The Student

Monday, September 6th, 2010, 09:15

Gotham University

Burnley Campus

Professor Janet Hawkins dropped her pen when she hit Malik Anderson's latest paper. A 98. Third one this semester, and it wasn't even Halloween yet.

She grabbed last year's gradebook from her desk drawer. Same kid who barely scraped by with C's in Intro to Criminology was now writing stuff that belonged in graduate seminars. Hell, some of her doctoral students couldn't analyze crime family power structures this clearly.

"Robinson, hang back a minute," she called as students shuffled out.

Malik took his sweet time packing up. He knew this conversation was coming. Getting too good too fast always raised eyebrows, especially when professors actually paid attention.

"This work you've been turning in," Hawkins said, settling behind her desk. "It's not undergraduate level. Your paper on organized crime hierarchies reads like you've been studying this stuff for years."

"Been reading a lot more lately."

"I can tell. You're citing sources from my graduate seminars." She leaned forward, curious now instead of suspicious. "What happened? Last year you seemed like you were just going through the motions."

Good thing he'd thought about this. Truth was, watching Selina work had taught him more about how criminals actually operated than any textbook ever could. But saying that would probably end his academic career pretty quickly.

"I stopped thinking about crime like it was just numbers and case studies," Malik said. "Started thinking about it like people making choices. Once I figured out that criminals aren't some different species, just regular people in messed up situations, everything else made sense."

Hawkins nodded. "That's the difference between good students and great ones. Understanding that criminal behavior is still human behavior." She pulled out a folder. "I'm putting together a study group for advanced students. Small group, graduate-level discussions. You interested?"

"Yeah, definitely."

Three hours later, Malik found himself in a conference room with five other students who all looked like they belonged in a catalog for "Future Leaders of Gotham." The kind of kids whose parents sent them Christmas cards from vacation homes.

"Let's do introductions," Professor Hawkins said. "Name, year, what gets you excited about criminal behavior."

"Rebecca Martinez, senior psychology major," said the girl next to him. Pretty, but had that serious look of someone who'd seen too much. "I study how domestic violence intersects with organized crime. Specifically how abusive family dynamics affect criminal operations."

Malik filed that away fast. Martinez... Lieutenant Maria Martinez ran Major Crimes for GCPD. One of the few honest cops left in the city.

"Douglas Valerio, junior pre-law." This guy screamed money. Perfect hair, clothes that cost more than most people's rent, watch that probably had its own insurance policy. "I'm interested in how wealth and social connections influence prosecution outcomes in white-collar cases."

Valerio. Malik knew that name. Family owned those fancy Italian restaurants downtown, but Selina had mentioned them in connection with money laundering for the Bertinelli family.

"Emma Falcone, senior business major," said a confident redhead who looked like she could run a Fortune 500 company before breakfast. "Corporate fraud and how legitimate businesses hide illegal activities."

Falcone owned half the shipping at Gotham Harbor. Word was they moved more than just legal cargo.

"Marcus Webb, senior criminal justice." Serious black guy who looked like he actually believed in the system. "Police corruption and institutional pressure on individual officers."

Webb's dad was Assistant DA Kenneth Webb. One of maybe three prosecutors in the city who wasn't obviously bought and paid for.

"Jessica Caldwell, junior sociology," said the last one, blonde with jewelry that sparkled under the fluorescent lights. "How social class affects sentencing disparity in property crimes."

Caldwell. Banking family, old Gotham money. The kind of people who had offshore accounts before offshore accounts were cool.

"Malik Robinson, sophomore psychology," he said when his turn came. "Environmental factors in criminal decision-making. How growing up in a corrupt city shapes the choices people make."

Professor Hawkins smiled like she'd assembled her own little justice league. "Perfect. Next week, I want presentations on recent case studies. Use real examples from Gotham when possible."

That night, Malik spread his notes across Selina's coffee table. Six students, five with family connections to different pieces of Gotham's power structure. Either Professor Hawkins was a genius at reading social dynamics, or she'd put this group together for reasons that had nothing to do with academic excellence.

"Learn anything useful?" Selina asked, looking up from her laptop.

"Maybe. This study group is basically a family reunion for Gotham's power brokers. Police, prosecution, defense, business, banking, organized crime. All represented through their kids."

"And they all want to study criminal behavior?"

"Douglas Valerio seems especially interested in being friends. He picked up on stuff about police operations that I probably shouldn't know."

"Valerio family's been washing money for the Bertinellis for fifteen years. If Douglas is recruiting, it's because daddy's grooming him to take over the business."

Malik thought about that. "So I've got a chance to get inside a money laundering operation."

"You've got a chance to learn how criminal finance really works. What you do with that information is up to you."

Over the next few weeks, Malik worked on building relationships with the group. He let his intelligence show gradually, contributing insights that proved he was thinking deeply without revealing where his knowledge actually came from.

Douglas turned out to be the easiest mark. Kid loved to talk about his family's restaurant business and their "consulting work" for various Gotham entrepreneurs. Smart guy, ambitious as hell, but he had that snobby rich kid assumption that money and family name would protect him from consequences.

Rebecca Martinez was useful in a different way. Her mom's position gave her access to information about ongoing investigations, though she was careful not to discuss specifics. But she was passionate about domestic violence, and that passion sometimes made her share more than she meant to.

During a conversation about how abuse victims get coerced into criminal activity, she mentioned that Major Crimes was building a case against human traffickers operating massage parlors in the Diamond District. She didn't realize she was giving away operational intelligence.

Emma Falcone's insights into legitimate business gave Malik a better understanding of how money actually moved through Gotham's economy. She knew import regulations, customs procedures, shipping manifests. Information that would be gold for understanding smuggling operations.

Marcus Webb's perspective on police corruption helped Malik figure out which cops could be trusted and which ones were already bought. Marcus believed in the system, but he wasn't naive. He knew his father's integrity made the Webb family unusual in Gotham.

Jessica Caldwell's banking connections provided insight into how wealthy criminals moved and hid money. She talked casually about offshore accounts and international finance regulations, treating money laundering techniques like routine business practices.

By December, Malik had assembled a map of how Gotham's criminal ecosystem actually functioned. The study group had become an intelligence network, with each member unknowingly providing pieces of a bigger puzzle.

Professor Hawkins seemed pleased with their progress. "I've gotta say...you've all developed very well done and sophisticated frameworks for understanding criminal behavior," she said during their last meeting of the semester.

"Helps that we're studying in Gotham," Douglas said with a grin. "Plenty of case studies available."

"Indeed. Next semester, I want independent research projects examining specific criminal organizations. Use primary sources when possible."

Walking across campus after the meeting, Malik thought about how much had changed since freshman year. He wasn't the angry kid who'd burned his parents' photo anymore. He wasn't even the amateur thief who'd needed Selina's protection during his first job.

He was becoming something more dangerous. Someone who understood that information was often more valuable than money, and influence more powerful than violence.

The student was becoming the teacher.