Can Victoria Dallon Catch Dexter Morgan?
Antares art by Stephen Li
Inspired by this video about Dexter Morgan vs Ace Ventura (Pet Detective), I got to thinking about how Victoria Dallon would handle the Bay Harbour Butcher case.
This won't be a huge, detailed post for a few reasons: 1.) It has been years since I watched Dexter's original show and have not seen the various sequel series, 2.) The Dexter fan timelines (from what I can see) leave a lot to be desired when it comes to detail, so I'm basically quickly skimming for refreshers, 3.) My Lunch Break is limited in time.
I will be using that video's rules so: 1.) No Doakes, 2.) No Lundy. We'll presume they got transferred out or - in Lundy's case - replaced by Victoria Dallon
We'll assume that Dexter's Earth is an alternate universe that is slightly behind Earth Gimel's, with 2007 level of technology and society, that just recently had a portal open during the Titanomachy of 2 years ago in Gimel.
Wanting to have a good representation with a foreign Earth with a WEALTH of resources and relatively stable civilization, Gimel Mayor Jeanne Wynn uses her political connections to have Victoria Dallon - Patrol Instructor and University Lecturer - be sent to 2007 Miami as a consultant for the Bay Harbor Butcher case after the trashbag bodies have been found
Victoria reluctantly agrees since the two of them owe each other some favors, with Victoria being kitted out with her Eye Camera and normal Patrol gear/uniform, though she internally notes that she is more of investigator of Parahuman crimes than normal serial killings.
Still, she is a hero at heart, and she puts on a friendly and professional face as she debuts at Miami Metro. She gives a small prepared speech about her accomplishments (not going into too much detail; that would fly over their heads, so its better to just mention her uncovering a world-wide conspiracy and investigating terrorist bombings), and small demonstration of her powers.
This, of course, blows the minds of the department to see super powers in action (they have only heard of the portal in the news and what not) and many officers bombard Victoria with questions (including asking if she comes from Krypton or is a mutant etc etc)
For Dexter, this is a legitimate nightmare! He's already dealing with the ramifications of killing his brother and failure with Little Chino, and now this random REAL LIFE SUPERHERO is involved?! His heart is racing as he leaves the room, wondering what the hell he can do.
At the very least, he's relieved that she seems to be more of the telekinetic variety (shocking everyone as she lifts up a spare table with her mind and flies a bit), and she puts down the idea that she can read minds (which for some reason she found really amusing, to everyone's confusion about her "inside joke").
Things generally go according to plan as Dexter finally kills Little Chino and gets his groove back so to speak.
Unfortunately for Dexter, he is already doomed.
While Victoria mainly focused on Parahuman crimes and is very modest about her career, she is still a top tier investigator in behavior, having already created a file on the Bay Harbour Butcher case with everything given to her (with some help from a very enthusiastic Debra Morgan, who finds some much needed structure in sticking to Victoria's side as a confidant and fellow survivor with PTSD).
While the Miami Metro was in awe at her Gimel Smartphone, none of them had a clue that Victoria's Eye Camera had already gained access to their police network and all files relevant to the case, Victoria already pouring over every recording of the corpses and bits of recovered evidence.
It stands out to her immediately that these victims are individuals who have been suspected of murder, or charged with murder but had none of the charges stick, unable to get a trial.
To Victoria, this reeks of a vigilante, which sets her in a downer mood. She doesn't have a high opinion of vigilantes - a category in her world which is usually reserved for reckless anti-heroes who cause death or life-changing injuries without due process. It hit her hard in arc 15 when someone mistook her past life as being a vigilante, and she later admits that without Dean or Amy holding her back, she could have been even worse as a teenager.
She considers the other factor; who would be able to HAVE enough information on these suspects to confidently assume guilt? Court Clerks, Lawyers, Family, Witnesses.... and Cops.
Victoria has her Eye Camera load up the names and information relevant to the situation of each suspect, determined to track them down for interviews at a later date, cross referencing times and places.
Corrupt Cops will be tricky for Victoria. She actually has a poor history of dealing with police; in arc 10 it was dealing with their bigotry and hostile dick-measuring ego, being unwilling to help or be a part of her investigation beyond the bare minimum (and that was only because Tristan played to their ego, while Victoria wanted to debate them). Later, she deals with Love Lost - a former star detective turned supervillainess - and how she bought out the police department in her territory of city. When the Navigators were sliced up in arc 10 and 11, the police just threw up their hands and said, "Sorry, we can't help you."
Coupled with her knowledge of racial bias influencing police (again, mentioned in arc 10) and the fact that she is in a foreign Earth with a delicate political handshake with Earth Gimel... if she is indeed dealing with a Serial Killer Cop in the BHB, she has to tread carefully.
Victoria bemoans the fact that she can't rely on Parahuman psychology to get a head start on the profile of the BHB, but she has contacts that can get her in the right direction.
No, not Tattletale; as mentioned in the Epilogues, they are both so busy with their jobs they rarely get to interact much nowadays, only for certain Ex-Wife matters.
Instead, Victoria makes 2 calls: The first being Anelace, her current boy-toy, who has the ability to look at wounds on a person or damage done to an area and gain insights into the attackers. After some jokes about how they seem to flirt a lot at crime scenes, and likely arranging a future booty call which gets Ratcatcher cooing in the background, Anelace looks over the High-Definition scans and gives Victoria his impression on the BHB.
