wayne to Ethiopia to harass him and his child.”
“See, that’s actually one of the critiques of this case,” Ryan says. The screen turns back to the black screen with a picture of Edward Nygma in the front. “There are a few issues with this theory. There are no records of him purchasing tickets to Ethiopia, and he has a relatively strong alibi: The Riddler robbed a bank that fateful evening. Allegedly, Nygma did not cooperate well with others, which eliminates any theories of an accomplice. However the crucial flaw with this theory is that he was captured by the Batman a day before Jason’s grave was robbed. Which brings us to our third theory:”
THEORY #3
“The Batman killed Jason Todd.”
Shane puts his pen down, starts taking off his microphone. “Yknow, we have accused some powerful people in this show: Putin, the US Government, the KGB; but I am not messing with the Bat.”
“No, no, no,” Ryan insists, pulling Shane back down to indulge his theory. “Hear me out. And Batman, please don’t skin us, again, just reporting.”
Ryan returns to his script and the screen goes back to the THEORY #3 screen. “The first time this theory was proposed was when Batman unmasked The Riddler to be Edward Nygma. There is a direct relationship between him releasing the report and Nygma being brought in. What else could have motivated him to suddenly unmask this villain? It very clearly is connected to Jason Todd’s death. Some theorize that the Batman was worried a second autopsy would happen to clear up the confusing details of the coroner’s report and felt inclined to tie off loose ends. This explains both why he would get The Riddler arrested and why the grave could have been dug up. Upon further research, footage was uncovered from the area in Ethiopia the Wayne family was in featuring Batman and Robin just two days before Jason Todd’s untimely death.”
I don’t know about this one.
You don’t know about half the theories
I feed you, what’s so special about
this one?
I don’t think Batman could kill a kid
when the footage shows he was
with Robin in Ethiopia. Wait, why
was he in Ethiopia in the first place?
Exactly. Now you’re getting it.
“Many reporters have tried to speak with Batman on the matter once they realized he was in Ethiopia at the same time as Jason Todd, but he was evasive as ever. One reporter, Vicky Vale, who wrote a book on the death of Jason Todd in 2016, claims to have had an interview with the Batman. According to local sources, the Batman trusts her enough to arrange meetings time to time. She reports him saying, quote, ‘I had nothing to do with death of Jason Todd.’ End quote.”
The camera cuts to the two gasping for breath from laughing at their desk. “That is definitely the language of the innocent.” Shane laughs. “They have the most damning evidence of him at the scene of the crime, and he’s just like ‘nah, I’m Batman.’”
“Jesus, the Batman is gonna kill us.” Ryan manages to wheeze out. The screen goes back to a picture of Batman in Ethiopia.
“Due to the Batman’s inability to be reached for further comment, the theory has come to a stop. Not to mention GCPD Commissioner James Gordon has stated, quote, ‘The Batman has great integrity and would not lie on such manners. Trust us when we say we have spoken with him on the topic, and he is not a suspect to who murdered Jason Todd.’ Endquote.”
THEORY #4
“Which brings us to our fourth and final theory, Jason Todd never actually died.”
“Ryan, what on God’s green Earth are you talking about. They found the body.” Shane stares incredulously at him.
“Yeah, but they also lost it.” Ryan points out, “Is it possible that it was all a coverup?” He carries on to the script.
“Jason Todd, a boy from some of Gotham’s most dangerous parts, was clearly uncomfortable in the limelight next to his new father. Many reporters were invasive and would try to approach him at school and when he was going out with friends. Maybe the fame was too much for him, so Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd formulated a plan to fake his death. There are theories that he hid out for a few years until the story sizzled out. Maybe when the grave robbers robbed the grave, there was no body in the first place, which surprised them. Keep in mind, both funerals were closed casket. Also noteworthy, there are rumors some accountants at Wayne Enterprises saw no money was wired to Ethiopia for the ransom, which would make sense if Bruce knew all along that Jason was in no danger.
“There are theories that he turned back to his life in Crime Alley, which eventually would lead to him becoming one of Gotham’s many masked vigilantes. Reports of a man who looks like an aged up Jason Todd have been reported worldwide. The highest concentrations of reports are from metropolitan areas such as Star City, Las Vegas, Bludhaven, and of course, Gotham.”
“I’ve heard of that theory before, and I don’t know, I kind of like that one.” Shane suggests, absentmindedly squeezing a stress ball on the table.
“Really? No big skeptic response?” Ryan retorts.
“Yeah, I like the idea of the crime baby returning to Crime Alley. It’s where he belongs.” Shane smiles off into the distance.
“I, for one, think it’s a dumb theory, and frankly disrespectful to,” Ryan looks at the camera. “Mr. Wayne.”
Shane stiffens his posture. “Absolutely. Our utmost respect and condolences to you, Mr. Wayne.”
“And the Batman.”
“And the Batman.” Shane repeats, nodding his head.
A low note plays again, and a picture of Jason Todd fills the screen. “In the end, no one knows what specifically happened on that fateful day in Ethiopia, or why someone robbed the young boy’s grave. The obscured details of this case leave a lot involved with Jason Todd’s death leaving the mystery of Jason Todd’s death unsolved.” A red stamp saying UNSOLVED is placed over Jason Todd’s smiling face, followed by a fade to black.