On the road outside Gotham Central Hospital, three police cruisers sped ahead with their lights flashing, their sirens mingling with the ambulance's wail behind them. Residents in the surrounding buildings poked their heads out, eager to see which idiot had picked a fight with the Gotham Police Department.
Ever since the Gotham Police Department upgraded its equipment, its piercing sirens had regained their deterrent power. No Mafia member outside the Twelve Families dared honk in greeting while passing the station as they once had, unless they wanted to be blasted into pieces by grenade launchers.
After Gordon took office, he had become one with the Twelve Families in both the literal and figurative sense, turning into an honored guest of the godfather. By extension, the Gotham Police Department had become Gotham's most intimidating gang. Once the sirens sounded, even two sides beating each other's brains out had to stop immediately.
Even to intimidate a major gang, two armed police cruisers would have been enough. Yet today, there were three cruisers just clearing the way, with two logistics vehicles trailing behind the ambulance. The residents watched from their windows for quite a while before getting a tip from an officer firing warning shots: the head of the Lawrence family was dead.
Since Gotham's situation had stabilized, the Twelve Families had largely united in making money. The internal chaos had vanished without a trace, and the farce of replacing three bosses in two months had not happened in a long time.
Rumors spread like ripples across a lake. From the bosses of major gangs under the Twelve Families to street punks and small business owners involved with Mafia dealings, everyone was guessing who had taken out poor old Lawrence.
The Lawrence family had many young members, perhaps eleven or twelve, with five