He basically hits the perfect summary of the BHB: a ritualistic killer who seems to take great personal pleasure in executions of other killers, possibly viewing this as an outlet for desires unacceptable for polite society, while retaining a place in said society. It's a bit harder for him to tell due to body degradation, but he'd hazard a guess most if not all of these kills were done while the victims were incapacitated.
The second call is to Kenzie, asking her to use her Virtual Intelligence programs to cross reference algae and ocean data from Bet/Gimel with that of this foreign Earth's, collected based on Victoria's scans of the rocks and bodies. While the computers here run faster than Gimel's (due to lack of apocalypse), they are not quite up to snuff compared to the 10 year tech gap of Gimels, making research a pain. She of course reminds Kenzie to haggle for the pay to use her services, and once that is done, gets the information she needs in easy to download format.
The third call is to Five from the Majors. She gives the details of the case, but more importantly, the sheer number of victims. Even assuming the most skilled human possible, it would require hefty security and reassurances to keep so many victims incapacitated without any known failures or escapes. She remembered that Five and Chris were able to determine the type of sedative given to Kenzie during her mental breakdown, and wants to poke Five brain about possible options. Five gives her a list of probable options and the skills required to use them, in perfect detail and effeciency.
This dampens Victoria's mood even more as it confirms her biggest theory.
Victoria now has a profile of the BHB: a vigilante officer of the law seeking to use their position to gain the skills required to use sedatives or containment devices, along with information on the victims supposed guilt, with a boon of befuddling the department itself. With the data she got from Kenzie on the algae, she even has a location for boat docking
While she does investigate any potential medical experts related to the deceased, her prime suspects appear to be Masuka and Dexter Morgan in Miami PD.
Masuka gives her the creeps, especially with the comments he made about what her Patrol attire shows off ("its just a black tank top and cargo pants, calm down man"), she generally has a good enough read of people to know if they are just creeps or Creeps. Masuka is, from her read, just a creep... but he still is on the suspect list for skill and motive (he also enjoys crime scenes).
Dexter, on the other hand, has been sort of outside of her interactions... which is peculiar to her in hindsight. After all, his sister has been stuck to her side like glue, even venting pretty heavy emotional stuff about the Ice Truck Killer debacle that happened recently. Yet, she could barely recount any personal interaction with Dexter beyond him bringing donuts to the office and showing up for briefings.
A review of her Eye Camera confirms it; Dexter seems to have been keeping away from interacting with her, and certainly does not seem nearly as enthused as his colleagues about her.
This is barely circumstantial though; after all, there are bound to be people disturbed by someone with super powers.
She does not share this profile with Miami Metro for obvious reasons, but she does talk with Debra more about the Ice Truck Killer case and gets more information on Dexter's actions (from Debra's pov), which is enlightening for Dexter seems to be at the right place at the right time with very convenient excuses.
Victoria says nothing, simply watching and waiting, for something she can use to cement her suspicions
Things are quiet at the station as Dexter feels a bit... relieved? Victoria doesn't seem to be making big waves, content to just talk with his colleagues and share war stories of her time as a superhero. Things only go to hell when Masuka reveals that they have a lead on the BHB, and this causes Dexter to sabotage the A/C units, framing the garbage truck for damaging it.
And thus, Dexter has cemented his own downfall.
Victoria uses her Eye Camera to scan the A/C units for paint chips and tracks down the garbage truck driver and vehicle used, also scanning for paint chips.
Nada. No damage. Nothing.
Confirming the sabotage, Victoria quietly takes Masuka off the list, as he was celebrating the information he found related to the BHB and did not seem to mind that the rock algae was still pristine and being analyzed. If he truly wanted to ruin evidence, the rocks would be the real issue.
She silently considers Dexter to be her number one suspect, thinking of Shadow Stalker as she ruminates on the background information she gained on Dexter from Debra, and what it means to have "acceptable targets" for violent emotional outbursts.
Victoria discusses everything she's gathered with LaGuerta (by the way, she is watching the shitstorm of LaGuerta and Pascal's drama with metaphorical popcorn), and breaks down every notation and bit of data in PowerPoint form.
It probably has fancy transitions too.
LaGuerta is, obviously, flabbergasted by all of this and - while I loathe to consider seasons 7 and 8 - there's a bit of a call forward to how it puts her friend Doake's dislike of Dexter into perspective. Still, she points out how this is all circumstantial despite how bad it looks in the context presented.
Victoria agrees, which is why she recommends not acting until they get footage of Dexter on his boat in the suspected dock the bodies were dumped, based on the algae report (she learns that Dexter has a boat from Debra, further cementing her suspicions).
Dexter, as per the show, cleans his boat of evidence in clear view of the camera. Only this time, no one tells him that it was recorded not just by the camera, but by Victoria's Eye Camera having hacked it in the first place.
The next day that Dexter clocks in for his shift, he is quietly confronted by Victoria and LaGuerta, with his Rights Read and placed in cuffs.
There is a stunned murmur as the friendly if quite distant star of the forensics team is arrested and charged with multiple counts of murder in the department.
Victoria watches sadly as Debra runs out to follow Dexter, demanding answers, knowing that things were only going to get uglier from here.
VERDICT: DEXTER IS CAUGHT
Obviously, there's more to it in a dedicated study of the case or for alternate scenarios (for example, things will take much longer without the Eye Camera but still play out similarly), and there would be inevitable trial debacle of what counts as permitted evidence in a case involving foreign technology and agents, not to mention the destruction of Debra and Victoria's relationship (such as it is).
Was it at least fun to read? Any interactions you think would be interesting to consider?
Any other Wildbow characters you would want to discuss trying to solve the Bay Harbour Butcher case?
