The Brief
On 26 September 2000 Artemis Black of the mid-west evidence response
team received a joker playing card indicating that "the game
had begun". Over the following three weeks eight more playing
cards were received, each card mutilated in a bizarre manner.
The mid-west evidence response team were debriefed concerning this
case on 16 October 2000. Due to Artemis Black's relation to this
case they remain close to the investigation. Their contacts are
Senior Special Agent Wyatt Waymen and Special Agent Reece Romero
- both part of the Inspection Division and both working on the Joker
case from New Orleans. This case is an ongoing investigation.
Summary of Killings
The following is a list of all the murders known to have been committed
by the Joker. All victims are FBI agents. Unless otherwise noted
the playing card was received by evidence response on the same day
as the murder.
2 October 2000
- Special Agent Peter Bakowski.
- Buried in the concrete of a bridge support on the I-97 outside
Littlerock, Arkansas. He was badly burned with chemicals.
- 2 of Hearts soaked in the caustic alkali Potassium Permanganate
(KMnO4); discovered by Nathan Harlow in a box of hard
drives delivered to Wichita HQ.
8 October 2000
- Special Agent Arnold Ibreak.
- Crushed to death in a car crusher in New York city.
- 10 of Hearts found crumpled and partially torn in a package
delivered to Jane Munroe.
10 October 2000
- Special Agent Alan Joy.
- Roasted to death in an industrial glazing furnace (big oven)
in Flagstaff, Arizona.
- Jack of Hearts, badly blistered with a heat gun; found in pocket
of Artemis Black.
11 October 2000
- Special Agent John Leigh.
- Bled to death in an abattoir in Chicago, Illinois.
- 5 of Hearts smeared in congealed blood delivered to team through
postal inspector, James MacGuiness.
11 October 2000
- Leading Agent Phil Strott.
- Injected with molten tin in Birmingham, Alabama.
- Ace of Spades with a hole through middle found with a nugget
of chemically pure tin inside Jane Munroe's laptop computer.
16 October 2000
- Special Agent Dave "Daffy" Jones.
- Suffocated after being plastered into a wall in Miami, Florida.
- 3 of Spades encased in plaster with a crude crucifix impressed
upon it was sent to Joshua Blackthorne in hospital in Virginia.
It was diverted to Artemis Black in Brownsville, Texas.
18 October 2000
- Special Agent Sam Snift
- Cut in half and ritually mutilated in the evidence locker of
the FBI building in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- 5 of Spades in a petri dish with the 2 of Spades and 3 of Hearts.
The bottom of all three cards had been sliced into pieces. Delivered
in a package to Jane Munroe at the airport in New Orleans.
18 October 2000
- Special Agent Nathan Harlow
- Cut in half and ritually mutilated in the security booth of
the FBI building in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- 2 of Spades in a petri dish with the 5 of Spades and 3 of Hearts.
The bottom of all three cards had been sliced into pieces. Delivered
in a package to Jane Munroe at the airport in New Orleans.
18 October 2000
- Special Agent Giles Kitty
- Cut in half and ritually mutilated in the armoury of the FBI
building in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- 3 of Hearts in a petri dish with the 5 of Spades and 2 of Spades.
The bottom of all three cards had been sliced into pieces. Delivered
in a package to Jane Munroe at the airport in New Orleans.
9 December 2000
- Special Agent Owen Sawell (Child Protection Unit)
- Suffocated while SCUBA diving in an FBI wetsuit off the coast
of Los Angeles. His body washed up on Venice Beach on 13 December.
The connection has not yet been made by the New Orleans Inspection
Division.
- 4 of Hearts completely covered in black, waterproof ink found
by Alex Drake in the glove compartment of an FBI rental car burief
in a snow drift.
14 December 2000
- Special Agent Nathan Harlow (again) in the guise of Michael
Hunt.
- Stabbed in the sternum and bled to death.
- 5 of Hearts with a hole through the middle, soaked in Nathan's
blood.
Other Notable Events
The following is a list of the Joker's other activities (beyond
his serial killings) since 26 September 2000. It is hoped that an
analysis of all this informatio might bring a hitherto overlooked
clue to light.
13 October 2000
- The Joker sends a warning
letter to the FBI time investigating this case in New Orleans,
Louisiana.
- He declares that he will kill all FBI agents in the city that
are not listening to jazz at 00:15 on 18 October. He makes good
on this threat.
4 December 2000
- The Joker physically and psychologically tortures the reincarnated
Nathan Harlow on Air America flight FB104 to Fairbanks, Alaska.
- Eventually the Jokers murders all five hundred people on board
and causes the plane to crash. The only survivors are Nathan Harlow
and Jane Munroe.
14 December 2000
- Lillian Winter encounters Jack Burchill on a Los Angeles freeway.
- Shortly after the Joker attacks the mid-west team (currently
at the west coast HQ). David, a technician from Westburg vaults
is eviscerated before Nathan Harlow.
- Harlow cuts a deal with Lillian
16 December 2000
- The Joker appears to Philip McKraken in San Francisco. He has
noticed the changes in the time line and feels he has been cheated
of something (Lillian Winter has Nathan's soul and not him).
- The Joker says "Someone is playing me. What has she done?"
He wants information.
19 December 2000
- The Joker returns for information and McKraken tells him everything.
- McKraken tricks the Joker into attacking Mao Sei Ben. The geomancer
banishes the Joker and it is only Mao's death that allows the
Joker to return to this world.
The Facts
The Joker is believed to be a supernatural entity that preys upon
mankind simply for its enjoyment. In the past it has possessed the
bodies of serial killers and carried out its bloody work. Notably
the Joker was active in the body of the Axeman who terrorised New
Orleans between 1889 and 1891. He was also active in the body of
Damian Snapes - the last serial killer to be hunted by Artemis Black
before his transfer to evidence response.
There is a connection between Artemis Black and the Joker. The
Joker sent the initial card to Black, and the successive cards have
all come to Evidence Response. Carol Hunter shares a grandfather
with Black in the shape of Alfred Brickman. Alfred Brickman was
head of the FBI in the 1920s and indicted on charges of corruption.
Brickman was based in Chicago. Black worked in Chicago before coming
to Wichita.
At present no pattern has been found to the killings, or to the
cards. Except for the very tenuous links mentioned above, no progress
has at all been made in attempting to predict or stop this killer.
Given the nature of the Joker both may be impossible.
Lillian Winter
On flight FB104, Jane and Nathan encountered an Al Brickman as
well as a woman called Lillian Winter. These passengers were not
on the manifest and their bodies were not discovered in the crash.
At first it was though that these beings were manifestations of
the Joker, but this is not the case.
Lillian Winter appeared again on 14 December 2000 just before the
Joker's attack on the west coast headquarters, and on 16 December
in San Francisco after the Joker's appearance to SA McKraken. She
seems to be a demonic spirit of some sort - perhaps akin to the
Lillith from Bibilical myth. She has a desire to tempt mortals and
take possession of their souls. Seeing that Nathan had been marked
by the Joker she saw the opportunity to damn him to Hell for all
eternity. She succeeded in doing this by making a deal with him
on 16 December. At this point Nathan met the Armoured Man who may
have been a soul Winter damned in the past.
The fact that Lillian is able to suspend the ageing process in
Nathan and hide him from the Joker himself marks her out as very
powerful indeed. It was discovered that the Joker is not very happy
about her interference in his work. The thought of playing the two
against each other is tantalising.
Outstanding Leads
- What was the important thing the ghost of Nathan Harlow was
trying to remember? Who was the "contact" Harlow spoke
to the day after he died?
- What is the connection between Artemis Black and the Joker?
Alfred Brickman is the grandfather of Artemis Black and Carol
Hunter but how does this fit into the big picture?
- Is there a reason why the Joker has specifically gone after
the six agents he did prior to 18 October 2000? If we assume that
Carol Hunter was murdered for a reason, then could there be a
reason behind these other killings?
- Artemis Black is fifteen years older than Carol Hunter. How
old was Brickman when he had his children?
- Is there a reason or pattern to the cards that accompany each
murder. Does each card have some significance? If so, how does
the card represent the victim?
- Is there a connection between the Joker and Alfred Brickman?
- How does the Joker get his victims into position before killing
them?
- There is a game being played for the souls of mortals between
the likes of Lillian Winter and the archangels Mike and Gabe.
Where does the Joker fit in to all this?
- What is the Armoured
Man's role in all this. He gave Harlow a playing card. Is
he linked to the Joker? Whose side is he on?
See Also
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